Digital Zone 209: We’re Not Happy Till You’re Not Happy

Posted by Patrick Wiscombe on May 25, 2010 under Tech Podcasts | Be the First to Comment

In this edition of the Digital Zone, we talked about:

AT&T: We’re not happy till you’re not happy
Android jumps over Windows Mobile
HP expands battery recall
Steve Jobs to deliver WWDC keynote
The CrystalDock for Apple products
Google and AdMob to finally unite
The WalMart ‘GameCenter’
PacMan on Google

AT&T says it is raising the penalty for canceling a new two-year smartphone contract early to $325 starting June 1, according to the Wall Street Journal. At the same time, AT&T will lower the early termination fee for its less advanced “feature” phones to $150, from $175. Verizon raised their early termination fee about six months. An AT&T spokesman said the hike is “unrelated to any device announcement or future plans.”

Android sales jumped 707 percent during the first quarter of 2010, and now exceed sales of Windows Mobile devices around the world, according to Gartner. Worldwide mobile phone sales grew 17 percent in the first quarter to 314.7 million units. Of those, 54.3 million were smartphones, a 48.7 percent jump from the same period one year ago. Symbian is the overall leader with 44.3 percent market share (down from 48.8 in Q1 2009). BlackBerry OS devices come in second at 19.4 percent (down slightly from 20.6), while iPhone comes in third at 15.4 percent (up from 10.5 percent). Android is now in fourth place at 9.6 percent (up from just 1.6 percent in Q1 2009), while Windows Mobile takes fifth place at 6.8 percent (down from 10.2 percent).

HP has expanded their battery recall and is now recalling 124,000 batteries after receiving additional reports of overheating, battery ruptures, and injuries from users. The affected batteries include those found in HP and Compaq laptops (or purchased separately) between August of 2007 and July of 2008. More information about the recall is on HP.com.

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PODCAST SPONSORS: The Digital Zone is sponsored by Cliphanger.com, the perfect item for all cell phones, PDAs, iPods, and MP3 players.

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WWDC kicks off on June 7 and according to one of Steve Jobs’ email messages, he’s telling an iPhone user that “you won’t be disappointed.” The keynote address will be 10 a.m. Pacific time and Jobs will deliver the keynote. In another email a Gizmodo reader asked Jobs whether Google was “surpassing” Apple. His response, “Not a chance.”

If you’re in the market for luxury iPhone and iPod Touch accessories, you can now purchase the Calypso CrystalDock which is made of lead crystal glass. The CrystalDock comes in four models: The limited edition Aurora which costs $349. The Beau, Celestia, and Dune models are $199 each and feature different patterns carved into them. The company also sells a pair of $1,000 Harman Kardon crystal computer speakers.

Google paid $750 million to buy AdMob and the Federal Trade Commission said it unanimously decided to approve the deal because of Apple’s entry into the mobile advertising market. Apple attemped to by AdMob late last year but Google came in with a higher offer at the last minute. Google said it will take over AdMob within the next few weeks. The FTC spent a year examining Google’s $3.2 billion acquisition of online ad service DoubleClick before approving the deal in March 2008. Google and AdMob will have a 21 percent share of the U.S. mobile ad market according to International Data Corp.

Wal-Mart launched their ‘Gamecenter’ and is offering a $50 eGift card to anyone who pre-orders three or more of this year’s upcoming game titles, including Medal of Honor, Assassin’s Creed: Brotherhood, and Fallout: New Vegas. The company also said the Gamecenter will feature exclusive content and special offers.

Google marked the 30th birthday of Pac-Man last week by featuring the game on their first-ever playable doodle on its home page.

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PODCAST SPONSORS: The Digital Zone is sponsored by Amazon.com. Get hundreds of cell phone accessories for your iPhone, Droid, or Blackberry all in one place.

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