2010 January | iPhone News Updated

R.I.P. iPhone Exclusivity

Posted in iPhone News by admin. Published January 26th, 2010

Most of the hype and speculation around Apple’s press event this Wednesday is focused on the expected unveiling of an Apple tablet PC. Those aren’t the only rumors going around though. There is also growing gossip that Wednesday could be the day Apple announces the end of its exclusive distribution arrangement with AT&T for the iPhone.

That rumor, and the rumor that Apple will release version 4.0 of the iPhone operating system, actually seem much more plausible than the tablet PC rumors. Although, the iPhone 4.0 OS rumor is tied to the tablet PC rumor from the standpoint that the conjecture is that the reason Apple developed the iPhone 4.0 OS was to add the features and functionality it needed to run the tablet PC.

The end of exclusivity for the iPhone would also align nicely with the speculation that the mythic Apple tablet will be offered on a subsidized wireless service plan from both Verizon and AT&T. If both Verizon and AT&T will distribute the “iPhone on steroids” that the rumored “iSlate” will be, why shouldn’t they also both distribute its smaller, and more famous sibling?

The end of iPhone exclusivity has been more or less a foregone conclusion for some time. Last year, industry analysts told Apple that it could see a doubling of iPhone sales if it would just end its exclusive arrangement with AT&T.

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Using an iPhone Barcode Scanning App in the Warehouse

Posted in iPhone News by admin. Published January 26th, 2010

I recently spoke to the folks at BabbleWare, a new software vendor with a low-cost warehouse management, manufacturing execution, and mobile field-based execution applications. BabbleWare mentioned that one of its WMS clients is actually experimenting with using the iPhone as their barcode scanning application.

Are they crazy?

Yes, you can buy a barcoding application at Apple’s App Store, and it is cheap—only $1.99 for the RedLaser application. The various barcode apps for sale were designed for the consumer market. The idea is for a user to walk into a store and take a picture of a product barcode that interests them. The app then identifies the scanned item and presents the user with Google Product Search and Amazon shopping results for that item. The IT folks at this sixteen-person warehouse are reconfiguring the app so that it enters the barcode number into the BabbleWare application.