Posts Tagged iPhone

Sprint’s Ad on Steve Jobs

Oct 19

Posted by Andrew Machado in Personal, Technology | Comments off

Sprint recently ran an ad on the back of Rolling Stone to commemorate his legacy. It was instantly eye catching and I took a pic of it last Sunday.

stevejobssprintad

The questions I ask myself about this ad.

Would it have been made if Sprint was not part of the iPhone 4s launch? My hunch is no, but i’m usually a cynic.

Are we reaching a level of buzz for the iPhone that we could see a vendor like Sprint double down on Apple and offer nothing but iPhones for their smartphone category?

If i’m training a staff about phones and to give customers a killer experience when they walk through my doors then training for one product matrix like the iPhone is no brainer. Paired with Sprint’s all you can eat plans it would be really killer for the customer.

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Sony’s Fall From Grace

Jan 30

Posted by Andrew Machado in Technology | 8,215 Comments

With the PlayStation 2 Sony achieved what most consider a record that will never be broken….they sold 100 million units of it’s game console in under six years.  Fast forward 5 years and you see a Sony that has completely lost itself.

Between the Kinect and the birth of the iPhone and iPod Sony is no longer king….

1.  Sony PlayStation 3 sales on the decline

In December usually the most killer month for console sales Sony this year saw a decrease in units sold by 11%, while Xbox 360 sales were up 42% year over year.  Comparatively the Xbox 360 sold 50% more units during the month.  The Kinect is likely driving the growth for Microsoft and it will be interesting to see if they can maintain the momentum in 2011.  Regardless it looks like Sony may have to settle for third place in the home console race for this generation.

2.  Sony’s new PlayStation NGP

Earlier this week Sony announced their next generation portable gaming system.  They call it the Sony NGP….or Sony Next Generation Portable.  Either way its a complete lack of desperation on their part.  They have shoe horned into a portable system a quad core ARM processor, big screen, 3g connectivity and every other trendy piece of technology into it.

I get the feeling Sony is simply lost and is taking the if you can’t beat them (ios) then join them mentality. Let’s cram every single piece of technology into a portable gaming system. Nothing here is innovative. No unique form factor, no cell phone, its just a gaming system that has no set price yet. The rumors are it will cost nearly $1,000, but we all know a consumer product will never sell at that price. I’ll predict it hits Japan in the fall for $299.

3.  Embracing Google Android

One of the big announcements this week was Sony saying they’ll be allowing ports of older games to run on Android and will sell them through a marketplace.  In addition future development tools will allow developers to make games capable of running on android devices beyond the NGP.

This was probably most alarming to me.  What it means to me is Sony has fallen so far behind they need a backup plan incase their new portable is a total failure.  By supporting Android they could exit the portable gaming business and publish games for Android phones exclusively.  Its totally reminds me of when Sega folded up shop after the Dreamcast and only makes games.

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AT&T Shoring Up Crappy Cell Coverage with more WiFi?

Dec 28

Posted by Andrew Machado in Technology | 6,700 Comments

Being an AT&T Subscriber for the last three years in San Francisco I’ve come to accept dropped calls, frequent 3g data loss and my phone being totally useless during parades, holidays or any large gatherings in the city.

Since the approval to get new cell towers in cities takes many years…3 years if you ask Steve Jobs, AT&T is being forced to make other concessions to keep users happy.  The first step was giving AT&T subscribers free wifi access at thousands of locations across the United States, but apparently that is not enough.

The phone company is to announce Tuesday that it will expand Wi-Fi hot spots in New York’s Times Square just ahead of New Year’s revelers cramming there for the annual countdown to midnight. It is also deploying its first hot spots in a public, outdoor area of San Francisco, the Embarcadero waterfront district.

Personally I like the move.  I think a lot of users who have an iPhone never turn off Wifi and simply dismiss the annoying message that pops up asking you if you want to join this Wifi network every time they unlock their phone.

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Holiday Game Releases

Dec 26

Posted by Andrew Machado in Uncategorized | 6,537 Comments

As a kid I was a huge gamer.  In fact the day I turned 16 I got my first job at Software Etc selling software in Capitola.

Over the years I can’t remember a bigger time to be a gamer than the holidays, because tons of games came out.  I’ve noticed over the last few years it seems that the holiday release schedule has stopped happening.

This year we’ve seen the release of the following big titles or products in Q4.

Call of Duty: Black Ops

World of Warcraft: Cataclysm

Xbox Kinect

PlayStation Move

Gran Turismo 5

3 pieces of software (one an expansion pack) and 2 pieces of physical hardware.

So What Happened?

My hunch is a few factors all have combined together that has literally ripped seasonality out of the console/pc business.

1.  Cost

On the iOS/Android developers can make games for much less.  Update more often with new features, sell additional items with micro transactions, but on the PC or Home Consoles this behavior isn’t expected.  On the PC and Consoles the developer costs have skyrocketed.  A game thats multiple years in the making will see a budget in the 10s of millions of dollars.  Take Gran Turismo 5 which as of 2009 had cost nearly 60 million to make!

2.  Games Need To Sell

Since the costs have increased so dramatically to make the games while the average selling price has only gone from $49.99 to $59.99 over the last 10 years. pushing something out to subpar reviews to make the holiday schedule is not worth it.  You see this often happen where games will be moved to either avoid going against a batch of games all together.  If someone has the figure please leave it in the comments, but I believe in the first month a game will sell about 75% of its total lifespan in terms of units.  These type of delays lead to games like Killzone 3, Little Big Planet 2 and other titles being pushed out to different calendar months to ensure good sales.

3.  Shelf Space  is Shrinking

Online or offline retailers are dedicating less and less space for games.  Gamestop is moving full force into the used game business in hopes of increasing their margins even further.  They sell you a game for 59.99, buy it back from you for 24.99 then resell it for 49.99.  ChaChing.  Take for example UFC Undisputed 2010.  The title came out to great reviews , but did not sell well in its first week.  So what did Amazon.com do? Knocked the price from 59.99 to 39.99 in one week!  What happens here is a domino effect as other retailers follow.

4.  Too Much Competition

As more and more folks pickup an Android Phone, iPad, iPhone or any of the new multifunctional devices the time they have to play PC or Home Console games has shrunk.  Its simply easier and cheaper for someone to pay $1.99 for Angry Birds, get hours of enjoyment out of it and never have to turn on the TV to get it.

5.  Most Consumers want simplicity

Nintendo got very close with the Wii and Nintendo DS.  People wanted an experience that was extremely simple with few buttons.  With touch screen devices consumers get an experience that has zero buttons, installs in seconds and is engaging.  Titles like Doodle Jump, Angry Birds and Cut The Rope never would’ve been possible on consoles due to cost and distribution issues.

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