My daughter couldn’t hold off any longer waiting for an iPhone. She is now a proud owner of an iPod Touch – and she loves the device.
Thanks to built in WiFi, she can use the device as an internet access terminal and do her emails as well as load up music and videos from within the university buildings or through other internet hot spots.
When you reflect on the alternate forms of connectivity that are built into these devices, and consider the way that people like Alec Saunders have avoided excessive roaming charges, you can see that the carriers have limits to their negotiating position with companies such as Apple or Google who are seeking a slice – a big slice – of the wireless pie.
It seems to me that all that is missing from the iPod Touch is a microphone and my daughter’s iPod Touch could become a WiFi enabled telephone. No carrier required. Would Apple consider such a strategy to bypass the carriers?
You know, ’tis the season for people to be shopping for new electronics. Even without the iPhone in Canada, there are lots of new phones appearing in ads and on the shelves of dealers for the upcoming peak shopping season. The LG Shine is now available from Rogers, Bell and TELUS – it looks like it is the RAZR for 2007. I stopped by a couple stores this past weekend and I noticed that the packaging for the new HTC Touch at TELUS stores was inspired by Apple. The bundle includes a hefty micro-SD memory card to help make this a hit with recipients of that gift box.
The industry is dreaming of a shiny Christmas.