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Too Little, Too Late

January 26, 2011

Oh AT&T, when will you learn? You aren't going to retain customers by offering the same service they can get elsewhere. Customers who have decided to drop your service and go to Verizon didn't decide to switch because "the grass looked just as green on the other side". If you want to keep your iPhone subscriber base, and continue to grow it, for that matter, you have to offer something Verizon doesn't. Here's an idea: start with free Wi-Fi tethering. While Verizon is charging people extra every month for data they've already paid for, you come out smelling like roses (I know, that's two cliches in one post, but so be it). The point is you don't differentiate yourself by offering the same thing as someone else (unless you're pointing out that you made a mistake by eliminating unlimited data). Verizon is new to iPhone owners, you've got to offer something new too.

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Of Singing Penguins

January 24, 2011

I was disappointed last year when Songbird officially stopped supporting Linux. Imagine my surprise this morning when I learned that Songbird now has an app for Android in beta. That's right, the popular Google-built Linux distribution for smartphones gets Songbird, but Ubuntu is out in the cold.

So far, the app works as expected, has been stable, and, in my opinion, it far outstrips the standard Android player, the HTC Sense player, and DoubleTwist in terms of aesthetics.

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The End of an Era?

January 23, 2011

As expected, Verizon will begin offering Apple's iPhone. The iPhone, for better or worse, is the premier smartphone in America, the mobile device by which all others are judged. Unfortunately for AT&T, the popularity of the iPhone, particularly among tech-oriented people, has dragged the flaws of AT&T's network squarely into the limelight. Much has been made of AT&T's lack of reliability and network coverage, but I think the tables may turn when people start using iPhones on Verizon. Although Verizon's coverage is generally pretty good, their 3G network is slow compared to AT&T and they lack simultaneous voice and data capability (on 3G). More importantly, I think people are going to discover that Verizon's vaunted reliability is probably just as spotty as AT&T's, perhaps more so with regards to the timely delivery of SMS messages

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