This is the basic problem:  Apple announced at Macworld they they’ve sold 4 million iphones while AT&T announced that they’ve only activated around 3 million iPhones.  This has caused pundits to go stir-crazy, with some predicting dire financial repercussions for Apple.  Oh the humanity!

Where are the iPhones?

That’s the 1 million dollar question.  Are they in inventory?  Have they been unlocked in the USA?  Or have they been unlocked and sold in the back alleys of Hong Kong?  Are they in King Tut’s tomb?  There are two facts we can take away from all of this hoopla.

1. There IS a significant discrepancy between Apple’s numbers and AT&T’s; and
2. this whole story is completely overblown.

For starters, Apple is still making significant margins on each iPhone sold.  An unlocked iphone, however, doesn’t provide Apple with a monthly revenue stream from AT&T.   That said, a significant number of the unlocked iphones are rumored to be overseas in countries that don’t yet sell iphones, in which case Apple is not currently missing out on any revenue that they could potentially be earning from AT&T.  If the missing iphones are affecting anyone, it’s AT&T, not Apple.

Furthermore, it speaks to the desirability of the iPhone that people are willing to pay big money for a phone that’s not even out in the market where they reside.  And not only that, but they are willing to purchase a phone with no warranty, no support, and the knowledge that their unlocked iPhone might be made unworkable by future software updates from Apple.  And on top of that, users are paying a premium for these unlocked iphones.  Someone has to be making a profit after all.

Again, many of the iPhones seem to be thriving in overseas markets where Apple has yet to strike deals with wireless providers.  If anything, iPhone sales in these countries can be seen as a temporary bonus for Apple’s bottom line.  So yes, the iPhones are missing because people want them so damn much they’re willing to pay extra for an unlocked version.  Not that bad a problem to have, all things considered.

It seems that no matter where you turn lately, you can’t escape the word Apple when it comes to technology news. AT&T is helping to continue that trend as they earlier this week revealed their Iphone business plan. While there might have been a slight lull on Iphone conversation with all the other topics going on recently, I expect we can get ready to hear about it anew as excited employees across the country prepare to retire their current business phone to be the paper-weights they’ve always felt they were.

In my office, the Blackberry has been the phone of choice and rarely does a day go by that I’m not helping one person or another with a variety of Blackberry issues. Yet in our building filled to the brim with diehard Blackberry fans and self-proclaimed Apple haters, time and time again do I get asked by my coworkers, as they pause between tracks on the newest model Ipod, “when will we get to use the IPhone?”. Despite the fact most of them live and breathe by their Blackberry and that I do not know a single one of them who uses AT&T as their service provider, their desire for the IPhone is loud; a lion roar to my ears. I can almost hear their joyful, child-like glee as their minds race with fantasies about being able to open their Excel spreadsheets on their phone.

While I’d be interested to support the technical issues of the IPhone, (simply because that means I could play with them more often) after doing so with the Blackberry this long, I do not know how keen our Higher Ups will be to fork over the funds that AT&T is asking for, especially considering the excellent deals we have in place through a variety of providers. I would imagine this outlook applies to many businesses, yet the demand for the IPhone is so high it will be impossible to ignore. High enough that AT&T can confidently charge over two times what they do for consumer packages. And they can go to bed smiling, because we’ll pay it.

Those familiar with AT&Ts consumer rates will see the leap in price right away. With their business plans, they currently offer a total of three enterprise data options (each require a minimum two-year contract):

IPhone 200: 200 SMS, unlimited domestic data, visual voicemail – $45
IPhone 1500: 1500 SMS, unlimited domestic data, visual voicemail – $55
IPhone Unlimited: Unlimited SMS, unlimited domestic data, visual voicemail – $65

While I find the jump from 200 SMS to 1500 SMS for only a 10$ increase fair enough, it’s hard to swallow the IPhone 200 plan starting at $45 when the same level consumer plan will run you around $20, though the unlimited data certainly counts for something. In addition, AT&T is currently offering a $25 monthly credit to new accounts that are activated before the end of March, so that lessens the sting quite well, letting only those who miss this deadline take the brunt of the venom.

So while I’ll continue to wait patiently for the actual device itself to lower in price, I will be sorely tempted if my bosses end up breaking under the demand and decide to take advantage of these business plans. In the meantime I’ll have to be satisfied with my metal can with the string tied to it.

More details of the IPhone and AT&T’s service plans may be found on their website: AT&T IPhone Business Plans

With Macw

Origami fans—or just people who like money and have a lot of it lying about—might find Enrique Pardo’s iPhone accessory interesting. The Swiss photographer and graphic designer folded a $100 bill in all sorts of clever ways and turned it into a stand for either jesusPhone or iPod Touch. How-to video is after the jump, plus a quick Q&A session with Enrique.

Gizmodo: Hey Enrique, how did the idea come about?
Enrique Pardo: I made the stand because I had thrown away the little plastic stand that came with my iPod touch. I was taking the train to Paris and spent 3 hours thinking of how I could make my iPod stand to watch a movie.”

Brilliant. Read the article and commentary: “The $100 iPhone/iPod Touch Stand Made from a Piece of Paper“

Not everyone likes to mess around with hardware and dive right in to having fun with their toys, but Softpedia has a manual that helps make this process easy. They’ve provided very detailed information and numerous screen shots for the gaming and Ubuntu enthusiasts.

Getting started:

1. An USB flash drive or a Memory Card (PS3 can read only SD/miniSD Memory Card, Memory Stick PRO (Duo) and CompactFlash). Or, as an alternative, you can use a portable hard disk with FAT32 filesystem on it.

2. An USB keyboard and mouse attached to your PS3.

3. Ubuntu 7.10 (Gutsy Gibbon) PS3 ISO image, which you can always download from Softpedia. You will need to burn this ISO image on a blank CD with your favorite CD/DVD burning tool.

Read the article: “Ubuntu 7.10 on PS3 – Installation“

NBC’s contract with Apple has expired and all NBC-owned shows are no longer available for purchase on the iTunes store. Fans might be saddened to learn that shows from other channels such as the USA Network and the Sci-Fi network will also be part of the exodus. The two companies were apparently unable to come to a consensus regarding pricing and subsequently engaged in a public battle of contradicting accusations.

Apple maintains that NBC wanted to raise the price of TV shows to 4.99 while NBC asserts that they simply wanted Apple to experiment with a tiered pricing system for only one show as an experiment. Some also speculate that NBC wanted a cut of iPod sales, something that Apple, or any rational company for that matter, would never agree to (sorry Microsoft). In short, neither side caved and this publicity-laden game of chicken ended in a draw for the two companies, leaving us consumers as losers.

Several interesting tidbits that are noteworthy:

First there is Jeff Zucker’s (Preseidnt and CEO of NBC Universal) absurd rationalization for his company’s hardlined stance against Apple. Zucker accused Apple of using its content to further promote the sale of its iPod players. Umm, last time I checked, isn’t that what companies do to sell TVs, DVD players, and an assortment of other appliances? Then, in so many words, he accused Apple of getting rich off of other people’s creative content and screwing the studios in the process. Oh lord, where do I even begin? For starters, the overwhelming majority of iPods are filled with music, not videos. And incidentally, the current writers strike gives you a better idea as to who’s screwing who in Hollywood.

Second, NBC saw how Apple shook up the music industry with iTunes and is paranoid about losing power, and more importantly, the ability to stranglehold partners for more money. Isn’t it ironic that NBC has such a short and selective memory? If you recall, when the NBC show “The Office” first premiered in 2005 it received lackluster ratings. Any viewer of the first season can attest to the genius comedy “The Office” bestowed upon its fans, but sadly, no one was watching. Once “The Office” became available on the iTunes Store, however, ratings didn’t mysteriously creep up, they skyrocketed! Putting “The Office” on the iTunes store not only made “The Office” more accessible to those who were previously unable to watch, but also created a strong word-of-mouth buzz about the show. In a short amount of time, “The Office” was transformed into a show what was on the brink of cancellation into a national hit. Now in it’s fourth season, the advertising revenue NBC has received from the show is probably so exorbitant that it makes you wonder just how greedy these studio execs really are.

Third, there are strong rumors that NBC wanted a cut of iPod sales which only served to complicate the negotiations. Maybe NBC should also get a cut of TV and radio sales. Can you imagine Samsung giving NBC $ for each TV set it sells? Microsoft agreed to give Universal a cut of every Zune it sells simply because it showed up late to the party and had no leverage during negotiations. In effect, NBC is trying to make the “Microsoft exception” the rule and Apple, rightly so, is not playing along — I guess greed knows no bounds.

The story doesn’t end there!

NBC, along with a few other TV partners, have decided to go it alone and offer consumers online videos via their new website, Hulu.com. The website is still in Beta and is expected to be fully functional sometime soon (no date has yet been set). The videos will all be ad-supported and as of now, they only work if you’re running “Internet Explorer, the NBC Direct Player (Windows Only), and the latest .Net framework.” Huh? Also, the video will only play on the computer used for the download and can not be transferred to any type of media playback device.

Will NBC’s attempt to wrestle back control from Apple succeed?

You would think that the bigwigs at the studios would be smart enough to create a service that would run on any browser (Firefox anyone?), on any OS (Mac anyone?) and not require the latest .Net framework (what the hell is that anyways?). The fight for online dominance in the realm of video is underway and Round 1 is about to begin.

I’ll take a stab at the issue of innovation and digital technology, because whether or not we believe an idea is destined for failure, it’ll be the basis for evolution of future products based on the reader concept. The latest Amazon toy is interesting to me for a number of reasons which I’ll explain below. Here’s a brief excerpt of an article from the NY Times, “E-book reader just may catch on.”

Printed books are dirt cheap, never run out of power and survive drops, spills and being run over. And their file format will still be readable 200 years from now.

So e-book readers keep on coming and keep on flopping: the Rocket eBook Reader. Gemstar. Everybook. SoftBook. Librius Millennium Reader. The Sony Reader is in stores even now, priced at $350 and making literally dozens of sales. Then on Monday, Amazon introduced its own e-book reader, called the Kindle. It arrives at $400 — reading material sold separately.

Are they completely nuts? The Kindle is a thin, 10-ounce slab of white plastic, tucked into a leatherette cover. It’s not, ahem, gorgeous; it’s all white plastic, sharp angles and visible seams, with all the design panache of a Commodore 64.

One look at the gadget, and you have to gag if you’re a fan of aesthetics and design. It’s an utterly reprehensible piece of hardware, it’s like Amazon is intentionally leaving itself room for Kindle 2.0 and beyond. Seriously, as far as design goes, any clown can come up with a prettier looking device that caters to it’s core functionality. The enthusiast in you might be inclined to disagree on this issue, for one simple reason. Function triumphs between a battle of design and function in technology. Fine, I’ll grant that argument, but please don’t tell me that the brains at Amazon couldn’t come up with a prettier looking device?

Consider the apple iToys for reference. They aren’t overwhelming with functionality, but they serve their purpose and the designs are simple, sleek and have cute and innovative functionality that consumers enjoy. The “touch” navigation and excellent compatibility with all sorts of devices for data transfer as well as simplicity for max compatibility with gurus and geezers alike. Now take Amazon’s Kindle (e-reader) It basically wraps an old idea into a new “design”.

Brilliant product for Amazon to focus on due to the popularity of e-books and blogs, but the design leaves much to be desired. I’ll take a closer look at the product in the future and we’ll see what kind of innovative ideas they have up their sleeves. For now, the gadget will be gobbled up by tech enthusiasts (that’s you) and it’ll give Amazon stockholders something to smile about over the next few quarters. The big question is, what happens if it indeed becomes a success? Could Amazon make a successful jump into hardware and software development, after all the Internet is the wave of the future!

Look, the kindle product is a nice hint of things to come. We’ll probably not see great success in the marketing of such products for at least five or maybe ten years, once prices drop and the innovation and competition begins. Whether Amazon will be the company that brings tablet and e-book readers to the forefront of technology is entirely speculative so I won’t waste your time with detailed commentary on that front. That said, if I had to bet on someone making a tablet concept or e-reader a success, my pick would be Apple’s future line of tablets or ipod variants. Additionally. Lenovo’s Tablet PC evolution may yield a product that is everything Amazon would like it’s Kindle to be and more.

Hey, you don’t have to take my word for it. This guy played with the Kindle for 1 week and as I predicted, the model leaves much to be desired and it wasn’t just about the ergonomics and aesthetics.

the iPhone’s Saturday Night Live debut