When I first saw the antenna band completely surrounding the iPhone 4 during Steve Jobs’ initial presentation, I recalled a comment made to me by RIM co-CEO Mike Lazaradis after a RIM Annual General meeting a few years ago. And I should also mention that I personally have a history of dealing with rf and associated antennae during my days working as a physicist in the Magnetic Resonance (“MR”) research and commercial space where all MR spectrometers and imaging systems are embedded with what amounts to enclosed radio stations operating in the FM radio and conventional television channel frequency ranges.

So I was skeptical about how that iPhone 4 antenna would work from the time of the initial announcement. And when fellow blogger and Twitter aficionado Luca Filigheddu took a poll earlier this week as to whether one would prefer a BlackBerry 9800 (the model that’s heavily speculated but not yet announced) or an iPhone 4 I could not resist the opportunity to  respond as shown above.

Three points:

• Mike’s comment when he saw me holding a BlackBerry 8700 a few years ago with my hand wrapped around the upper left corner was to the effect that I should avoid having my hand around that area as that is where the rf antennae are located. But it’s pretty easy to hold your BlackBerry while avoiding one corner of the device. Yesterday to check out the “Jobs test” I took up the “death grip” challenge presented by CrackBerry.com’s Kevin Michaluk and found “if I death grip my Bold 9700 the bars stay no matter what”. Seems like the rf engineering has improved going from the 8700 to 9700.
• From the rf physics point of view: Mike spent a lot of time at last year’s annual shareholders meeting (2009) talking about how RIM relies on internal basic physics research to assist in the design of BlackBerries, including an extensive discussion about their rf technology research. He is, after all, the energizer around the establishment of the Perimeter Institute for Theoretical Physics; while its researchers are free to pursue whatever research they see appropriate this investment is probably not totally altruism when it comes to understanding the physics behind wireless smartphones.
• In my fifteen years’ experience with Magnetic Resonance instrumentation, perhaps the most frustrating aspect was to get the rf engineering right. You can get there (or we would not have the high quality images we see with today’s MRI studies) but you need to understand the physics behind it and have lots of patience.

After drafting the above commentary yesterday afternoon very late Friday CrackBerry.com put out a rather strongly worded statement from RIM co-CEO’s Jim Ballsille and Mike Lazaradis:

“Apple’s attempt to draw RIM into Apple’s self-made debacle is unacceptable. Apple’s claims about RIM products appear to be deliberate attempts to distort the public’s understanding of an antenna design issue and to deflect attention from Apple’s difficult situation. RIM is a global leader in antenna design and has been successfully designing industry-leading wireless data products with efficient and effective radio performance for over 20 years. During that time, RIM has avoided designs like the one Apple used in the iPhone 4 and instead has used innovative designs which reduce the risk for dropped calls, especially in areas of lower coverage. One thing is for certain, RIM’s customers don’t need to use a case for their BlackBerry smartphone to maintain proper connectivity. Apple clearly made certain design decisions and it should take responsibility for these decisions rather than trying to draw RIM and others into a situation that relates specifically to Apple.” [Author's bold]

Bottom line: Steve Jobs may be a marketing genius but he ain’t no rf engineer or Ph.D. physicist. It’s all coming out in the iPhone 4. But even his marketing genius is degraded when he endeavors to justify the iPhone 4’s current problem by attempting to demonstrate rf issues with competitor products. “Bumper physics” does not solve the problem; not to ignore the resulting degradation of the overall appearance. It’s time for Apple to do their own antenna research, Steve.

Once iPhone 4 is finally available in Canada I don’t know that I’ll be rushing out for any special upgrade offer Rogers may come up with. And by then, maybe we’ll be seeing some new BlackBerry models, including those that are the subject of speculation.

P.S. –“Sans” – the French expression for “without”.

Full disclosure: Both Kevin Michaluk and I are on Rogers for our wireless carrier which offers a highly reliable 3G/HSPA+ service. Is there also an AT&T infrastructure issue involved here? We’ll only find out when iPhone 4 launches in Canada July 30. For completeness, the author has been the owner of a minuscule number of RIM shares since 1998.

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• Official statement from Research In Motion in response to Apple’s … (Kevin Michaluk/CrackBerry.com blogs) (techmeme.com)
• RIM: “Apple’s attempt to draw RIM into Apple’s self-made debacle is unacceptable” (slashgear.com)
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The initial feedback post, FREETALK® Everyman: The Bloggers Speak Out, is getting a bit long for a single Internet post. But feedback continues to arrive, not only in blog posts but also via Twitterville where we find, searching on “FREETALK Everyman” and “Skype Everyman”:

And Michael Graves (@mjgraves), in his post Skype’s FREETALK® Everyman Headset, walks through some of his past experiences with headsets, especially in his recording studio work. He had some initial scepticism when he received his evaluation FREETALK Everyman headset; he first came to appreciate its flat-fold feature as a frequent traveller in his day job. And once he arrived at his destination:

Kicking back in my hotel room that evening I donned the headset to listen to a couple of podcasts. My initial reaction to wearing it was… it was fairly comfortable. Perhaps a bit bulky compared to my usual gear, but not bad at all. The microphone, mounted to a flexible metal tube, swung easily out of the way for the purpose of pure listening. The headset sounded like it had decent, large diaphragm drivers. That is, it sounded very full, not obviously lacking in frequency response.

and concludes with:

No doubt you can tell that my opinion of the FREETALK® Everyman headset has softened over time. I was predisposed to dislike it for being merely cheap. However, there’s more to it than that. It does what they set out to do. It sounds good and it’s convenient. It’s not my favorite headset by a long stretch, but at just $22.88 it’s the most affordable good-sounding headset that I’m aware of. It raises the bar in the low-end of the marketplace, and maybe that’s a good thing for everyone.

Alec Saunders has finally found time to put up a post, SquawkBox August 13 – FREETALK Everyman, that features the SquawkBox conference call where he interviewed me about the FREETALK Everyman headset and we took questions from over twenty participants that resulted in a very lively discussion.

Luca Filigheddu, one of Italy’s VoIP veterans and an active reviewer of all things Skype, mobile smartphones and Twitter, in Here Is The Best (and Cheapest) Skype Headset Ever, concludes with:

In conclusion, a very good deal for anyone shopping for a new headset. I tried lots of great headsets in the past 10 years but I can assure you this is the one with the best balance between price and quality.

As for my own personal experience: Last week I was on a trip where I needed to move between a business office and my accommodation twice daily. Talk about how to learn to appreciate the flat-fold feature.

Full disclosure: In Store Solutions has become a client of Denali InterConneXions, publisher of Voice On The Web, building on the author’s previous business development experience with establishing partnerships that can assist with the promotion of a primary vendor’s offerings. A more complete statement will follow shortly.

You may notice a slightly different appearance to Voice On The Web today. On Sunday blogger Luca Filigheddu expounded on the virtues of Thesis as a WordPress theme, with his post Here Is The Best WordPress Theme Ever: Thesis, as a result today we changed over to the much heralded Thesis theme for Voice On The Web.

Well, it’s not quite that simple; about two weeks ago I started a small project with Aaron Brazell, otherwise known as Technosailor, to work out some kinks and problems with the original site setup. He recommended a change of theme to Thesis. Knowing that Luca had also changed and having followed commentary in the WordPress ecosystem, it was not a difficult decision to make. And, in the end, it provides much more flexibility in modifying the site setup.

A key change is the Feature box where a slider will work through the five most recent posts; but you can jump to any of them by clicking on the number at the bottom. We’ll polish it up with some graphics going forward and also want to see how it can work into the overall flow and navigation of the site.

There will be a few glitches over the next day or so while Aaron cleans up some small issues; I also know there are some issues, such as too much repetition of posts in the middle column, that will get addressed in the next revamp. Ideally I would like to see the middle column show the most recent post in a Category that does not appear anywhere in the leftmost column.

Voice On The Web is a work in progress but my main goal is to continue to provide valuable content. And, with eComm happening over the next few days, you should be seeing lots of content.

I thank you for following Voice On The Web, appreciate the support provided by many in the blogging community and look forward to an expanded role going forward.

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An acquaintance’s selection of BlackBerry Bold, based largely on Twitter message exchanges, has resulted in not only a few informative posts but also an avalanche of almost daily Tweets responding to individuals seeking a recommendation for a smartphone.

When I traveled to IT Expo and Mobilize last September I was in the unique position of having a BlackBerry Bold, following the Rogers Canadian launch but prior to the long-delayed AT&T launch in the U.S. During that trip I showed the Bold to fellow blogger Luca Filigheddu from Italy. I had previously met Luca at eComm 2008 where it was rapidly apparent that he is highly respected, especially in Italy, for both his business acumen and opinions on the emerging communications space. From his About page:

Luca is a recognized expert in the VoIP market. He’s now CEO at Abbeynet, an Italian company which develops technologies and services in the field of IP Communications since 1999. Abbeynet is the company behind services like Chocophone, Abbeyphone, Sitòfono and Hictu!.

As a passionate user of any kind of technology and internet service, he loves gadgets and electronic devices and wants to try out any new cool device that arrives to the market. Luca can be considered an early adopter in any field of technology. In particular, he loves Apple, Nokia phones and his Sony PSP.

And he loves trying new VoIP services out, of course. Luca’s current interests are web-based VoIP services, Web 2.0/VoIP integration and product marketing. In the never-enough spare time, Luca loves martial arts and listening to good music.

He is a very avid Twitterer but only when his Tweets have relevance. Little did I know that showing him the Bold would eventually trigger an avalanche of tweets supporting his decision to acquire a Bold, to be followed by a continuous, almost daily, feed of recommendations to individual Twitterers.

In early November, 2008 His Nokia N95 had died for some reason. Initially he asked on Twitter for input to a decision between the BlackBerry Bold and the iPhone. Unfortunately a Twitter search does not go back that far; however here are some of his posts at the time:

• Business Usage: iPhone 3G or BlackBerry Bold?
• A Bold New Experience
• Why The BlackBerry Bold is Way Better than The iPhone 3G (for business)

and I started observing his recommendations appearing in Twitter, often with the single word “Bold” in response to an @ request. On the right is an early example. Between Luca’s blog posts and the Twitter conversations one can build up the feature set that supported the decision to go with Bold.

• Why Multitasking on Mobile Devices Matters
• He gives a fairly balanced review of four smartphones in Palm Pre, BlackBerry Bold, Android G1, iPhone: What’s best?
• He has become an avid user of SocialScope (full disclosure, so have I): SocialScope, the new Social Networks Aggregator for BlackBerry (Note:  SocialScope is still in alpha as they work out client/server balance, scaling and user interface issues – follow @socialscope for on ongoing dialogue)

• How To Sync your BlackBerry Bold with a Mac (the only solution that REALLY works) Why Google Sync was his sole recommendation.

• David’s Posterous: Why I ditched my iPhone for a BlackBerry Bold.

• Give a New Look to Your BlackBerry: Vista Themes

• How I Achieved an Unbelievable Battery Life on My BlackBerry Bold

Keyboard, multi-tasking, battery life, MMS, cut and paste – eventually Luca covered all the highlights and features of the BlackBerry Bold.

However, just as importantly, Luca’s ongoing dialogue with his Twitter followers and Blog readers provides a great example of the power of social networking as a viral marketing tool. Person-to-person threads, information delivered by a party with no interest in the outcome other than the best interest and satisfaction of his “friends”, a passion for excellence in technology have come together resulting in many sales for a product in a highly competitive market space.

Yes, I have had a Bold for a while; I also have an iPhone. This evening, via an iPhone application with reliable sources, I learned about a 3 cent/litre increase in the price of gasoline tomorrow, went out and filled up my tank to save the cost of a Tim Horton’s coffee and donut. iPhone is a great information delivery platform; BlackBerry has, however, the best line of devices for complete two way personal and business communications. And for some results:

• BlackBerry grabs market share as the iPhone slumps

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If I ever had any doubt about the value of Twitter as a commercial social networking tool, it evaporated this weekend as a result of following some Tweets on the subject of smartphones that appeared this weekend. They certainly provide an independent perspective on issues that I’m sure others are wondering about:

Mark Evans acquired an iPod Touch back in August after deciding he did not need an iPhone; as a result of his recent employment status change, he is now debating the merits of having a smartphone – in particular, an iPhone

Luca Filigheddu has just gone through the process of evaluating the BlackBerry Bold and iPhone over the past few weeks. Yesterday he sent me a Twitter direct message to say that he had acquired a BlackBerry Bold; after he had had a few hours experience Saturday I see this on his Twitter feed:

And when I came home yesterday evening I see that my acquaintance Olivier Chaine has put up this Tweet (earlier yesterday I had suggested, in response to his request for smartphone Twitter client recommendations, that he look at Slandr.Net as a mobile platform Twitter client):

First I would suggest that the mini-computer industry died many years ago, to be replaced by the microcomputer era, especially server banks. Trust me, I spent a major part of my career relying on mini-computers. I think I would need a backpack to be mobile with a mini-computer.

So I’ll assume Mark is really looking to have a mobile microcomputer or PC experience on a smartphone. Having had several months’ experience with both an iPhone and a BlackBerry Bold, here are my criteria for a mobile microcomputer or, more aptly, a “Laptop for the Hip or Purse”:

• Minimum 480 x 320 graphics display.
• Full QWERTY keyboard.
• Web browser capable of supporting PC-type browsing.
• Supports “Cut & Paste” (of significant value more often than one would initially imagine until it’s not available)
• View and edit MS Office documents (Word, PowerPoint, Excel) with potential to add document creation.
• Supports video recording and MMS
• Background processing (especially after experiencing both Truphone for BlackBerry and Truphone for iPhone)
• Supports true Instant Messaging in background while running other applications
• A very high speed processor (>500 MHz)
• Runs applications such as Qik.com, SlingPlayer Mobile and iSkoot (for voice and chat conversations with Skype contacts).
• Bluetooth stereo audio support.
• Removable battery
• Equipped for memory upgrades through a removable memory card.
• Supports both Both WiFi and 3G wireless protocols

A nice set of specifications but the key question here is: “How does it change the user experience?”. In particular does it eliminate the “urge” to turn on, or always carry, a laptop to keep up-to-date with real time activities?

As I have mentioned elsewhere, after a month’s experience with the BlackBerry Bold, I found I had lost that tugging “urge” to turn on my laptop for keeping current with real time (and often mission critical) information. This change did not just involve email and web browsing but also Instant Messaging, Twitter and attached document editing.. RIM would do well to position Bold as a “Laptop for the Hip or Purse”, bypassing all the technical comparisons and moving on to succinctly promoting Bold based on the actual user experience.

I like my iPhone for many of its personal information delivery features; it gives me a feel for what is appealing about the iPhone. I can find Toronto Transit streetcar times, do unit conversions, find the nearest Tim Horton’s or Starbucks; it has lots of great information delivery features. On the media side it’s definitely an extension of the iPod although it does not have the full audio performance of the Bold.

However, a mobile microcomputer the iPhone is NOT! I find myself turning to my Bold much more often than my iPhone for real two way interactivity. And just as important as the keyboard is the ability to track instant messaging sessions, whether on iSkoot (for Skype chat), Palringo or BlackBerry Messenger in background while carrying out other activities. On the subject of low cost international calling I find I can make much more use of Truphone for BlackBerry than Truphone for iPhone (that’s the subject of a future post).

I am encountering more and more acquaintances who have no use for a touch keyboard; certainly my typing error rate is much worse on the iPhone. For this reason alone I consider the iPhone to be a very good one-way information delivery device whereas BlackBerry is a true two-way communications device.

As for applications, suffice it to say that over the next six months, where feasible business savvy developers will publish applications running on both devices. For instance, The Hockey News has just released mobile applications for both the BlackBerry and iPhone. I mentioned Truphone above; Mobile Google apps are another example.

Keeping up with iTunes music via BlackBerry MediaSync is a trivial operation. Frankly from some video and audio streaming experiences I have had, BlackBerry Bold provides superior stereo audio performance even without earbuds or a headset.

Bottom line: when I leave my home office or hotel room with my Bold, I no longer have to take my laptop to keep current.

Yes, at the moment, the iPhone browser a superior user experience but rest assured RIM is not ignoring the issue.At this point the Bold’s browser issues have sometimes been frustrating but they not been an inhibition to my browsing activities in any major way – I still get the information I am seeking. The critical parameter here is the 480 pixel display width, which is sufficient to view most websites and weblogs without the need for horizontal scrolling via a ribbon bar. When RIM releases carrier-specific versions of their upgraded operating system – including browser enhancements, the Bold will live up to its full potential as “A Laptop for the Hip or Purse”.

(As for pricing on Rogers, both the Bold and iPhone are C$199 with a three year contract.)

In future posts I’ll cover in more detail some of the issues mentioned above, including my Truphone evaluation on each device, some very interesting real time video and audio experiences, the range of third party applications available on each device and why both background processing and WiFi is becoming critical to any smartphone.

And, Mark, if you’re looking for a mobile microcomputer, I would suggest serious consideration of the BlackBerry Bold.

In closing, can we expect Skype to include BlackBerry as one of their supported platforms for Skype for Mobile? Or will iSkoot improve on their user interface to take advantage of some new BlackBerry developer tools? (Most Skype executives I meet are sporting a BlackBerry – it’s supported by eBay IT.)

Update: Luca published a post this afternoon, A Bold New Experience, and asks about his Tweet above: “Why Did I Say That?”

1) Always on Experience: the BB is offering me a realtime always-on experience never found in any device I used before
2) Multitasking – It lets you receive IMs while writing an email or making a phone call, for example
3) Stunning display
4) Wide availability of apps
5) Crazy speed
6) Great usability

Update #2: (Dec. 23) ZDNet names BlackBerry Bold as #1 most influential biztech product of 2008; iPhone is #3.

Other posts:

• Om Malik: Review: BlackBerry Bold is Beautiful
• Web Worker Daily: BlackBerry Bold: Upgrading Your Mobile Experience.

Luca Filigheddu, CEO of Abbeynet, has put up a guest post on IPCovergence.TV: Mobile VoIP Services – Conusmers Seek Usability and Real Cost Savings. His whole thesis is summed up by the statement:

…. it’s very difficult for me to see another major disruption coming in the short term to impact mobile communications. I’m referring to changing the way people use their mobile phone to communicate. In a nutshell, people are used to performing two simple actions: dial a number on their mobile phone’s keypad and click the green button.

Alternatively, they look for a contact in their address book and, again, they press the green button. How can anyone be so brave as to try to convince customers that they have to change their habits and offer them a different way to do this?

This is what I like about Truphone on the Nokia N95 (aside from the call quality itself); you simply look up a contact in your address book, select which phone number, press the green button and my connection to the contact is completed over a VoIP service. Of course the one drawback is that I can only do this currently from a WiFi connection but I have had non-technical people use Truphone this way.

iSkoot is almost there. On the Skypephone simply look up a Skype contact, press the green button and a call is started (even when calling a Skype contact). Using iSkoot on my Blackberry is just as easy for reaching Skype and SkypeOut contacts in your Skype contact list – select the contact, press the green button and the call is completed. The secret here is that, even though there is a “call back” in the iSkoot algorithm, you do not have to answer the call back … the connection is handled automatically. One improvement for iSkoot would be to access my Blackberry address book and be able to call any number directly from the Blackberry address book. The advantage of iSkoot is that I can effectively make the call from any location with GSM wireless voice and data access for the cost of a “local” wireless call when I am in my “Home” territory. Hopefully, multi-country SIM cards, such as Truphone’s recently acquired Sim4Travel or Cubic Telecom’s MaxRoam services will resolve the roaming charges issue in the near future. To return to Luca’s post:

The promise behind mobile VoIP is surely challenging. There are many innovations and valuable services brought by different players like Rebtel, Truphone, Mobivox or Jajah, just to name a few, but I don’t believe consumers will embrace every new functionality they make available to users.

Bottom line: as Luca so eloquently points out, users are familiar with the legacy process for placing a call; changing behavior patterns — such as required by call back services such as Jajah, Rebtel or even Mobivox will take second priority in broad user adoption. Mobile VoIP calling does not need to be a “disruptive innovation” from the user perspective.

Tags: Luca Filigheddu, Abbeynet, IPConvergence.TV, Mobile VoIP, Truphone, Skype, iSkoot, SIM4Travel, MaxRoam, Cubic Telecom, Jajah, Mobivox, Rebtel, Skypephone, Nokia N95, Blackberry

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VoIP blogger and Italian IP-communications entrepreneur Luca Filigheddu, whom I had the pleasure of meeting at eComm 2008, reports on speculation that RIM is looking to build a developer team focused on the iPhone. He points to a post on Apple Insider by Aidan Malley who has become aware of a new internal job listing at RIM that suggests RIM is “willing to jump the fence and write applications for the iPhone”:

Among the requirements are a very strong emphasis on existing experience with Mac development, including programming in both Cocoa and Objective C as well as user interface design.

Web experience with Javascript, XML, and other functions is also essential. Experiences with developing for the Mac’s Sync Services feature and interfacing with Bluetooth and USB devices are both considered assets, according to the company.

If Apple wants to enter the enterprise market with a “push” wireless email application, consider what it takes to come up to RIM’s level of enterprise market penetration with their Blackberry Enterprise Server:

• over 200,000 installations on MS Exchange, Lotus Notes (and even Novell GroupWare)
• over 200 business rules supported
• security that has been endorsed by NATO, as well as government organizations in the U.S., Canada, U.K., Austria, Australia and New Zealand
• relationships with over 300 wireless carriers
• Blackberry patents on push email
• a range of products: Pearl, Curve and 88×0 series
• a broad range of third party applications, many of which have an enterprise focus

Also check out Al Sacco’s Top 10 Reasons Why the iPhone is NO Blackberry over at Crackberry.com.

On the other hand we hear rumors of a Blackbery 9000 with touch screen technology – the iPhone’s strongest selling point.And surely a feature for which Apple has patents or patent applications outstanding. RIM has already negotiated deals with Nokia, Samsung, HTC, Motorola and Palm for its Blackberry Connect which essentially licenses RIM’s wireless push email technology for use on certain of their devices such as the Nokia E-series smartphones.

I would take Luca’s speculation on RIM and Apple negotiations one step further. Each side has technology that the other requires to succeed in their respective quests for market share (and to mutually grow the overall smartphone market). If there are such negotiations under way, they’re about cross licensing each other’s patents to achieve their goals without ending up in messy and costly litigation.

Hat tip to Dan York for pointing me to Luca’s post.

Full disclosure: when I was employed in the magnetic resonance spectroscopy business three decades ago (used for determining molecular structure in chemical and biochemical analysis), I was peripherally involved in a patent settlement where both my employer and their major competitor ended up resolving some technology-critical patent disputes through a cross-licensing because each party only had part of a comprehensive solution required to advance the use of the technology. Much of that technology has since been licensed by GE, Siemens and others to develop the field of magnetic resonance imaging (MRI).

Tags: Blackberry, RIM, iPhone, Luca Filigheddu, Apple Insider, Aidan Malley, Blackberry Connect, Al Sacco, Crackberry.com

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