I am as much an iPhone cultist as the next guy, but Piper Jaffray analyst Gene Munster is taking this cult thing a little too far. He estimates that by the end of 2009 there will be 55 million iPhone users and that the iPhone App store alone could be a $1.2 billion business. Whatever he’s smoking, I want some of it. Now, don’t get me wrong. I think the new iPhone apps will be the single biggest reason to buy a 3G iPhone, but there is no way they are going to pull in $1.2 billion in revenues in 2009. Let’s take a closer look at Munster’s assumptions, which AppleInsider discussed earlier today. To be fair, the $1.2 billion is Munster’s most aggressive scenario. The conservative scenario for iPhone App Store revenues is $416 million and the “neutral” case is $777 million. But any way you slice it, his entire analysis lies on two faulty assumptions. The first one is that a certain percentage of “active” iPhone and iPod Touch users will download one free app and buy one $10 app every year from the iPhone App Store. While this seems reasonable enough at first glance, Munster himself knows it to be bunk. In an informal survey he took of iPhone developers at the recent Apple developer conference, he found out that 70 percent of iPhone apps are likely to be free and that the price of those for sale will quickly drop to $3 or less. Of course, Appleinsider also covered these findings, but failed to note that they contradict the Munster math laid out in the earlier post. If 70 percent of apps are free, then the chances of every active user purchasing at least one of the apps for sale drops considerably. Let’s take Munster’s neutral case. He estimates 77.7 million active users will get two apps each (155.4 million total). But if 70 percent of those are free, that would bring in only $466.2 million in revenues instead of $777 million. And if the price drops from $10 to $3, that further reduces the revenues to $140 million. For his aggressive scenario (where he is essentially assuming that 121 million apps are sold at $10 each), the total take would drop from $1.2 billion to $364 million. But wait. We still have not addressed his second major questionable assumption. The total number of Apple iPhons → Read More
Gaycities, a review website for members of the LGBT community, has revamped its interface and introduced a number of new features that should help make their reviews more relevant. Founder Scott Gatz says that the LGBT community is very diverse, and that many reviewers have dramatically different tastes. To help deal with the diversity, Gaycities is introducing improved user profiles that will help users identify other users that share similar tastes. When users find a reviewer that they like, they can choose to “Follow” that user, which will display their actions in an activity stream and help them discover new restaurants, hotels, bars, and clubs. The site is also introducing support for photos in reviews, which allows users to help better depict their favorite locales. Flickr images will be automatically imported as well. Gaycities launched three years ago as Gatz’s hobby, and has since seen immense growth, especially in the last six months. CrunchBase Information GayCities Information provided by CrunchBase → Read More
Today’s Top Posts: Amazing mini 3D-display cube developed in Japan Bierstick: Two beers in under two seconds Good news, everyone: Halo Wars will have online co-op Cheap GPU causes Xbox 360 red ring of death Oh Puh-lease: Steve Jobs is too skinny now? Victor-JVC rolls out new portable media players in Japan The Onion describes new World of Warcraft expansion pack Daily Crunch: Hidden Shrub Edition Konami cancels all launch events for Metal Gear Solid 4 in Japan Pearl Jam bootlegs to be available on Verizon Wireless → Read More
Remember the girl in the “why you should buy your girlfriend a Wii Fit” video? Turns out her name is Lauren Bernat, she’s 25, and she was super pissed at her boyfriend (sorry, fellas) for posting the video on YouTube. Now, of course, she’s something of a micro-celebrity, enjoying the 15 minutes of fame that only a perfect ass like that can generate. The Mail caught up with Lauren and has a nice little personality piece on her. Have a read, you should know more about the girl you’re dreaming about than the color of her underwear. Or maybe I’m just old fashioned. → Read More
Firefox Mobile, which has been seriously in the works since at last October, is finally starting to take shape. In the video below, Aza Raskin, head of user experience at Mozilla Labs, goes through some prototype concepts for the user Firefox Mobile’s user interface. Raskin, the young founder of Songza and Humanized, was hired by the Mozilla Foundation in January. The user interface shown in the video is a working prototype and will change, but there are some worthwhile concepts—some borrowed from Apple, some borrowed from Firefox. The mobile browser is built for a touch screen and allows scrolling with a flick of the mouse like on the iPhone (although it is single-touch, not multi-touch). The need to type is minimized by displaying any number of pre-defined buttons at appropriate moments, such as “search Google”, “send email,” and “map this.” Firefox Mobile Concept Video from Aza Raskin on Vimeo. The mini Web page takes up the entire screen until you pan across to reveal the control buttons (back, forward, bookmark, page info). You can “throw” the page and zoom out to see all your open tabs/pages arranged in thumbnails like the Expose feature on Apple desktops. And you can always add more tabs or pages by clicking on a big plus button. I like the direction this is going. (So does Greg Kumparak at MobileCrunch, who says it “rocks my face off”). Mobile browsing needs its own metaphors and vocabulary of interactions that are suited to small devices with no keyboards or poor ones. Pan, throw, zoom, one click, and you should be done. Developers can download the open-source code, or play with an online demo. CrunchBase Information Firefox Aza Raskin Information provided by CrunchBase → Read More
This is interesting to say the least. Roi over at the ol’ mothership has a nice piece up about CamSpace, an online gaming community that’s set to throw its doors open to the public. The idea is to use webcams as gaming input devices, making for a Wii-like experience without the need for a $250 console. It appears to work, though I haven’t tried it myself. The idea isn’t anything new, I’ve played camera-based games on my Treo for a couple of years now, and it works pretty well. Early word on CamSpace, though, is that they’ve got new tracking software that is far more accurate that what we’ve seen before. It looks fun, and I can’t wait to play golf this way. My MacBook’s iSight camera just got useful. → Read More
This was undoubtedly the first and only shooter that I was ever good at. Many hours were lost spent in college refining my fragging and camping abilities. I’ll definitely be picking this up for 360 when it hits shelves this summer. I’m also assuming Midway will have this for me to play at E3 next month. Joygasm. The five exclusive maps, split-screen and two new characters are just the cherry on top. → Read More
What do you do with an old floppy drive and a disk? Why you make it into a musical instrument, forcing the motor or the drive to play the Imperial March from Star Wars. I’m not sure how this was done, but I love it very much. → Read More
The connection in my hotel here in Berlin is slow as molasses or FF is being weird, so my apologies for the strange screen cap. While everyone else is frothing over the iPhone 3G, I’m patiently waiting for the Bold to hit the streets. AT&T now has it up on their site, so jump on over and check it out. Nothing new, though. The specs we’ve all been expecting and heard about are still there. → Read More
Phonenews has the scoop on the Instinct‘s pricing and that $200 price tag definitely competes against the 8GB iPhone 3G. It has a retail price of $449, but you can obtain a $150 with a 2-year plan and just to sweeten the deal, Sprint is adding on another $100 MIR just for the Instinct. Just like the iPhone 3G, you’ll have to tack on one of Sprint’s pricier plans, but it’s still a great price for a great phone. Look for our review on Friday. → Read More
You’ve all seen the Coors Light bottles with the color changing mountains by now, but if you haven’t then you’ve been living under a rock or you like warm beer. I hear there’s a heat wave in NYC and I’m not looking forward to coming back to that tomorrow, but at least I know my beers will be cold since the mountains will be nice and blue. The plastic bottle cooler box is pretty rad too. Perfect for the beach or BBQ. Forget the Busch Light and pack that Bierstick with some Coors Light. Truth be told, I was a rabid Busch Light fan in college. Who could pass up a six-pack of pounders for $4? Here’s to summer! → Read More
Amtran, the Taiwan-based, majority shareholder of Vizio who happens to be the biggest manufacturer for the US-based brand is adamant that royalties for the compression technology had been paid for. In fact, the licensing fees had been paid to MPEG LA between Q4 of 2007 and Q1 of 2008, says Amtran. → Read More
If there was ever any doubt that Mozilla could pull off something amazing with Firefox Mobile, this video pretty much stomps all over it. Aza Raskin, head of user experience for Mozilla Labs, put this user interface concept demo on his blog this morning. Simply put: it rocks my face off. Their idea for how to handle tabs just about annihilates everything we’ve seen from other mobile browsers thus far, and the idea of tying nav controls/tab access to horizontal panning as a means of maximizing screen real estate usage is ingenious. If they’re putting this much thought into the other aspects of Firefox Mobile, WebKit oughtta be shakin’ in its boots. → Read More
I’ve been giving this a lot of thought in the last few weeks and I’m not sure what to get my dad. The parentals don’t need a TV because they just got a 52-inch Samsung plasma, so that one is out the door. Although, he might want something for the office. This 32-inch Westinghouse 720p, W3223, set isn’t too shabby and for $699 that’s not a bad deal. Heck, I might even get myself one at that price. It looks mighty fancy and comes with two HDMI ports and ATSC/NTSC/ClearQAM tuners. → Read More
Oh dear, oh dear. I’m surprised the description doesn’t mention that your signal is being accelerated by being bathed in snake oil. It lowers my estimation of the human race’s worth when anyone can actually be foolish enough — or simply rich enough — to buy something like this. Ultra-high-end solutions like this are regularly mocked. Audiophiles can’t tell you the difference between a coat hanger and outrageously expensive cabling. Preying on the credulous is not a new business strategy, when you take the signal quality ploy and attempt to apply it to a non-analog source, alleging noticeable lossiness in a digital signal over 5 feet of wire, you’re more than a con man — you’re a goddamn comedian. → Read More
If you’re one of the dozens of Americans thinking about finally upgrading to a digital TV when the Big Switch comes in February of next year, you might want to consider a conversion kit. They’re cheap, and the government is giving a $40 coupon to those looking to switch over. And if you’re wondering if your current TV is compatible, it is. In fact, this enterprising UK man upgraded a 51-year-old set that’s been in his family since it was first purchased in 1957. It’s likely the oldest set ever to be converted. While we think you’d be happier with a widescreen flat panel set, there’s something charming about these old console-style sets, but they’re no good for Halo 3. → Read More
MediaMax, a perpetually controversial San Diego based startup, says we need a social network around paper products file sharing. More on that in a minute (as well as a relevant video clip from The Office), but first a note on a new scandal brewing. In the past few weeks, we’ve received a number of complaints about MediaMax, the troubled file storage site that lost vast amounts of its users’ files last summer. It seems that the company has once again stepped between its users and their data, though this time it was intentional. The site (which was formerly known as Streamload) has decided to relaunch as The Linkup, a social networking site based around storage (yes, you read that right). As part of the transition, MediaMax chose to disable access to all of their free accounts. Users were given two options: either pony up $6 a month to continue having access to your files, or download them before they deleted your account. Unfortunately, it seems that many users never got the message. The company says that it notified its users through email, but given the number of people that unexpectedly lost access to their files, it seems that these warnings weren’t enough. From one disgruntled user: About notification: they say they did, but it must have gone into spam. I have saved spam for more than a month, but there is no mail from them. Also, all the previous mails like email notification and changes passwords always arrive in my inbox, why should their email go in spam? They are lying openly. If you were on a free account, and you haven’t downloaded your files yet, you’re screwed. They’re gone. Oh yeah, if you did decide to go with the Pro account, you’re also out of luck for the time being. The company is apparently having difficultly getting files transferred between MediaMax and The Linkup, and the files probably won’t be available until late June (The Linkup launched on May 10 – that’s nearly two months of downtime). http://www.hulu.com/embed/3u5SiWkVlhBGZYzZi-SB3w/257/315 Those fearless users who aren’t too concerned with having access to their files should try out The Linkup, “The social network for file sharing.” Why do we need a social network around cloud storage and file sharing? The Office gives us the answer: “its all about creating a one stop consumer experience.” CrunchBase Information The Linkup Information provided by CrunchBase → Read More
At the end of this month, after 20 years of operations, all of Eileen Brown major joints except her right elbow will be man made. She has suffered from rheumatoid arthritis since she was in her 20s; now 49, she hopes to get her new replacement left hip before her 50th birthday. She had this to say when he got her right hip replaced: “Most people are stuck in bed for about two weeks after they’ve had a new hip, but I was walking after three days.” Okay, Wolverine. Other than her high tolerance for pain and positive attitude, there have been no reports of Eileen having super powers or travelling through time to kill/protect Sarah Connor. But this may change if she learns of the Bionic Body Shop, so we’ll will keep you posted. → Read More
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