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| BlackBerry vs. Apple |
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Look out Apple, BlackBerry wants to eat your lunch. So says ChangeWave Research which said the Canadian manufacturer has a number of plans in the works to upset Apple’s phone cart among consumers. (See Figure 1.) RIM, which has already launched the feature-rich Bold handset, has two other devices waiting in the wings: Thunder and Kickstart. (See Figure 2.)
ChangeWave surveyed 3,567 consumers before the iPhone 3G launch and found considerable potential for the RIM devices among consumers once they actually get into the marketplace. According to Tobin Smith, ChangeWave’s founder, the results show consumers are “hungry” for all varieties of BlackBerry. Smith said the real losers in this smartphone battle will most likely be the Tier 2 players. The survey found that current RIM customers are 2 to 3 times more likely to buy new RIM models than the customers of other handset makers. The survey also found that the new RIM products have a significant potential to lure away customers from other manufacturers, with Palm, Motorola and Samsung being the most vulnerable.
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Smartphone Loyalty |
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Figure 1. Percentage of owners who currently own a RIM, Palm or Apple device. |
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New BlackBerry Smartphone |
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Figure 2. Consumers who said they are very/somewhat likely
to purchase a RIM Bold, Thunder or Kickstart. |
Source: ChangeWave Research |
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| Speed Matters |
| The Communications Workers of America (CWA) conducted its annual Speed Matters survey to rank Internet speeds available to each state of the union as well as Puerto Rico. Launched in September 2006, Speed Matters is designed to bring attention to the issue of Internet connectivity and to encourage elected officials to implement policies to bridge the digital divide. |
Alabama |
33 |
Alaska |
51 |
Arizona |
34 |
Arkansas |
46 |
California |
25 |
Colorado |
29 |
Connecticut |
12 |
DC |
16 |
Delaware |
2 |
Florida |
7 |
Georgia |
9 |
Hawaii |
42 |
Idaho |
47 |
Illinois |
24 |
Indiana |
31 |
Iowa |
45 |
Kansas |
26 |
Kentucky |
41 |
Louisiana |
18 |
Maine |
21 |
Maryland |
8 |
Massachusetts |
5 |
Michigan |
20 |
Minnesota |
44 |
Mississippi |
43 |
Missouri |
39 |
Montana |
49 |
Nebraska |
35 |
Nevada |
15 |
New Hampshire |
13 |
New Jersey |
3 |
New Mexico |
36 |
New York |
6 |
North Carolina |
11 |
North Dakota |
50 |
Ohio |
23 |
Oklahoma |
40 |
Oregon |
19 |
Pennsylvania |
27 |
Puerto Rico |
52 |
Rhode Island |
1 |
South Carolina |
14 |
South Dakota |
32 |
Tennessee |
17 |
Texas |
22 |
Utah |
30 |
Vermont |
38 |
Virginia |
4 |
Washington |
10 |
West Virginia |
37 |
Wisconsin |
28 |
Wyoming |
48 |
| “It takes roughly 16 minutes and 33 seconds for a worker interrupted by an e-mail to get back to what he or she was doing.” —University of Illinois/Microsoft |
Cellular Wallet
Bank of America says 98% of its mobile banking customers check their balances on their phones, and 40% transfer funds or approve online payment of a bill to a regular vendor.
| Top 10 Back-2-School Phones |
| 1. AT&T LG Vu CU920 |
6. SprintPCS Palm Centro Onyx |
| 2. Verizon LG enV2 VX9100 |
7. Verizon Motorola W755 |
| 3. Sprint PCS LG Rumor |
8. AT&T BB Pearl 8110 |
| 4. T-Mobile BB Curve 8320 w/myFaves |
9. T-Mobile Nokia 5310 XpressMusic |
| 5. AT&T Sony Ericsson W580i Walkman |
10. AT&T LG Shine CU720 |