“Visiongain, the US market research company that is forecasting an imminent launch of Apple’s own cellphone, has gone even further arguing that Apple could become also a mobile virtual network operator,” Stuart Corner writes for iTWire. “According to Visiongain, ‘Apple acknowledges the threat mobile handsets pose to portable MP3 players in the long term. As such, it has begun to make a mobile play – initially, via the Motorola partnership. However…Apple could embrace mobile more fully and pose a greater threat to the cellphone industry itself – as an MVNO challenging carriers and as a cellphone brand challenging handset makers.'”
“‘Apple’s history shows a continuous leap in technological advancements and a new or upgraded offering on average every six months. Visiongain believes that the years 2006 and 2007 will see product offerings accelerate as Apple focuses on convergence technologies…As convergence enters full swing, media companies, wireless carriers, vendors and others are searching for ways to reach new consumers and generate extra revenues – mobile phones and iPod devices support video and music download capabilities, and content owners are providing exclusive music and TV for both device platforms,’ [the Visiongain report states],” Corner reports.
Full article here.
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Yes please! (Don’t think it’s likely, though…)
Way awesome!
if they wanted to do it here in the uk, they have just missed the opotunity to buy virgin mobile (biggest mvno in uk). that would have been cool.
Slap an iShight on the sucker while you’re at it!
Dear MacDailyNews,
Your new double-underscored pop-up ads are incredibly ugly as well as tacky beyond words. Your intrusive flashing banner ads (also really obnoxious) weren’t enough for you. Now your readers have to jump over ads imbedded in the actual text of your articles. Disgusting!
I have enjoyed your website for years but do not intend to support such crass, insensitive commercialism. Good luck to you and the drones who don’t know any better than to swallow whatever you feed them.
I’m always skeptical about convergence. Someone once said that the only successful convergence item in history was the radio alarm clock. I don’t know if that’s an exageration but it is food for thought.
Shut up alansky. What the hell does it matter how ‘incredibly ugly as well as tacky beyond words’ the ads are? It’s incredibly easy as well as obvious beyond words that you can simply ignore them and thank MDN for providing such a top-notch service free of charge.
Convergence, convergence, convergence. All we ever hear is convergence. And yet the market is still filled with iPods, mobile phones, digital cameras, PDAs, laptops, etc.
The fact is no handheld device can do everything well. Mobile phones don’t take good photos or hold many songs. iPods aren’t PDAs. Palms are more functional and easier to use than Treos, which aren’t good mobile phones anyway.
It’s rather funny how many “experts” think Apple is just going to start a new mobile phone service. No one ever seems to discuss the infrastructure necessary, like towers, customer support centers, etc.
If Apple is to launch it’s own mobile phone service (a HUGE HUGE undertaking), it won’t be because it wants to sell an iPod phone/iPhone. Apple can do that anyway by simply designing great mobile phone hardware.
lbuschjr–
An MVNO is a system that uses existing towers. Hence, the “V” in “MVNO.”
Mobile
Virtual
Network
Operator
Basically, Apple would essentially position themselves as a broker for tower usage.
At least, this is my understanding of it.
How about that,
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