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Posts Tagged ‘Odds’

iPhone users come in all ages but probably live near a big city

Filed under: Surveys and Polls, iPhone, iPad

The end of this week has brought a little flurry of information about the differences between iPhone and Android users. First up, Admob has released the results of a survey that says the iPhone is twice as popular as comparable smartphones in both young and old demographics. Unfortunately, we can only guess as to why (it would be a little more interesting if either age showed a preference for one phone over another), but it seems the iPhone has yet another remarkable trait: appealing to users of all ages. No wonder Apple is jumping in on the iPad — they really do have a pre-release audience.

But they can’t sit on their laurels for too long — according to a report at Myxer’s Boombox (via Fortune), the Android OS is picking up the pace, especially in what city folk call the “flyover states.” Android use of the program has actually surpassed iPhone users in Montana, the Dakotas, and Arizona and New Mexico, and the numbers are close in the Midwest, including Kansas and Missouri. That’s interesting — that could have something to do with the distribution of Apple retail stores, or maybe just more urban center dwellers are drawn to the iPhone. DC seems to be the exception, as Virginia and Maryland are much more Android, but otherwise, if you’re in a state with a big population center, odds are that you own an iPhone. Fascinating.

TUAWiPhone users come in all ages but probably live near a big city originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Sat, 27 Feb 2010 18:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Adafruit shows off the Square dongle for credit card payments on the iPhone

Filed under: Hardware, Software, iPhone, App Store

Adafruit is one of a few companies that has been chosen to test the Square dongle that automagically takes credit card payments on any iPhone. Even though we got to see it in action at Macworld, I think every look we can get at this thing is worth it, considering just how darn revolutionary it seems. The video on Flickr shows just how quick and easy it is — just swipe the card, and sign with your finger on the iPhone’s screen.

I haven’t bothered carrying cash for a few years now, and something like this only makes it easier to not only take payments for vendors, but for me to pay. Hot dog guy needs a few bucks but doesn’t have a landline connection to run a credit card on? No worries, just swipe and done. Want to give to the Salvation Army guy over the holidays but don’t have any money left in the wallet? Just swipe and done. Word has it that the transaction cut will be 2.9% (though the video above shows 3.5% — maybe you can change the percentage depending on circumstances), but odds are that in most cases, the convenience will be well worth it.

The whole program’s still in beta, but it probably won’t be long before you’ll see (and maybe even use) one of these out in the wild.

[Via Engadget]

TUAWAdafruit shows off the Square dongle for credit card payments on the iPhone originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Thu, 25 Feb 2010 21:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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HTC Russia says HD2 will get Windows Mobile 7 upgrade, but other ‘communicators’ won’t

And what do we have here? HTC’s Russian contingent has been rather forthcoming with its Windows Mobile 7 plans this morning, which will please HD2 owners but disappoint many others. The good news is that HTC’s flagship WinMo handset is assured of getting Microsoft’s finest when it comes out, but the bad news is that the rest of the line will remain stuck at version 6.5 or below. Here’s the tweet in the Queen’s own tongue:

For Diamond 2 firmware is not planned. Of the existing communicators on the market, only the HD2 firmware to get WM7.

Keep in mind it’s still possible, though not altogether probable, that this statement refers only to the Russian market. In either case, if you were holding out hope for your Touch Pro 2 or Snap to keep updating all the way to 7, it seems the odds are now officially stacked against you.

HTC Russia says HD2 will get Windows Mobile 7 upgrade, but other ‘communicators’ won’t originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 30 Dec 2009 10:52:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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T-Mobile cautiously resumes Sidekick sales at lower prices

After a protracted “let’s be absolutely certain we’re in the clear” period, T-Mobile has gone ahead and lifted its self-imposed moratorium on Sidekick sales following that little meltdown you may have heard about. Oh, and there’s a bonus, too: they’re a little cheaper this time around. The Sidekick 2008 has dropped to $49.99 on contract while the top-of-the-line LX 2009 has shed $25 down to $149.99 on contract, so if you were looking for an excuse to live dangerously with your precious address book, this might be as good of a reason as any. Then again, what are the odds of lightning striking twice?

Read – Sidekick 2008
Read – Sidekick LX 2009

Filed under: Cellphones

T-Mobile cautiously resumes Sidekick sales at lower prices originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 17 Nov 2009 05:08:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Unboxing an Apple employee t-shirt

Filed under: Apple Corporate, Odds and ends

A little while back we posted about the unboxing of an Apple job offer, and now here’s another unboxing having to do with becoming an Apple employee — Mac Rumors has shots up of an unboxing of one of the t-shirt giftboxes recently given to AppleCare call center staff, and once again, even in something that the public was never really supposed to see, this company shows just how much care and attention they put into their design. From the way the t-shirt’s folded, with the stark three word design sitting perfectly centered, to the embossed gift note and company stickers, clearly this is a company that believes presentation is important.

In fact, it almost makes me want to go over to Apple’s Jobs site and start looking for myself. Apple, any interest in hiring a witty, sarcastic and cynical blogger? I’ll work for peanuts!

TUAWUnboxing an Apple employee t-shirt originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Fri, 23 Oct 2009 23:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Cartoon: ReadWriteWebosaurus

I’m packing up my Wacom Cintiq, some Pigma Micron markers, a whack of paper and my camera… and I’m off to the ReadWrite Real-Time Web Summit on Thursday in Mountain View. (Full disclosure: Oh, god, where to begin?)

I’ll be cartoon-blogging about it in not-quite-real-time (unless I wind up doing something clever with, say, UStream), and uploading doodles as fast as the wireless connection will let me.

Note: this week’s cartoon is in full glorious color. We spare no expense to bring you the very latest in technology here at ReadWriteWeb’s cartoon corner. Think this RGB thing could catch on?

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This is actually my first time in Mountain View (as opposed to through Mountain View), which has defied the odds in that it has yet to be renamed Googleville. I’m looking forward to it, having been intrigued for years by Hangar One at Moffett Federal Airfield, and being enough of a Google fan that the thought of being a few short blocks from their HQ quickens my pulse. (Not to mention the nanoseconds the proximity should shave off my search queries.)

More Noise to Signal.

The ReadWrite Real-Time Web Summit is on October 15th in Mountain View, California. It’s a 1-day event bringing together some of the smartest minds doing real-time work for an industry-changing, face-to-face conversation. Registration is still open, we hope to see you there!

Discuss

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Viral Loop: Using Facebook And The iPhone To Promote Something Called A ‘Book’
Writing a book in 2009 is a tricky thing to pull off. Never mind the research, the interviews, or the writing, but then you have to face facts: who reads in 2009? Unless you’re Dan Brown or Stephen King or Glenn Beck, odds are your book, no matter how thorough or well-written, isn’t exactly going to fly off the shelves. What will fly off the virtual shelves, though, is an iPhone App. You see where I’m headed.

Adam Penenberg, who’s a contributing writer over at Fast Company magazine (and an old professor of mine from back in my NYU days), has developed an iPhone and Facebook App called “Viral Loop” to help raise awareness of his latest book, Viral Loop: From Facebook to Twitter, How Today’s Smartest Businesses Grow Themselves. Let’s take a look.

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Photo site Shutterfly goes mobile — acquires Tiny Pictures for $1.3M

Shutterfly, a company that lets you create photo albums online, has acquired mobile photo-sharing company Tiny Pictures for $1.3 million.

Shutterfly will expand its mobile offerings by using Tiny Pictures’ expertise in mobile, according to John Poisson, chief executive of Tiny Pictures, who confirmed the acquisition in an interview this morning.

The deal is a loss for investors, who had pumped in a whopping $12.2 million into the company, and suggests Tiny Pictures was unable to gain any significant traction. It faced scores, if not hundreds, of other photo sharing sites that flooded the Web in recent years, and so the odds it would produce the returns expected by its investors were very low.

Tiny Pictures runs a mobile site called Radar.net that lets users upload photos to pretty much any phone, and lets other users comment on them. Radar has an iPhone application that lets you do things like pull your Flickr photos into your Radar photo-stream. Radar enjoyed favorable reviews, but with Facebook emerging as a dominant photo sharing site online, its future looked rough as a stand alone site. Shutterfly apparently wants to apply some of these social media features to its own service.

Poisson wouldn’t comment on whether the Radar site would keep running, or be shut down. He said to “expect a new product release from us,” suggesting it would be soon, but he provided no specifics on timing. He also wouldn’t comment on the number of users Radar has.

The acquisition also includes a $1.3 million earnout for the nine-person team at Tiny Pictures, thus providing an incentive to the team to keep working at Shutterfly even if the deal is a complete wash for investors. Tiny Pictures had raised its money from Draper Fisher Jurvetson and Mohr Davidow Ventures.

Still, Poisson said he and his team are excited about joining Shutterfly, which he called a visionary company, and great fit for Tiny Pictures. Tiny Pictures was founded four years ago, and was experimenting early with things like real-time browsing, commenting and social “whispers.”

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