T-Mobile to Launch App Store?

[pixlnet]

I definitely understand why t-mobile wants an app store, however I really think this thing will disappoint out of the box. Who knows two years from now, but Apple has done a tremendous job with the whole end to end experience with iPhone. I'm curious to see how Android does but I really think Google will get it right. I'm just hoping hardware manufacturers could step up their game a bit. There's WAY too many clunky recycled devices out there!

If I was a developer I would really be focusing on Android, iPhone, and eventually Windows Mobile 7 applications. I think in the next few years we will see these mobile platforms take off and the little java games will pretty much go to the way side. The mobile space is extremely exciting though, and I think we will see this be a major growth area for the software industry as a whole.

 

[alphaod]

T-Mobile and Sprint are dead. In the end it will be AT&T and Verizon the only ones still standing.

I hope not; I need T-Mobile's cheap prepaid and Sprint's EVDO for my Kindle.

 

[ruckus]

lol, this is a good one. It's just not going to work out, no way. As a developer, I know I wouldn't want to be trying to develop for 100 different platforms, there is no way to test on them all or anything.

There will be just too much mayhem. But it will be fun to watch!

 

[WindowsGuy]

More Competition is Always Best For The End User

If you're not afraid of competition then why the outcry of how great Apple is.

Pull your RAZR out. It used to be the greatest phone you've ever had and a fashion statement.

Apple is the flavor of the day.

Every other phone company and manufacturer are copying it right now and making it better without Steve getting in the way.

I Love Competition and so should you.

 

[rspress]

Big Deal!

AT&T has had an app store for some time now. It serves the line of phone and you can buy apps from your phone. Of course the primitive WAP browser on most phones make surfing the store a real pain. The Apps are overpriced but there are a very few free ones. Most of the Apps look like 10 year old Palm Pilot apps.

The phone companies don't "get it" and I doubt T-Mobile will either.

 

[wshwe]

The competition still doesn't get it. The same store that sells apps also should sell music, movies, tv shows and audio books and offer free podcasts.

 

[arjaosx]

Amazing the world of executives are... On the one end you have a visionary moving the industry forward while on the other are total idiots who do not have an iota of clue of what has hit them and what comes next after that. Funny thing is they get paid all that much just the same

I believe this is a knee jerk reaction to lead people to believe that they are at par with Apple, a company that just a year ago launched their first phone which all of these companies who have been in the business since it started are scrambling to catch It's just embarrassing.

 

[ortuno2k]

Monkey see, Monkey do.
Geez.

 

[arjaosx]

If you're not afraid of competition then why the outcry of how great Apple is.

Pull your RAZR out. It used to be the greatest phone you've ever had and a fashion statement.

Apple is the flavor of the day.

Every other phone company and manufacturer are copying it right now and making it better without Steve getting in the way.

I Love Competition and so should you.

Funny to hear this competition advocacy form a windows guy ;D Peace.

Yeah , it miht be true that the iPhone is the flavor of the day, but Apple has a record of making their flavors last Like the iPod and we still have it a the most popular (not the most feature laden) and best selling MP3 player. Cited for the reason that the iPhone is being laid out on the same strategy : So i expect the iPhone to last.

 

[Shotgun OS]

I just can't see this suceeding. It just doesn't seem like it will work.

 

[mdriftmeyer]

All the development tools in the world are useless without a strong developer culture surrounding them. Apple had that in huge amounts from day one because the iPhone dev tools are based on the already-familiar Apple development tools. Apple was very smart to tie iPhone development in with standard Cocoa tools so closely.

Save your breath. Having worked at NeXT and Apple I'm well-versed in the Openstep/Cocoa API paradigm and having dipped unfortunately into the Windows world it's quite clear that NeXT's tools were so far ahead of it's time that the only unfortunate reality was Steve taking 11 years to finally shed the Carbon and Classic platforms. I couldn't wait 11 years as originally promised was 2 years.

I'm looking forward to seeing T-Mobile's store suck and if they want to compete to work with Apple and Cocoa Developers to offer more jobs.

I doubt it will ever happen and it will be a closely tied Nokia/T-Mobile/Qt-Trolltech alliance.

 

[Syrus28]

just out curiosity, does RIM or MSFT get anything for all the their Apps?

Nope, its free development.

I third that. As a current T-Mobile customer happy with my flexible plan and pleasant/helpful customer service, I wish they would fold. They can't be doing that good else where in the world either, right? Or am I just another ignorant fool?

Try running an iPhone with T-Mo; it was meant to be.

T-Mobile's is the 3rd largest multi-national mobile phone operator in the world, so they aren't doing too bad.

...which will most likely be well over 20 million before they even launch this unholy beast on the world. Remember the 3G is still selling in current markets like hotcakes, with 21 more countries added in the next month.

20 million is a high target, considering their only around 8 million now. Those 21 countries aren't very big markets, I wonder how they compare to the US as a whole. Countries like Argentina, Chile, and Columbia don't seem like big markets to me.

As for it being truth or a rumor, I have no doubt it will prove true, it's exactly the kind of idiotic me-too catchup games these guys always play. How many iPhone lookalike phones have you seen in the last year? How many are actually as good as an iPhone? None. But there's always some marketing genius at these braindead companies who shamelessly tries to rip off Apple's success, not realizing they don't have any of the actual talent or experience to make such things work. The best they can do is try to make it look the same and hope to fool enough people into buying it.

Umm... OK? Its fine to like the iPhone, but there have been some legitimate competitors. The iPhone was not the first touch screen phone, and won't be the last. I don't understand how you can write off everything else as "iPhone Lookalikes" because they aren't better in your eyes. There have been some legitimate competition, such as the Samsung Instinct, LG Dare, LG Vu, HTC touch, and HTC diamond all who have features the iPhone doesn't, so I would exactly write them off as "iPhone lookalikes". There's room for improvement for all parties, Apple included.

The competition still doesn't get it. The same store that sells apps also should sell music, movies, tv shows and audio books and offer free podcasts.

Why? No competitor comes close to matching iTunes in all of those cases, and its better to focus on one first (just like Apple did).

 

[hardmanb]

Competition is good,

but the carriers can't compete effectively.

From my iPhone, I can access the AppStore/iTunes; all the 9,000 mp3 files on my desktop (patent just filed); remotely operate my desktop computer; and remotely access and control my AppleTV and even my home computer and energy management system...all with OSX...one compatible operating system.

Apple has a homogeneous platform...a complete ecosystem where everything can work easily, stable, and compatibly with my entire digital life.

T-mobile doesn't have the platform and the ecosystem. The multiplicity of manufacturers of phones, music players, home entertainment systems and home/office computers cannot be reliably synchronized with the separate parts and different operating systems of their world. It's just too complex.

 

[ThunderSkunk]

Hahaha.... ohhhhh shiiiiii... Sell stock now! sell sell sell!!!

I am no fanboy, in fact, I don't think I've posted one "nice" thing about Apple yet, & certainly none about the iphone. But... how in the hell does t-mobile think this is possibly going to work?

Unless... it is only necessary that it works from an immediate sales or PR perspective, & doesn't have to actually function worth squat...

hm. I smell desperation.

 

[Otaviano]

You got love these articles, they bring all the fanboys out the woodwork. LOL at the people cheering the death of Sprint and T-Mobile, love to see how much worse your phone plans would get at a that point.

 

[lowbatteries]

It's the interface that'll keep 'em, not the features.

Now I'm not saying Apple is going the same route, but It's going to take more than adding 3G, GPS, and some colors to keep its customers when the other phones catch up (which they ALWAYS do).

The iPhone is the first cell phone I've ever seen that made me think the age of throw-away phones is coming to an end.

What makes you think other phones will catch up? It's the interface - and not one company knows interfaces better than Apple. Years have gone by since the introduction of OS X and no software maker has even come close to matching its interface. I predict the iPhone will be the same. I give other software makers 5 years AT LEAST to even match THE CURRENT iPhone.

And by then Apple will be blowing us away with something else.

Nope, its free development.

There have been some legitimate competition, such as the Samsung Instinct, LG Dare, LG Vu, HTC touch, and HTC diamond all who have features the iPhone doesn't, so I would exactly write them off as "iPhone lookalikes". There's room for improvement for all parties, Apple included.

You mention a lot of touch-screen phones - not a single one of those is multi-touch. Don't confuse the two - multi-touch opens amazing possibilities for the UI.

The only features I can think of that I want in the iPhone (full bluetooth stack, haptic feedback, wireless sync, uncontrolled software installation) are all software update-able. So, thanks to forward-thinking Apple, the iPhone will be relevant and continue to grow its feature set while all the other throw-away phones come and go.

 

[kidwithdimples]

I am looking forward to this, LOL.

 

[Silver-Fox]

If this turns out well, then it's competition for the app store, hopefully they will compete on prices and quality. So both will end up rising, i think this is a good idea

 

[dicklacara]

As much of a chuckle as i got out of this, i quickly reminded myself that this is only a good thing even if this store does better than the Apple App Store, because it means Apple will improve and make it better to make up for it, the customer wins even more .

Amazes me how Apple always seems to push things forward in technology.

Hopefully T-Mobile will come up with something great and Apple will have to counter with something even better for us iPhone users. Heres to hoping!

Mmm... I checked the german T-Mobile site which already has a store up-- at least 1 program, ChessGenius, has a Gratis Demo Downloden.

http://mobil.softwareload.de/device:Nokia_N95/product_244779_details.html

 

[Santa Rosa]

Two word: Epic Fail

Dont need to go through the points again, its already been said. Maybe some of the T-Mo execs should take a look through this thread.

I can't imagine it being that easy. You see, there once was a phone called the RAZR. Everyone wanted one, and soon the price came down and everyone bought one. Turns out, the other companies are jealous and decide to design their own RAZR-like phone. The early ones suck, so people stay with the RAZR. Soon enough, all these people's contracts ended and were looking for a new phone. The other phones improved quite a bit, and since they already had a RAZR (and Motorola wasn't producing anything much different), they went looking for a different phone. Motorola fails, and starts bleeding money, because when thinking of Motorola, the were "been there, done that".

Now I'm not saying Apple is going the same route, but It's going to take more than adding 3G, GPS, and some colors to keep its customers when the other phones catch up (which they ALWAYS do). Apple's been smart so far, as people who are on other services haven't experienced the iPhone yet. What happens in 2 years when the AT&T exclusivity is up, and Apple (presumably) floods the market with iPhones? Once those contracts end (and other phones improvde), people are going to look for a different experience. Not necessarily better, but different.

Its really difficult to say which way the iPhone will go. Will it just be like the Mac. Market share on the up, but in the big scheme of things a generally small segment.

Then again you can look at the iPod. To consumers in general that means MP3 player, music player what have you. Try saying to them iRiver, Creative and you generally get blank stares. The problem I suppose looking at it like that is there was much smaller competition in that space when it came out in comparison to the cell market.

The one big advantage I would say Apple has that your RAZR never had is the ecosystem in which the iPhone lives. Its link with iTunes and the iPod, and now the App Store and its dev community. Taking that into account does that change the playing field a bit. As far as I am aware there isnt another handset maker with Apples ecosystem and computer heritage.

 

[dicklacara]

T-Mobile and Sprint are dead. In the end it will be AT&T and Verizon the only ones still standing.

Isn't T-Mobile an Apple-authorized iPhone carrier/reseller in Germany?

 

[Santa Rosa]

The iPhone is the first cell phone I've ever seen that made me think the age of throw-away phones is coming to an end.

What makes you think other phones will catch up? It's the interface - and not one company knows interfaces better than Apple. Years have gone by since the introduction of OS X and no software maker has even come close to matching its interface. I predict the iPhone will be the same. I give other software makers 5 years AT LEAST to even match THE CURRENT iPhone.

And by then Apple will be blowing us away with something else.

You mention a lot of touch-screen phones - not a single one of those is multi-touch. Don't confuse the two - multi-touch opens amazing possibilities for the UI.

The only features I can think of that I want in the iPhone (full bluetooth stack, haptic feedback, wireless sync, uncontrolled software installation) are all software update-able. So, thanks to forward-thinking Apple, the iPhone will be relevant and continue to grow its feature set while all the other throw-away phones come and go.

In the bold. I see that as another key differentiation. Consumers at the moment think that phones that look like the iPhone, will work like it. They virtually all have pressure sensitive touch screens AFAIK. As Steve would put it, yuck. I have seen it first hand a few times now people getting those phones and being disappointed.

Why, simple, it just doesn't work with anywhere near the same elegance. Try a swipe scroll action on a pressure sensitive screen. Its horrible. I had the pleasure (cough cough) of using a few of the iPhone clones and they are just nasty in comparison. One of them I thought was broken because every time I tapped an icon it didn't do anything. Turned out I wasn't pressing near hard enough. Nice.

When and if people start to realize the difference I think thats another big positive in the iPhones feature list. Scroll judder, scroll judder judder lol

 

[reverie]

Do you realize that this effects Google's Android?

Going by T-Mobile's step, there won't be a unified worldwide AppStore platform for the gPhones like for the iPhone*. It will still be in the hands of the carriers to provide that piece of user interaction and marketing, and they don't have the competence. Developers will hate the process of selling their app to every single carrier. Users may not be able to transfer their apps from one gPhone to another gPhone if they are on different networks - because of incompatible DRM. A major competitive disadvantage for Android.

* Or media store! Think about it. Staying inside the Android family won't guarantee that your songs are still playing.

 

[fastbite]

They are so moronic. Apple always opens the doors to new ideas, then everybody else freaks and tries to copy. Over and over the same story.
By the way, Moconews, translated to Spanish = news from nostril mucus.

 

[mackiwi]

Domination.

Never since microsoft has one company been in such a good position to consolidate and dominate the personal entertainment technology market.

Microsoft failed, and remains as simply the dominant PC OS and office suite developer.

Apple used a small but hardcore base of supporters to go from being an alsoran desktop OS/compuer maker to being the following:

- The leader in premium destops and notebooks
- The dominant leader in portable audio players
- The dominant online seller of music
- The dominant online seller of video
- one of the leading music retailers overall.
- A new entrant in the telecommunications handset business, with one of the most sophisticated phones on the market.
- the fastest growing company in the smartphone category
- the most advanced touch screen interface in widespread commercial use
- The App store for the mobile OS X software - available on both the flagship ipod and iphone
- A sudden thrust into a top 3 position of the mobile gaming market, with every ipod touch/iphone more than capable with competing with the DS & PSP
And most importantly:

- A 'LOCK-IN' of existing customers, as the majority of music, videos & applications they have purchased from apple will only work on apple products, meaning when its time for them to replace their iphone/ipods in future - they would be losing the ability to use potentially hundreds or thousands of dollars of already purchased media and software if they dont again buy an apple product.

Potentlailly apple can also enter and succeed in the following markets of personal technology, through the expansion of ipod touches /iphones:

- Digital cameras: add a nice camera to the ipod touch and iphone (5mp+), mobile OS X already betters every other digital camera software out there. GPS also will benefit here (GEOTAGGING)
- GPS navigation: apples already got the hardware in the iphone, add to ipod touch also.
- Digital video: Larger capacity ipod touches/iphones, combined with a camera system of 480 or 720p would eliminate the need for 99% of the general public to own a seperate digital video camera.
- The Apple LCD screen for the living room, capable of streaming your apple media and software 'out of the box' - like no other TV can.

Apple heading in this direction, which seems to be a highly profitable one. While they may not produce the best video camera or GPS unit available, the fact that it will be one feature of many on a single device will ensure success. Sony should really have combined a lot of their personal entertainment products long ago, but now they are heading for the scrapheap who will simply be catering to the prosumer or professional.

The one unknown: will apple products become so ingrained into everyones personal lifestyle, that apple will finally see the halo effect into generl use by business? and does it matter?