Another Apple iPhone Visual Voicemail Co-Defendant Settles Lawsuit with Klausner Technologies

- For Klausner Technologies Wendy Simmons, 718-522 9873 or 917-327 6188 wendy@vendeloo.com GotVoice, Inc. is the second co-defendant in the patent infringement lawsuit recently filed by Klausner Technologies against Apple, Inc. (APPL:NASDAQ) to have settled the litigation and licensed the Klausner Technologies visual voicemail patents. Other defendants in the case include ATT, Inc. (T:NYSE), Comcast Corporation (CMCSA:NASDAQ), eBay
Inc.'s (EBAY:NASDAQ) Skype and Cablevision Systems Corp.(CVC:NYSE).

The license covers GotVoice's visual voicemail service, which allows subscribers to selectively retrieve voice messages from a mobile phone or computer display. To date, Klausner Technologies has licensed six companies for visual voicemail under its patents. Current licensees include Time Warner's (TWX:NYSE) AOL and Vonage Holdings, Inc. (VG:NYSE), among others.

"We are happy to add GotVoice to our growing list of licensees. GotVoice's visual voicemail is an excellent example of our patented visual voice messaging technology, letting consumers view and select voice messages in a similar fashion to the way they view and select e-mails," said Judah Klausner, CEO of Klausner Technologies.

About Klausner Technologies, Inc.: Klausner Technologies was founded by Judah Klausner, inventor of the PDA and electronic organizer. It owns 25 patents, worldwide, covering visual voice messaging services in which subscribers selectively listen to their messages via their computers or cell phones.

GotVoice Signs Patent License for its Visual Voicemail

PDADD (Puff Daddy Against Drunk Driving)

Good news! The roads are safe again. No more drunken Nicole Richie cruising the Pacific Coast Highway the wrong way. I bet you think it’s because she’s a mom now and, therefore, is either, A) too responsible and motherly to do that, or B) too busy changing diapers to go out and party.
Guess again.

I mean, I guess that could have something to do with it. But what if I told you that the streets – and everyone walking/driving on ‘em – were also safe from Paris, Britney and Lohan? I know, I know; when pigs fly. Or, perhaps, when P-Diddy decides to take on yet another business venture.

Obviously, his clothing line/record company/MTV show/hunt for an assistant/being a (Puff) daddy aren’t enough for the mogul; Mr. Combs has now decided to add a transportation company to the mix. And not just any transportation company – this one is focused solely on getting (rich and famous) people home from the bar.

Awww. He cares about people’s safety! Sort of, at least. “After partnering with Ciroc vodka, he wants to make sure everyone’s partying responsibly,” says one of his many people.

The whole thing is really cute and responsible, but it still begs the question of why these rich and famous people can’t afford their own transportation home from a night of partying. I make 100 times less money than any of these people and even I manage to hail a freaking cab after a night of Sake Bombs.

Sure, the rich and famous aren’t going to stand on the corner waiting for a taxi, but there have been limo services/private drivers around for celebs forever; what makes P-Diddy think his service is going to make a difference?

Another question on everyone’s minds (or mine) is what Puffy is going to call his newest venture. Combs’ Cars? Late Night Transpufftation? Diddy’s DDs?

Sorry, Sean, but just like Danity Kane, I don’t think this one is going to work out for you. Unless, of course, you create a reality show about the hunt for drivers.

I would definitely pay to watch that.

Apple Upgrades iPhone to 1.1.3, Charges iPod touch Owners $20 for New Apps

For months following the release of Apple's revolutionary iPhone, the news came fast and furiously. In recent times, however, news on the iPhone has been pretty spotty at best (likely to the jubilation of many).

Steve Jobs put an end to the lull in iPhone news today with the introduction of the new 1.1.3 software update. The new update, which is available for free for all iPhone users, adds an upgraded Maps application (which can now triangulate your position using Wi-Fi or cell towers), the ability to text message multiple people at once, Web Clips support, the ability to customize the home screen, and lyrics support within iTunes.

"iPhone doesn’t stand still -- we’re making it better and better all the time," said Jobs, Apple’s fearless leader. "We’ve delighted millions of users with this revolutionary and magical product and it’s great to share these improvements with them."

iPod touch owners will be glad to know that the 1.1.3 software update is also available for them as well. Another big plus is the addition of Mail, Maps, Stocks, Weather and Notes applications from the iPhone.

Users may not be glad, however, when they learn that Apple is charging $19.95 in order to download the application update (separate from the 1.1.3 firmware update). Some contend that these five features should have never been stripped from the iPod touch in the first place, but Apple is now adding in the functionality -- albeit at a price.

All currently shipping iPod touch music players will have the five new apps already installed with no bump in price.

"These amazing new mobile applications make iPod touch not only the best iPod, but the best Wi-Fi mobile device in the world," continued Jobs. "With its revolutionary touch interface and software, plus its stunning 3.5 inch screen, iPod touch is evolving into the first mainstream Wi-Fi mobile platform of the 21st century."

The 1.1.3 update for the iPhone and iPod touch can be downloaded from within iTunes. iPod touch users wishing to receive the new apps, however, will have to get through a payment screen first before proceeding with the software update.

Apple tweaks iPhone for business uses

Apple Inc. is tweaking the iPhone to work better with business e-mail, an expected move that is meant to address a key weakness in the popular consumer device.

The company said Thursday that the next software update for iPhones will enable them to work with Microsoft Corp.'s Exchange software, which is widely used by businesses to handle and secure e-mail.

Apple did not say when the update will be available.

The move puts Apple in more direct competition with Research in Motion Ltd.'s BlackBerry and Palm Inc.' Treo smartphones, which are popular among business customers. Many businesses have shied away from the iPhone because it doesn't work well with their e-mail systems.

Copyright 2007 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

iPhone on E-Bay

Thousands of iPhones are on eBay just hours after going on sale, despite a flawed registration process.

Apple iPhone takes America (and eBay) by storm

Apple have been left with quite a few disgruntled customers after the computerised registration process virtually came to a standstill, due to the high volume of customers all trying to register within a few hours of purchase.



The problem was made worse by a mix up with customers of Cingular, which was recently acquired by AT&T. It seems that Cingular customers who were transferred over the AT&T have been accidentally flagged as business customers – but only residential / individual customers are able to subscribe to iPhone plans. So customers affected have had to spend valuable time on hold to customer and technical services to resolve the problems.

Some new iPhone owners waited over 24 hours to register their iPhone through iTunes, and AT&T have stated that it could take up to 36 hours to activate some accounts – which is a kick in the teeth if you have waited for hours (and in many cases days!) outside an Apple or AT&T store to be first in line to use one.

It seems that many of the customers that waited in line for a handset weren’t actually buying for themselves as thousands of handsets have flooded eBay since Friday night. At the time of writing eBay.com currently have just less than 6,000 listings under iPhone, and eBay.co.uk have 47. Although it is unknown how well the USA iPhone will work in the UK as the iPhone is locked to AT&T, and of course there is the tricky registration process with AT&T.

iPhone in Japan

Although I started out as somewhat of a skeptic about the iPhone, mainly in reaction to the blanket news coverage it has been receiving, reflecting on the situation I now consider that the iPhone has what it takes to be big in Japan; indeed to become the very first foreign mobile phone (Sony-Ericsson doesn’t countas foreign!) to be a success in Japan’s rather insular market. There are, however, a small number of additions and modifications that I propose Apple must make to the hardware, software, and design before they can consider selling it in Japan.

iPhone: Japan’s carriers
Looking at the market image of the three big mobile phone carriers, namely NTT DoCoMo, au by KDDI, and SoftBank, the most natural fit would be au, as according to many surveys they have the strongest image for being on the leading edge and for supporting music playback on their phones. However, if a bidding war starts, SoftBank may be prepared to lay the most cash on the table as they are most desparate for customers, and with Cameron Diaz and Bradd Pitt pushing an American image of talking on the phone for SoftBank, SoftBank’s president Masayoshi Son may see the iPhone as a natural extension of his brand. Therefore, I predict there will be a SoftBank iPhone on the shelves early next year.

iPhone: Japan needs 3G
It needs it in the US and in Europe too, so no more needs to be said about it. All Japanese carriers have stopped making new 2G models, so the iPhone must have 3G speeds to avoid being labeled as outdated.

iPhone: Japan needs a worse browser
Safari has been getting rave reviews in the USA, but the Japanese have been browsing for years in the walled garden of made-for-mobile web sites authored in C-HTML, Compact-HTML. There are too many existing services that are already designed for mobile phones for Apple to ignore, so they need to provide a downgraded browser that can support these sorts of sites without any fancy zooming or panning, just scrolling up and down.

iPhone: Japan needs emoji
Nearly three in four Japanese currently sprinkle some or all of their email with small colourful dingbat-like icons built into the phones from all of the major providers. The current methods of selecting these characters seriously needs a usability make-over that people look to Apple to implement, but without smilies, the average Japanese cell phone email would look naked and dull.

iPhone: Japan needs a retro keyboard
The biggest thing that the English-language iPhone seems to have got wrong is the keyboard. With Japanese, this style of keyboard will be even more problematic, and with many people as familiar, if not more familiar, with mobile-phone style keyboards as with traditional QWERTY ones, Apple should accept that as with the browser issues above, the older and more familiar methods of input need to be supported too. As with emoji above, I’m looking to Apple to sprinkle its magic pixie dust over the UI and the input prediction methods, but the underlying paradigm should be the standard 10-key method.

iPhone: Japan needs a strap hook
Almost everyone in Japan hangs some sort of mascot character on their phones, so without a mounting point for these straps, the iPhone will look very bare indeed. It’s just a very small thing, but it’s important and shows to potential consumers that Apple cares about Japan and Japanese sensibilities.

iPhone: Japan has it all already
A common theme running through various articles on the impending failure of the iPhone to penetrate the Japanese market is that all the features exist already in cell phones available in Japan today. While this point is indeed true and the raw feature set of the iPhone has little that is revoultionary, one need only look to Nintendo’s Wii and DS, which on paper are rather limited, or even in fact the iPod, which entered a Japanese market already crowded with offering from both domestic and overseas manufactures, yet still swempt them all away mostly on the strength of brand image and slickly integrated product. I believe the iPhone can help Apple make history repeat itself.

iPhone: Japan doesn’t need…
A recent survey showed that two requirements high in potential purchasers’ minds were One Seg digital terrestrial television and RFID-based electronic cash solutions. However, other surveys have shown that despite the fact that most new models support one or both of these features, the actual percentage of users accessing these features is rather limited. With YouTube support, One Seg television becomes less important, and many more people use traditional card-based electronic cash systems than use mobile phone-embedded FeliCa IC card chips.

Conclusion
Next year we will see a SoftBank Apple iPhone which while it may not replicate the roaring success of the iPhone in the USA or of the iPod in Japan, it will make a definite impact and change the face of the Japanese cell phone market. Up until now there has been perhaps just too cosy a relationship between the carriers and the manufacturers which while not stifling innovation, excluding physical design issues it has not encouraged manufacturers to be bold or different. Even if the iPhone itself never manages to gain a significant market share, its mere presence on the Japanese market can only benefit consumers.