TELSTRA has reacted to the consumer stampede to mobile broadband by cutting the prices of its wireless internet packages.
In a week in which the Australian Communications and Media Authority revealed a 162 per cent rise in the number of wireless subscribers over the past year, Telstra cut the price of packages by up to a third. It also doubled the data cap for its entry-level plan to 400 megabytes a month.
''[We] will cater for the increase in wireless broadband use by doubling the monthly data allowance on the entry-level plan to 400MB for no additional cost, catering for users who like to surf, download music and email moderately. The new allowance lets customers download up to 40 MP3 music files,'' Telstra said.
The company also cut the price of its 1GB plan from $59.95 a month to $39.95, and introduced a $49.95 a month 3GB plan. It has also cut the price of its existing 5GB, $89.95 a month plan to $79.95 and tacked on an extra 1GB. Prices are even lower if customers bundle the plans with other services such as landlines.
The price cuts are an acknowledgment of the explosive growth in the use of devices such as the BlackBerry and iPhone.
Goldman Sachs JBWere analyst Christian Guerra described the changes in a note to investors yesterday as ''some of the most significant pricing changes from Telstra for some time''.
''This is yet another sign that Telstra is: (1) back in the market competing with its IT issues resolved; and (2) embracing this shift to wireless,'' he said, referring to the well-documented problems with Telstra's huge information technology overhaul.
He said although Telstra's prices were still higher than its competitors, it could justify charging a premium because of its network coverage, speeds and capacity.
Although its name suggests perhaps even grander capabilities, Windows enthusiasts are excited over the discovery of a hidden "GodMode" feature that lets users access all of the operating system's control panels from within a single folder.
By creating a new folder in Windows 7 and renaming it with a certain text string at the end, users are able to have a single place to do everything from changing the look of the mouse pointer to making a new hard-drive partition.
The trick is also said to work in Windows Vista; however, some are warning that while it works fine in 32-bit versions of Vista, it can cause 64-bit versions of that operating system to crash.
To enter "GodMode", one need only create a new folder and then rename the folder to the following:
GodMode.{ED7BA470-8E54-465E-825C-99712043E01C}
Once that is done, the folder's icon will change to resemble a control panel and will contain dozens of control options.
We're not sure it's our idea of playing God, but it is a handy way to get to all kinds of controls.
We've asked Microsoft for more details on the feature and how it came to be. But so far, Redmond is silent on the topic.
Victorian drivers will be able to use smartphones as in-car navigation tools after VicRoads backed down on a proposed blanket ban on mobile GPS devices.
The revised Victorian mobile phone rules, which come into force on November 9, were announced by VicRoads in newspaper advertisements over the weekend.
The previously announced rule, which drew international media attention, banned drivers from using mobile GPS applications as navigation systems.
NOKIA NAVIGATOR 6210
The use of mobile-phone GPS systems is becoming more widespread, and the ban was seen as a threat to the growing market in smartphone applications and services.
The changes will now allow drivers to use their mobile as a GPS device as long as it sits in a cradle or is remotely operated.
Under the new laws, drivers will be prohibited from holding their phones or resting them on their lap, even if they are turned off.
Drivers can still make and receive phone calls or listen to music if the phone is sitting in a specially designed cradle.
Any other use of the phone, such watching videos, text messaging or playing games while driving, is banned.
A VicRoads spokeswoman said the rule had been "clarified" after it previously prohibited all mobile phone functions except phone calls - even if the device was in a cradle.
"The change now states that in addition to to being able to make or receive a call when the driver is using a phone in a cradle or remotely, the driver is also able to use the music/audio (without video) functions," she said in a statement.
"Using a phone as a GPS is also permitted, but only if the phone is secured in a commercially designed cradle.
"All other functions of the phone outside of GPS and music/audio (without video) remain prohibited."
The new rules will affect iPhones that use apps such as those made by TomTom, Navigon and Sygic; Nokia phones using its Ovi Maps; Telstra phones using its Whereis Navigator GPS service and any other service or software that enables a mobile phone to be used as an in-car navigation device.
Drivers caught breaking the new laws will be fined $234 and lose three demerit points.
VicRoads says research has shown that a driver is four times more likely to crash while using a mobile phone.
In Victoria, the act of driving while using a mobile ranks among the state's top three driving offences.
#1: What are the system requirements for Windows 7?
The Windows 7 system requirements are very similar to those of Windows Vista, and users running Vista shouldn’t have much problems upgrading to Windows 7.
Here are the base system requirements for Windows 7:
1GHz or faster 32-bit (x86) or 64-bit (x64) CPU
1GB RAM for 32-bit OS, 2GB RAM for 64-bit OS
16GB hard disk free space for 32-bit OS, 20 GB for 64-bit OS
DirectX 9 graphics device with WDDM 1.0 or higher driver
Users may want to add one of more of the following:
Internet access
Depending on screen resolution, video playback may need more RAM and more powerful graphics processing unit (GPU)
To use Windows Media Center functionality you will benefit from a TV tuner
To use HomeGroup you will need a network and PCs running Windows 7
DVD/CD burning requires a compatible optical drive
Music and sound will require audio output
Windows Touch and Tablet PCs require specific hardware
Windows XP Mode requires an additional 1 GB of RAM, an additional 15 GB of available hard disk space, and a processor capable of hardware virtualization with Intel VT or AMD-V turned on
How easy or difficult it is to upgrade to Windows 7 depends on what operating system you are starting from.
If you are planning of buying a new PC with Windows 7 pre-loaded then all of your of your hardware issues are sorted right from the start as far as your PC goes. When it comes to hooking up your existing hardware then you might run into issues where something is incompatible (if it worked with Vista, chances are good that it’ll work with Windows 7), or you’ll have to go searching for a driver. As far as software goes, again you might be OK or you might find yourself needing to seek out updates or even buy new software.
If you are upgrading to Windows 7 from Vista then when it comes to hardware you should, on the whole be OK (again, you might need new drivers). Software compatibility should also be very good (be wary of installing programs such as antivirus unless they have been updated … security software is usually the most problematic when changing operating systems).
If you are upgrading to Windows 7 from XP, then beware. Here be tigers! If your PC passes the basic system requirements then you should be OK to run Windows 7, but as far as compatibility of other hardware and software goes, you could find the process to be a smooth one, or you could find it impossible. Also, you’ll want to read #3.
If you are planning on upgrading any Windows-based machine to Windows 7 I suggest that you download and install the Windows 7 Upgrade Advisor from Microsoft. This handy bit of software will scan your PC and generate a report for you of any compatibility issues that you are likely to encounter.
#3: Is it true that you can’t upgrade directly to Windows 7 from XP?
Unfortunately, yes, it is. If you are a Windows XP user and you want to move to Windows 7 you can’t carry out what Microsoft calls an “in-place upgrade” where you install Windows 7 over the top of your existing OS and get to keep your applications, setting and data. Instead, you have to do what is known as a “clean install” which basically means you are starting from scratch and installing a totally fresh, clean OS.
As annoying as it might be to have to carry out a clean install, it’s always the route I recommend. It’s always best to back up your data, do a clean install, reinstall all your applications and then copy your data back over onto any system when upgrading your operating system. This method offers the best possible start for your new OS experience.
#4: Which edition of Windows 7 do I need?
My blanket advice to people asking me this question is this - If you have to ask the question, then go with the Home Premium edition of Windows 7. This OS is the cheapest consumer edition of Windows 7 and includes everything that the average user will need.
To find out what the different editions have to offer, check out the editions chart over on the Microsoft website.
#5: Should I go for 32-bit or 64-bit version of Windows 7?
If your hardware can handle it, there’s almost no reason preventing you from going 64-bit. If in any doubt about your hardware consult the Windows 7 Upgrade Advisor from Microsoft.
iPhone might rule the smartphone sector for now, but market researchers predict that the dominance of Apple's popular handset could be toppled by Google's Android mobile platform within three years.
The global sales forecast published by Gartner predicts that in 2012, Android, Symbian (found mainly on Nokia phones) and Research In Motion (BlackBerry) will dominate the mobile operating system market, pushing Apple's iPhone OS into fourth position with a 13.6 per cent slice of the market.
"The iPhone is all about user experience but Apple can only produce a small number of handsets and not everyone wants an iPhone handset. They will remain strong but they won't take over world," said Robin Simpson, a researcher at Gartner.
Apple iPhone and the Android-based HTC Magic.
Android, on the other hand, is expected to lift its market share from 5.1 per cent to 18 per cent, moving ahead of RIM (13.9 per cent) to sit below Symbian, which will lose some of its 48.1 per cent stronghold by 2012 to claim 37.4 per cent of the market.
Like Apple and RIM, Google's Android platform has a thriving marketplace of smartphone applications, which is becoming a key differentiator within the mobile market, but it is yet to establish a dominant presence here with only 2-3 per cent of the market and only three Android handsets now available.
These are the HTC Dream and Magic, and the Galaxy Icon from Samsung. However, the stable is set to grow with HTC's new Hero handset due out this month and the Motorola Cliq is expected to ship before Christmas.
Android has been around for less than a year and the user interface is not as fancy or sexy as iPhone, but we expect it to grow quickly.
"Android has been around for less than a year and the user interface is not as fancy or sexy as iPhone, but we expect it to grow quickly with more and more hardware makers embracing it going forward," Warren Chaisatien, research director at Telsyte, said.
"We're excited to see just how far the platform has come in one year ... Android is now on over 10 devices in 26 countries with 32 carriers, in 19 different languages. As more carriers and handset manufacturers turn to open platforms, we anticipate this growth will only continue," a Google spokesperson said.
Growth in emerging markets is the key reason that Symbian and Android are likely to dominate the global market as handset makers there seek cheap, open platforms on which to develop products, Simpson said.
While Android has always been an open platform, Nokia has also opened up Symbian to third-party developers.
"There are dozens of Asian and Indian vendors that can address their markets with a cheap and cheerful operating system," he said.
While there is consensus among researchers that Google's Android is on the ascendancy, in other respects the Australian smartphone market is likely to defy global trends, Chaisatien said.
"We see three operating systems competing at the forefront in coming years. BlackBerry, which is already very strong in the business market, has done a great job in terms of repositioning themselves to consumers. In number two position, we see the Apple iPhone, which has made significant gains in the market in just one year, and in third place we see Google's Android," he said.
While they will not disappear any time soon, Symbian and Microsoft are considered most at threat from Android and iPhone, and Palm recently pulled out of the local market altogether, proving how difficult it is to survive in the cut-throat smartphone world.
"Once upon a time, Palm was very popular but it lost so much market share because it was not innovating quickly enough. It has pulled back to focus on markets where it has a strong presence," Simpson said.
The creator of the World Wide Web, Sir Tim Berners-Lee, has admitted that the double slash we see in every website address was a mistake, and that if he could go back and change things, it would be to remove this oblique double punctuation.
The British scientist according to the BBC News says that the double forward-slash is “pretty pointless”, with:
“[t]yping in // has just resulted in people overusing their index fingers, wasting time and using more paper”.
The rest of the address is relatively important for the browser. Back in the “olden days” of the Internet, there were http protocols, gopher protocols and ftp protocols - and all followed with a colon and a double forward-slash. Now we have more protocols which are used, such as Skype and AIM to initiate a VoIP call or an instant message.
But there is practically no reference to the double forward-slash on the web, or as to why it is even there. In an interview with The Times of London, he could have easily redesigned URLs not to have the double forward-slashes in. Perhaps as a result, it would have reduced initial frustration, confusion over web addresses and saved on paper.
Things can only get better but recovery will be slow.
Analyst house Gartner has said that the effects of the recession have passed their worst in the electronics industry, but that recovery will be slow.
In a review of the industry, the company said that sales look to have stopped falling and worldwide demand is on the up. However, in some sectors sales won't reach 2007 levels until 2012.
“Almost all sectors of the electronic equipment market have now hit bottom and await signs of ‘first growth’ in comparison with the same quarter last year,” said Klaus Rinnen, managing vice president at Gartner’s semiconductor manufacturing group.
“The first signs of growth will be led by seasonal buying patterns in the PC market during the third quarter of 2009, although other major sectors will not begin to show first growth, year-on-year, until 2010.”
The PC market remains caught by poor demand from enterprises for hardware refreshes since the start of the year, but Gartner said that consumer demand, particularly in China and the US, was stronger than expected and was rising again.
Meanwhile the mobile market bottomed out in the third quarter of this year and will start to recover in the first quarter of 2010. It halved its earlier estimates of market shrinkage from eight percent to four.
“Although the first signs of recovery are starting to appear for the electronics industry, the damage from the current industry recession will be felt for a long time,” said Mr. Rinnen.
“This is seen in our current five-year semiconductor revenue forecast, which does not show recovery to 2007 levels until 2012. Vendors must prepare for significant changes in consumer buying behaviour, technology demand patterns and a changed supplier landscape.”
By Ben Grubb Click here to view the full article on CRN Oct 14, 2009 7:58 AM
Telstra today appeared before a Senate inquiry to plead with government senators to stop the structural separation of the company by urging for a delay in the debate whilst it finishes "constructive discussions" with the government.
In an opening statement to a senate inquiry into the Telecommunications Legislation Amendment (Competition and Consumer Safeguards) Bill 2009, Telstra reinforced its position on the proposed separation.
"If the government decides to proceed with the Bill, we believe that it is only sensible that the Senate defer debate until after the conclusion of the constructive discussions between Telstra and the government over the NBN and the completion of the government's NBN implementation study," said Telstra group managing director of NBN engagement Geoff Booth.
"We would also urge that significant amendments are made to the Bill," Booth said.
He said Telstra believed the way in which it could reach a mutually acceptable outcome was via commercial negotiations and not via legislation.
"We cannot agree to proposals that fail to give fair value to our shareholders," said Booth.
Optus general manager of interconnect and economics Andrew Sheridan told iTnews that Telstra's arguments were "not really fit for purpose".
"Telstra is back on maneuvers. We're now starting to see them play their old games again," he said. "They've had plenty of time to negotiate with government."
By David Neal Click here to view the full article at CRN Oct 14, 2009 7:51 AM
Cisco has announced plans to acquire Starent Networks, a provider of IP-based mobile infrastructure solutions.
The networking giant expects to use the US$2.9bn ($3.2bn) purchase to increase its presence in the growing mobile internet environment.
"We are very pleased that Starent will be joining the Cisco team, and we believe their products and engineering talent will greatly benefit our service provider customers as they build out their mobile internet offerings," said John Chambers, chairman and chief executive at Cisco.
Pankaj Patel, senior vice president at Cisco's service provider business, added: "Cisco and Starent share a common vision and bring complementary technologies designed to accelerate the transition to the mobile internet, where the network is the platform for service providers to launch, deliver and monetise the next generation of mobile multimedia applications and services."
Starent's strengths lie in core network functions and services that manage access from any 2.5G, 3G and 4G radio network to a mobile operator's packet core network.
"Combining Cisco's strength in video and IP with Starent's leading mobile infrastructure solutions creates a compelling portfolio of products that provides an integrated architecture to offer rich, quality multimedia experiences to mobile subscribers on 3G and 4G networks," said Starent president and chief executive Ashraf Dahod.
The deal is expected to close next year, when Starent will become the new Cisco Mobile Internet Technology Group under Dahod.
You want to know why Windows 7 isn’t going to be another Vista? Here’s one big reason: drivers. This time, hardware makers seem to be keeping pace with the operating system and the hardware.
Case in point: I’ve spent the past three months collecting detailed reports about 10 systems I’ve been using to test-drive the final version of Windows 7. One is a Dell Studio XPS 13 notebook. It’s sleek, fast, and good looking, with some little touches that I’ve really come to like: an illuminated keyboard and automatic logon via facial recognition. But it has also suffered from one nagging issue that other owners of this machine have complained about as well. After resuming from sleep, the wired network connection refuses to work and stays on strike until a restart. The touchpad also occasionally works in erratic fashion, with some pointer movements jittering across the screen.
So I was very pleasantly surprised today when I logged onto Dell’s support site, selected this model from my systems list, and saw a new Windows 7 x64 category. Even better, the available downloads include a new BIOS, date-stamped September 16, and new drivers for the Nvidia chipset, dated today. There are also new drivers (just released yesterday) for the IDT audio subsystem and for the Synaptics touchpad. The QuickSet software that enables hardware buttons has an August date stamp. (There’s no update yet for the Nvidia Nforce network adapter, so I used the Vista x64 model instead.)
How much trouble was it to get all those changes slipstreamed into the system?
It took about 20 minutes (including three reboots) to download all the updates, flash the BIOS, uninstall the old QuickSet and touchpad driver packages, and install the various updated driver packs.
When I was done, I let the system go to sleep and then resumed it; the network was active immediately. And the touchpad now responds smoothly to input.
That sounds like a lot of work, and it is. But it will involve no work for anyone buying this notebook model with Windows 7 already loaded, a configuration that Dell will no doubt offer on this system as soon as they are contractually able to do so. Avoiding the hassle of OS and driver upgrades is a good reason to take Dell up on their Windows 7 Free and Easy Upgrade program. You place the order now, they’ll install Windows 7 and deliver it around October 22. (You don’t pay until it ships.)
I thought it was also interesting to note that for this model Dell includes only x64 drivers. Current models are only available with the 64-bit version of Windows Vista. Judging by this driver update, 32-bit versions of Windows 7 will be at least partially supported.
Back in early 2007, when Windows Vista shipped, hardware makers were struggling to keep up. Early releases of some drivers were unbearably bad, and it took about six to eight months after Vista’s launch for a full selection of decent drivers to appear for many common devices.
Today, two weeks before the launch of Windows 7, the video drivers are ready and waiting. The three biggest names, Nvidia, ATI, and Intel, have recent releases of universal drivers that work shockingly well. That was not the case with Vista. Definitely not. I’ve seen a steady stream of drivers delivered via Windows Update as well, for things like audio adapters and network controllers and fingerprint readers. The system makes an occasional mistake, but those have been extremely rare, in my experience.
At one point this summer, a well-informed source told me that Microsoft expected 8 million people to be actively participating in the Windows 7 beta program at its peak. I imagine that several times that many computers are running it now. If there were significant driver issues, we would have heard the screams by now. But I’m hearing surprisingly few complaints.
Driver hiccups are a natural part of any upgrade cycle. This time, though, most of those hiccups happened quietly offstage, during the three months since mid-July, when hardware makers and system builders got their hands on the final bits. As my experience proved to me today, most hardware makers are ready this time around.
Written by: Ed Bott
Ed is an award-winning technology writer with more than two decades' experience writing for mainstream media outlets and online publications. See his full profile and disclosure of his industry affiliations.
Cisco has posted further details about its upcoming line of server systems.
The company said that its new Unified Computing blade-mount servers would be joined by a line of rack-based systems and extension appliances which will ship in the coming months.
The three rack-mount servers will ship between November and will range from a US$2,589 model ($2,862) to an extended US$10,339 system. All three models will be offered under the banner of the UCS C-Series.
Cisco hopes that the addition of the rack-mount systems will help extend the reach of the Unified Computing platform.
The company first unveiled the programme in April with the effort of combining network and storage management with server virtualisation technologies.
"The Cisco UCS C-Series provides a cost effective entry point and a clear migration path to unified computing for our customers," said Prem Jain, senior vice president of server access and virtualisation for Cisco.
"This rack mount server form factor also opens the unified computing opportunity to a broader range of our channel partner community."
Meanwhile, the blade-based UCS B-Series server will be accompanied by a memory extension unit set to be released this month and an interface card for additional Ethernet connections slated for release in December.
Additionally, Cisco said that both the B-Series and C-Series servers would be fully certified for Oracle's RAC and Database software offerings.
Skype has come to the iPhone. Everyone’s favorite VoIP application is available on the iPhone (and iPod touch) but only via Wi-Fi.
This means that you need to connected to a Wi-Fi network in order to use it. Its a start, but what it really needs to do is to work over a 3G connection.
Appearently carriers’ and Apple’s Terms of Service prevent VoIP calls being made over 3G connections. Having said that, there are rumours that Skype running on handsets using the soon to be released OS 3.0 are able to use a 3G link for voice calls, in addition to WiFi. It remains to be seen if this will actually be the case.
While looking for more info around Skype over 3G, I did find several articles and tutorials that talk about using Skye over 3G for those that are prepared to Jailbreak their iPhones. For most of us (including me) this isn't an option.
Even though it misses out on this crucial component - what is there works great. The good news, though, is for iPod Touch owners - if you have a 2G Touch and headphones with a microphone, you get the same functionality as the iPhone.
After installing the 2.7MB app, you enter your username and password. You then see your contacts list. You can either see all contacts and narrow them down by typing into the search field, or opt to see only online contacts.
Touch a contact and you get the usual Skype choices: call or chat. Chatting works just like IM, with you and your chat partner’s pictures showing up next to speech bubbles containing the text. Neat and easy. You can also switch between chats and the app keeps your old chats so you can pick up where you left off.
While some insist that the phone part works fine (or as well as Skype on the desktop which means mixed quality and reliability) many users have insisted its a bit buggy.
According to the iTunes store, the Skype application has already been reviewed 1,376 times and has an average rating of 3.5 stars. Already many of the user reviews written on are negative, with users calling the app 'buggy' and complaining about crashes.
In addition to crashing at the launch of the app, many users are finding that phone calls placed with Skype aren't lasting long with the duration of calls lasting up to 60 seconds and crashing repeatedly.
Hopefull the stability of the app improves. As for legitmate Skye over 3G? I don't think I'll be hold my breath...
Last year, Apple set itself apart from the mobile computing world with the release of the iPhone OS 2.0. This year, Apple won't make quite such a leap forward, but neither will it lose any ground to increased competition.
When it arrives this summer, Apple's third generation of the iPhone operating system will correct some of the most glaring omissions to date. These include the lack of background processing, any kind of system-wide search, and yes, copy and paste. In case you missed the live blog, check out some of the highlights of Apple's presentation Tuesday.
There were two audiences for the iPhone 3.0 preview presentation: developers and iPhone users. Users were more interested in the features, while developers were anxious to learn about the new software development kit.
Let's examine the users first: Apple's competitors will be quick to point out (Microsoft was particularly eager to comment Monday and Tuesday) that the most prominent features introduced with iPhone 3.0 are features that are found on many other smartphones.
It's a reminder that while most everyone in the mobile industry would give Apple credit for igniting a smartphone revolution with the original iPhone, Apple can't leave anything to the competition if it wants to keep the growth of its most profitable product on track. With iPhone 3.0, Apple is showing that, just like last year, it listens to complaints about the iPhone's capabilities and works to overcome those objections.
For the most part, however, iPhone users seem satisfied with their devices without those features. Key additions such as copy and paste, a landscape keyboard, real search capabilities, and MMS (multimedia messaging system) will make the iPhone even easier to use.
Developers are the ones who will probably be most excited about the new iPhone OS. The ability to use background notifications, for example, will make for much more compelling iPhone and iPod Touch applications, as was immediately apparent from some of the demonstrations Tuesday.
In addition, developers will have 1,000 new APIs (application programming interfaces) to play with that will unlock parts of the iPhone previously off limits or unavailable to third-party applications. Apple didn't get into all of them, but talked about how developers can now stream audio and video, send e-mail from inside applications, and use the iPhone's proximity sensor, which means Google will once again be in compliance with the iPhone SDK.
This is the kind of development that users won't immediately grasp until someone develops a game or other kind of application that does exactly what they've always wanted a mobile computer to do. An important consideration when evaluating these developments, however, will be whether or not Apple's push notification service works as advertised in the real world: the company admitted its first attempt at building such a service would have failed under the load generated by millions of iPhones, and Apple's single-point-of-failure architecture for this service opens it up to potential outages that Research in Motion's BlackBerry customers occasionally face.
Lost in all the discussion about the features themselves, however, were some of the steps Apple is taking to help developers work with the iPhone. For example, with the release of the new SDK (a beta version is available today, but developers flooded Apple's website Tuesday) Apple will host discussion boards for developers to exchange tips and get help with their work, six months after threatening them with legal ramifications for merely talking about their applications.
Apple also seemed sensitive to all the complaints over the "black box" approval process that many developers have found in trying to get their applications onto the App Store. Around 96 percent of all applications are approved, and around 98 percent of application submissions are approved within seven days, Apple said. Those may be recent numbers as opposed to a picture encompassing the whole year of iPhone development, but after months of silence on the topic, Apple's willingness to acknowledge those issues show it's aware how important that part of the iPhone development experience is to those trying to build businesses around the iPhone.
It's interesting to note that Apple is taking somewhat similar approaches in 2009 to both Mac and iPhone operating system development.
Just like Mac OS X Snow Leopard, which is expected to focus on stability and performance rather than the addition of new features, iPhone OS 3.0 is more about giving developers a more capable platform on which to base their applications rather than any single killer feature. And that's despite the fact that competitors plan to have major releases (Microsoft's Windows 7 and Palm's WebOS, for example) that could change the playing field.
Apple gave itself a lot of wiggle room in promising to ship iPhone 3.0 "this summer," which technically gives it until September 21st. With competitors fighting back, Apple needs to make sure it ships iPhone 3.0 on time and without incident to keep iPhone growth on track.
A new iPhone with souped-up hardware probably wouldn't hurt.
