Tuesday, June 9, 2009
This Year’s Pre? Or Last Year’s iPhone?
Palm picked a hell of a day to launch the Pre. Two days before Apple’s World Wide Developers Conference. Two days before the unveiling of the iPhone 3G S, a new version of Apple’s iconic handset that runs twice as fast as its predecessor, shoots video with an improved three megapixel camera and boasts longer battery life and greater storage. And worst of all, two days prior to the announcement of a new $99 price point for the iPhone 3G, a disruptive move that puts the device in reach of far more consumers.
If you’re reading this on an HP Pavilion or Compaq Presario laptop, you might want to switch from battery to AC power before reading the remainder of this post. Fearing they might burst into flame, Hewlett-Packard is recalling 70,000 lithium-ion batteries that shipped with several types of its portable machines.
If/when Apple uncrates its next-generation iPhone at its Worldwide Developers Conference in June, it will be identical to its predecessor in physical design and boast only a few modest upgrades. This according to the latest rumor making the rounds, which describes the new device as a near “repeat” of the iPhone 3G.
There’s got to be a joke somewhere in the fact that Macworld, the Consumer Electronics Show and the AVN Awards (the “Pornies”) all happen during the same week. Maybe even one that hasn’t been played out 10 times over. All Things Digital was too busy covering two out of three this week to think of one.
Sony’s battery brouhaha certainly holds its charge well. Two years after initiating the largest battery recall ever in the electronics industry, Sony announced another after customers reported more than a dozen incidents of faulty lithium-ion notebook batteries bursting into flame.
What an ugly week for Apple. Voice and data reception issues plaguing iPhone 3G, MobileMe still not up to company standards, and now reports of sparking iPod Nanos. Japan’s Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry is investigating a possible battery defect in Apple’s older iPod Nano music players after receiving reports of minor fires caused by overheating devices.
