Elliott C. Back: Technology FTW!

I was reading Motorola legal tie to pull pricey Aura phone off eBay, and it struck me that some scary stuff is going on if you are going to have to spend $2000 on a phone, only to never be able to resell it:

A source close to the company told Register Hardware that in order to maintain Aura’s glow of exclusivity, buyers will be required to “sign into a contract that states they can’t sell it on eBay”. The source added that if an Aura owner wants to sell their phone after they’ve bought it then they’ll only have one option: to sell it back to the manufacturer.

Presumably, each Aura sold will carry a unique id number, possibly above and beyond an IMEI code, that’ll be linked to a specific buyer. So should you shirk your contractual obligations and offer your handset for auction, then Motorola’s legal department will come knocking on your door.

I would think that reselling your own phone would be covered by the first sales doctrine or consumer protection laws. What do you think?

Reading Spat with Rogers leaves Canadian Apple stores without iPhones on Apple Insider leaves me with a sense of unease. It’s certainly Apple’s right to send shipments of the highly desired iPhone 3G where it wants, but to screw an entire country because it doesn’t like the action of one carrier won’t help it’s reputation with Canadians, who now suffer arbitrarily:

Apple, disgusted with Rogers Wireless for dumping egregious service plans on would-be iPhone 3G buyers, has decided that its Canadian retail stores will have no part in helping the carrier market the new handset to customers, AppleInsider has learned.

As a result, Canadian Apple Retail stores won’t be selling the new 3G touchscreen phones come Friday, representatives for the Cupertino-based company said during a private conference call on Monday evening. Instead, it will be up to Rogers and its partner Fido to lock subscribers into steep 3-year contracts that require a minimum monthly payment of $60 for just 150 minutes, 75 text messages, and 400MB of data.

So because Apple doesn’t like Rogers’ unfair pricing, they’re not going to sell their phones in Canada, with this snarky quote “We have nothing to do with the service plans. Those are Rogers’ plans.” On the other hand, iPhone Atlas suggests that Apple never intended to sell the iPhone 3G at any retail location, which would make this fight nothing but FUD.

RIMM’s newly announced Blackberry Bold 9000 looks like a promising refresh of their basic design. Their slogan, “Be Bold”, and the newly designed website bring back hints of Motorola in its prime, when it released the metro-styled Razor phone:

The phone itself is little changed from its predecessors. It still has a full keyboard, GPS, and a bulky look. It is the first blackberry to support both GSM networks and the new HSDPA/UMTS (850/1900/2100). It also has a new half-VGA screen, at 480×320 with 64k color. A CNet reviewer said about the screen, “I was absolutely blown away. I can pretty much say I’ve never seen a better-looking display on a smartphone.”

Unfortunately, it’s still playing catchup to the iPhone. For Blackberry lovers, that might be enough. The new media player, the 3.5mm headphone jack bring it into iPhone’s territory. But, the thicker Blackberry Bold has significant battery problems, compared to the iPhone, and holds 8 times less media than the cheapest iPhone on the market. Will you be buying it?

I find this Personal Cell Phone Signal Blocker Device interesting. Not only does it retail for about $50, it offers portable jamming of all cellular signals (GSM, CDMA, DCS, PHS, 3G). All the iPhone toting Apple neophytes within a 2 to 40 foot radius will be unable to operate their shiny devices for three hours until your 1500mAh battery dies.

They note that “certain countries” like the USA forbid you from owning one:

Important Note: Usage and purchase of this item may not be allowed in certain countries. It is your responsibility to check for your local regulations. DX is not responsible for customs confiscations. if you are not sure whether you country allows importing this product, do not use EMS express shipping to avoid problems.

According to Wikipedia, this is because of the Communications Act of 1934. However, if you’re interested in this sort of thing you should read the Phrack piece on building a GPS jammer or the How Stuff Works article on jammers for a more basic overview.

I got an email from a PR person working to promote a new multimedia cellphone service called RemoTV. Unfortunately, their press release is filled with typos, braggadocio they can’t back up, and points to a website that doesn’t contain any technical information about their service. Where’s the demo? Here’s their press release, with errors corrected:

Hi Elliott –

I hope all is well. With the hype that’s been circulating recently concerning Apple’s iPhone, people who can’t spend $600 and don’t have a day off work to get one [removed ,] are getting a bit antsy. Why does this one device have so many monopolies on technology? Not any more….enter stage left: RemoTV!

RemoTV (which launched its Beta site in June) is the newest addition in the wireless entertainment market. I think the readers of Business 2.0 are going to be psyched [removed siked] to learn of it! [removed .] Basically, RemoTV (which is FREE for all users!!!!!) is a way to host all your entertainment files [what are "entertainment files"?] (photos, music, video) from your computer – giving cell phone users the capability of [removed , at any time,] signing in and having their favorite music videos, hottest songs, or prized picture albums directly within reach! If your phone is web enabled you’ve got [removed the] most tech elements an iPhone offers – FOR FREE!

5W Public Relations
45 West 45th Street
5th Floor
New York, NY 10036
www.5Wpr.com

I’ve removed the individual identifying information, which was another three lines in the huge footer, as well as three phone numbers, and two more paragraphs of gibberish.

My first problem is that a professional PR firm with clients including Evian, McDonalds, Chamillionaire, Snoop Dogg, and GQ can send an email which is unreadable in English because of its grammatical missteps. It also features terrible punctuation and spelling! Honestly, 5W PR, if you can’t write a press release which is generally error-free, I believe you should just stop writing them. And stop being a PR firm with clients.

The second thing is that their promise is not believable. I simply can’t watch video streaming over my computer at another computer on broadband; there’s not enough bandwidth. How are they going to pull it off on slow, slow GSM networks?