Bon Jovi Blames Steve Jobs For Killing The Music Business.

This evenings topic for most ridiculous news item of the day is brought to us by The Times and an interview they had with John Bonjovi. It seems John here hasn’t learned past classic rockers’ mistakes. That is, he spends a good chunk of his interview lambasting Steve Jobs (and in a more broader sense, the digital music scene) for “killing the music experience/business”. According to John, the days of saving up money to buy an album based on the jacket (that’s cover art for you young-ins) and spending an hour or more listening to a said compilation without distraction is gone — all thanks to Steve Jobs.

After Unsuccessful Run, Microsoft Discontinuing Zune Media Player.

In sea of smartphones each more than capable of managing multiple gigabytes of music, stand alone mp3 players are a dying breed. Even Apple’s might iPod — long the symbol of a truly digital world — has been waning in popularity and sales over the last couple of years. And with a device that is exponentially better (the iPhone and many other current smartphones) it makes sense. So it seems Microsoft is finally realizing the cold hard truth: They never had a chance at cracking Apple’s 3/4 market share of media players. And in the smartphone world of today, no body or mp3 player will.

Earlier this evening, Bloomberg published a report that Microsoft will discontinue Zune hardware development and new releases. Instead, the Zune team will refocus on bringing everything that made the Zune great (the software) to their Windows Phone 7 platform. It is here that Microsoft’s latest fight is currently waging against Apple. For the iPhone and its integrated iPod software are an extremely powerful 1-2 punch. While Windows Phone 7 already makes use of the Zune software, having the full Zune team focus solely on the WP7 platform ensures faster, more innovative updates and added features in the coming months and years (in theory).

So we have to ask old, famous Zune tattoo guy: Was it worth it in the end?

AT&T Getting Slammed As False Advertising Claims And Capped Phones Come To Light.

It never really was a good thing to be part of AT&T’s PR team. For years they’ve been labeled “anti-consumer”, unfair, overpriced, and a provider of terrible service. And as the “4G” wave sweeps across the country, we can add false advertising (again) and neutered phones to the list of all-time AT&T greats. The biggest issue in the here and now revolves around AT&T’s re-branded “4G” (that’s really their same old HSPA network) and new information highlighting the false limitations put in place (by AT&T) on their new “4G” phones, namely the Atrix 4G. PC Mag does a good job picking apart AT&T’s PR focus over the last few weeks and relentlessly slams the U.S. carrier for repeated lies and appalling tactics such as gimping their new Atrix 4G smartphone with speeds that are actually slower than their 3G devices.

If it sounds obscenely ridiculous, it is. But don’t go feeling bad for poor ‘ol AT&T. They could help themselves (and their public image) tremendously if their PR department actually, you know, relayed vital information to the public instead of either (1) brainwashing the less technologically competent with empty marketing fluff thereby further confusing them and/or (2) sitting by idle, without explaining themselves or answering legitimate claims made against them. Having a more transparent public face would do a world of good for AT&T’s quickly fading reputation.

Verizon is a solid year ahead of AT&T with their LTE roll out plans. T-Mobile’s HSPA+ has the potential to be faster (it’s currently rated faster, anyway) while Sprint’s WiMAX also has the potential. Sprint meanwhile is also looking at the possibility of transitioning to LTE in the next few years after a 6-month study set to conclude sometime this summer which is looking at various aspects of said network such as operating costs, profit margins, advertised vs. real world speeds, etc.

For now, we’ll have to deal with a so-called “4G” network that is the same 3G network with a slightly higher number prefix and “4G” smartphones that aren’t any faster than their 3G counterparts despite any possible 4G price premiums. Perhaps instead of relying on their current 3G network (which is admittingly faster than the other 3 carriers’ 3G networks) to push them onward, they should actually put their money where their mouth is and invest in real next-gen technologies such as LTE.

If there’s one thing AT&T does well, it’s steal peoples’ money.

*A special thank you goes out to the ITU for rolling over to carriers’ requests for watered down “4G”. Without your inability to stand your ground, none of this marketing mania would have been possible…

Angry Birds Rio For Android Being Sold Exclusively Through Amazon.

Android users who want to get their Angry Birds fix with the latest up and coming Angry Birds title, “Angry Birds Rio”, will have one place and one place alone to find said title. Rovio Mobile announced this morning via press release that Amazon’s AppStore will be the exclusive provider of their new game for Android users. On top of that, the ad-free version of Angry Birds Rio as well as previous versions of Angry Birds will also be made available exclusively through the Amazon AppStore. For other third party Android app stores and even Google themselves, this splintering of store fronts is something worth worrying about. At least for Google, this means they’re not doing their job in keeping up with developers’ demands for the Android Market. As such, they’re finding love in other places.

Look for the 60-level strong Angry Birds Rio to hit the Amazon AppStore (http://www.amazon.com/angrybirds) soon.

Apple Sells Up To 500,000 iPad 2s Opening Weekend.

With a market that is quickly becoming saturated, one would think the iPad 2 would have a hard time meeting or exceeding its predecessors sales numbers of ~300,000 opening weekend. But the latest figures from Piper Jaffray analyst Gene Munster paints a pretty optimistic picture — 400,000 – 500,000 iPad 2s sold on opening weekend. One fact that further bolsters this claim can be seen in “sold out” verbiage at virtually any and every place that sells iPad 2s.

A small survey (236 participants) conducted by Munster recorded over 70% of respondents were first time iPad buyers, and not merely first-gen iPad buyers upgrading to the latest and greatest. This is telling in that it shows Apple’s reach is increasing rather than simply recycling hardware with a core group of loyal users. Of course, such a small sample base can hardly be accepted as truth. Though in the coming days, it will be interesting to see how that figure does or doesn’t change.

BT Advises UK Infinity Subscribers: “Download All You Want!”

In stark contrast to AT&T’s new bandwidth caps scheduled to hit homes this coming May, BT has informed UK Infinity subscribers that they are doing just the opposite — they are removing any and all bandwidth caps. Specifically, BT Total Broadband and Infinity fiber services (tier 2) will soon be able to download any and all of the world should they so choose. With that truly “unlimited” decree, users will have up to 40Mbps (actual speeds ~33Mbps) download and ~2Mbps upload speeds to play with.

As for the still capped packages, BT’s Option 1 and 2 tiers will feature a 10GB and 40GB cap respectively while Infinity Option 1 will also share a 40GB cap. Overages for these plans are priced at £5 per 5GB.

Finally, users of the unlimited plans will still be subject to bandwidth throttling at peak hours (5pm-midnight) “when the network is busy”.

NFC Not Debuting On iPhone 5.

Despite persistant rumors saying otherwise, new evidence is pointing to an iPhone 5 without NFC capabilities. Such claims were apparently made by Apple during meetings with European cellular carriers. According to reports from the Independent, Apple is waiting on clearer standards as well as waiting for their own NFC technology to mature before they make their move. Apple’s NFC technology would unsurprisingly revolve around iTunes for the exchange of cash.

Similar rumors pegged the iPad 2 as debuting with NFC technologies as well. Though as we’ve all seen, such rumors never quite came to fruition, as the iPad 2 is NFC-less. With projected sales of NFC payments slated to hit €110bn by 2015, it’s definitely in every mobile manufacturer and cellular providers’ best interests to get a grip on this technology sooner rather than later. Hopefully 2012 brings clearer standards and/or Apple’s own NFC technology ready to battle with the likes of Google’s own NFC-capable Android devices and any other contenders that enter the market space.