iPhone has “most satisfied” users: study

JD Power finds the battery is the smartphone user’s only complaint, while dumbphone users want GPS, aren’t as likely to cut their landlines.

54% don’t want or need mobile video

We laughed when they put cameras in our cellphones but now use them extensively. We shrugged when GPS chips appeared in our Blackberrys but wonder how we lived without them. And now we learn more than half of us don’t give a rat’s ass about watching television on a 2.3″ screen. For now.
With apologies to the Harper’s Index, here’s a breakdown of an Accenture survey, according to consumer electronics site Twice.com:
All figures in percent.
The cellphone is my primary source of outside communication (txt, email, yell-ular calls): 79%
I don’t need or want video on my cellphone: 54%
The data charges are too expensive: 14%
Video-capable cellphones are too expensive: 9%
Lots of video channels isn’t enough to convince me to upgrade: 70%
Meantime, while we won’t watch video, we love the idea of mobile web browsing. The number of those of us who can watch video on our mobile phones rose from 12% to 14% in the last year, but web-enabled cellphone use skyrocketed from 8% to 23%. And 1 in 3 of us consider web browsing a critical part of the cellphone experience.
The data also bodes ill for everyone but Apple. the iPod represents 75% of all portable music players sold today. The other 25%? Well, likely they’re using their cellphones. 1 in 4 respondents used their mobile phone to listen to music.
Source: Accenture: Interest In Cellphones For Entertainment Is Picking Up, twice.com

Geek Rehab: Buying a Computer like Everyone Else

An alarming trend towards normal continues, Michael fears the Americans will steal his baby pictures, and we learn why a bigger hard disk isn’t necessarily better.

Palm Pre: the Hail Mary Pass that may actually work

It’s been proven in the tech world time and again that First Mover Advantage is never an advantage (think Netscape vs. Internet Explorer). But the kids over at Engadget are cookoo for the Palm Pre, a smartphone from the people who brought you the world’s first true PDA, the Palm Pilot. Apple has since dominated this space, and with an Cupertino designer jumping ship to Palm, it’s no surprise the Pre has many iPhone-like features including a touch screen and an App store. But what the Pre holds over the iPhone is more than just a slide-out keyboard:
First up, the phone can be configured to check out your calendar every morning and automatically download all sorts of information about the people, places, and companies you’re going to visit, including maps — an especially awesome feature if you’re dealing with spotty 3G coverage. Even cooler, though, has to be the lateness notifier — the phone uses GPS to determine where you are, compares it to where you’re supposed to be at the moment, and if it figures out that you’re screwed, it’ll let you know. What’s more, it can automatically email people to let them know that you’ve screwed up (just blame it on the traffic — we always do).
Link: Engadget.com