[opendtv] New VoIP and browser options show chinks in iPhone armor
- From: "Manfredi, Albert E" <albert.e.manfredi@xxxxxxxxxx>
- To: "opendtv@xxxxxxxxxxxxx" <opendtv@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- Date: Mon, 8 Feb 2010 16:38:16 -0600
http://www.rethink-wireless.com/article.asp?article_id=2583&pg=1
New VoIP and browser options show chinks in iPhone armor
By CAROLINE GABRIEL
Published: 5 February, 2010
After a period of unquestioned supremacy, the iPhone model is showing small
signs of defensiveness, under attack from Android and the open web approach of
Google. Last week Apple opened up the VoIP API (application programming
interface) to allow previously banned internet voice services on its devices.
Now it has introduced a feature that enables users to access App Store
offerings via the browser, and in a further concession to the open software
brigade, AT&T has reversed its policy on allowing the SlingPlayer app to run
over its 3G network.
The vertically integrated model, where users are confined to downloadable
applications that are governed by Apple, has been very successful, but as
mobile browsers and high speed connectivity improves, interest is rising in
Google's preferred model - accessing most services via the browser. The two
companies' clash over mobile paradigms has been most clearly seen in the row
over allowing Google Voice into the App Store, which even reached the US
antitrust authorities - the app remains excluded, but with the VoIP interface
opened up, users can now opt for Google voice services via the web.
Other key voice players are rushing to take advantage of the new API, including
Cisco and Skype. The latter says a 3G VoIP app for the iPhone and iPod Touch
(and new iPad) will be available "soon", once it has improved audio quality to
its satisfaction. Previously users could only use VoIP applications over the
iPhone's Wi-Fi connection. Now VoIP providers fring and iCall have also adapted
their Apple offerings to run in 3G mode on AT&T's network.
As for Cisco, the IP giant also plans to add voice over Wi-Fi capabilities to
its existing iPhone Cisco Mobile application, which works with the Cisco
Unified Mobility Advantage server. The client offers quick access to features
such as visual voicemail and Mobile Connect call routing. The upcoming WLan
version, to be called Cisco Mobile Voice, will be free and should ship in April.
Another app that will now be usable over 3G as well as Wi-Fi is the SlingPlayer
Mobile place shifting function, which redirects TV signals over the internet so
programs can be viewed on a mobile device.
AT&T Mobility's CEO Ralph de la Vega said the carrier had worked closely with
Sling Media to adapt the application to work more efficiently on the 3G
network. "The key for us is Sling Media was willing to work with us to revise
the app to make it more bandwidth sensitive," he said in a statement (though
Sling said it had made those changes months ago).
Of course, one reason for the new openness to allowing disruptive apps onto
AT&T's 3G network is that the carrier has been improving the coverage and
quality of its HSPA system, which has struggled under the weight of iPhone data
traffic. Unfettered web use worsens the problem because it is so unpredictable,
and both Apple and its carrier friends have also resisted allowing apps that
disrupt key cellco revenue streams. Now they are having to take a more flexible
approach. Three months after quietly introducing iTunes Preview - a browser
based feature for viewing music in the iTunes store without installing or
launching the media player - Apple is now extending the service to the App
Store.
This is a small but significant shift of focus, but many expect a more dramatic
change of direction in the US soon, if Apple ends its exclusive with AT&T, one
of the only one remaining in the world. But one analyst thinks Verizon may have
to wait at least another year for an Apple phone. Jonathan Chaplin of Credit
Suisse said in a client note that there was "a 75% probability that AT&T keeps
exclusivity in 2010". This conflicted with a prediction by Piper Jaffray's
Chris Larsen that there was a 70% chance of the iPhone coming to Verizon's CDMA
network this year. Chaplin writes that he "couldn't find compelling evidence"
that AT&T's contract with Apple ends this year, though he says the probability
of this is 50% - but then adds another 25% likelihood that, even if it does
expire, the cellco could negotiate with Apple to extend its deal for at least
another year.
However, the returns for AT&T are diminishing. Apple accounts for two-thirds of
its smartphone base and so the room for growth is shrinking, as is margin on
the already heavily subsidized device. If the exclusive lasts until 2011, the
analyst thinks Apple's north American smartphone share will fall from 26% to
23% or 13.3m units, and also impact its global share, which is about 17%.
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