The Digital Home

Quite a bit happened Tuesday at T-Mobile's conference introducing the G1, the world's first Android-based phone. Sure, it offers GPS, apps, and an open platform to make every iPhone lover cringe, but one major announcement that many have glossed over is the inclusion of Amazon.com's DRM-free MP3 store pre-loaded on each Android phone.

On October 22, thousands of people will be introduced to DRM-free music and Amazon's store. Many of those people won't know the value of owning DRM-free songs and others may wonder what Amazon's MP3 store is. But once they find out for themselves by downloading songs onto their G1, you can bet that they'll never look back at iTunes again.

Why? It's simple really: iTunes is a locked-down service that will only let you play your songs on Apple devices. Quite the contrary, Amazon's DRM-free store will let you download songs online or now, on the G1, and let you take that song to any other device you wish. Want to add it to your iTunes library? Go for it. Want to put it on your Zune? What are you waiting for?

Sure, we've known about this for quite some time--the store already has 6 million songs, you know--but there is a huge base of people who have used iTunes for so long that they don't even know what's out there. Some may not want to switch and will continue using iTunes, but now that Amazon's store is slowly gaining some of the limelight, Apple should start paying more attention to Amazon's offering.

What? You didn't know that already? I thought I was telling you something you already knew.

In case you missed it, Ad Scheepbouwer, the CEO of a Dutch telecom known as KPN told the Financial Times yesterday that "[He] had [an iPhone] and thought it was a pretty useless phone, to be quite honest. The battery ran out in no time. I didn't like the touch screen."

Of course, the company's CEO still didn't want to leave Steve Jobs and company out in the cold just in case it decides to start selling the iPhone to the Netherlands. Scheepbouwer said that his company would "be more than happy to sell it." After all, he pointed out, his company has "half the market in the Netherlands and hopes it will will be the party of choice."

Even better, this clown has allegedly been wining and dining Steve Jobs at every chance he gets in an attempt to win the deal. Am I missing something? Didn't he say that the product is 'useless'? And didn't he say that the battery runs 'out in no time'? If he believes that, why would Apple want to strike a deal with his company and why would his company want to sell such a junker?

If nothing else, this just goes to show us all how crazy these carriers really are.

When will it ever end?

(Credit: Verizon Wireless)

In a move that some have called "groundbreaking" and I have called "a disgusting attempt at trying to look cool", Verizon Wireless has announced that it will be opening its network to "any apps and any device...that meets a minimum technical standard."

What a waste of valuable editorial space. Why is this even news? Does anyone actually believe that Verizon Wireless has become the cell phone industry's latest (or is it first?) good guy? I certainly don't.

One of the more laughable parts of this story is Verizon's insistence on its new service becoming the haven "small device manufacturers and developers" have been waiting for. For some reason, I can't quite grasp why this is true.

In order to get your device or app on the Verizon service, you'll need to send it to the newly created $20 million test lab Verizon has set up and the company will need to approve it for use on its network. Also, it'll need to meet certain technical standards, which could mean it simply needs to light up and make noise, or it could mean it'll need to fly to Mars if it's not made by a well known firm.

To make matters worse, Verizon has yet to announce how it will accomplish this newly devised system and if you've been keeping score, this company that's trying so hard to be "open" has yet to join Google's Android Open Handset Alliance. That seems a bit odd, doesn't it?

But I digress. The real story here is not that Verizon Wireless has announced something without any real details, the real story is the fact that Verizon exemplifies everything that's wrong with the cell phone industry -- it's a place where common sense is thrown out the window and customer loyalty and respect have never existed.

Steve and his only friend

(Credit: CNET Networks)

With most of the focus being placed on new iPods, much of my focus (yes, I watched it) was on the Starbucks deal.

And while some coffee fanatics believe this is the greatest announcement since the iPod itself, I'm left wondering if there are some implications for AT&T.

Considering every wireless-equipped Starbucks in the nation is using T-Mobile's services and that same company is an AT&T competitor, how much can AT&T like the announcement made today that the iPod Touch and, more importantly, the iPhone will be able to connect to the Starbucks Wi-Fi? I think AT&T is upset.