Steve Jobs Eclipses New iPods at Apple Show

Ending weeks of speculation about whether or not he'd host Apple's next media event, CEO Steve Jobs took the stage Wednesday to usher in new iPods and a new version of iTunes. The new iPod nano will carry a built-in video camera; the shuffle will come in an array of colors, and iTunes 9 will be available with new tweaks and functions.

Apple (Nasdaq: AAPL) CEO Steve Jobs returned to center stage to kick off the company's media event in San Francisco on Wednesday.

Apple made a slew of announcements, mostly focused on its iPod line and iTunes software, that included price cuts, new features and capabilities, and new products.
It unveiled a new version of the iPhone/iPod touch operating system as well as new iPods and a ninth version of iTunes with new features.

The King Is Back

The run-up to the media event was rife with speculation about whether or not Jobs would appear. His turning up sent a strong signal that he is firmly at the helm of the Apple ship once again following a fight with a serious illness that necessitated a liver transplant.
"This year, the biggest story of the event was the reappearance of company founder Steve Jobs, once again taking his place on center stage," Laura DiDio, principal at ITIC, told MacNewsWorld. "In the minds of many, Jobs is Apple. And despite evidence to the contrary, the health and fortunes of Jobs and Apple are inextricably intertwined."
Jobs opened the event to a standing ovation. He kicked things off by urging his audience to become organ donors, paying homage to the deceased individual whose liver was passed on to him, and thanking Tim Cook for running the company in his absence.
He announced that iPhone sales have hit the 30 million mark and that the iTunes app store now has more than 75,000 apps. The app store has seen 1.8 billion downloads, not including updates, Jobs said.

iPhone Stuff

Jobs announced the release of iPhone OS 3.1, available free from the app store as of Wednesday. It includes new features and bug fixes.
iPhone 3.0, released in June after Apple's WorldWide Developers Conference, had a few kinks in the system, including one that caused previously-deleted e-mails to mysteriously reappear.
Apple is also adding 30,000 ringtones from the major music labels. The price is $1.29 per ringtone.
Jobs also announced that Apple's Genius technology will work with apps as well as music. Users' iPhones will now suggest apps to them based on the apps they already have installed.

The Beat Goes On

The Genius technology has also been updated with the launch of Genius Mixes. Think of it as having your own personal digital DJ. Genius Mixes draws from the user's iTunes library to create up to 12 endless mixes of songs that go well together.
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iTunes 9 with app syncing
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Apple also unveiled iTunes 9, though Apple-watchers were already confident that iTunes was being revamped thanks to a slip on the iTunes Web page.
That slip was revealed on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) blog. Apple was quick to pick up on it -- a check of the iTunes page at 10:29 a.m. PST showed it had been restored to list only iTunes 8.
Besides Genius Mixes, other features of iTunes 9 include iTunes LP and Home Sharing.
iTunes LP combines design with live performance videos, lyrics, artwork, liner notes, interviews, photos and album credits. Think of it as your LP, complete with packaging, but in digital form. The first albums on iTunes LP include some from Bob Dylan, The Grateful Dead and the Dave Matthews Band.
Home Sharing lets users transfer music, movies and TV shows among up to five authorized computers on the user's home networks.
The iTunes Store has also been reorganized, and Top Charts now have a preview button so users can try before they buy. Users can also gift an album or add one to their wishlist and share to Facebook or Twitter .
Syncing between iTunes 9 and iPhone OS 3.1 has been improved, so users can organize their iPhone apps in iTunes and have them appear on their iPhones in the layout they pick. Users can also auto-sync purchases from shared accounts.

New iPod Nanos

In addition, Apple introduced a new iPod nano. This comes with a video camera, a microphone and a speaker. It has a 2.2-inch color display, a built-in FM radio with live pause and iTunes tagging, and a built-in pedometer.

iPod nano
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Apple wants to challenge the Flip video camera, and Jobs compared its new iPod to a Flip model retailing at $149.99.
The nano can be synced to a Mac or PC. Videos can be shared on YouTube , MobileMe or Facebook through e-mail. It provides up to 24 hours of music playback or five hours of video playback on one battery charge. The nano comes in nine colors, including silver, black, purple and pink.
The new nano comes in 8 GB and 16 GB versions. Prices are $149 and $179, respectively

Rocking the Gamers

In showing its new iPod touch models, Apple made a point to push the platform as a gaming device. Though the iPod touch has long been able to play many of the games available in the App Store, a significant amount of stage time Wednesday was given to top-shelf game developers. These included Electronic Arts (Nasdaq: ERTS) with "Madden NFL 10," a new edition in one of the largest sports game franchises.

iPod shuffle
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Apple also threw jabs at the Nintendo DS and the Sony (NYSE: SNE) PlayStation Portable in terms of game selection.
The iPod is "a great pocket computer with the industry's best mobile Web browser and a great game player, all in this super-thin, beautiful enclosure," said Philip Schiller, Apple's senior vice president of worldwide marketing.
Cupertino cut prices on the iPod touch and added a new 64 GB model.
The 8 GB model's price has been slashed from $229 to $199, and the 32 GB model has gone from $399 to $299. The 64 GB model is offered at $399.
"Steve Jobs cut the price on the iPod touch to $199 and positioned it as a downloadable app gaming competitor to the Nintendo DS and Sony PlayStation Portable, to say nothing of undercutting the soon-to-arrive Microsoft (Nasdaq: MSFT) Zune HD," Carl Howe, director of anywhere research at the Yankee Group, told MacNewsWorld.
Giving More to Get More
Apple's price cuts may have been driven by necessity as well as by the upcoming holiday season.
While Apple has sold more than 220 million iPods, according to Schiller, sales have fallen off. Apple sold 10.2 million iPods in the last quarter, ITIC's DiDio pointed out, as compared to 11 million sold in the previous quarter, partly because of the advent of the iPhone 3GS.
"They're smart to slash the prices of the iPods because some investors were afraid it would be a sluggish season for iPod sales," DiDio said.
Also, the holiday season is just around the corner and, like every other vendor, Apple is ramping up.
"As with most recent holiday seasons, Apple just positioned iPod products for every major consumer price point for the big fourth quarter season," Yankee Group's Howe said. "And with 100 million credit cards already on file with the iTunes Store and consumers downloading more than 5 million applications a day, Apple intends to have a very Merry Christmas. The question is, will anyone else?"

Palm's Pixi Flits Onto Smartphone Stage

Palm has debuted a little sibling for its Pre: the Pixi. Though the name is drawing some gibes in the media, early reviews seem mostly favorable for the consumer-oriented device. Palm also cut the price of the Pre by $50, just a day after Sprint briefly offered a $100 Pre rebate for new customers -- but retracted it after just a few hours. Sprint said it was a mistake.

Palm Pixi
(click image to enlarge)Palm (Nasdaq: PALM) is expanding its line of WebOS smartphones -- and ratcheting up competition with Apple (Nasdaq: AAPL) -- with the introduction of a new mobile device called the "Pixi."
The phone, meant to supplement the more serious Pre smartphone, will be available during the holiday seaon through its exclusive carrier, Sprint (NYSE: S) .
A lighter weight and thinner phone with a visible full keyboard, the Pixi is a natural mobile conduit for social networking sites and activities, according to Palm.
Palm Synergy lets users arrange information from Google (Nasdaq: GOOG) , Facebook , Yahoo (Nasdaq: YHOO) , LinkedIn and Exchange ActiveSync in a single view. There are also new integration capabilities for Facebook's contacts, phone, calendar and photo apps.
Pixi users can download applications from the Palm Beta App Catalog and use Palm media sync to customize the device with music, photos and videos from iTunes or the Amazon (Nasdaq: AMZN) MP3 store.
Palm did not respond to TechNewsWorld's call requesting comment by this article's deadline.

Pricing Confusion

The Pixi's price hasn't been announced yet, but it's expected to come in around US$99. Here's why: Palm also announced that it is cutting the price of the Pre to $149, after rebates, with a two-year Sprint contract. That's essentially a $50 price cut.
Prior to the Pixi's unveiling, Sprint advertised a special offer for the Pre: For a just few hours, new customers were able to get a $100 service credit. However, Sprint yanked the promotion before the ink was dry.
It is unclear how the credit was to be applied to the Pre's final price for a consumer -- which after $350 in instant and mail-in rebates settled at approximately $200. It was widely assumed that the special offer was for a $99 Pre. Sprint reportedly said it would honor the deal for customers who signed new contracts during the promotion's brief window of opportunity.

Segmenting the Market

It is hard to fathom the behind-the-scenes maneuvering that must have gone on at Sprint, said Howdy Pierce, a managing partner with Cardinal Peak, a developer for both the Palm and iphone platforms.
Whether it was a colossal screwup or a misunderstanding with their Palm partner, one thing is clear, Pierce told TechNewsWorld: "They are going for marketing segmentation with this Pixi. This is not a phone that will appeal to serious business users like the Pre does."
The Pixi doesn't come equipped with WiFi, he noted, which is essential to any business user.
It's likely that other factors contributed to the pricing decisions, Derek Kerton, principal of the Kerton Group, told TechNewsWorld. One of them is competition with Apple's iPhone.
The Pre can go head-to-head with the iPhone on functionality, both Kerton and Pierce maintained.
However, both Sprint and Palm have perception problems with general consumers, noted Kerton.
"The Palm and Sprint brands are worn down -- they will not be able to compete unless it is on price," he said.
Indeed, the Pre has been suffering from reports of poor quality. The device is poorly constructed and the screen easily marred, according to some reviewers.
Then there's the matter of apps. Palm is light years behind Apple in delivering third-party applications for WebOS.
Still, Palm may have an edge over Apple from the developer's perspective.
"The development environment for the Pre is phenomenal," Pierce enthused. "As Palm gets the SDK stabilized and lets more guys into it, I believe there will be more apps written for it."
Until then, Palm will have to rely on a competitive pricing strategy to lure new users.
For the Pre and the Pixi to really take off, even further price cuts might be warranted, Kerton recommended, accompanied by a slight rise in Sprint's two-year contract. It is one of the lowest in the industry, something that consumers do not often recognize.
"Consumers do react to the upfront cost of a device, though," noted Kerton, "even if they are saving money in the long term with a service contract."

NTSB Practices What It Preaches About Cellphones and Driving

The National Transportation Safety Board has just become the first and only federal agency to ban employees from texting and talking on cellphones while driving on government business. A 3-year-old recommendation to ban cellphone use by school bus and motorcoach drivers has not yet been implemented. No states completely ban cellphone use by drivers.

The federal safety agency that investigates transportation accidents is banning texting and talking on cellphones by its employees while driving on government business.
National Transportation Safety Board Chairman Deborah Hersman said Tuesday she's adopting the policy because she wants her agency to follow the same safety practices it recommends for others.
Officials at the board said they were unaware of another federal agency with a similar policy.
Hersman told several hundred employees and guests at a ceremony at which she was sworn in as chairman that she was as hooked on her BlackBerry as the next person.
Nevertheless, she said the "risk of catastrophic consequences is too great" to use wireless devices while driving.

No Ban for School Bus Drivers

Hersman has been a member of the board for five years and was nominated for the chairmanship by President Barack Obama.
The NTSB's 400 employees will no longer be able to text or talk on cellphones while driving during work hours nor while driving during their off-hours if they're using a government-issued wireless device. The policy will apply to board members as well.
The board three years ago recommended that the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration prohibit cellphone use by motorcoach and school bus drivers.
The motor carrier agency is still working on implementing the recommendation, according to NTSB's Web site.
Officials for the motor carrier administration didn't return a phone call Tuesday seeking comment.

Summit Scheduled

In 2003, the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration recommended that states enact laws prohibiting drivers with learner's permits and intermediate licenses from using cellphones or other texting devices while driving.
Nineteen states have adopted the prohibitions, and six states and the District of Columbia have partial prohibitions.
There are no states that completely ban cellphone use by drivers.
Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood is scheduled to hold a summit on Sept. 30 of experts to figure out what to do about driver cellphone use and texting, practices that studies -- and a growing number of accidents -- show can be deadly.

Event Madness: Apple's Fancy Footwork

Apple shares plumped up on Tuesday on anticipation of new announcements expected from Cupertino on Wednesday. But is the day before a big Apple event always the best time to buy? Sometimes a huge announcement will send shares into the stratosphere. However, not every Apple announcement is a technological epoch. A slight post-event deflation could present a prime buying opportunity.

Mac fans are waiting breathlessly for Wednesday's Apple event, when new products may be introduced.
The excitement has sent Apple's share prices soaring -- at Tuesday's close, they were up US$2.29 or 1.34 percent, to $172.60. That could very well change Wednesday morning once people know exactly what Apple's next move is.
Over the long term, though, Apple is likely to remain strong.

Make Mo' Money After Wednesday?

The lift in Apple's shares underscored the excitement surrounding an announcement planned for Wednesday. Apple often updates its iPod lineup in the fall, but the company is known to pull off its share of surprises during these sorts of events.
Speculation this year has ranged from the unveiling of an iTablet to a new version of iTunes to a camera-equipped iPod touch to the return of Steve Jobs as the main speaker at the event.
All that excitement might be priming the market for a fall, warned Piper Jaffray analyst Gene Munster. He issued a report on Tuesday warning that Wednesday would be a non-event and that shares would dip slightly after that, as they always have done, according to the Seeking Alpha blog.
With that dip could come a buying opportunity.
In the longer view, Apple is likely to continue going strong despite the influx of Android phones and other smartphones on the market. HTC announced one Android smartphone, the Tattoo, for Europe on Tuesday, and Motorola will likely announce two more on Thursday. These past few weeks have also seen a slew of announcements from other smartphone vendors.
That's no big deal, In-Stat principal analyst Allen Nogee told MacNewsWorld. "There seems to be at least one phone that comes out every week, and with each, the question is 'Can this new phone compete with the iPhone?'" he said.
"That phrasing alone happens to be the process that customers use to select a phone," he added.

Hot and Sour Soup

Apple (Nasdaq: AAPL) may not quite have obtained all of what it wanted out of its deal with China Telecom, but it's taking steps to ensure its future in China, potentially one of the world's largest markets for its products.
It may be resuming talks with China Mobile, the world's biggest wireless carrier, as part of a larger move away from its typical MO of siding with just one carrier for each country in which it sells the iPhone.
The three-year deal with Unicom will see iPhones available for sale in China in the fourth quarter, and China Unicom has reportedly agreed to sell 4 million iPhones a year. The carrier's chairman, Chang Xiaobing, announced that it would offer two versions of the iPhone 3G.
However, there won't be any revenue sharing with Apple. China Unicom will buy iPhones wholesale from Apple and resell them. Also, China Unicom and the other major wireless carriers in China -- China Mobile and China Telecom -- either have or are developing their own app stores.
Meanwhile, Android is poised to invade China soon. China Mobile has developed the O-Phone, which runs an operating system based on Android. Also, several major companies in the U.S. and elsewhere have apparently agreed to introduce designs based on O-Phone. They include Dell, Motorola, Lenovo, Phillips, Dopod (which is owned by Taiwan's HTC), Samsung and LG.

Change Your Partners, Doh-See-Doh

On the other hand, Apple may itself be engaged in talks with China Mobile, which has well over 480 million subscribers compared to China Unicom's 130 million plus.
The short-term benefit of that would be that Apple could gain a position that has it covering China like gangbusters -- partnering with the two biggest carriers in the world's largest nation. However, the long-term implications of this move are also important.
"Apple is now changing its business model from exclusive carrier deals to multiple carrier deals within each country where the iPhone is available," said Julien Blin, principal analyst and CEO of JBB Research. "This will be a game-changing factor and will help Apple increase market share."
Apple has about 1 percent of the global handset market, so its potential for growth is huge. Further, Blin told MacNewsWorld, Cupertino plans to continue pushing the iPhone in more countries.
The repercussions of such a policy could also be felt here in the United States, where customers have long been agitating for Apple to move away from AT&T (NYSE: T) because of complaints about the carrier's service. For AT&T, the iPhone has been both blessing and curse: It's drawn millions of new customers to the carrier, but those customers tend to use the iPhone's Internet features much more than users of other phones, thus putting a larger burden on the carrier's cellular network.
There are rumors that Apple is in talks with Verizon , and if Apple does add a second carrier in the U.S., Verizon would be a logical choice, as it is the nation's largest wireless carrier. "Sprint is still losing customers, although not as fast as it used to, and T-Mobile is a very poor fourth," Ramon T. Llamas, a senior research analyst at IDC, told MacNewsWorld.

America's Best Dance Crew?

Verizon, however, may not want Apple on its dance card. It was reportedly Apple's first choice as partner, but it turned Cupertino down because it didn't like the terms. If it does change its mind this time, it may find itself facing the same network strain problems AT&T has.
AT&T has apparently published a YouTube response to the complaints about its network. It says demand for data transmission has skyrocketed over the past two years, and that AT&T has been pouring money into upgrading its network to cope.
If Verizon should agree to sign on with Apple, it, too, might find its network overloaded.
Investing in the companies that supply wireless carriers network equipment might be a good idea.
Still, JBB's Blin is pretty certain Apple will go with another wireless carrier here in the U.S. soon. "The iPhone will probably be available on Verizon and other carriers by next year," he said.

HTC Adds Tattoo to Android Lineup

HTC has taken the wraps off Tattoo, a new touchscreen smartphone sporting the Android operating system. The Tattoo boasts HTC's Sense, which lets the user customize the interface to make favorite features more prominent. Tattoo will first hit the European market; launch dates for other regions were left open-ended.

Taiwanese smartphone maker HTC on Tuesday announced the Tattoo, the latest in its line of Android-based handsets unveiled this year.
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HTC Tattoo
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The Tattoo is also the second smartphone equipped with the HTC Sense user interface.
It integrates several Google (Nasdaq: GOOG) mobile services, including Google Maps and Gmail, and it gives users access to the Android Market.
Europe will get the HTC Tattoo in October, and the device will be rolled out to other markets later.

Stats on the Tat

The Tattoo measures about 4.17 by 2.17 by .55 inches and weighs just under four ounces, with a battery. The battery is removable.
The Tattoo has a 2.8-inch thin film transistor (TFT) LCD touchscreen with a display resolution of 240 by 320 pixels. Special features include a g-sensor, GPS, a digital compass and an FM radio.
The HTC Tattoo runs Android and has 256 MB of RAM and 512 MB of ROM.
The Tattoo's camera photographs at 3.2 megapixels, and its battery boasts 342 minutes of talk time on WCDMA and 390 minutes on GSM. Claimed standby times are 520 hours and 340 hours, respectively.

HTC's Sense Interface

The so-called Sense interface is based on three principles, which HTC calls "Make It Mine," "Stay Close" and "Discover the Unexpected."
Make it Mine lets users personalize the smartphone by adding widgets that perform various functions. A profile feature called "Scenes" lets users further personalize their devices by creating different content profiles around specific functions or times in their lives.
Sense integrates e-mails, phone calls, text messages, Facebook status updates, Flickr photos and other communications into a single view, like the Palm (Nasdaq: PALM) Pre's webOS. This is what HTC means by the term "Stay Close."
Discover the Unexpected apparently consists of innovative functions such as letting users silence a ringing phone by turning it over and "Perspectives," a new way of viewing content such as e-mail, photos, music and Twitter .
The first HTC smartphone equipped with the Sense interface is the Hero, which was announced in June. The Hero will be available at Sprint (NYSE: S) and Best Buy (NYSE: BBY) stores in October for US$180.

Ramping Up for the Hols

Coming as it does two days before an expected announcement from Motorola (NYSE: MOT) concerning two Android smartphones, HTC's volley signals the beginning of the pre-holiday new products season cycle.
"We're turning into Q4, and now is the time everyone will announce new smartphones and other devices," said Ramon T. Llamas, a senior research analyst at IDC.
Llamas expressed surprise that HTC will launch the Tattoo in Europe first. "Android faces a green field here in the United States as well, and T-Mobile already has an Android phone here," he told LinuxInsider. "There's going to be a great market for Android phones here.
That potential demand will trigger Android product launches from more vendors, predicts Laura DiDio, principal at ITIC. "Vendors are going to be flocking to what they hope is going to be a green field opportunity with smartphones," she told LinuxInsider. "But the iPhone and BlackBerry are still the real killers in the market right now."

Asus' E-Reader Mystery: Low-Cost, Dual Screen Device

Asus is reportedly working on its own entry into the e-book reader market: a dual-screened reader that will open like an actual book. Details are sparse at this time, but one of the more intriguing aspects of the story involves the device's supposed price point. Asus reportedly intends to target the price of $165, significantly undercutting the kings of the market, Amazon and Sony.

Just as Robert Langdon gets ready to take his fans on another thrill ride in the forthcoming new Dan Brown novel, The Lost Symbol, another tantalizing mystery has popped up: Is Asus getting ready to unveil a low-cost, dual-color-screen e-book reader just in time for the holidays?
The Sunday Times of London quotes a UK Asus executive as saying the company, manufacturer of what could arguably be called the first netbook computer, would introduce a device before the end of the year that skirts the line between netbook and book reader. Dual screens that open like and actual book would give the user a more "normal" page-turning experience, but one of the screens could also be used as a Web browser or virtual keyboard. A built-in camera and microphone opens up a world of cheap Skype Internet phone calls, and color screens means the ability to peruse graphics-rich pages like one would find in newspapers like USA Today -- as well as in school textbooks.
Asus told the Times that the company would likely introduce two such devices, a lower-cost basic version and a more feature-laden premium reader. It's not clear if the Web-browsing and color screens are destined for either device, but the price of the budget version could scrape US$165.
If that is indeed the case, then e-book reader-leaders Amazon (Nasdaq: AMZN) and Sony (NYSE: SNE) -- in particular Amazon and its highly publicized Kindle -- may feel the same kind of scary footsteps dogging their efforts as Langdon does just as he's closing in on vital clues.

Devil in the Details

Robert Langdon -- and for that matter, Dan Brown -- do a lot of research for their mysteries; so do real-life technology analysts. That's why the Asus news is proving to be a tad frustrating. The devil is indeed in the details, which are scarce at this point. A TechNewsWorld request for comment from Asus was not received by press time.
"What we've seen is that they've shown a prototype we think was likely going to be a notebook-type of PC," IDC analyst Susan Kevorkian told TechNewsWorld. "But as the e-book reader space has heated up in the last several months, it's likely that Asus said, 'Let's get it to this market as well, with a device we market as an e-book reader.'" That makes sense for the company, since the market is still in its nascent phase, despite Amazon's early dominance. "There's certainly opportunity for device vendors out there."
However, if the color screens are liquid-crystal diode (LCD), then backlighting, eyestrain and battery life become substantial technology hurdles. "Color screens are really the next technology frontier," Kevorkian said.
A Web browser and Skype features indicate connectivity, but will they be as consistent as Amazon's Whispernet technology, which allows for near-instant downloads of content on the go? "There's already a lot of competition with e-book readers with substitute products like smartphones and laptops," Kevorkian said, "If this device acts and looks more like a notebook than an e-reader, consumers will catch on pretty quickly."

Turning the Page on Form Factor

The dual-screen concept has intrigued Yankee Group analyst Carl Howe. It's something he's recommended since the e-book market's ascent into the mainstream. "There's a lot to be said for really honest-to-goodness emulating a book, namely having two facing pages," Howe told TechNewsWorld. However, the analyst is having trouble balancing price points and features. "I can't make the number add up in my head. Here is a manufacturer that has not done this before, and yet they're saying, 'We're going to put two screens in a device and we're going to sell it for half the price (of a Kindle.)' It doesn't make a whole lot of sense unless they have some source of really cheap screens."
Both Howe and Roger Kay of Endpoint Technologies agree that when it comes to e-readers, the new-media cliche rings true: Content is king. It's what has kept earlier Sony reader efforts from keeping up with Amazon's Kindle Store. "It's a question of who has the largest library," Kay told TechNewsWorld. "That's what makes an e-book reader interesting -- what it connects to. Some are larger, some work in lower light, but it matters what it connects to."
It's not surprising, Kay said, that Asus would be looking at this category, which up until late last year was considered "a no man's land, a Sargasso Sea in which no product could stay afloat. But now there's a lot of competition because it's on the border, the frontier of phones and computers," he added. "At the frontier, they turn into each other."

Sprint Joins March of the Androids With HTC Hero

The Android mobile operating system has officially expanded to a second U.S. wireless carrier. The HTC Hero smartphone, sporting the Google-backed Android OS, will be offered by Sprint this October; meanwhile, T-Mobile still also offers a line of Android handsets. The Hero is a feature-rich smartphone with a competitive price, but will it bump up against another top-shelf Sprint phone, the Palm Pre?

Can a Hero fly to Sprint's (NYSE: S) rescue in the battle for smartphone supremacy?
The Hero will sell for US$179 after a $50 instant savings, and a $100 mail-in rebate.

The HTC Hero Android smartphone
If nothing else, Thursday's announcement that a second carrier will soon offer a phone using the Android operating system could be another blow for truth, justice and the American wa

y of providing more gadgets for tech-hungry consumers.
Beginning Oct. 11, Sprint will join T-Mobile as wireless providers offering Google (Nasdaq: GOOG) Android OS phones. The HTC Hero will also join the Palm (Nasdaq: PALM) Pre

as Sprint's answer to Apple's (Nasdaq: AAPL) iPhone and other high-tech, feature-laden phones.
Sprint's press release plays up two trends that handset makers and wireless providers

are banking on for boosted sales: social media and application store offerings.
Access to Google Search, Maps, Gmail and YouTube , as expected, lead the highlighted features, along with Android Market applications for Facebook , Flickr , Twitter , MySpace , Amazon (Nasdaq: AMZN) and Pandora Radio. The HTC Hero also has a 5 -megapixel camera and camcorder, WiFi capabilities and a slot for a microSD card.

Android Love This is an important milestone for the Android platform, which has taken some time to ramp up," IDC analyst Al Hilwa told TechNewsWorld. "The significance is bringing another carrier onboard, and Google is showing some improved muscle in striking partnerships in this area."
The interest in Android is not lost on those who are writing the applications.

"Developer appeal is an important factor to be considered in evaluating who will end up ahead in the platform wars for phones. Android's openness will help solidify it as a popular target for developers, especially for Web-style applications. The connection to Google's Web apps is an asset to some, and so is support for the Adobe (Nasdaq: ADBE) Flash platform, which the iPhone now lacks," Hilwa said.
Apple is a tough act to follow, and it's still in the early rounds in the smartphone fight. However, "adoption by carriers and hardware manufacturers is an important metric to watch," Hilwa said

Will Consumers Need Another Hero?

When it comes to which operating system is on a smartphone, "I don't see people saying, 'I'm going to buy that because it has Android in it,'" ABI Research analyst Jeff Orr told TechNewsWorld. "[Consumers] are not necessarily going to think about the OS as much as they are price point and feature set -- the ability to meet somebody's lifestyle needs or criteria for use."
That said, Orr believes the Hero's features clearly put the phone within the pro-sumer category of expected buyers. "It's for somebody who wants to have access to everything. This is not just a smartphone that they're going to use for PDA kinds of functions. It's offered with Sprint TV and a number of other mobile video kinds of services, and it has access to social networking, visual voice mail. This is a does-everything kind of phone, and I would say it's more intended to compete with the iPhone than the Pre."
Will that guarantee Hero sales won't cannibalize the Palm Pre for Sprint?
"There's going to be some amount because they're trying to broaden their portfolio, and there doesn't seem to be any one-to-one mapping of 'This is your business handset,'" Orr said. "But there's going to be competition, and Sprint needs to be in that position that they need to have a variety of handsets."