The Case for Operation Chokehold: AT&T Make$ More, $pend$ Le$$

AT and T FailAs some of you pointed out, Fake Steve Jobs’ Operation Chokehold could pose a danger to people that actually need their phones in case of an emergency. That’s completely understandable. Having  said that, I think more AT&T customers — specifically iPhone customers — should be pissed off at the company. Fake Steve added up the numbers and found that ever since the iPhone launched, AT&T has been cutting its expenses while its data revenue has soared:

Go look at their financial statements and open up the Financial Operations and Statistics Summary and look at capital expenditures over the past eight quarters. I’m no math whiz, but it looks like capex has gone down by about 30% over the time period. Scroll down a bit to the Wireless section and check out data revenues — they’re up 80% over the same period.

That’s just ridiculous. Where’ the nerd rage?!? Shouldn’t more AT&T customers be pissed off that they’re helping the company reach record numbers while a bare minimum has been done to improve network conditions? Shouldn’t you be up in arms that days after president & CEO of AT&T mobility Darth Vega Ralph de la Vega promised that the network would improve, it gloriously crashed in San Francisco?!?

Hmmmm, I might have to think my happening/not happening percentages on Operation Chokehold. I now believe there’s a 35 percent chance of something going down tomorrow.

Source

How Google Can Disrupt the American Mobile Phone Market with the Nexus One…and Three Reasons Why it Won’t

Google has the opportunity to turn the American phone mobile market on its head with the Nexus One. If it chooses to sell the phone directly to consumers at a price that’s close to cost, it would truly disrupt the current American model. When the iPhone 3GS first came out, iSuppli estimated its manufacturing cost to be about $180. So let’s say Google sold the Nexus One for $199 — that would be killer! American customers would be getting a high-end phone that’s unlocked for a bargain price. Compare that to the costs of other premium unlocked phones, which cost upwards of $500.

Why would Google do this? Well, there are a few reasons. By inflating the installed base, Google could sell more Android apps. The company gets a cut of every app sold through the Android Marketplace. More importantly, it has the opportunity to serve more mobile ads. Remember, at the end of the day Google makes the vast majority of its money selling advertising. If more people are using Android browsers and products that serve mobile ads, the more money Google will make. So in a way, it would selling the Nexus One at cost would be similar to the old razor-and-blade model. Google practically gives away the razor and will make way more money selling the blades.

Having said that (Curb Your Enthusiasm!), there are several reasons why Google will probably not follow this model.

Continue reading “How Google Can Disrupt the American Mobile Phone Market with the Nexus One…and Three Reasons Why it Won’t”

Congrats to Insomniacswaltz!

RPad Magnet Dricknasty teaser

Yeah, I know…I’m totally behind on the Rpad.tv chick magnet giveaway. Getting back to the season of giving, the latest winner is Insomniacswaltz for this comment. Congrats on your prize! Keep an eye on your email so that I send it to you.

Today’s photo comes from Dricknasty. I put a teaser image above, with the full image after the break. Guess which videogame character I’m posing with in the photo!

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Sony Launches Sodium One “Freemium” MMO for PlayStation Home

Sony has announced the launch of Sodium One, a free-to-play MMO for PlayStation Home with premium features. Here are some deets from the press release:

With the launch of Sodium, PlayStation Home’s first MMO, PlayStation Home further evolves into a true social gaming platform, complete with both snack-size mini games and extended gaming experiences to share with both existing friends and new friends met within PlayStation Home.

Starting on December 17, PlayStation Home users can step into the Sodium “Teleporter” located in the PlayStation Home Central Plaza and be transported to a futuristic, action-packed social gaming environment. In Sodium, a new technological era has dawned bringing with it interstellar travel, rapid colonization of the galaxy, inexhaustible energy, advanced Artificial Intelligence (A.I.) and the power to travel between quantum realities. This new age has also brought a host of new challenges where players must battle for harmony with their environment — and sometime survival.

I’m completely uninterested in Sodium One. However, there are millions of people that love Home and I’m sure they’ll give this a spin too. How about you? Are you going to play around in PlayStation Home’s new MMO?

PSA: BlackBerry Internet Service is Down

RayBerry 9000

Attention BlackBerry users — Research in Motion is experiencing a major BlackBerry Internet Service outage. Email has been out for millions of people in America and Canada. RIM has acknowledged the issue and is working on fixing it.

It’s totally freaking me out that my RayBerry 9000 isn’t going off every 30 seconds. For a while, I thought the world forgot about me.

Btw, one of the reasons I want the Google Nexus One is so I don’t have to walk around with this ridiculous cover on my BlackBerry. Then again, it’s kind of funny.

New Super Street Fighter IV Stages Revealed

Super Street Fighter IVa

Capcom community ace and the scourge of North American fighting-game tournaments Seth Killian showed off some new screens of Super Street Fighter IV’s new stages. Here’s some of what Seth had to say on Capcom Unity:

In the new Metro City background, you can spot Hugo, as well as a gigantic, shirtless Mike Haggar statue, constructed by your Metro City mayor, Mike Haggar (Mayors are always doing this kind of thing).

The new African stage is one of my visual favorites, not only because of all the crisp lighting, but for the background action as well, where you fight during an eclipse and can knock over hippos and be taunted by meercats.

The Korean stage is a riot of colors, with young and old turning out to check out the fight, and includes my favorite new spazzy background character of all time!

I’m totally amped for this game. Sexy Korean girls rule!!! Hit the break for more screens!

Continue reading “New Super Street Fighter IV Stages Revealed”

Square Enix Accepting Applications for FFXIV Beta Test

FFXIV

While Final Fantasy XIII is hitting Japan like a tsunami, Square Enix has announced that it is accepting applications for Final Fantasy XIV. If you want an early glimpse at this MMO, head on over to the official site and sign up.

Any of you going to give this game a shot?

Coffee Talk #49: Favorite Games of 2009 #2 Civilization Revolution

Welcome to Coffee Talk! Let’s start off the day by discussing whatever is on your (nerd chic) mind. Every morning I’ll kick off a discussion and I’m counting on you to participate in it. If you’re not feelin’ my topic, feel free to start a chat with your fellow readers and see where it takes you. Whether you’re talking about videogames, Danica Patrick making her NASCAR debut in California, Kelly Pavlik finally returning to boxing, or Bret “The Hitman” Hart signing a short-term deal with WWE, Coffee Talk is the place to do it.

As I mentioned last week, I’ll be counting down my five favorite games of 2009 in this week’s Coffee Talk columns and I’d love for you to join me! Let me know what your favorite games of the year were in the comments section. Remember, this isn’t about what games you thought were “best”. I want to know what you had the most fun with in 2009.

Civ iPhone

#2 Civilization Revolution — I picked up this iPhone game as an impulse purchase when it was on sale for $2.99. It quickly became one of the best gaming values I’ve had in years. There’s nothing fancy or complex about Civilization Revolution — it offers classic Civ gameplay on your iPhone…which is more than enough for hundreds of hours of entertainment.

Whether I’m flying across the Pacific Ocean, dealing with jet lag in Yokohama, or simply can’t sleep at home, it’s so easy to pass the time with this game. The only problem is that it’s so addictive that it’s easy to lose track of time and miss important things. Ha! That said, I’m amazed that I’ve gotten hundreds of hours of gameplay for only three bucks! Civilization Revolution rules!!!