When does everyone think the Apple iPhone will available in Australia, or more accurately, Asia Pacific? I have my bets on late 2008/early 2009.

As most technophiles will already know, Steve Jobs - Apple’s CEO - is reluctant of a 3G model at this point due to problems with the battery-life. He doesn’t want to sacrifice any of the iPhone functionality by supplying a limited battery-life. Well, I don’t think they will release the iPhone to Asia Pacific unless it is a 3G model. What’s the point?

It has been said that people place too much importance on the ‘term’ - 3G. Most really don’t get the most out of what it offers to what can it possibly matter? Well, truth is, Asia Pacific hosts some of the worlds largest 3G networks. I believe 2.5 (GSM or EDGE) would be taking a step backward.

Who will win?

Next question, who will win the contract for the iPhone here in Australia? I have my money - not literally - on Vodafone. I believe, from a branding/marketing perspective the two companies align better than the anticipated Telstra/Apple partnership. After all, Telstra has always been rather Apple-unfriendly.

We’ll just have to wait and see, I guess.

In reply to Valleywag’s 25 Predictions for 2008, I shall do my own version. Well, lets make it 6 Predictions for 2008.

Telstra:-

I don’t think Sol Trujillo will be at Telstra by the end of 2008. Who replaces him: I don’t have the foggiest. I think Telstra will chip away at extending the reach of its HSDPA network and the other carriers will try their best to match all but its remotest coverage. Telstra won’t win the iPhone contract. I feel Vodafone will: the two align much better than Mac-unfriendly Telstra.

Apple:-

Hopefully Apple will release the iPhone to Asia by the end of 2008. It will be a 3G model and the battery issues will be worked out. The 13″ Macbook Pro will be announced at Macworld Jan. 08 (please let this be true).

Google:-

Google’s share-price will hit $800 (I agree with Valleywag on this). They will go on an acquisition-rampage.

The Internet:-

The whole Web 2.0 movement will charge ahead and brilliant ideas will continue to rise, survive and/or die out of Silicon Valley. Social networking will continue to be dominated by Facebook, MySpace and Linkdin (in order). There will be loads of consolidation and acquisitions in this space.

Telecommunications:-

All I have to say is one thing: ULL.

Pajago.com:-

We shall continue to tap-away at the keys - hopefully - producing content that you, the readers, enjoy to read. Again, feedback and suggestions is important for us to continue to produce quality. Contact us here: suggestions@pajago.com

Done.

P

Today marks the day of ‘posting random, statistic-driven images on the Pajago.com blog’. I think it should be marked as a public holiday! What do you think?

I made a couple of neat discoveries today; both at adsl2exchanges.com.au. First is a tool that allows you to see where the RIM’s ( Remote Integrated Multiplexer) in your area are located and how many available ports there are; the other, a heat-map of likely ADSL2+ speeds within your area. I believe both are quite reliant on user-interaction - a good way to go about things provided the information is moderated.

To view the RIM searcher, go to the left sidebar and click ’suburb’ view. Do what it asks to locate the suburb in question. You will see a Google Map littered with heat-blobs. Click on each and it tells you the RIM’s name and status. The Telstra exchanges are also marked by a little upside down tear-drop looking icon.

The speed heat-map can be found under ’states’ at the left sidebar. The more user-generated input here, the more robust the tool becomes. Very neat tool.

Go check it out.

PJG

The battle between Telstra and G9 continues. Below is a table, released on the Now We Are Talking website shows the strengths of Telstra and weaknesses of the G9 plan. Let’s substantiate on each of these claims:

Engineering flaws

• G9 propose Sub-loop unbundling (SLU) which enables other carriers to interconnect with Telstra’s customer access network at any point between the exchange and the customer premises.
• SLU dismantles Telstra’s network - Telstra will be required to go out and physically cut the copper wire from its network and connect it to the competitor’s node that could see service disruptions and a host of potential technical difficulties.
• This type of SLU has never been done anywhere in the world because it doesn’t work.
• Responsibility for maintaining end-to-end service quality is not considered: how would failures be detected and who would be responsible for fixing them?Read what the Communication Workers Union of Australia has to say about SLU (www.cepu.asn.au)

… Read the rest of this article at NWAT (nowwearetalking.com.au)

Looking at this hoo-har from a logistical point-of-view; G9 doesn’t have the work-force, experience nor vision to be feasible. The required work-force and experience -especially- can not just be manufacturer overnight.

If G9 is favoured, which it has been so far, bye-bye to so many millions of dollars that will be NZ and Singapore bound.

Pajago

BigPond is Australia’s first major corporation to set-up shop on Second Life. Already, many major International companies are using it as a promotional tool so I am sure BigPond has the same objective in sight with it’s island, The Pond.

Although BigPond is the first major Australian company to launch a Second Life base, this is a growing trend globally, sparked by entrances from Dell, Toyota, Adidas, IBM, and Intel.

Second Life is a virtual world developed by Linden Lab in California. Initially, a client-program is downloaded to the users PC, then an “avatar” is created with a name, personality and other characteristics, to interact with others in the world. Your avatar can shop, spend Linden dollars, watch a movie, speak to others -all sorts of stuff.

BigPond didn’t make a terribly large investment to affiliate with Second Life but customers will see value in it, being part of their unmetred content network.

Some of BigPond’s support staff would help customers inside Second Life as part of their day-to-day roles, but BigPond had not yet committed staff to police it full-time.

Source: SMH

Pajago

Regulation in the Australian telecommunications environment is currently in disarray. It seems as though it’s growing more and more unbalanced and immoral. I support Telstra through-and-though, simply because I see what they are trying to do, as the right thing.

Telstra announced today, in newspapers across the country, that it has $4.1-billion in its hands to build the FTTN network which will produce high-speed broadband between 24-50MBPS. Telstra will not invest until there is regulation in place to stop competitors pinching it at below cost, like it already does with the ADSL network. Is it wrong to protect the shareholders funds?

Sol Trujillo, CEO recently said to the media: “We have competitors and their companies, in some cases, are bigger than Telstra but they don’t invest capital inside this country. They are foreign owned and they like riding on the investment back of Telstra shareholders.”

Why should these companies be given that ability through poor regulation? Simply, the likes of Optus Singtel absolutely have the finances to invest in a network like FTTN but they choose not to as they prefer to piggy-back Telstra’s efforts. And the Government allows this some how?

Consumers tend to have a sour view of Telstra. Thinking Telstra is a money-hungry, monopoly that doesn’t give innocent “little” companies like Optus a chance to compete. How ridiculous. It’s about time they start spending some of their own revenue on technology. I guess it’s the socialist view of Australians.

The only reason why the Next G network, for instance, seems monopolistic is because no other provider has challenged it. As Sol has also said: “success is about: “who can out-innovate, who can out-deliver, who can out-create partnerships and relationships and bring new services to market”. Telstra is encouraging competition, and why not?

Something else in the telco industry that makes my blood boil at the moment is that Optus advertisement that compares Optus’ $49 3G cap-plan to not even a comparable plan by Telstra. A look at the Telstra website will reveal that Telstra does, in fact have an offering very similar to that of Optus. The advertisement uses a $40 non-cap plan, where Telstra actually has a $49 cap-plan. This is a sign of Optus being afraid of fair competition. Why mislead? Are they so insecure that they have to mislead people into buying their product? talk about lack of integrity. How must someone that’s signed-up with Optus, to that understanding feel.

Pajago