Google phone rumors put damper on Droid buzz
By Matthew Shaer | 11.18.09
As if we weren’t already buried in Android buzz.
A week after Verizon Wireless rolled out the Droid, a smartphone manufactured by Motorola and powered by Google’s Android operating system, one blogger is reporting that Google is prepping its very own Android handset. According to the estimable Michael Arrington at TechCrunch, the Google phone could hit shelves as early as the first months of 2010, just in time to mop up the post-holiday traffic.
Here’s Arrington on the Google phone, which will reportedly be sold directly through retailers:
They were long planning to have the phone be available by the holidays, but it has now slipped to early 2010. The phone will be produced by a major phone manufacturer but will only have Google branding (Microsoft did the same thing with their first Zunes, which were built by Toshiba). There won’t be any negotiation or compromise over the phone’s design of features – Google is dictating every last piece of it. No splintering of the Android OS that makes some applications unusable. Like the iPhone for Apple, this phone will be Google’s pure vision of what a phone should be.
This is potentially ground-breaking news, and it didn’t take long before the blogosphere was bandying around Google phone rumors at a terrifying velocity. But let’s take a step back. What would a Google phone really mean? Well, for one, it would be a major buzz kill for Verizon Wireless.
According to media tracking firm Flurry, more than 250,000 people picked up a Droid handset last week – a major-league kick-off, no matter which way you slice it. And early tests of the Droid have been pretty positive, with reviewers praising the Droid’s navigation capabilities, its full QWERTY keyboard, and its suite of web applications.
A Google phone, presumably, would run roughshod all over Verizon’s plans for world domination. It would also add to the congestion in an already crowded market. Palm is busy pushing its Pixi and its Pre, while Apple is rumored to be rolling out a cheaper iPhone. Then there’s the BlackBerry Storm, to say nothing of phones such as the Motorola Cliq.
Still, the Google phone, which Arrington says could be manufactured by LG or Samsung, would have enough cachet to cut through the noise. The bigger question is whether Google wants to get into the hardware game. In a much-discussed interview with the New York Times, Palm CEO Jon Rubinstein suggested that a good smartphone is product of synergy – something Google can certainly provide.
“The companies that will deliver the best products are the ones that integrate the whole experience — the hardware, the software and the services — and aren’t getting one piece from here and one piece from there and trying to bolt it all together,” Rubinstein said.
Of course, it’s possible that the Google phone is only a big, fat rumor. Over at PC World, JR Raphael cautions readers to have some patience. “Here’s the truth: Google may very well have something like this in the works,” Raphael writes. “It strikes many in the tech industry as unlikely – but hey, anything’s possible. The point, however, is that contrary to what many reports are implying, we simply don’t know.”
Drop us a line here, or on Twitter, @CSMHorizonsBlog.
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Modern Warfare 2 grosses $550 million in first five days
By Matthew Shaer | 11.18.09
Last week, Activision announced that Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 had broken the record for most successful entertainment launch of all time.
The numbers were monumental: 4.7 million copies sold in the first 24 hours alone, and an earning report that topped $310 million. And that was only counting the Modern Warfare 2 blitz in North America and the UK.
So what about worldwide sales? Today, we have the answer. According to Activision, Modern Warfare 2 grossed $550 million since last week’s launch – another entertainment industry record. The Los Angeles Times, citing a source at Activision, reports that 8 million copies of the game have been sold; analysts expect that at least another 10 million games will be eventually be unloaded.
“The title’s success redefines entertainment as millions of consumers have chosen to play Modern Warfare 2 at unprecedented levels rather than engage in other forms of media,” Activision CEO Bobby Kotick said in a statement.
Still, that success hasn’t come without some controversy. Several British politicians have spoken out against Modern Warfare 2, and in Russia, Activision is releasing a censored version of the game. The Russian edition leaves out a scene called “No Russian,” which allowed the user the opportunity to shoot at – or otherwise injury – innocent civilians in a Moscow airport.
“Other countries have formal ratings boards that we regularly work with. However, Russia does not have a formal ratings entity,” Activision said in a recent statement. “As a result, we chose to block the scene after seeking the advice of local counsel.”
Have you had a chance to play Modern Warfare 2? Drop a line in the comments section, or find us on Twitter.
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Droid launch party could be cut short by arrival of new iPhone
By Matthew Shaer | 11.06.09
Droid launch day is here, and it couldn’t come soon enough. For weeks, we’ve been digging through the waves of buzz surrounding the Android 2.0 Droid – the iDon’t commercials, the photo leaks, the Droid Eris, the official list of specs, a massive Droid launch event in New York City, and that cool Droid advertisement with all the stealth bombers.
Sorry folks, but the Horizons team has Droid launch fatigue.
So imagine our happiness when we turned on the Internets this morning and discovered that someone else feels the same way. According to the team over at Boy Genius Report, Apple is in the final stages of prepping a bargain-basement priced iPhone, which would undercut the Droid, and bring the Droid launch party to a screeching halt.
BGR is filing their report under the category of “whisper,” but it should be said that BGR is rarely wrong – this is the blog that had the Droid specs before anyone else, and the site has been exceptionally snappy with picking up gossip on all manner of smartphone. If BGR is correct, Apple would launch a $99 8GB iPhone 3G S sometime in the next month.
The idea is pretty clear: A sub-$100 iPhone, priced for Christmas shoppers, and rolled out right in time to flatten the Droid launch parade. (It should be said that the $99 iPhone would obviously only come in at $99 if you bought the thing with a 2-year contract.)
Meanwhile, many bloggers have whipped themselves into a frenzy over a second Droid smartphone, which is being manufactured by the Taiwan company HTC. The Droid Eris, which will also be sold by Verizon, will reportedly get a price tag of $100, less than half the cost of the Motorola Droid, and right in line with the BGM estimate on a cheaper iPhone.
Among the features on the HTC Droid Eris are a Qualcomm MSM 7600 528MHz processor, a 5.0 megapixel auto focus camera, and a 3.2 inch 320×480 HVGA capacitive touch screen.
Are you sold? Or will you be standing by your iPhone? Drop us a line here, or on Twitter, @CSMHorizonsBlog.
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Verizon Droid Eris undercuts Motorola Droid on price
By Matthew Shaer | 11.05.09
Well, we’re less than 24 hours away from the release of the Droid, the much-hyped smartphone built by the folks over at Motorola. And as we noted earlier this afternoon, Verizon has been saturating the airwaves with a commercial touting the Android-equipped Droid as the phone that could finally knock the Apple iPhone off its perch.
But the Motorola Droid isn’t the only Droid in town. Much of the Internet buzz today has centered on a second Droid smartphone – this one manufactured by Taiwan company HTC. The HTC Droid, which will also be sold by Verizon, will reportedly get a price tag of $100, less than half the cost of the Motorola Droid. And a partial features list obtained by ZDNet is impressive:
• Qualcomm MSM 7600 528MHz processor
• CDMA/EV-DO Rev A. support
• 3.2 inch 320×480 HVGA capacitive touch screen and trackball interface
• 5.0 megapixel auto focus camera
• Expandable memory with pre-installed 8 GB microSD card
• Bluetooth, Wi-Fi and 3.5 mm headset connectivity
• Integrated GPS and a digital compass with a sensor that enables the phone to know what direction it is facing
In October, we reported on the possibility that Verizon was readying three Droid phones – the HTC Droid, and two Motorola models. Engadget has revealed details on the second Motorola phone, which apparently features BLUR capability. The BLUR system, which powers the Motorola CLIQ, is designed with social network users in mind. The interface facilitates access to sites such as Facebook and MySpace; photo and emailing capability are also streamlined.
Drop us a line here, or on Twitter, @CSMHorizonsBlog.
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New ad bills Verizon Droid as ’stealth’ tech
By Matthew Shaer | 11.05.09
Update: Verizon Droid Eris undercuts Motorola Droid on price
Friday is the official release date of the Droid, a smartphone manufactured by Motorola and powered by Verizon Wireless. And Verizon isn’t missing any chances to bombard potential consumers with news of the Droid. Beginning earlier this week, Verizon aired an advertisement billing the Android-equipped Droid as next-generation ’stealth’ technology – a device worthy of the weeks of hype.
At the start of the new television advertisement, which was shown repeatedly during Game Six of the World Series, a squadron of stealth bombers scream through a cloudy sky. Each of the planes drops a small black package toward the farmland below. The camera then follows people cautiously approaching the craters left by the bombers. In the final frames, one of the black packages opens to reveal a blinking Droid phone. (See video below.)
So how do the Droid ads stack up? Pretty well. The production value of the ad is high, and the mysterious atmosphere is in line with the entire Droid campaign. As we’ve noted, Verizon has relied on a whip-’em-into-a-frenzy viral marketing approach, waiting for the very last minute to actually reveal photos of the Droid. (If you were wondering, that’s the Droid in the photo at right.)
In October, Verizon released the “iDroid” spots, which played down the capabilities of the Apple iPhone. “iDon’t have a real keyboard. iDon’t run simultaneous apps. iDon’t take night shots. iDon’t allow open development,” reads anti-Apple copy posted on the Droid website. “iDon’t customize. iDon’t run widgets. iDon’t have interchangeable batteries. Everything iDon’t, Droid does.”
On Friday, Verizon will unveil the ultimate marketing gimmick – a promotion allowing New Yorkers to control two of Times Square’s largest digital billboards using only voice commands. According to Verizon, the billboards will ask passersby to call a toll-free number to search for something in the Times Square area. The results will then be displayed on the digital billboards using Google Maps.
Early tests of the Droid have been largely positive, with reviewers praising the Droid’s navigation capabilities, its full QWERTY keyboard, and its lush screen display, which bests the iPhone in terms of resolution. At CNET, Kent German and Bonnie Cha called the Droid “a real competitor to Apple’s device.”
Update: Verizon Droid Eris undercuts Motorola Droid on price
Are you sold? Or will you be standing by your iPhone? Drop us a line here, or on Twitter, @CSMHorizonsBlog.
