Hasta La Gadget!

We know you’ve got questions, and if you’re brave enough to ask the world for answers, here’s the outlet to do so. This week’s Ask Engadget question is coming to us from Jimmy, who’s making it his business to find out what phone currently on the market is best for business.

“I’m in the market for a new phone and money isn’t a limitation. I’m also not partial to any particular US carrier, but here are some of the features I’d like to have: WiFi, GPS, good coverage in lots of places, push Gmail (a must!), physical keyboard (a must!), a touchscreen, decent battery life and a relatively slim body. And please, nothing that has a fruit logo on it. No offense to the fruit fans, though. Thanks!”

We’ve a feeling you started something Jimmy, and we’re not so sure we’re going to like the outcome. At any rate, we’d ask the dear readers to chime in here with a little help, and if you really had “iPhone 3GS” on the tip of your tongue, feel free to list it anyway — but your reasoning better be really, really good.

Filed under: Ask Engadget

Ask Engadget: What’s the best business phone out there? originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 24 Sep 2009 23:27:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments

Recently we learned (via documents leaked to Gizmodo) that Microsoft is modeling its soon-to-come retail stores after Apple’s — installing a “Guru Bar” to copy the Apple Genius service station. But why stop there? The latest rumor is that the software giant has been poaching Apple retail managers, enticing them with big raises and perks to cross over to the Microsoft side.

Sources told The Loop’s Jim Dalrymple that Microsoft is also offering to cover moving expenses for poached managers who must relocate. And once hired, the ex-Apple managers are contacting the top sales people of their respective Apple locations to poach them with higher salaries, too.

This sounds like something Microsoft would do, but will hiring Apple retail employees really help sell more Microsoft products, such as the Zune (which only has 1.1 percent of the MP3 player marketshare)? Perhaps it will, but most likely in a very insignificant way.

See Also:

• Microsoft to Open Retail Stores Next to Apple’s
• Survey: Microsoft’s ‘Laptop Hunter’ Ads Are Hurting Apple …
• Apple Breaks Radio Silence Over Microsoft ‘Expensive Mac’ Ads …
• Apple Begged Microsoft to Stop Running ‘Laptop Hunter’ Ads …
• Snap! Apple Hits Back at Microsoft Ads
• Microsoft’s ‘Laptop Hunter’ Ads Made on Macs?

Image: Gizmodo

Seriously, Blockbuster can’t seem to get a break. In a recent SEC filing, the company identified 18 percent of its retail outlets it deemed unprofitable and announced plans to close up to 960 stores by the end of 2010. That’s divided into up to 685 by the end of this year and the remaining 275 the year after, but the filing continues to say that up to 1,560 locations, or 22 percent of its total retail coverage, could end up falling the wayside. Another slide indicates how the company sees itself going forward, with an expansion of kiosks and its Total Access subscriber base, and putting OnDemand in “nearly every connected device.” Of course, if this brings Blockbuster back to profitability as it expects to be, then more power to it, but it’s clear that the one-time king is fighting wars on a number of sides and has a long way to go if it intends to stay afloat, much less reclaim its crown.

[Via CNET]

Filed under: HDTV, Home Entertainment

Blockbuster plans to part with 960 retail stores by end of 2010 originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 15 Sep 2009 20:32:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments

As with most accomplishments these days, we can’t help but place a rather large asterisk next to Sony’s award for managing to outsell the iPod lineup with its Walkman. According to Tokyo-based research firm BCN Inc., for the week ending August 30th, the Walkman series had a 43 percent share of the personal music player market versus 42.1 percent for iPods, marking the first time in four years that Sony’s managed to get the upper hand. Got that? Good, now for a major caveat. For whatever reason, iPhones aren’t considered part of the iPod line, meaning people who want the luxuries of the iPod touch and a wireless data plan aren’t included in the survey. That’s quite an omission — the iPhone 3GS is currently the best-selling phone in Japan, after all — and we gotta imagine it’d be more than enough to tilt the data in Apple’s favor, even if you threw in Sony Ericsson’s Walkman phones for good measure. But hey, it’s still a feat in its own right, and Sony might as well celebrate while it lasts — something tells us the gang in Cupertino has something up their sleeve soon.

Filed under: Portable Audio

Walkman outsells iPod in Japan for first time in four years… but iPhone sales don’t count originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 03 Sep 2009 14:02:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments

We’ve long since known that Apple (as opposed to AT&T) was getting the better end of the pair’s exclusive partnership here in America, but new research from Strand Consult has found that the situation is fairly similar all around the globe. According to the report, nary a single telecom operator it studied had seen a boost in market share, revenue or earnings as a result of introducing the iPhone, and some carriers even issued profit warnings due to the heavily subsidized handset. The study goes on to shed pity on firms like SingTel and TeliaSonera, both of which are purportedly seeing margins and ARPU (average revenues per subscriber) sink due to Apple’s darling joining the fray. But really, we can’t help but express our doubts about the all encompassing, almost sensationalized nature of this; we’ve watched AT&T’s profits soar ever since it snagged the iPhone, and considering that every iPhone buyer also coughs up a significant monthly fee for a data plan, we can’t imagine revenues tanking that severely. Or, you know, maybe we’re all just getting a really good deal on our bloated iPhone plans.

Continue reading Research finds iPhone hurting operators, Boy George unavailable for comment

Filed under: Cellphones

Research finds iPhone hurting operators, Boy George unavailable for comment originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 17 Aug 2009 14:31:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments