Some juvenile thingamajigs for everyone.

* The end of the world is near (or so Chicken Mafia may think): Hello Kitty phone lands in the US. Yay!
* Oh, some Hello Kitty AK47 and My Little Pony toy carbines for your daughters, little sisters, little nieces, and godchildren. Nice to start them young, eh? Yay!
* The Capcom Blog releases some character art for Super Street Fighter II HD Remix (that’s a long title for a rework of a game), after being outed by Kotaku. Aside from downloadable copies of artworks, some mistakes in the art works were discussed.

Google has not ruled out Google Phone. There somewhere in Googleplex is a reference device made by HTC, code-named Dream (appropriate name, if you ask me). Forbes has the following details on the reference device:

It is thin, about 3 inches wide and 5 inches long, and features a touch-sensitive, rectangular screen. Unlike the iPhone, the screen is also time-sensitive: Hold down your finger longer, and the area you’re controlling expands. The bottom end of the handset, near the navigational controls, is slightly beveled so it nestles in the palm. The screen also swivels to one side, revealing a full keyboard beneath. (The screen display changes from a vertical portrait mode to a horizontal display when someone uses the keyboard.)

The Dream design makes the core functions–e-mail, text documents and YouTube–readily available by putting icons that open those applications along the top of the screen. In its guts, the phone runs a virtual machine so that applications, like the browser, can launch once during a session, then reside in the background. That way, if someone sends you, say, a YouTube video link, you can run it immediately, without restarting the browser. The browser also downloads large files in stages to cut the time it seems to take to bring them onto the phone.

And if things work correctly, HTC is ready to mass-produce the device by 2nd half of 2008. I just hope it is cheap.

And that includes the giants: Nokia, Sony Ericsson, Microsoft, and Apple.

After much speculation, Google, together with other technology partners, made two major announcements today.

First, the Open Handset Alliance was introduced. The group was formed to “accelerate innovation in mobile and offer consumers a richer, less expensive, and better mobile experience.” No, there is no gPhone, but there will be “gPhones”. What the OHA wants is an open ecosystem for mobile development through an open platform.

The OHA also introduced Android^TM. Android is an open mobile software stack, which includes an operating system, a user interface, middleware, and applications. The ecosystem that the OHA envisions centers on Android as the platform for development. That means all partners comprising OHA are committed to develop hardware and software based on Android.

The opportunities are vast for all stakeholders, including end users:

1. For developers, it will be easier to develop and push applications for mobile phones, at a lesser cost and learning curve. The Alliance will also provide mechanisms for commercialization and distribution of applications.
2. For mobile operators, they will be able to offer cheaper phones and differentiated products. They can customize an Android-enabled device to their own specifications.
3. For device manufacturers, it is much tougher, since all of them will produce devices based on a single platform. This should spur manufacturers to innovate in order to differentiate their products. Using a single and open platform allows them the flexibility in developing devices.
4. In the end, this gives consumers a wider array of choices. And who knows, if someone from the Alliance releases a user-friendly toolkit, consumers can make their own applications even without programming knowledge.

Will the Alliance succeed? That remains to be seen, couple that with the way non-members react.

Google press release
Official Google Blog entry on OHA and Android

Last week, something happened on my P1i. The programmable key at the right of the phone was set to Main Menu (meaning, when you press that button, the Main Menu is displayed; default is Web browser for this button), and while I was taking some camera shots, I accidentally pressed on that button. What happened?

The menu did appear. In landscape mode.

I regret not installing a screen shot app for the phone. I cannot replicate it now, though the fact that it did happen means it can be replicated somehow. The menu was in grid mode, and the Back icon was on the bottom of the screen (since it was in landscape mode, bottom is the left edge of the screen). The Status bar and the soft keys were not visible. But when I get back to standby mode, the screen was restored to the usual portrait orientation. Going to the main menu, the screen shifted to landscape again.

When I restarted the phone, the main menu is in the usual portrait orientation.

Has anyone experienced the same?

Another potential legal woe for Vonage is in the works.

Currently fighting it out with giant telcos (ehem, Verizon, ehem), the VoIP company will be in another legal trouble if it fails to address calls being diverted by hackers. Reuters reports:

Without proper security measures, Internet phone providers risk exposing their customers to such attacks from far away as hackers use the Web to access their networks, said Krishna Kurapati, founder and chief technology officer of Sipera.

“This guy could be in Russia and Vonage thinks it’s John Smith. People think they’re calling John Smith and instead they get this guy,” he said.

Matthias Machowinski, an analyst who follows corporate networks for Infonetics, said that while Internet phone systems are vulnerable to such attacks, it is possible to prevent them.

Sipera claims that they have informed Vonage of the problem more than a month ago. Vonage has not responded to Sipera’s information, and Vonage declined to comment when asked by Reuters.

If Vonage is not careful, they will have another headache-inducing case in their hands, which they don’t need at this point.

While I was sleeping, the entire blogosphere (ok, most part of it) are buzzing with interest (and irritation) as they see their Google PageRanks dive by a notch (minimum). Most affected are blog networks who are dependent on page ranks for advertising purposes. Most of the bloggers see this as Google’s attempt to control the advertising space, since most of those who are affected are selling link ads, too, in combination with Google’s AdSense.

Not only is it time to rethink the metric tools used to determine advertising rates, I think it is time to de-monopolize the Web advertising market. What Google had shown from this episode is that it can control the Web advertising space, and that it will do anything to protect its dominance of the market. Most blog networks must be thinking now of how to counter this Google action. There must be another metric that they can use to entice advertisers. Or maybe advertisers should be finally convinced that page rank is not the only way to measure a site’s popularity.

AWBHoldings.com managed to retain its low page rank (I am not sure about the Geeky Guide). I wonder what will happen soon.

Were you affected by the page rank downturn? Do you think Google’s action is fair?

Walt Mossberg, one of the well-known pundits on things tech, finally called for open phones. What he meant is that carriers should stop locking up phones.

The same model is currently being employed by Philippine mobile telcos. For example, Smart has a retention program, where you can get a free handset (or discounted handset) with a 24-month lock-in period (that means you are tied up to Smart’s service for 24 months; ending your contract prematurely is subject to pretermination charges); Globe has a similar program. I got my Sony Ericsson P1i that way (and before that, a Sony Ericsson K300i) from Smart. So the phone is locked, and I am locked to Smart.

Why lock phones in the first place? I think the main reason is to prevent a consumer from using a subsidized phone with another network. Makes sense, right? Wrong. This doesn’t deter the consumer from SELLING the phone, even if it is locked; and they will earn much more from it, specially if the phone is free. Just browse the forums and see what I mean (like BNC or PinoyExchange). While the phone remains locked, there are unlocking options available anyway (except for latest s60 phones, which are unlockable at the moment).

His most potent argument against locked phones is this:

The carriers defend these restrictions partly by pointing out that they subsidize the cost of the phones in order to get you to use their networks. That’s also, they say, why they require contracts and charge early-termination fees. Without the subsidies, they say, that $99 phone might be $299, so it’s only fair to keep you from fleeing their networks, at least too quickly.

But this whole cellphone subsidy game is an archaic remnant of the days when mobile phones were costly novelties. Today, subsidies are a trap for consumers. If subsidies were removed, along with the restrictions that flow from them, the market would quickly produce cheap phones, just as it has produced cheap, unsubsidized versions of every other digital product, from $399 computers to $79 iPods.

Do you agree with Mossberg? I sure do.

In an apparent attempt to appease geek Apple fanboys and to stem the tide that is iPhone hacking, Steve Jobs announced that a software development kit (SDK) for the Apple iPhone and iPod touch will be released in February 2008. An SDK is a set of programming tools and application programming interfaces (APIs) that allows a developer to create applications for a certain platform.

By releasing an SDK, developers who want to create applications for the two products do not have to hack the innards of the device. The device becomes semi-open. Semi, because the device is still not fully open. Consider the SDK or API as a window – you are allowed to take a look but not get in.

Jobs also noted that Apple is going to implement an idea similar to what Nokia did with regards to applications – allow signed apps to be installed. His worry is that by allowing the iPhone to be open, the platform is going to be barraged by malware; by using digital signatures, any wayward app can be traced back to the creator. Engadget Mobile prick Jobs’ balloon, since you can disable digital certificate verification in s60 Nokia phones.

(In a not-so-related note, in UIQ 3, you can still install apps even if the phone tells you that the signature is untrusted.)

Also, most mobile malware are spread via Bluetooth. Another vector of attack would be sending a WAP/Web link via SMS (and going on that link, a malware is downloaded). What does this mean?

Unless Apple implements a strict, signed-only apps policy, digital signature is useless. If implemented, how sure is a user that a signed app is trustworthy?

With these two caveats, the only way you can get an app for your iPhone and iPod touch is via iTunes. Plain and simple. You can almost hear the cash registers ringing now at Apple HQ. Yes, sorry homebrew developers.

Hackers, you may now continue with your work.

This is not a surprise. Motorola will buy 50% of UIQ, which is currently 100% owned by Sony Ericsson. UIQ develops an alternative user interface for Symbian operating system, and is the UI for all Symbian-powered SE phones.

Motorola Z8 is a Symbian phone with UIQ as the interface, so the buy-in should not be a surprise at all. Both companies should complement each other, as Motorola is a relative newcomer to the UIQ space, while SE is getting ready to enter the Windows Mobile market.

Well, Nokia shares the s60 UI with Samsung (among others). Hmmm…..

Apple is currently facing a battle on two fronts, all brought about by making its two latest products as closed systems.

When iPhone was announced, Steve Jobs said a lot of things, leaving people to set high expectations on the device. As they say, the devil is in the details, and when the details and launch date neared, expectations are either whetted or disappointed.

One pitfall of Apple is that they chose to lock the iPhone to a single carrier. But probably the biggest mistake is to make iPhone a closed system. Many were anticipating about the possible things that can be done with an iPhone, only to get themselves disappointed. No third-party software, carrier-locked units, problematic activation system (at first).

In a single stroke, Apple has managed to change the rules of the game. And to enforce the new rules, Apple has released an update that has turned some iPhones into bricks, unlocked and not. Ambulance chasers are now looking for clients for a class suit. It can get ugly.

Learning from its mistakes, Apple introduced iPod touch, an iPhone less the phone capabilities. And this time, they used an encryption system to prevent access to the file system. Yes, Apple has learned all right.

Two giants in their own fields are ready to join the fray.

Nokia, one of the largest mobile phone manufacturers, fired the first shot, taking advantage of the negative perception of iPhone’s closed system by introducing the “Open to anything” initiative. Leveraging on the S60 UI platform, Nokia touts that its mobile phones are open, allowing anyone to develop applications for its mobile phones. Now, if Nokia pushes its buttons right, this is a market opportunity.

The problem with Nokia is that touchscreen is its Achilles heel. Remember Nokia 7710? Nokia started Series 90 as Symbian touchscreen UI, only that 7710 is way ahead of its time, technologically and market speaking. Series 90 is dead, so is 7710. (Speaking of 7710, my 7710 is dead, literally. It won’t power on anymore. The unit is now a brick, after almost two years.)

Now, Apple is content releasing new iPod models, leaving behind old models to dust. Microsoft made a gesture that not only warmed the hearts of old Zune users, it also showed the world how Apple treats its old iPod users.

Microsoft recently released new generations of Zune with new features, and (I’m not sure if this was a product of forward-thinking) old Zunes will get the same features as the new Zunes via software update. Yes, Microsoft shows the right way to treat loyal customers – you do not leave them behind.

(As an owner of a 30GB iPod video, this gesture by Microsoft was touching – no pun intended. Good thing I got this iPod free, otherwise, I would be seething with resentment over the new iPod releases.)

While no iPhone nor iPod killers, Nokia and Microsoft are showing Apple what could have been. In the end, at least we know we have a choice.

To Apple: it should be not just about profit. Treat your customers right, and profit will follow. Learn from your mistakes.

To Nokia and Microsoft (and other Apple competitors): just do it.