[LINK] Google, Apple and Microsoft Knuckle Under to Telcos

[Kim Holburn]

Interesting article.  With mobile wireless cards for laptops and  
netbooks, isn't the cat out of the bag here?  How long before people  
start demanding skype working properly on mobiles?  This is one that  
normal people, normal phone and computer users understand.  They  
understand they are getting ripped off.  I'm surprised there aren't  
more hacked versions of skype that work on mobiles.

http://www.wired.com/epicenter/2009/05/google-apple-and-microsoft-knuckle-under-to-telcos/
http://tinyurl.com/rc95pz

> If you think Google, Microsoft and Apple are bad-ass, cutthroat,  
> take-no-prisoner companies, you should meet the nation’s wireless  
> carriers, who have collectively convinced those intensively  
> competitive software giants to cripple their products.
>
> Need any more proof that the nation’s four largest wireless carriers  
> - AT&T, Verizon, Sprint and T-Mobile - have too much control over  
> the airwaves, what phones you can use and what applications you can  
> run on them?
>
> Look no further than Microsoft’s release this week of its 12  
> commandments for developers (.pdf) working on apps for the upcoming  
> Windows Mobile 6.5 OS and for its Windows Mobile Marketplace — it’s  
> upcoming iPhone app store competitor. Number 4 rule? Don’t make apps  
> that let users make phone calls using the mobile phone carrier’s  
> data connection.
>
> That restriction joins Microsoft to Google and Apple, all of which  
> now all block true VOIP apps in their online marketplaces where  
> users can quickly buy trusted apps from third-party developers. That  
> means no Skype, or at least only Skype when your iPhone has a WiFi  
> connection, or only Skype-Lite which uses your phone’s minute plans.
>
> Let’s get this straight. Google won’t sell more Android phones by  
> crippling them. Nor will Win Mobile phones be more attractive  
> because of Microsoft won’t let a useful program for business users  
> into its store. Oh, and Apple’s iPhone certainly isn’t more cool for  
> having crippled Skype on behalf of AT&T.


-- 
Kim Holburn
IT Network & Security Consultant
Ph: +39 06 855 4294  M: +39 3494957443
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