No Runny Eggs

FoxNews.com is reporting that there are no less than three working hacks of the Apple iPhone that fully-untether it from AT&T’s network. While it is legal, at least in the US, I won’t be supplying the links (mainly because I can’t afford an iPhone, but also because I strongly suspect that all the methods will void the warranty).

A word to the wise; if you do hack an iPhone for use in the US, you’re going to have to pay the $175 termination fee to AT&T and then pony up to T-Mobile’s network as Sprint and Verizon and US Cellular use an incompatible network format.

Revisions/extensions (7:08 pm 8/24/2007) – Added US Cellular to the list of incompatible networks. The iPhone operates on GSM networks only.

Good news/bad news – With a major assist from Northwors…er, Northwest, TPG Capital will be taking Midwest Airlines private (pending anti-trust approval). The good is is that much of the current management will be staying around rather than the entire function being moved south. The bad; Northwest is going to want their money back quickly, and the airline industry isn’t exactly a growth industry. That’ll mean cuts.

Congrats to the 4 people who said that they’d go to somebody other than AirTrans. Another person and I got close and said a deal would be done by Labor Day (though we said AirTrans would win). For your approval, here’s the results of that poll.

 Loading ...

Revisions/extensions (11:32 am 8/17/2007) – The (Somewhat) Daily RAG found the merger agreement.

I’m not quite sure how much a 300 page phone bill costs, but I’m sure the iPhone is the perfect tool for finding out.

Think about how many line items are on a 300 page bill, then consider the minimum time each one must take to complete. The girl in that video can’t possibly have a boyfriend, unless he’s made of iPhones. She’s also obviously malnourished because she’s too busy playing with her iPhone to eat.

(H/T – Ace)

Remember that price drop on the 60 GB version of the Playstation 3? Many people, including me, thought it was a move to get the PS3 closer in price to Xbox 360. Well, we were wrong – it is to clear the shelves of the 60 GB in preparation for the upcoming $600 80 GB version.

I now put the odds of the PS3 still being around when Gran Turismo 5 comes out at 33%. If you can forgo the wireless network and HDMI, you can get the “common” version of the Xbox 360 (once called “Xbox 360 Pro” – $400) and the HD DVD player ($200) for $600. If you can forgo the hard drive and HDMI, you can get the “Core” version ($300), the HD DVD player and the wireless network ($100) for $600. If you can forgo the wireless network, you can get the HDMI-equipped Elite ($480) and the HD DVD player, along with a larger hard drive and potential integration with Windows Media Edition 2005/Vista Premium/Vista Ultimate (also available with the other Xbox 360s), for $80 more than the PS3. Morever, unlike the all-at-once solution from Sony, Microsoft allows upgradability (of course, at a price).

Meanwhile, the Wii still chugs along at $250, IF you can find it. Never mind that, other than the trick controller, it is essentially the GameCube, and as such, is about as advanced as the PS2 (indeed, certain games on the PS2 can be run in HD, while the best the Wii can do is ED).

Once again, smooth, Sony. REAL smooth. </sarcasm>

(Inspiration – Sean Hackbarth’s TAM Money and Finance)

It’s no secret that Playstation 3 has bombed for Sony since its Christmas 2006 launch as the most-expensive gaming system ever. So, what does Sony do?

– First, it keeps on producing and supporting the Playstation 2. It may have worked once when the PS2 was a “mere” $300 and the PS1 was knocked down to $100, but do note that neither Microsoft nor Nintendo went that route when they brought out the Xbox 360 and Wii.
– Drop the “cheaper” $500 version, with a 20 GB hard drive, no card reader and no wireless networking back in April in favor of the then-$600 version with a 60 GB hard drive, a built-in card reader, and built-in wireless networking.
– Make a higher-capaicity version (80 GB hard drive vs. a 60 GB hard drive) with an included game, and dropped the price of the “base” 60 GB version at $500, still $20 higher than the highest-cost Xbox 360 Elite (which has a larger hard drive than either PS3, but does not include a high-definition DVD player, which is a $200 add-on or wireless networking, a $100 add-on).

Smooth, Sony. REAL smooth.

So says the Guardian and the internet consulting firm Point Topic, even though the headline writer doesn’t know that 300 million (the number estimated to have broadband access to the Web) is not 20% of 6.6 billion. The 1.1 billion with internet access, however, is 1 in 5.

The writer of the article bemoans the fact that Africa is lagging. Honestly, I’m not surprised; unlike the murderous thugs that run Red China, the tin-horn dictators of Africa don’t have the pull to get various Web-based companies to self-censor for the locals who need to be kept in the dark to preserve the dictators’ power.

Other random observations:

– Even though Red China is poised to beat the US in total number of broadband users (60 million in the US, 53 million and growing rapidly in China), broadband penetration in China is still under 15% of households as opposed to 53% in the US.

– South Korea leads the pack, with 90% of the households wired for speed.

– Indonesia and Greece are leading the pack in growth; of course, they’re starting late and from a low base.

H/T – CNBC

Shortly after The Wall Street Journal reported in today’s editions that GM and the Chrysler Automotive division of DaimlerChrysler were in discussions to jointly develop a replacement for the Chevrolet Suburban/GMC Yukon XL, the trade magazine Automotive News extrapolated that and earlier reports that DaimlerChrysler was looking to sell Chrysler into claiming that GM was in discussions to buy Chrysler.

Most analysts, including CNBC’s, are discounting the larger buyout. Personally, I think about the only benefit to GM would be that it would hold off Toyota’s bid for being the world’s largest automotive producer for a few more years.