Apple faces more competition

Nokia and SanDisk have sounded Apple with what might be the biggest competition for Apple iProducts. Nokia with its dominance in the mobile phone market is not taking it easy after Apple unleashed its iPhone into the market.In almost direct retaliation , Nokia takes a dig into the Apple Store/itunes model with its own OVI platform.

-- Nokia would be charging €uro 1 for a song a €uro 10 for an album. This is higher than what iTunes already charges its customer.The direction that Nokia are taking might be right , but their pricing strategy might just be the weak link.The file format (WMV) could also be a deterrent for people used to MP3 consoles.

Sandisk on the other hand launched the Sansa Clip which would be in direct competition to the iPod Shuffle. The clip also comes with a FM radio , voice recorder and a display. Sandisk has however priced this product at just the right price with a 1GB model priced at $40 and a 2GB model priced at $60.

Nokia and Sandisk both have their advantages in bringing the competition to Apple's doorstep. Nokia being the largest mobile phone manufacturer already has a huge customer base for their products and added functionalities like these help in retaining the customers. Nokia with its Nseries phone ( the N95 in particular) has already demonstrated the ability to create smart phones like the iPhone. With iPhone receiving a lot of flak for having a single service provider (AT&T) and not letting people unlock their phones, It might be the right time for Nokia to enter into the US market - where they do not have a major presence.

Sandisk being in the flash memory business already will find it easier to cope with pricing issues , if Apple decides to fight the pricing war.Sandisk has the advatage of being a leader in flash memory technology and being a respected brand and it also has a decent market share in the music player segment ( although it comes nowhere near the cult status of iPod).

These are interesting times for the technology industry and everyone is eagerly waiting for Apple's next move. The September 5 iPod event in Sanfrancisco should be an interesting one.

Update Sony brings in more competition to the Ipod. Check out this article about the new Sony Walkman on Utility Belt.

No electricity in Chicago!!!

Yesterday was the first time I experienced a blackout in America.(I was given to understand that America never blacksout during my younger days - although this myth was broken the day NY blacked out. I didn't quite expect it). There had been a tornado warning near the suburb that I live and the storm gusts had uprooted trees and electric poles. My whole community was out of power. But thanks to the good souls working for ComEd ( the poor guys are working 16 hour a day shifts in this weather) -I managed to get the electricity late this afternoon.

P.S - this Mt Prospect community is 4 miles from my house :)

iPhone

There are some people who swear by brands like Apple or Google and think they can never bring a bad product to the market. There are a few others who take their time and wait for things to evolve a bit before jumping into the hype. The second group might just have hit a treasure chest because of this hacker. AT&T holds the rights as the sole service provider for the iPhone in the US. Now that need not necessarily be the case.

Update - Apparently there are now three different ways of doing it

Oh and -- If you thought having an iPhone was cool - think again - AT&T sends an itemized billing and sometimes runs up to 300 pages. Check this for example



People really should choose e-billing and stop all this deforestation for a monthly phone bill. Don't ya think? (ah! The environmentalist in me)

Update - AT&T gets back to smaller paper
bills.

Kiriket in Oosaa

All was well for the first few weeks in US as a bachelor - I got to watch all the TV that I wanted on weekends, got to eat from different cuisines ( although it was mostly Taco or Pizza Hut) , and got to see all those new places. After a couple of weeks though , I realised that
1) I was being spendthrift
2) I was gaining weight at an alarming rate , with all the cheese in the food
3) And I was being eternally lazy , sitting in front of a computer or a TV.

Thats when it dawned that , I needed some physical exercise or some sort of cooking at home. Discouraged by the bad return on Investment while cooking at home ( imagine having to cook for a couple of hours and having all that you cooked go into your stomach in 10 mins - aint that bad returns? ), I started looking out for people willing to play cricket. Having found a team and having had the net sessions and all , I was ready to begin my career as a 2nd Divison player ( yeah thats what they call it here -- Too much).

Wearing a dress that distinctly reminded me of the Holland jerseys ( the jerseys were apparently chosen to make sure they are never worn outside of a cricket match - duh!!!), I got into the field enthusiastically. After a couple of minutes , I realised that I might be able to dive on the ground. I didn't want to try the dive but I finally managed to slip and fall due to the dew on the grass. The ball managed to stick to my hand as I slipped and fell and it was misconstrued as a valiant dive to stop the ball (If only my teammates knew). After cheering for the bowlers in my team , I was called onto bowl. After a rather brilliant spell of bowling , I was given a well deserved rest.
Yep, That is me - holding on to a bruised toe after an intense bowling performance , where I managed to bowl more full tosses and wides than legitimate good balls :) After many gulps of Gatorade ( yeah we are the quintessential athletes) and a breezy knock , I headed home.