INQ: going a different way for a new phone

Smart:

In an interview with Forbes, he hammers home the point that the success of the iPhone has left the competition frantically searching for a response. “I’m in no way going up against Apple ( AAPL – news – people ),” says Meehan, effectively ruling out touch-screen technology for his company. “All the other manufacturers are making a serious mistake. They’ve spent a huge amount of money competing against the iPhone.”

Don’t expect INQ to do the same.

INQ’s only handset so far, the imaginatively-titled INQ 1, is a simple slider phone with a 3.2 megapixel camera, a Web browser and social-networking applications galore–it’s often referred to as “the Facebook phone.” Flicking through options is simple and uncluttered: Meehan and his team designed the user interface from scratch, on top of a mobile platform by American chip-maker Qualcomm ( QCOM – news – people ). It won “best handset” award at the annual Mobile World Congress in Barcelona this year.

It;s hard to get over “chase the leader” the mentality. Microsoft is the master and Samsung is not too far behind.

Kindle review in NY Mag

Conclusion: you’re better off with the Kindle Reader on an iPod Touch or the iPhone. Via MediaMemo.

“True, the name of the product wasn’t so great. Kindle? It was cute and sinister at the same time—worse than Edsel, or Probe, or Microsoft’s Bob. But one forgives a bad name. One even comes to be fond of a bad name, if the product itself is delightful.

It came, via UPS, in a big cardboard box. Inside the box were some puffy clear bladders of plastic, a packing slip with “$359” on it, and another cardboard box. This one said, in spare, lowercase type, “kindle.” On the side of the box was a plastic strip inlaid into the cardboard, which you were meant to pull to tear the package cleanly open. On it were the words “Once upon a time.” I pulled and opened.

Inside was another box, fancier than the first. Black cardboard was printed with a swarm of glossy black letters, and in the middle was, again, the word “kindle.” There was another pull strip on the side, which again said, “Once upon a time.” I’d entered some nesting Italo Calvino folktale world of packaging. (Calvino’s Italian folktales aren’t yet available at the Kindle Store, by the way.) I pulled again and opened.”

One more expensive example. The Kindle edition of “Selected Nuclear Materials and Engineering Systems,” an e-book for people who design nuclear power plants, sells for more than eight thousand dollars. Figure 2 is an elaborate chart of a reaction scheme, with many call-outs and chemical equations. It’s totally illegible. “You Save: $1,607.80 (20%),” the Kindle page says. “I’m not going to buy this book until the price comes down,” one stern Amazoner wrote.

Does anyone care that eBay promotes top sellers?

Umm, there are no buyers, dudes. Does it matter that buyers have abandoned eBay?

In a bid to beef up the performance of its core marketplace business, the online auctioneer will grant “Top-Rated Seller” status to sellers who win the highest plaudits from buyers. The sellers will then be able to place a badge designating them as such next to their offerings. They will also win a 20% discount on final fees. The move is part of eBay’s attempt to improve service to buyers in hopes that it will help the company fend off rivals such as Amazon.

Verizon confronts David Pogue with an Al Gore quote

David Pogue criticizes Verizon and Verizon comes back with a strong argument:

A number of readers have suggested that I rebut the rebuttal, but I really don’t see the point. To wit, this passage from Verizon’s letter:

“Myth #2: The Wireless sector of the technology industry is not competitive.
 Fact: Former Vice President Al Gore has proclaimed U.S. wireless companies the most competitive on the globe.”

Former Vice President Al Gore said that? Well!

Game. Set. Match. What was the question again?

Friendster for sale

Spectacular fail.

Friendster, the long-time U.S. social network which now has its biggest presence in Southeast Asia, has reportedly put itself up for sale there. The company has hired Morgan Stanley to manage the process, according todocuments published by TechCrunch. Possible buyers could include Asian telecom companies, because of the social network’s big mobile presence. We’ve reached out to Friendster and will update if we hear back.

FT learns to play the Apple traffic game

Go with the flow and print unsubstantiated Apple rumors (via SAI).

The talks come as Apple is separately racing to offer a portable, full-featured, tablet-sized computer in time for the Christmas shopping season, in what the entertainment industry hopes will be a new revolution. The device could be launched alongside the new content deals, including those aimed at stimulating sales of CD-length music, according to people briefed on the project.

Has Apple stopped competing services before?

What is stopping anyone from creating a product that competes with iTunes? Did Apple stop Last.fm or Pandora or Amazon’s MP3 downloader?

Last week, we told you Spotify is set to take America by storm, and the streaming music service could soon do the same to the iPhone platform — but only if Apple approves Spotify’s iPhone app, which shows real potential to threaten iTunes on Apple’s own iPhone platform.

Much ado about nothing.

Music about to take another leap forward online

Spotify gets hyped in the NY Times.

But perhaps the most-discussed licensed service is Spotify, a two-year-old Swedish start-up that has amassed six million users in Europe — and a few hundred lucky media and music industry insiders in the United States who have been given early access.

Spotify users download a program to their computers that allows them to quickly search for a piece of music and play it instantly. Spotify’s innovation is subtle, embedded in its intuitive user interface and efficient design. Anyone familiar with iTunes can figure out how to navigate Spotify’s s five million songs and add them to playlists.

The free version comes with ads, or users can upgrade to a premium version for 10 euros monthly (about $14). Daniel Ek, a co-founder, was in New York this month, talking to the American music labels and preparing to introduce the service here later this year.

Microsoft, as usual, pre-announces intentions to copy Spotify:

According to Forbes journalist, Javier Espinoza, “Another looming threat [to Spotify]: Microsoft is launching a very similar music streaming service later in July, a service that also allows users to download the music, something Spotify still won’t allow members to do.” Nevertheless, the question is, will Microsoft be able to provide cross-format support and separate itself from its lackluster music devices in order to build a site that consumers will enjoy? If it can’t, Spotify will have nothing to worry about.

And now rumors of something Apple is brewing:

Apple and the major record labels are teaming up to create bundles of interactive features to accompany music downloads, according to the Financial Times.
The project, code-named “Cocktail,” has Apple collaborating with EMI, Sony Music, Warner Music, and Universal Music Group with an eye toward a September launch date, the U.K. newspaper said on its FT.com site early Monday, sourcing the information to unnamed people familiar with the situation. Apple is known for making iPod- and iTunes-related announcements at September events.

From the guy wanted Flash on the iPhone

Dan Frommer:

I had one of those “holy crap!” moments yesterday during my quarterly visit to the gym. With little effort, I was able to watch the Cubs game live on my iPhone, with impressive video quality, using MLB’s At Bat app and AT&T’s 3G network.

Finally, I thought, an advanced mobile operating system, a gorgeous screen, a great app, and AT&T working together as promised. (Previously, I couldn’t get an AT&T signal even strong enough to check email from the gym, so for video to squeeze its way through, something good must be going on.)

An hour later, I was ready to leave, and I shut down the app. 30% battery left!

Ignorance is bliss.