Hasta La Gadget!

Nokia’s Ovi store got off to a rocky start Tuesday as users faced problems accessing the store and downloading the programs.

“Shortly after launching the Ovi Store at 2 a.m. ET, we began experiencing extraordinarily high spikes of traffic that resulted in some performance issues for users accessing store.ovi.com and store.ovi.mobi,” said Eric John, head of product marketing for Nokia Ovi in a blog post. “We immediately began to address this issue by adding servers, which resulted in intermittent performance improvements.”

The store features games, applications, podcasts and videos for smartphones running Nokia’s Symbian operating system.

The problems with Ovi’s launch do not bode well for Nokia, which has been struggling to better Apple’s App Store, whose more than 46,000 titles have been downloaded more than 1 billion times since the store’s July 2008 launch. Nokia has lagged other mobile platforms such as Research In Motion’s BlackBerry and Google’s Android OS, both of which launched their own app stores months ago.

The Ovi store can be accessed by about 50 million Nokia device owners worldwide, including the soon-to-be launched N97. The store will have more than 20,000 titles at launch, said Nokia, including both free and paid apps. Customers can visit Ovi through their phone’s browser to personalize and downloads services and programs.

“Ovi is open for business and we’ve stocked the shelves with both local and global content for a broad range of Nokia devices,” said Tero Ojanperä, Executive Vice President, Nokia Services in a statement. “Ovi Store makes shopping for content and applications easy for feature phone and smartphone owners alike.”

But some Nokia fans aren’t pleased. Inability to access the Ovi store on launch isn’t the only trouble that users say they faced. Allaboutsymbian.com, a web site that follows Nokia closely, pointed out that the Ovi store does not offer a clear distinction between Java and native Symbian apps.  The performance of the store client was also slow and the store did not have much content, said the site.

Ovi store users in the U.S. will face additional challenges buying from the Ovi store. U.S. consumers can access and purchase content from the Store via unlocked devices using AT&T or T-Mobile. But those purchases will require a separate credit card transaction. Later this year. AT&T has said it will offer carrier billing, so purchases from the store become a part of the monthly service bills.

Photo: Ovi store rendering on Nokia N97 (dekuwa/Flickr)

Oh Palm. If you’re going to badmouth potential customers in your secret documents, at least keep them, y’know, secret. The above statement is one of many juicy tidbits inside the Pre Business Launch Guide, a 22-page document “leaked in its entirety” this weekend.

The document reveals Palm’s plans for domination of the business world, its traditional marketplace. Sample points taken from the manual:

• The device can be supported by existing IT infrastructure and will make many IT managers’ standards list.
• [Non-Palm] charging solutions may not work properly.
• Due to anticipated high demand, employee availability will delayed to first meet the needs of our customers.
• The sealed form factor of the device makes repairs challenging and the potential for damage is significant.
• Palm ® Pre™ Smokes the Competition

(This last point is to be delivered with a high-five)

Price plans are equally detailed, running from $70 per month for 400 minutes (on a shared plan) or 450 minutes (individual plan), topping out at a reasonable $100 for the individual “Simply Everything” plan which includes unlimited talk time. Like the iPhone, you will have to buy some kind of data plan as “legacy plans” are prohibited.

In addition, corporate switchers coming from other carriers may be eligible for a $100 credit on service, which isn’t a bad way to tempt people across.

Also revealed are prices for accessories. The Touchstone and car-charger we have seen already, but now we know that the Premium Holster (a fashion disaster that could only be loved by the be-suited exec) will cost $32, the micro-USB travel charger will be $35, the Leather Pouch $40 and phone covers will start at $30.

There’s more. We already know about the official launch on June 6th, but there are a few other secret and exclusive events. On Friday 5th June, there will be a New York Executive Breakfast along with various Sprint promos in “10 Flagship Stores” and an invite-only “VIP Event”.  On the 3rd, we’ll see a “Hollywood Event”.

And the statement in the title? That’s one of the best parts of the whole document. The text appears in big pink lettering on page 11 of the guide, which explains the the Pre is not for everyone. Titled “Sell the Palm Pre to the Right Customer”, the official line is that the Pre is “best suited for non-IT Centric business users.” That sounds to us like the Pre isn’t up to the job of being a proper business smartphone, and it’s for the exact same reason that the iPhone was a hopeless business phone on launch — web apps.

The Pre can’t run proper applications, instead using the WebOS, essentially a way to run web pages locally using javascript and CSS. Rememeber the iPhone’s web apps? This is the same kind of thing, albeit with local storage for offline use. Palm admits as much. The questionnaire reads thus:

• Does your company have specific application requirements?
• Does your line of business require specific product features on mobile devices?
• If YES, then the Treo Pro is your best mobile device option

Yes. According to Palm, if you are a business customer, you should buy the Treo. The Pre, the much-hyped Palm-saviour, is not good enough for you. Full marks to Palm for being honest, but this is a somewhat suicidal statement given the company’s precarious position. It hurts me to do this as I’d love to see the Pre succeed, but I predict a big fat fail. The Pre is no more an iPhone killer than the Zune was an iPod killer. There will be a big bang on the opening weekend followed by a slow and quiet spiral into obscurity.

Sprint’s Pre business launch guide leaked in its entirety [Engadget]

A surprise it isn’t, but it’s nice to know that at the very least the iPhone is about to get a storage boost, doubling its internal flash memory to 32GB. Up until the euthanization of the 160GB iPod Classic, Apple could always be relied upon to increase drive size in iPods.

The rumors/leaks come from two independent sources, and both are the results of either incompetent slip-ups or a genius-level marketing strategy. First, T-Mobile Austria posted a placeholder on its site listing a “iPhone 32GB” starting at €0 (that’s $0, for the mathematically challenged), and the blog Area Mobile was sharp enough to grab a screen shot.

Next up, Rogers. The much “loved” Canadian carrier has posted a list of upcoming handsets according to the Boy “Genius” Report. Here’s the relevant line: “# iPhone — ETA: unknown (July/August), outright: not allowed, 3-year: TBD.” That’s right folk: three years. This doesn’t point to a 32GB model, but it at least offers some confirmation of an early Summer launch.

Finally, Vodafone Australia has issued an end-of-life notice for the 32GB iPhone. This could, of course, just means that the 16GB iPhone 3G is about to be replaced by a newer 16GB iPhone, but we agree with MacTalk.au that it looks like there will be a bigger model along soon.

And you know what else this means? The iPod Touch has always had double the capacity of the largest iPhone, which probably means a ridiculously large 64GB model is on the way.

Existence confirmed: 32 GB iPhone on T-Mobile will be available shortly [Area Mobile]

Rumour: 16GB iPhone Declared “End of Life” By Vodafone & Brightpoint [MacTalk]

More good news for Rogers customers: upcoming handset release details [Boy Genius Report]

This month, the Apple rumor volcano erupted with purported details of the next-generation iPhone. Various blogs claim receiving tips from informed sources about features in the highly anticipated handset, such as a magnetometer (digital compass), a video camera and a speedier processor.

Here, we round up every rumor that’s appeared about Apple’s next iPhone, which many are betting will be announced June 8 at the Worldwide Developer Conference in San Francisco. We’re also accompanying each rumor with a percentage rating for its probability to be true, as well as our analysis.

When WWDC arrives, we’ll present a report card showing which publications were correct and which were wrong. And of course, we’ll grade ourselves on our predictions, too.

With that said, here’s everything we’ve heard about the next iPhone:

Speedier processor and more RAM
Source: Daring Fireball; Apple iPhone Apps; MacRumors; WeiPhone
Probability: 95%
This is pretty obvious: Any hardware upgrade typically receives a performance boost. Daring Fireball’s John Gruber has historically been one of the most accurate with Apple rumors, and his sources tell him the next iPhone will have a 600MHz processor (up from 400MHz). That would make the next iPhone 1.5 times as fast as the current one. Also, a recent job listing reveals that Apple is hiring a low-level iPhone programmer who is familiar with the ARMv7 Cortex mobile processor, which is much faster than the current iPhone’s ARMv6-based chip. As for memory, we’d expect Apple to increase RAM to complement the processor upgrade.

Magnetometer (digital compass)
Source: The Boy Genius Report; Daring Fireball; WeiPhone
Probability: 90%
A large amount of evidence indicates that the next iPhone will feature a magnetometer, a 3-axis compass that will greatly enhance its global positioning capabilities. Developers testing the iPhone 3.0 beta have found system files and screenshots referring to a magnetometer, which suggests the hardware feature will appear in the next iPhone.

Same industrial design as previous models
Source: WeiPhone; Daring Fireball
Probability: 90%
All the probable rumors suggest this will be an incremental upgrade, so we would not expect Apple to change much in the industrial design. That would mean the screen resolution should remain the same. Also, Apple would hesitate to change much about the overall form factor, as it would require iPhone application developers to dramatically change their apps just for the new phone.

Storage options increased: 16GB and 32GB
Source: Daring Fireball; Apple iPhone Apps
Probability: 80%
The current iPhones come in two models: 8GB and 16GB. Upping the storage to 16GB and 32GB is a small, incremental upgrade, which would allow Apple to maintain the price points for the handset.

$200 and $300 price points to be maintained
Source: Daring Fireball; Apple iPhone Apps
Probability: 75%
Apple’s iPhone 3G was a tremendous success, selling over 10 million units in 2008. Apple relies on hardware upgrades to boost sales numbers, and given the solid performance of the previous iPhone, the company has no strong incentive to reduce the handset’s costs.

Video-recording and editing capabilities
Source: Engadget; MacRumors; BusinessWeek
Probability: 70%
Some developers have published screen captures of a video interface discovered in iPhone 3.0 beta. A major complaint about the current iPhone is its inability to record video, so it would be surprising if Apple didn’t deliver this feature. We would give this rumor a higher rating if there were evidence of video-editing capabilities. Currently, we haven’t seen any.

Sleeker design
Source: Apple iPhone Apps
Probability: 60%
No solid evidence of this, but the traditional evolution of Apple products is they get slimmer and sleeker.

1.5 times the battery life of the current models
Probability: 60%
Source: Apple iPhone Apps
A major complaint about the iPhone 3G is its meager battery life. Therefore, Apple will most likely claim the next iPhone has improved battery life. We’ll have to test the next iPhone’s battery life to see if Apple’s claims are true.

OLED screen
Source: Apple iPhone Apps; Register Hardware
Probability: 20%
An obscure iPhone blog reported a rumor that the next iPhone will feature an OLED screen. However, this is unlikely as OLEDs are expensive and would likely drive the iPhone’s price points higher. Evidence of this feature is scant.

Glowing Apple logo on the back
Probability: 20%
Source: Apple iPhone Apps
Unnecessary. Rumor comes from an obscure blog with little cred.

Discontinuation of the metal band surrounding the edge of the device
Probability: 20%
Source: Apple iPhone Apps
No evidence of this. We’re not sure why Apple would choose to remove this band.

Rubber-tread backing
Probability: 15%
Source: Apple iPhone Apps
Unlikely, as it would be ugly, and Apple likes pretty things. Also, the rumor comes from the same obscure blog as the one above.

Built-in FM transmitter
Source: Apple iPhone Apps
Probability: 10%
We see no compelling reason for Apple to put this in the iPhone, as it is not a feature that users have been demanding, and it hasn’t appeared in other iPods.

What are your bets? Add your predictions in the comments below.

Photo: Jon Snyder/Wired.com

Apple has rejected an e-book reader from its iPhone App Store because of the app’s ability to search for and download the Kama Sutra.

Called Eucalyptus, the reader app doesn’t come with any content. Similar to what the iTunes Store does with music, Eucalyptus enables users to find and download the books they wish to read. The app pulls e-books from Project Gutenberg, a well known web site that hosts public domain books.

Apple’s problem? Users can choose to download the text of Kama Sutra, which contains “objectionable” material. Eucalyptus developer Jamie Montgomerie posted Apple’s rejection letter on his blog:

We’ve reviewed Eucalyptus — classic books, to go. and determined that we cannot post this version of your iPhone application to the App Store because it contains inappropriate sexual content and is in violation of Section 3.3.12 from the iPhone SDK Agreement which states:

“Applications must not contain any obscene, pornographic, offensive or defamatory content or materials of any kind (text, graphics, images, photographs, etc.), or other content or materials that in Apple’s reasonable judgement may be found objectionable by iPhone or iPod touch users.”

Apple’s App Store has been a huge hit in the mobile software industry, recently surpassing 46,000 applications available. However, the company’s iPhone application approval process has fallen under major scrutiny because of its inconsistency and unclear guidelines. For example, the company initially rejected a novelty fart app called Pull My Finger and then later approved it, but the game Baby Shaker, which involved shaking a baby to death, was initially approved before it was pulled down amid parental outrage.

The company is generally strict about potentially offensive content in its iPhone apps, but this is the first time we’ve seen Apple reject an app based on content that a user must manually search for to download. Montgomerie points out users could easily search for the Kama Sutra by typing a Google search in Safari.

“I suspect that no-one at Apple knows how genuinely torturous the App Store approval process is for developers personally after a rejection,” Montgomerie said. “I think anyone that knows me would confirm that I’m a very level-headed person, but this is the only thing in my adult life I can recall losing sleep over.”

In its latest e-mail to Montgomerie, Apple requests that the Kama Sutra be removed — even though the e-book is actually located on the Project Gutenberg database. Montgomerie has succumbed to installing a filter blocking users from searching for the Kama Sutra, and he awaits a response from Apple.

This is pretty outrageous to us. How do you feel about this, readers? Add your thoughts in the comments below.

See Also:

• Want to Fool Apple’s App Store? Plant an Easter Egg
• Apple Reviews NetShare; Permanent Ban Likely
• Android Welcomes App Store’s Rejects With Arms Wide Open
• Apple Rejects Twitter App Update for Alleged Bad Language
• Apple: You Can’t Play Jesus on iPhone
• AT&T: SlingPlayer for iPhone Would ‘Create Congestion’ for 3G …
• Apple Says No to Throwing Shoes at Bush on iPhone
• Apple’s Delays Could Cost iPhone Developer $600K