iPhone News Updated

This week we have two retro-themed games for your enjoyment. First up is Duck Hunt, which was one of the first games developed and published by Nintendo. It was released in 1984 as both an arcade and console game, and was one of the original titles that shipped with the Nintendo Entertainment System (better known as the NES). In Duck Hunt, players attempt to shoot down ducks in mid-flight. Throughout the game, the player is accompanied by a nameless dog that laughs at the player if no duck is hit, and congratulates the player if a duck is hit. It’s not quite as easy as it looks, and using your finger with the iPhone’s touch screen brings a new twist to this old game.

Next up is Carmadillio, an iPhone update of the classic game Frogger from mynumo.com. Instead of a frog however, in Carmadillo you’re an armadillo–who not only has to avoid cars, trucks, and motorcycles but snakes, wolves and obstacles as well. Just so you know, Carmadillo was created specifically for the iPhone and makes full use of the iPhone’s landscape screen.

Check them both out using the links below.

Duck Hunt (link for iPhone and desktop browsers)

Carmadillio (link for iPhone and desktop browsers)

Skype, a peer-to-peer Internet telephony network, has for years provided free and low-cost voice and text communications to its users. Now Shape Services has brought their IM+ for Skype client to the iPhone through a new web service. IM+ for Skype for the iPhone allows you to place VOIP calls to Skype users around the world, as well as any landline and mobile phone, using the SkypeOut service*. Though it’s not free, it sure is a lot cheaper that at&t’s international rates.

In addition, you can check to see if other Skype users are online (to see if they are ready to receive a call) or text them for free using the integrated messaging client. IM+ for Skype was designed especially for iPhone’s touch screen and is intended to complement the iPhone interface. The current beta of the software is free for a limited time, so check it out below and let us know how it goes.

IM+ for Skype for the iPhone (information page)

IM+ for Skype for the iPhone (application link for iPhone only)

*Note–please be aware that although Shape Service’s IM+ for Skype client uses the Skype API, it is not a product of Skype (who provides the SkypeOut service).

If you’ve ever fumbled your way through a foreign language phrasebook during your travels (not to mention butchering a word’s pronunciation!), then you will undoubtedly appreciate the iPhone Translator from coolgorilla.com. Sponsored by lastminute.com, the free translator provides talking phase books in five languages: French, German, Italian, Portuguese, and Spanish.

For each language, you can choose from a number of categories such as “Essentials,” “Food & Drink,” and “Shopping.” Clicking on any category brings up a selection of words or phases for you to choose from. Selecting the phrase gives you the English and foreign language translation along with the spoken words to provide you with the correct pronunciation.

This nifty tool should make international travel a lot more convenient. We just hope that at&t can start to provide more reasonable international roaming rates to make this great application even more useful abroad. Check it out at the link below.

by Sascha Segan

"There's something in the air."

That was Apple's tagline for this past week's Macworld Expo, and by that, they probably meant the MacBook Air. The ultraportable laptop was the show-stealer of Steve Jobs's keynote address, but it may not have even been Apple's most significant product announcement of the show.

For everything that was "in the air" at Macworld Expo, there were pre-show rumors that didn't pan out, products that didn't receive enough attention, and announcements ripe for second-guessing. Here's a recap of what didn't show its face at Macworld, what happened instead, and whether any of it will make a difference in the long run.

Not In the Air: Jay-Z
Hov? Hoax! Despite the pre-Macworld rumors that rapper Jay-Z would be tapped to spearhead an Apple music label, nothing of the sort happened. Randy Newman was the only musician to perform live at the keynote, and he's pretty much the opposite of Jay-Z. One reason for Jay-Z's absence may have been a last-minute beef with Steve Jobs over Jay-Z's cameo appearance in Bill Gates's CES farewell video. But that reason's completely made up... just like the whole "Jay-Z left Def Jam for Apple" rumor.

In the Air Instead: NAS
Looks like NAS took this round against Jay-Z. Unfortunately, rap-beef aficionados, that's NAS as in "network-attached storage," not "Illmatic." Apple's new Time Capsule, a wireless-N router with a built-in 500GB or 1TB hard drive, is aimed to ease back-up and storage in conjunction with Mac OS X Leopard's Time Machine application. Could this be the reason for Jay-Z's absence? Maybe he heard NAS would be at Macworld and steered clear of the Moscone Center.

Not In the Air: Penryn MacBooks
The timing seemed too good to be true: Intel released its energy-efficient Mobile Penryn processors about a week before Macworld Expo. Naturally, Intel's new 45-nanometer processor would be the centerpiece of any new Apple laptops, what with their battery-saving efficiency and beefed-up L2 cache. Right? Well, no... at least not yet.

In the Air Instead: Custom Core 2 Duo
There's something in the Air, but it's not Intel's current-gen chip. Instead of the brand-new Penryn processor, Apple worked with Intel to build a customized, shrunken-down version of its 65-nanometer Core 2 Duo processor. This CPU joins the MacBook Air's miniaturized motherboard and non-removable battery in the ultraportable's list of unique internal components. With all that internal customization, will Penryn show up in the MacBook and MacBook Pro before the Air? And will there need to be a customized version of the Penryn processor in future versions of the MacBook Air, or will the normal Penryn processor work?

Not In the Air: HSDPA, WiMax, or EV-DO
WiMax was a major buzzword at CES this year, with Sprint Nextel pasting advertisements for its far-reaching, high-speed, semi-pronounceable Xohm wireless network all over the place. Sprint and Verizon already have EV-DO networks, untethering anyone with a laptop and an EV-DO card from Wi-Fi hotspots. And while anyone with an iPhone currently has to settle for EDGE and Wi-Fi connections, AT&T has an HSDPA network of its own that could lay the foundation for the much-coveted 3G iPhone. The MacBook Air is sleek and light, but a cellular card would make that extreme portability even more attractive to potential buyers: they could wander anywhere with a solid cell signal and stay connected away from a Wi-Fi hotspot. What's more, a combined monthly iPhone and MacBook Air HSDPA bill through AT&T could be a nice way to consolidate bills (albeit one that could induce serious sticker shock). Hey, Apple's great at integrating iPods with everything. Why not use those integration skills for the bills?

In the Air Instead: Wireless N
With a 802.11n card on board, the MacBook Air make a trade-in. Instead of the "stay connected everywhere" nature of a cellular card, it gets the better-than-802.11g range and speed of a wireless N network. Keep in mind that you'll need a wireless N router to make the most of the MacBook Air's 802.11n card. Of course, Apple's AirPort Extreme router and its new Time Capsule device provide that high-speed Wi-Fi access. And if you have other computers on your network that only connect at 802.11b/g speeds -- or if you leave your Wi-Fi home network open for anyone to hop on the Web -- keep in mind that any device with a wireless-G or wireless-B card can slow down that 802.11n network. That's even the case if you're connected to a wireless-N router with a wireless-N device.

Not In the Air: Ethernet, FireWire, and USB Ports
Adding to the MacBook Air's connectivity limitations is the lack of an Ethernet port, which means Wi-Fi's the only way to go. Well, kind of: you could pick up a USB-to-Ethernet adapter to ensure you've got a back-up connectivity option on the road, but that would take up the MacBook Air's sole USB port. Speaking of USB ports, you'd also max them out by plugging in a USB mouse, which is common for the kind of road warrior that might be attracted to the MacBook Air. At least the Ethernet and USB conundrums have workarounds; the lack of a FireWire port on the MacBook Air could be a serious deal-breaker for anyone planning to edit video on it. For a company that prides itself on its multimedia chops and its "for the people" media-editing apps, FireWire is a curious omission to the MacBook Air's array of ports.

In the Air Instead: Best Touchpad Ever?
Could the MacBook Air's touchpad be a USB-mouse killer? The nifty, gesture-friendly touchpad looks enticing enough to make using a mouse with the Air less likely, even for road warriors. Still, there are plenty of people out there who don't like using touchpads, so having only one USB port might be something to think about if they swear by a travel mouse.

Not In the Air: 160GB MacBook Air
As Harry McCracken points out in this analysis of the MacBook Air, the 80GB MacBook Air uses the same 1.8-inch hard drive found in the 80GB iPod Classic. So why not release a 160GB version of the MacBook Air with the same 1.8-inch hard drive found in the 160GB iPod Classic? Fear of cannibalizing potential Time Capsule sales?

In the Air Instead: 64GB solid-state MacBook Air
The 64GB solid-state drive (SSD) option on the MacBook Air got a lot of people excited, but it comes at a hefty price. With the solid-state drive and the slower 1.6GHz Intel Core 2 Duo CPU, the MacBook Air will cost just short of $2,800. With the base configuration (80GB hard drive and a 1.6GHz CPU), the Air comes in at $1,799. That means it's an extra $1,000 for the solid-state drive option alone -- that's about the same price as a MacBook. Still, the SSD could mean a faster start-up time, a very quiet computer, and great battery life for the MacBook Air in that configuration.

Not In the Air: Higher-capacity iPhones and iPods
The same "why no 160GB MacBook Air?" argument applies here, except in reverse. If the MacBook Air can house a 64GB solid-state drive in its ultra-thin frame, why not pack that same amount of solid-state storage into the iPhone and iPod Touch? The iPhone maxes out at 8GB and the iPod Touch hits the ceiling at 16GB. A 32GB version of the iPod Touch would most likely be a hot seller, as would a 16GB version of the iPhone. Those higher-capacity portables are probably coming soon, but it would have been nice to see them now.

In the Air Instead: New iPhone and iPod Apps
Finally, iPhone users can text-message more than one person at a time. The new Google Maps location-finding feature is also a great addition to the iPhone firmware, as is the ability to bookmark Web pages and launch them from an icon on the iPhone home screen. Plus, the new iPod Touch apps (e-mail, Google Maps, stock info, a notepad, and weather information) truly make it the same thing as the first-released iPhone without the phone. However, Apple is charging $20 for these iPod Touch firmware updates; iPhone owners get them for free. I've talked to a few iPod Touch owners who don't appreciate the nickel-and-diming.

Not In the Air: MacBook and MacBook Pro price cuts
Back in September, Apple ruffled some feathers when they dropped the price of the iPhone without introducing a new model or new storage capacities for the phone. Now, they've announced a new laptop without making price cuts to the other notebooks in its stable. Could the MacBook and MacBook Pro's prices be dropping soon? Well, it might not even matter. Both are better buys than the MacBook Air as it is.

In the Air Instead: Getting a MacBook or a MacBook Pro anyway
At least in terms of price, Apple is positioning the MacBook Air as its mid-level laptop, shoehorned in between the entry-level MacBook and the high-end MacBook Pro. When you look at each laptop's features and components, however, the Air is actually the lowest-end laptop Apple offers. For $1,099, the base version of the MacBook has a faster processor (2.0GHz Intel Core 2 Duo), equal storage capacity (80GB), an internal combo drive, and a better array of ports (Ethernet, FireWire 400, and two USB ports). The high-end configuration of the MacBook has an even faster 2.2GHz Core 2 Duo, a 160GB hard drive, a double-layer SuperDrive, and the same array of ports... all for $300 less than the MacBook Air. At 5 lbs., the MacBook isn't exactly an anvil, either. As for the MacBook Pro, the 17-inch fully loaded version features a NVIDIA GeForce 8600M GT graphics card, a wider array of ports (including a FireWire 800 port and an ExpressCard slot), and a 2.4GHz or 2.6GHz Core 2 Duo processor for $2,799. That's still less than the 64GB SSD / 1.8GHz MacBook Air. Unless sheer sleekness is what you're after, the MacBook and the MacBook Pro are both smarter buys.

Not In the Air: HD DVD and Blu-ray
The lack of any talk involving high-def DVD formats underscored one of the main differences between Macworld and CES. At CES, much of the buzz was about the HD DVD format being "dead," thanks to Warner Bros. announcing right before the show that the studio would be going Blu-ray-only. But at Macworld? With no optical drives in the MacBook Air and Apple TV's rebirth as a standalone set-top video rental and purchase box, Apple's banking on the fact that the future of high-def movie delivery isn't on a disc or in any other tangible format. And they're probably right.

In the Air Instead: High-Def iTunes Downloads
HD DVD? Blu-ray? How about neither. Apple is positioning itself to be a leader in the HD download war, a fact that could be a catalyst in making both high-def DVD formats obsolete. The bulk of the time in Steve Jobs's keynote was devoted to presenting the Apple TV's new video rental service and computer-free features. With all the major movie studios on board for the rental and purchasing options, Apple turned an also-ran announcement at last year's Macworld Expo -- the Apple TV -- into a more intriguing device with a bright future. Netflix has a set-top box in the works, and the Vudu set-top box already lets you rent and buy movies from your couch. However, thanks to Apple TV's wider focus -- YouTube videos, music from iTunes, podcasts, and Flickr photosets -- it looks like Apple TV has the edge in terms of content options, brand recognition, and buzz factor. Most importantly, Apple TV 2.0 may prove to be the best convergence of online and television experiences yet.

Not In the Air: The CES Glazed-Over Mosey
Macworld is not like CES. CES is all about clamoring for attention; with so many vendors announcing new products, so little time to see it all, and so much ground to cover, every company is in a competition to grab your eyeballs. The impact on showgoers' psyches is noticeable after a couple of days. The combination of overstimulation, information overload, mental/physical exhaustion, and the sheer amount of people in the Las Vegas Convention Center has created a signature "CES walk." Around the middle of day two of the show, you'll notice most people wandering around somewhat aimlessly, somewhat emotionless, with their eyes glazed over.

In the Air Instead: The Chaotic Macworld Free-For-All
Macworld, on the other hand, is quite the opposite. Everyone's there for the same thing. Everyone's there for one company. Apple doesn't need to clamor for attention; they're there, they're in charge, and they know you want to know what they've been up to. Throw in the fact that people who love Apple seriously love Apple, and you can probably guess what it's like when the doors open for Steve Jobs's keynote. It's an insane rush to the front, complete with elbowing, grunting, sprinting, screaming, and general apathy for the other showgoers. Apple doesn't need the Beatles on iTunes; Apple is the Beatles.

By Nic Fildes

Apple's iPhone has lived up to expectations as the most-talked about handset ever released, with O2 revealing that its successful bid to sell the device exclusively in the UK had triggered a three-fold increase in the number of people visiting its stores over the past two months.

The iPhone is only available in the UK in O2 and Apple stores and in Carphone Warehouse's extensive chain. The O2 figures will please investors in Carphone Warehouse, where the shares have come under pressure over recent weeks on concerns that iPhone sales have not matched the hype as a result of a slowdown on the UK high street in the wake of the credit crunch. Carphone reports results today but will not detail the number of iPhones it has sold due to a non-disclosure agreement with Apple.

The iconic mobile phone has generated substantial interest among O2 consumers. Just having the device on the shelves has tempted three times as many customers into its 450 stores in the UK than in the same period a year earlier, said a company spokesman.

Even though many of those customers may have decided against spending £269 to buy the handset, some may have been tempted to replace their phone with a newer model anyway after seeing the functionality of Apple's handset. Customers that at least flirted with the idea of buying an iPhone and subscribing to a £35-a-month contract are likely to be high-spending contract customers, a key target market for mobile phone companies looking to whittle down the number of low-paying prepay customers they support.

The retail footfall boost will increase confidence that O2 had a good quarter in the run-up to Christmas with some investors nervous that the credit crunch may have curtailed growth rates over a period usually characterised by a significant pick-up in demand.

The company, which is owned by Spain's Telefonica, will report results in late February. Reports of pressure in the prepay market over Christmas are less likely to impact O2 than some of its rivals given the company has been shedding low-paying pay-as-you-go customers over the past year.

Just when IT departments thought they were safe comes this report

(Computerworld) -- IT managers who have been worrying about how to support the iPhone for their executives may want to start some serious fretting.

A report from Engadget and the Associated Press said that IBM's Lotus Notes e-mail is coming soon to the Apple Inc.'s iPhone and the iPod Touch. An announcement may occur Sunday at the start of Lotusphere.

Apple and IBM officials could not be reached for comment on the report.

This development would apparently be the first big-time third-party application since Apple said it would open the iPhone and iPod Touch to outside developers. Apple CEO Steve Jobs said in October that the software developer's kit (SDK) would not be available until next month, sometime after the presumed Lotus Notes announcement.

Many have criticized the iPhone as being less than desirable for corporate users. One of the major reasons is that the device doesn't natively support a "push" corporate e-mail system such as Lotus Notes.

But iPhones with Notes, which has a commanding share of the e-mail market, would give business users another reason to bang on the door of their employer's IT support team to insist on having the popular device as a standard.

Engadget said IBM is also planning to announce its free Lotus Symphony for the Mac at Lotusphere.

Although Apple Corp. shares have declined substantially since announcing new product and service offerings at the MacWorld Expo and Conference on Tuesday, the freefall has created a prime buying opportunity for investors as the company heads into next week’s earnings release, according to several analysts.

While there were no iPhone-like blockbuster announcements made by chief executive Steve Jobs, the company’s successful product cycle and upcoming pipeline are enough to convince analysts that Apple is on strong financial footing.

“While we expect many of our companies to report solid December quarter results, the broad-based strength of upside from Apple should enable it to stand out,” Goldman Sachs analyst David Bailey said in a note to clients. “At the same time, Apple’s multiple product cycles, something that is sorely missing among our enterprise facing companies, should support the stock even as we enter a softer seasonal period.”

Another encouraging sign was Mr. Jobs’ announcement that Apple has moved 4 million iPhones off store shelves, including about 2.5 million in the most recent quarter that beat consensus estimates of 2.2 million, said RBC Capital Markets analyst Mike Abramsky.

Mr. Abramsky said that Apple now is second to Research In Motion Ltd. in the smartphone market with 19% and its growth is an affirmation that the “iPhone experience taps into pent up consumer need for mobile content.”

Finally, the introduction of a movie rental service is a step in the right direction, said Citigroup analyst Richard Gardner, but the rental price is more expensive than Netflix or Blockbuster and would be available online 30 days after being available on their competitors.

On2's flagship multi-format video encoding platform update released to create iPhone, iPod, and QuickTime compatible video

SAN FRANCISCO, Jan. 17 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- On2 Technologies, Inc., , a leader in video compression solutions, announced today at Macworld Conference and Expo 2008 that it has released a new update to its popular Flix Engine for creating Apple iPhone compatible video. Flix Engine is a leading server side encoding platform used by a large number of Web 2.0 websites and leading enterprises for creating video in multiple formats, including video for Adobe(R) Flash(R) Player 8 and 9, H.264 and 3GPP. As a result of this announcement, Flix Engine now also supports Apple QuickTime files for iPhone and iPod, providing video programmers and service providers support for the leading video formats for web and mobile video within a single encoding platform.

"Flix Engine is already the video encoding platform of many prominent and well known IP video services, including leading user generated content and web video sites," said Bill Joll, president and CEO of On2 Technologies. "With support for iPhone, we are adding the capability for service providers to now reach one of the breakthrough video products that has recently been introduced in the market, as well as the video iPod. Importantly, service providers can efficiently purpose content for multiple platforms simultaneously with Flix Engine."

On2 Flix Engine is a video encoding software development kit (SDK) with industry standard API's for building encoding applications. Flix Engine is available in Windows and Linux versions. Currently shipping, the new update is provided as a free upgrade to Flix Engine.

On2 executives are available at the company's booth (# W-4242) at Macworld Conference and Expo 2008 being held at the Moscone Center in San Francisco, January 15-18, 2008. For more information about licensing On2 Flix Engine, visit www.on2.com or write to sales@on2.com.
About On2 Technologies, Inc.

On2 Technologies ensures a compelling video experience for any video application anywhere. From low bit rate to high definition, On2 provides optimized video compression technology enabling innovative solutions for application developers, content and service providers, chip vendors, device manufacturers, digital signage companies and beyond.

Through continual innovation, On2 satisfies the toughest quality, bandwidth, and power requirements for video. The company's proprietary (TrueMotion(R) VP6(TM), VP7(TM)) and standards based (MPEG-2, MPEG-4, H.263, H.264, VC-1) codecs dominate the video market, with more than 1 billion deployments on desktops worldwide and more than 200+ million in mobile; they are also proven in silicon with over 25 semiconductor manufacturers globally.

Established in 1992 and headquartered in Tarrytown, New York, On2 has offices and partners in Finland, Germany, UK, Japan, China, Taiwan and Korea. Customers include Nokia, Samsung, Sony, Freescale, AMS, Atmel, Adobe/Macromedia, AOL, Sony, Skype, Facebook, VideoEgg, Brightcove, Move Networks and XM Satellite Radio. For more information please visit www.on2.com.

Trademarks mentioned in this release are property of their respective owners.

By Bill Ray

The Register has confirmed that IBM is developing a Lotus Notes client for the iPhone, and that they are "working closely" with Apple to create a native application for the iPhone and iPod Touch for business use.

Apple and IBM haven't been the best of buddies since Apple switched to Intel chips in their computers back in 2005, but that's water under the bridge now, and while both companies are in the IT industry they compete at almost no level.

IBM reckons there are 135 million Lotus users worldwide, so getting a client onto the iPhone platform would transform what has been seen as a consumer device into a useful business tool. The chaps at IBM can see no reason why it shouldn't compete with the BlackBerry - though some might argue that the soft keyboard needs work before that happens.

iPhone users can already check email on Lotus systems using the web interface, but having a native client creates a much better user experience and features, such as push email, which are simply impossible using the Web Apps the iPhone currently supports.

Apple will be launching the official iPhone SDK in February, but clearly it's not just games companies who have had early access to it. IBM expects their application to be ready in about a month, so it seems likely that Steve Jobs is planning to announce a range of applications to go with the SDK when it's launched.

At the Macworld Keynote, Steve Jobs has announced that the iPhone has already fold a whopping four million units in just 200 days, which is around 20,000 a day if you're counting (and we certainly are). That makes the 10 million target for the end of 2008 look much more plausible.

The iPhone also gets some new features with the v1.1.3 software update, most of which have already been guessed or leaked: Google Maps gets locations, which can be added by pushing in a virtual pin. Maps also get a GPS-a-like addition from Skyhook, which uses WiFi positioning combined with Google's cellphone tower triangulation to tell you where you are.

Also new is the ability to send an SMS to multiple recipients (welcome to 1999), customize the home screen just like in the video we saw, you press and hold an icon and then all the icons start to jiggle. You can then move them around. The iPhone will support up to nine screens and you swap them with a finger flip, just like the jailbroken iPhone.

The iPod part will get lyric support (something hacked iPhone owners already have with MobileScrobbler), and the Webclips feature of Leopard is included: You can grab a section of a web page and have it show up as an icon on the main screen. Finally, videos get support for multiple languages, subtitles and chapters.

If you have an iPod Touch, you get the additions of Google Maps, Stocks, Notes and Weather, all of which can be added to a hacked Touch. The bad news? Apple will charge existing Touch owners $20!

Hot-shot analyst Mike Abramsky again steps up with some obvious and unfounded speculation. According to Bloomberg, Abramsky says that Apple may announce a Canadian iPhone today.

For the record, Abramsky did predict the iPhone price cut just days after the iHorn's launch. He also said that we would get MMS, instant messaging and GPS, so it seems he uses the scattergun method of "analysis".

Still, a Canadian iPhone has to come sooner or later, so why not in today's Jobsnote? Plus, we get to be the first to run an innuendo laden headline.

Apple May Announce Canada IPhone Tomorrow, RBC Says [Bloomberg]

Here's one to scare all you iPhone fetishists: You don't have to unlock, jailbreak or install unauthorized third-party software on your Magnifabrick to invalidate the warranty. Doug Rodriquez was able to do so merely by setting up a custom ringtone using a well-documented iTunes workaround.

Rodriquez started getting SIM card error messages sometime thereafter and went looking for some customer support. Apple basically told him to piss up a rope because they had "determined that (the iPhone) has been subjected to accidental damage or misuse, which is not covered by the warranty or an Apple service contract.” Says Rodriguez:
I’ve never dropped my iPhone, I’ve never exposed it to water. I’ve never put third-party apps on it or hacked it. It just stopped working and Apple apparently does not believe me...The only thing I’ve ever done is back in September putting one custom ringtone on my iPhone via the “manual transfer” method. Nothing Else.

No word yet on what kind of warranty love using the Apple-sanctioned GarageBand method for installing custom ringtones will get you.

User denied iPhone warranty service for custom ringtone [iPhone Atlas]

I didn't hear the ringside bell, but Round 1 of negotiations between Apple (Nasdaq: AAPL) and China Mobile (NYSE: CHL) to offer the iPhone in China have apparently reached an end. While talks have been under way since late last year, a representative from China Mobile has confirmed that "negotiations have ended for now."

It's not surprising that talks haven't gone fast and smooth. Many carriers around the world have bristled at the terms Apple requires for offering the device. And China is not an easy market to break into -- it took Qualcomm (Nasdaq: QCOM) nearly a decade to win adoption of its technology after much haggling. Granted, adapting one phone is not as complex as pitching a whole new wireless network platform, but Chinese companies resist giving control to outside companies unless it's clearly to their advantage.

And I imagine it's tough to convince a company already signing up 5 million to 6 million customers a month that it absolutely needs the iPhone. In the U.S., the hypercompetitive environment worked to Steve Jobs' advantage because AT&T (NYSE: T), just after the BellSouth merger, was keenly interested in being the clear leader in wireless when it struck a deal with Apple.

With discussions on ice about a deal in China, many are wondering if Apple will be able to reach sales goals for the iPhone for 2008. Many see China's No. 2 wireless carrier, China Unicom (NYSE: CHU), as a much less attractive partner for Apple, with a subscriber base only one-third the size of China Mobile's.

But Unicom's 120 million subscribers is nothing to sneeze at, and while the bulk of consumers likely can't afford an iPhone, I'm guessing a surprising number will find the money to carry the trendy device. (The high-end market in China will be tested soon when Research In Motion (Nasdaq: RIMM) launches the BlackBerry there with China Mobile, although the exact launch date is still not set.)

Being runner-up, China Unicom might be more willing to accept revenue-sharing terms Apple is demanding. Even though Jobs commented that 4 million iPhones have been sold so far, expectations are still high for Apple, which might lead the company to other partners who are willing to speed the introduction along.

Our Jason O’Grady is live blogging Apple CEO Steve Jobs keynote at Macworld.

Here’s what Jason has noted Steve has said thus far about iPhone:

It is 200th day since the iPhone went on sale. Apple sold 4 million in 200 days. That’s 20K a day. Touts market share. iPhone has 19.5 percent of smartphone market per Gartner. RIM 39%; Palm 9.8. Moto 9.8% market share equaled Palm Moto and Nokia in first 30 days.

Steve hasn’t made any mention of 16G iPhone yet…so much for Wikipedia rumors.

This mornihg at Macworld in San Francisco, what’s-his-name announced a new iPhone software update.

After reviewing the new features of 1.13, I can understand why Apple has assigned incremental, decimal livery to this upgrade.

There’s nothing here that strikes me as compelling enough to convince anyone on the fence about buying an iPhone to take the plunge.

Not that the new features in 1.13 aren’t cool. You can, for example, use the updated iPhone maps interface to triangulate your position using Wi-Fi base stations or cell towers. Yet I can already triangulate via cell on my BlackBerry Pearl. And yes, I get an overlay map from Google Maps as well.

Web Clip home page icons that take you directly to your favorite websites? Why take the time to create these icons when you can simply go to your sites via bookmarks in your iPhone’s built-in Safari browser?

And multiple SMS’s to multiple people? I wouldn’t want that degree of de-personalization. As for iPhone saving a history of your texts, my BlackBerry does that as well.

The only one of the 1.13 features that does anything for me is the new iTunes Movie Rentals.

Apple says:

With Apple’s new iTunes Movie Rentals, movie fans can rent movies on their computer, easily and quickly transfer them to their iPhone, and watch them anywhere on iPhone’s gorgeous 3.5 inch screen. Users can also now navigate forward or backward through their movies by chapters, select alternate language tracks and view subtitles, if available.

Now that’s quite OK, true. But I gotta tell ya, in and of itself, iTunes movie rentals isn’t a compelling feature enough to spur iPhone sales amongst the holdouts and skeptics.

Thinking you might be one of those iPhone skeptics, or fence-sitters. So it is poll time.

Hi all, I was surprised I can update blog from MS Word 2007.

It is easy way to update my blog.
Thank you MS.