TalkingMobile » android http://talkingmobile.com Thu, 08 Jul 2010 17:48:37 +0000 en hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.0.1 Modu Going On Sale In Australia And Heading To? http://talkingmobile.com/2010/02/25/modu-going-on-sale-in-australia-and-heading-to/ http://talkingmobile.com/2010/02/25/modu-going-on-sale-in-australia-and-heading-to/#comments Thu, 25 Feb 2010 18:48:50 +0000 Harel Shattenstein http://talkingmobile.com/?p=1034 Modu has partnered a retailer store in Australia, Mobicity to sale the Modu device for 150$ and 50$ for the jackets.
This partnership  comes ofter the launch of Modu in 8 countries including Philippines, Brazil, India and more.
According to the Israeli newspaper Calcalist the company sales are increasing and it is estimated to hit millions of dollar.

But if you go back to the very start when Modu was everywhere on the 2008 MWC, throughout those days after the latest congress, Modu’s future is still unclear to say the least.
The Company started with a big promise and today it is selling a 2.5G device in developing countries, and as for the second generation, the CEO Dov Moran holds one device in his pocket, the reports says, but it was never shown to the public.
But there is more fundamental issue, the smartphone scene is blooming whereas feature phones are slowly going out of the picture.
That is the main problem of Modu from my point of view, the concept of one base device with the ability to change “identities”  is not working, not in a time when all mobile manufactures are building one device that does all.
I was very pleased to hear  that Modu is going to adopt Android as it OS, but as it seems Modu did not stand up to the peace.
Furthermore the world is not waiting for Modu, SK just announced a sim card that includes a OS, CPU and a gigabyte of flash storage is it sound familiar?
[youtube width="400" height="300"]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rrQz9xMeyRY&feature=player_embedded[/youtube]
Do not get me wrong Modu is not heading to the deadpool , they can still become the best low-end device out there, and some final words I still hope someone in Modu will wake up, i hope it is still not too late.

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]]> http://talkingmobile.com/2010/02/25/modu-going-on-sale-in-australia-and-heading-to/feed/ 3 Modu To Adopt Android http://talkingmobile.com/2009/10/06/modu-to-adopt-android/ http://talkingmobile.com/2009/10/06/modu-to-adopt-android/#comments Tue, 06 Oct 2009 17:13:18 +0000 Harel Shattenstein & Idan Gafni http://talkingmobile.com/?p=974 When Google was building its mobile operating system, I am sure it wanted that unfamiliar or small device manufacturers will adopt its OS.
Modu, the Israeli mobile device manufacturer, launched their first device with a closed simple OS. It was in part due to development resources and time constrains and of course because of the poor processing capabilities of the device that could not run heavier and more sophisticated OS. Frankly, from day one I did not understand why Modu is  investing resources to build an operating system, it is not its strength and there are good OS in the market that can be licensed just like the Android.
After struggling with launching the first device and getting rejected in developed countries Modu aimed to, Modu understood that they need to aim higher and introduce a better more modern device if they want a chance to hit deals with European and US operators. Because of the nature of the device, dramatic modification needed to be done but it is worth it. Modu will be using a versatile, more advanced OS with rapid development and constant updates and upgrades.
Secondly the eco-system that is being built alongside the OS (the application store) will contribute to the offer of Modu and will make it a more lucrative device than it could be if they decided to provide only J2ME application support.
Dov Moran told Techradar in an interview that an Android based jacket is being developed and that Modu2 “will be a touchscreen, a very unique concept, and will justify its label of being innovative. It will be a 3.5G product, but will also have a number of other features”.

modu-Google
Modu2 looked like a specially built device for the Android OS, therefore I bet that Modu will abandon its OS and will use the core of the Android operation system from now on until they have other options.
For dessert Modu mentioned that an Android based Netbook will also be released. Nokia watch out you are not alone anymore.

]]> http://talkingmobile.com/2009/10/06/modu-to-adopt-android/feed/ 7 Palm Pre Is Just The Start (Or The End?) http://talkingmobile.com/2009/01/11/palm-pre-is-just-the-start-or-the-end/ http://talkingmobile.com/2009/01/11/palm-pre-is-just-the-start-or-the-end/#comments Sun, 11 Jan 2009 20:05:07 +0000 Harel Shattenstein http://talkingmobile.com/?p=573 Frankly I did not expect Palm to steal the show, the well-anticipated event was the MacWorld.
MacWorld’s biggest announcement  was that the iTunes will become DRM-free, a great move but that’s all.
From Palm on the other hand we did expect a new OS named  “Nova” that will have a slick and smooth UI, and yes Palm did announce a new OS but that was just the tip of an ice-berg.

Palm announced the “webOS” a mobile operating system that puts the “Mobile OS war” in a new light.
Do not get me wrong, Palm is not in good shape at all, just look at Palm’s financial report which indicates more than 500 million dollars of net loss, and a 100 million dollars investment that eclipses just a bit the bad situation of Palm.

The iPhone, created a situation that developers were just waiting for Apple to release the Platform SDK, and the rest is history.
Android backed up with the internet giant Google and about 60 companies including manufactures and carriers, offers  developers a whole Eco-system that can start on one device and ends up with 20.
And Symbian that’s come with the experience of years and millions of devices that are already out there.
It seems that the Palm’s WebOS will tell developers something like this ” Hi we got a cool device, and developing apps is just an ease give it a try”
That is the crucial point for Palm, if developers will leave the WebOS and will put all their efforts on iPhone or Android based device, The Pre can be an amazing device but soon there will be a better one.
Or, developers will  pay attention to the WebOS and the PRE will be just like its ancestor, the Pre will die and long live the WebOS.
Meanwhile all is just an expectation and we will just have to wait and see, if  the PRE, is just the begging or the end of Palm.

BTW Palm apps can not be called WebApps, Apple already uses this name for the web based iPhone apps.

]]> http://talkingmobile.com/2009/01/11/palm-pre-is-just-the-start-or-the-end/feed/ 0 The Gphone Is More Google Than A Phone http://talkingmobile.com/2008/09/26/the-gphone-is-more-google-than-a-phone/ http://talkingmobile.com/2008/09/26/the-gphone-is-more-google-than-a-phone/#comments Thu, 25 Sep 2008 22:41:25 +0000 Harel Shattenstein http://talkingmobile.com/?p=353 Thats it, on Tuesday the expectation ended and the long awaited mobile phone the so-called Gphone was officially announced.
I can’t remember such anticipation for a mobile device rather than the iPhone, of course.
The G1 is a product of HTC, T-Mobile and Google, 4 executives set down and explained why the G1 will be such a hit, However it seemed that Google was not so enthusiastic, go ask Sergey Brin and Larry Page that came to say hello and roll out.
Do not get me wrong, That is Google’s first mobile phone, but for them unlike T-Mobile and HTC, it is just the beginning, The beginning of a new era.

The iPhone for example changed the mobile industry and for the first time the hardware was not the issue.
It does not matter how much megapixel the camera is and if there are stereo speakers or not.
Until the iPhone came hardware was the issue, than apple made it all about software and more important user interface.
So which era has began now that the first Android phone is out?! It is the mobile OS era.
I am sorry to disappoint you but I do not think that Apple thought at first to release the OSX SDK for developers.
Jobes, thinking as a centralist as always, wanted to alter the mobile industry like he did with the iPod, nothing less.
He did not notice the MAIN issue in mobile consumption which is the content and that the quality of experience is influenced by the variety of possibilities.
After the iPhone hit the market, it was noticed that the beautiful “box” itself isn’t enough and that Apple is not a services development company.
Back to the Android and the OS era, Google want to be on any mobile phone, where is it an Android based phone or even an iPhone.

This fact brings me to my main point, Google does not want to create full web experience mobile phones, there are already enablers that do just that, take a look at Opera, Skyfire and yes again at the iPhone.
Google just want to build a mobile OS, It have all the services to do that like mail, maps, IM etc and the rest will fall into the developers hands.
Google’s Android comparison to the iPhone is really like comparing Symbian to J2ME.
Google tries to enable others to create services but still, Google still think as the player that came after the iPhone and try to clone the AppStore’s business model.
Only in the case that Google removes all restrictions and barriers and attract the operators and the users, they will be able to take control over the mobile OS market and operate as the Microsoft of the mobile world.
If Apple continues with the same attitude, they will be the Apple of the mobile OS market, nice, shaped, with no significant market share.
So enough with my analysis what do you think?

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