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T-Mobile to Launch App Store?

Syrus28 said:
...[People bored with RAZR]...
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.
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Right, that's why nobody uses the iPod anymore. They all got bored and switched to SansDisks & Zunes -- "Not necessarily better, but different"...oh, wait :rolleyes:

Face it, comparing the iPhone to the Razr is ridiculous, the RAZR is just a dumb phone that makes phone calls -- the iPhone is a platform, a computer. In fact it would be much easier for someone to switch from a pre-iPod Touch iPod to another brand, than it will be from the iPhone/iPod Touch. People will have massive investments in apps, that will work nowhere else. And developers will have a massive investment in the iTunes App store, they are unlikely to go elsewhere.
 
can I suggest we make it clear on the front page what countries this is rumoured for, as the T-Mobile brand is used in a few.

cheers
 
I can't see how this is negative in any way. If it gets users to maximize their cell phones fully - by using applications on it then that is progression, which is good.

There are a ton of good Java apps ( mostly games ) out there that will run on 'feature' phones.



I wonder if T-Mobile feel the need to Nanny their users like Apple and introduce a similar "The Great iPhone App Firewall", or whether they'll put the Responsibility on to the user?
 
A T-mobile app store would not have that many apps and on top of that most programs will not run on all the phones, they will need multiple images unless the code is Java and even then .... they may still need multiple images to cover all the phones.


IMHO this is a waste of resources, this will not be very successful.
 
Last night I rolled my eyes at this news too. This morning though I had a thought. There are some people who should be very, very afraid, but it's not Apple.

Have you ever heard of/used a website called Handango? Or a website called Pocketgear? They are two major mobile software stores, and from what I've read they're AWFUL to developers. Not paying them on time, charging fees for all sorts of things, offering incentives and freebies that expire, etc. These stores are mixed stores, meaning you can go there for palm, windows mobile, symbian, blackberry software, etc.

So if T-Mobile offers a clear revenue sharing arrangement with devs of those platforms, Handango, Pocket Gear, et al are screwed. The devs are going to send business to T-Mobile because they're guaranteed a cut, and it's more generous than what Handango was paying them, plus they aren't getting a crazy runaround. And with more devices being smartphones and connected devices, it makes it easier for customers too. They can call their phone company when there's an issue with their software, not the greedy bastards at some 3rd party website.

It's unfortunate that this is getting buried in the comparisons to the app store, but if you aren't using an iPhone this sets a very interesting precedent. Rather than having to hunt for software everywhere, or rely on microsoft, RIM, nokia, etc to provide you links to software, your provider is doing it. Setting the app store and the iPhone aside, since they are on a whole other unique level, for the rest of the playing field this can be a real game changer, and can seriously impact the other mobile OS ecosystems.
 
Thinking and Doing

Oh, so very different.

Good luck T-mobile. It might slow the tide just a bit from people leaving.

What I really wonder. How long does Apple really want to be tied up with AT&T
 
arjaosx said:
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 :p 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.
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Yeah I know, kind of like the Newton & AppleTV both about as popular as the Zune.
 
question fear said:
Have you ever heard of/used a website called Handango? Or a website called Pocketgear? They are two major mobile software stores, and from what I've read they're AWFUL to developers. Not paying them on time, charging fees for all sorts of things, offering incentives and freebies that expire, etc. These stores are mixed stores, meaning you can go there for palm, windows mobile, symbian, blackberry software, etc.

So if T-Mobile offers a clear revenue sharing arrangement with devs of those platforms, Handango, Pocket Gear, et al are screwed. The devs are going to send business to T-Mobile because they're guaranteed a cut, and it's more generous than what Handango was paying them, plus they aren't getting a crazy runaround. And with more devices being smartphones and connected devices, it makes it easier for customers too. They can call their phone company when there's an issue with their software, not the greedy bastards at some 3rd party website.
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Rampant Speculation Warning lol: Who is to say that T-Mobile will be any better than the other people you mention. IMHO they are taking on a mammoth task to even partly deliver what they are talking about. Is that not inevitably going to lead to large scale problems possibly such like what you have described?
 
Why in the world would a WinMo developer split their profits with T-moblie rather than sell their app directly and keep all the money? Apple was pretty clever to make their store the only way to buy apps for the iPhone. But it can't work on an open platform.
 
WindowsGuy said:
Yeah I know, kind of like the Newton & AppleTV both about as popular as the Zune.
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The Newton was 10 years ahead of its time, and even SJ has admitted that TV is really just a hobby. You can hardly compare those to AT&T's top-selling phone, one that is reportedly selling 800,000 units per week.
 
WOW, How innovative. How original. My god, these people are rebels. I can't believe they thought of this. Where do they get such grand ideas and put them to practice.


HONEY!, get the checkbook... I need to buy some t-mobile stock now!
 
dicklacara said:
Isn't T-Mobile an Apple-authorized iPhone carrier/reseller in Germany?
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Yes, they are.

Another interesting fact: T-Online Germany (which is a subsidary of Deutsche Telekom, just like T-Mobile) operates a service called MusicLoad. Germany is the only country in the world where Apple really has to fight to be #1 in online music sales. ITunes and MusicLoad have a head to head race. This is because Deutsche Telekom still operates most fixed phone lines and DSL connections and many people have the t-online portal as start page when they go online. T-Mobile is the market leader for mobile services here,too (with hard competetion from Vodafone). So they will be able to direct a lot of mobile online customers to an own app store.

So I wonder why we did not hear this news about T-Mobile Germany? They have a very solid position in their home market and Apple is not nearly as strong here as in the US.

Christian
 
Anyone remember the original 'must have' phone?

The Motorola StarTAC?

It was the 'must have' and they sold a ton of them. The big problem that I see with the iphone, aside fom all the love shown here on the top of page 2 is that the only thing that can kill it is hardware.

Change the hardware requirements or standards and the iphone is a worthless piece of has been old relic.

That BTW is what killed my StarTAC. The move away from analog.

Speaking of stupid ideas, how about Verizon's idea to walk on the iphone. I heard rumours that it was a fight for control between Apple and Verizon but still, I'm sure whoever botched that is getting tired of cleaning toilets at corporate...
 
Santa Rosa said:
Rampant Speculation Warning lol: Who is to say that T-Mobile will be any better than the other people you mention. IMHO they are taking on a mammoth task to even partly deliver what they are talking about. Is that not inevitably going to lead to large scale problems possibly such like what you have described?
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I don't know that, honestly. I was just commenting because a 30%~ revenue share agreement is, from what I've heard, significantly better than Handango. Here's a breakdown of what they're "revenue sharing" looks like.

If T-Mobile is only taking 30%, compared to Handango's 50%, that's pretty good for a small developer. Not to mention that if the carrier is running it, the people who bought a winmob or blackberry device but never bothered to download software might actually do it.

(Think about how many apps you'd have to sell to blackberry or windows mobile users to hit a level above $250,000 in sales. They don't have an app store or similar link, so you're relying on their tech savvy, your app being good, AND their using Handango to purchase it. Basically it drives out small developers or forces them to take a huge haircut just to get in the game.)

That's why I'm saying it's not a threat to Apple or the App Store, but to the existing distribution model for EVERYONE ELSE. For business models that are built around multiple carriers/devices/handsets, like Nokia, MS and RIM, this gives their developers more exposure and better pay. Theoretically.
 
Westside guy said:
I've been a T-Mobile customer for several years. I'm reasonably certain that this new "app store" will just be a rebranding of their silly existing store, where they try to get you to spend way too much money on pointless add-on services for your phone.

T-Mobile is no different than the other carriers - I don't think any of them really get the concept of the iPhone App Store. They're still looking for ways to pretend providing cell phone service is more than just being a commodity broker.
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So the iPhone App store isn't a store to get you to spend way too much money on pointless add-on services for your phone?

What about the pointless games, the pointless ringtones, the pointless apps that are just there for fun, and profit.

The iPhone app. store isn't perfect, and it's the same exact thing as any other app. store or downloads store that any other provider carries.

At least with my T-mobile phone, I can copy and paste, mess with MMS messages (I don't quite remember if those were added on in the 3G), and my data plan is significantly cheaper. Like, $20 a month for unlimited data, texts, and an email account.

I don't give a rat's ass about 3G because 3G isn't available everywhere, even with bigger carriers such as Verizon. You still need to be within some sort of city to get something.

I love Apple products, but sometimes the horribly one-sided opinions upset me.

Sidekicks already have an app. store, and an SDK. The Sidekick is obviously not the world's greatest phone, but at least it has an SDK and was into the App. store thing long before Apple.
 
And what kind of wonderful applications will be developed for Motorola's crappy horrible terrible phone software? How will this work on Nokias, Samsungs, LGs, etc.?

The huge difference here is the iPhone device and OS itself. No other phone comes close to what the iPhone can do.

All these phone companies had years and year to improve the interfaces for their crappy phones, but, haven't bothered out of sheer laziness.

Good luck trying, T-Mobile!
 
And...

What about that earlier Apple tie in phone that sucked so damn bad...

Yes, the iphone is revolutionary. :eek: To bad the company it's service is tied to in America still works out of the dark ages... :(
 
Trajectory said:
And what kind of wonderful applications will be developed for Motorola's crappy horrible terrible phone software? How will this work on Nokias, Samsungs, LGs, etc.?
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Jamba!, the market leader as mobile phone content provider, sells all applications for all kinds of different phones without any problems in their apps store. So this shouldn't be a big problem for T-Mobile.
 
Funny how everyone wants to copy Apple

Dell is trying to copy the iMac, many try to copy iTunes, Micro$oft wants to copy the Apple experience, Many want to create an iPhone look alike, and T-Mobile wants to create an AppStore. WHAT ELSE IS NEW????
 
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