The "Apple" and Stick Routine

Last week, I was in San Francisco attending Deutsche Bank’s 2010 Technology Conference (September 14-16).  The following post is a high-level summary of my key takeaways, intended to inform you of key industry themes and changes within a brief reading (rather than a lengthy detailed vendor-by-vendor report). 

Rumors that Apple is ready to end its exclusive contract with AT&T by bringing the iPhone to a rival carrier are nearly as old as the smartphone itself. As AT&T customers have grown more and more annoyed with the dubious performance of the carrier's network, the rumors have gotten louder. When a move finally becomes more than rumor, the fallout will be huge, says a new survey.

At the end of June, Bloomberg reported that Verizon Wireless will begin offering the iPhone in January. The article was -- reasonably enough -- viewed with suspicion because: a) we've heard this story more than once; b) the sources were the super-vague "two people familiar with" Apple's plans; and c) to run on the Verizon network, Apple would need to develop a CDMA iPhone, which is a touch more work than simply offering the same GSM model  through T-Mobile -- which has also been repeatedly rumored.

I don't know about you, but I'm suffering from Android burnout. Yes, I know it's just an operating system, which makes that not unlike saying I have Windows 7 burnout. But then nearly every hardware vendor and wireless carrier isn't hyping a new device that runs on Windows 7 this week, are they?

On Tuesday, Google kicked off what might as well be called Android Week with an announcement that wasn't exactly what it had been hyped to be. Observers had expected that the new smartphone Google is pushing, Nexus One, would be designed by Google -- making it the first real Google Phone. But Google was quick to point out that the heavy-lifting was done by HTC, and it just pitched in to ensure that the phone took full advantage of Android's potential.