iCloud + Dropbox Data Pollution

The picture from the crowd during the last two ‘new pope presentations’ (I really don’t know what else to call it) is showing up everywhere. Yes, it is pretty crazy how the people of the world have changed their behavior when attending public events like the one in question…music concerts and sporting events are very similar.
It really amazes me how so many people essentially take the same picture. The picture taken is no different than the picture the man/woman next to them is taking and eventhough the pictures taken by todays smartphones are very good, they will not be better than the pictures the professional photographer is taking at the same location. But that is not my point.

Try and do the math

Most apple iPhones and iPads are automatically uploading the pictures taken with them to iCloud. Same for Android phones and tablets – they upload pictures to dropbox. The image size of every picture stored in iCloud and Dropbox is around 2MB. The amount of storage space and bandwidth needed for this is just ridiculous…think of the energy needed to:

1. Charge the smartphone so that the picture can even be taken (a smartphone needs charging every day, not like the old bricks we had that needed charging once a week).
2. Power the antennas transmitting the image to iCloud, Dropbox etc.
3. Power the data centers that store all the images

Just try and think about it – it is pretty sick. Interested in the topic? In 2011 I wrote an article on how google wants to send out a green image, yet release a web browser that requires loads of energy. Check it out here.

iPhone 5 launches in Luxembourg on Luxgsm, Orange & Tango on September 28th

Update 28-Sep-2012 12:00:

• Last but not least – here are the Luxgsm prices for the iPhone 5:
  

Update 28-Sep-2012 09:30:

• Orange came out with their prices as well this morning. Find them below:
  
  

Update 27-Sep-2012 10:45:

• I received Tango’s prices for the iPhone 5 in Luxembourg from an anonymous source. The image file was located on tango.lu but not linked to from anywhere, which is why it is credible and published here. Note that the iPhone 5 has increased in price from the iPhone 4S (see bottom of post). There is of course no gurantee that this is also the price Tango will release.
  

Update 27-Sep-2012 10:26:

• On Friday 28-Sep-2012 for the iPhone 5 launch, Orange will have the following opening times:
  - Orange Shop Luxembourg-city Grand-rue & Place d’Armes: 06:00 am
  - Saturn Esch Belval: 10:00 am
  - Saturn Luxembourg Gare: 09:30 am
  - All other Orange Shops: 08:00 am

Update 26-Sep-2012 17:20:

• I had the pleasure to attend Orange Luxembourg’s 4G network launch event yesterday. It sure is very impressive data transfer speeds that can be achieved on these networks. Nevertheless, we will not know the ‘real deal’ before it is launched and many users start to use the network. Orange Luxembourg will launch their 4G network for the public on 29-Oct-2012. They will do so with small mobile hotspots (I forgot to take a picture of them, but they look similar to this). Orange’s management told me that they will cost around 150 EUR with a 39 EUR/Month contract lasting 12 or 24 months. Data transfer speeds of up to 50 mbit will be granted for the first 10GB volume. The speed will then be decreased to a transfer rate not yet known. The ones who are lucky enough to get their hands on an iPhone 5 from Orange from 28-Sep-2012 onwards (and no, they did not tell me how many they have in stock) will continue to use the 3G network. At some time mid 2013, the iPhone 5 customers who want to benefit from the 4G network will need to get a new sim card from an Orange Shop.
• The other network operators are still very slow to get back to me with information that is good enough to share. Let’s hope it is because they are too busy unpacking iPhone 5s Stay tuned for more information.

Update 13-Sep-2012 15:20:

• Orange Luxembourg’s marketing manager confirmed that they will launch the iPhone on 28-Sep-2012. They will not release anything about pricing at present. Orange’s network will be 3G+ (DC-HSDPA) – allowing max 42Mbits.
• Luxgsm’s commercial director said that they do not have any information themselves concerning the iPhone 5. The same person promised me to let me know once they know more.

Up until June 2012, Apple has managed to sell 400 million iOS devices (this includes iPhones, iPads and iPod Touch). Whenever a new iPhone was released the world has gone crazy about it and cannot wait to get their hands on it. In Luxembourg this is no different (see my post from the iPhone 4 release). Apple is clearly dominating the smartphone market here. Old, young, male or female – it doesn’t matter. Here are the details of the new iPhone 5:

iPhone 5 – thinner, lighter, bigger & faster

New physical design of the device

It is fair to say that the iPhone 4 was a very big change compared to the iPhone 3G. The entire device was pretty much re-designed. The differences from the iPhone 4 to the iPhone 5 are not as significant. Apple has made the iphone 5 thinner (7.6mm) and 20% lighter (112 grams). Furthermore, the iPhone 5 requires a nano sim card which is even smaller than the micro sim cards currently used in iPhone 4 and iPhone 4S.
The screen is 4 inches big. It’s the same width while being taller, thus allowing for another row of app icons to show on the screen (and of course the apps themselves have more space to work with).

Speed: hardware & network

More importantly, the device is set to be faster because of the new A6 CPU which promises a faster experience such as 2x faster graphics, app launches and photo saving procedures. Another aspect that will make the iPhone faster, is the ability to use 4G networks such as LTE. In the case for Luxembourg, this is very important as it is not sure which 4G network standard Luxgsm, Orange and Tango will launch with (Orange has an event on 25-Sep-2012 where they will announce it). If the network standard is not supported by the iPhone 5, the high data speeds of up to 100 mbit per second downlink, cannot be delivered. With network speeds like that, the iPhone 5 will be able to transfer data as fast as the quickest consumer fiber connections such as LuxFibre100 from p&t. Stay tuned on this blog for updates concerning this point.

Battery, camera & new connector on the iPhone 5

Finally a better battery life?

Apple did not go into detail on the battery when presenting the iPhone 5. They only promised that it will last longer than on the iPhone 4S. As the data connections get stronger, chances are that the apps will also communicate more and thereby using more battery. For many this is a very important factor as they cannot go a full day without having to recharge at some point. Again, stay tuned here for more information. It is a vital factor and I will be keeping a very close eye on reports concerning the battery life of the iPhone 5.

New camera features. Not a new camera

The iPhone 5 has an 8 megapixel camera just like the iPhone 4S. Because of the faster processor the iPhone 5 will be able to work the pictures faster, but it pretty much ends there. One feature they are able to pull out from this are 3264×2448 pixel panorama pictures that are native in the camera application. The front facing camera has been moved to the top middle of the phone and is capable of 720p HD video capture (unlike the camera on the iPhone 4S).

A new connector = adapter needed for current accessories

Apple has decided to introduce a new connector. This is the part of the iPhone which is needed to charge it and connect it to many accessories. Apple mentioned that they no longer require the connector to be as performant, because features such as syncing is now done wirelessly. The new connector is called ‘Lightning’ and will be shipped with every iPhone 5. Adapters will become available, so that the iPhone 5 can still be used with accessories designed for prior iPhone models. Many people would have liked to see Apple introduce Micro USB connectors as it would adapt to a more standardized approach, but it was not to be.

iOS 6 – the new operating system

Heavy integration of other data sources

As online marketers, we pay very close attention to the sources from which data is pulled. With iOS 6, Apple is intergrating data sources like never seen before. After scrapping google maps, Apple now use their own mapping service. During the introduction of the iPhone 5, Apple used Yelp (the review site of brick-and-mortar businesses) and Rotten Tomatoes (the movie review site) as examples. Furthermore, app launches from sources such as Siri was introduced. Open Table can now be launched from Siri in order to book a table at a restaurant. This obviously poses huge opportunity for businesses which we will continue to cover as iOS 6 is rolled out to the public…so stay tuned.

Facebook & Passbook

As expected, facebook has been integrated in the same way which Twitter was introduced in iOS 5. This means that you are now able to share from Apple’s (and many other publisher’s) apps. This includes sharing websites, places, contacts etc via facebook – just remember to think about what you share to all your facebook friends before actually doing it. Privacy is a huge matter – really!

iOS 6 also sees the introduction of Passbook. This is a central place to keep your flight, train, hotel etc reservations, so that you have less paper and/or email confirmations to deal with. You can be very sure that the stakeholders will introduce this very quickly as it saves them money and allows them to show that they are a fast adapting company.

iPhone 5 Price in Luxembourg

The iPhone 5 was said to have the same price as the iPhone 4S had in the beginning of September 2012. This is the one thing I will pay closest attention to (and emails have gone out to luxgsm, orange and tango like when the iPhone 4 was introduced). Stay tuned to this article in order to know as soon as the pricing is made official. In the meanwhile, judging by what Tim Cook of Apple said today during the announcement, prices in Luxembourg are very likely to be as following:

Luxgsm

Orange

Tango

One more thing…

1. If you found this article helpful and/or if you want to stay tuned with this blog, please click the facebook like button below. I would really appreciate it.
2. If you have a question or require some addition information, please comment in the section further down and we will get the conversation started.

Google’s Green Message In Conflict With Google Chrome For Mac

‘Being Green’ has become a widely used marketing message from leading tech companies. This is also the case for google. They have even dedicated an entire section of their website and $780 million on being green and energy efficient etc etc. Very good and very nice. But google could become seriously greener by simply looking at their software engineering for their web browser Google Chrome for Mac.

Let me share my story and view with you.

Like millions of other people, I am all for being green, but also like millions of other people, I do not cut the electricity of my energy hungry computer setup, tv, stereo – the list goes on and on. I have it all on standby when I don’t use it – yet knowing that it is still using serious amounts of energy. Yes, it adds up on my  electricity bill – but so be it. I should care, but I don’t and I am getting of the point of this post now anyway

So after the motherboard of my highly loved 3-year-old macbook pro decided to give up on me, I was forced to get a new one (fuck investing 600 EUR in an old computer to get it repaired). The amazing apple engineers have managed to produce laptops with significantly longer battery life which was something I was seriously looking forward to. Going from 2-3 to 6-7 hours of battery life on one charge is awesome after all.

Google Chrome really is draining my battery life

I got the new baby and recovered the settings/software etc from my apple time capsule and a few hours later I had my old computer back inside a new piece of hardware. It did not take long before I noticed that I am NOT getting the 6-7 hours of battery life as promised by apple. Being the tech geek that I am, I went through various tech forums to find out why this was. It did not take long until I read about google’s web browser Chrome being the cause for all this.

Check out the screenshot from the battery life indicator while Chrome IS running.

And now see the battery life indicator while Chrome IS NOT running.

So holy shit – this is actually true. Google Chrome is really the cause for my battery life to be far below what it should be. That sucks major time – especially as running Apple’s Safari does not impact the battery to anywhere near the same extent (firefox also causes more energy use, but nowhere near the same as Chrome).

What this means for energy consumption

Let’s get back to ‘green’. I don’t want to be like an idiotic corporate strategy consultant, but putting together a little energy calculation is needed here.
If Chrome causes my computer to use 2x as much energy, I will also need to charge it 2x as often when using Chrome. Therefore using 2x as much electricity out of my electric socket.

I looked around the internet for ages trying to find out how much energy is actually used to charge a macbook pro 15″, but couldn’t find it. Anyway – it doesn’t matter right now. According to Wikipedia, Chrome’s rising market share is currently somewhere around the 15% mark while apple has just over 10% of the US PC market with about 1.8m devices sold per quarter. That means every quarter about a quarter of a million additional mac users are using google chrome in the US alone. OK, this is getting confusing now and these numbers really need to be taken with a pinch of salt.

What now?

My point is, that if so many people need to charge their macbooks 2x as often, we are looking at a fucking lot of energy consumption here that is not necessary when the apple and firefox guys were able to develop a web browser that does not use as much energy. So here is my suggestion to google. Why not take some of the $780 million in your ‘green fund’ and put it towards engineering a version of Chrome that takes it easy on the energy consumption. It would leave macbook Chrome users with longer lasting batteries and cheaper electricity bills while making google’s green effort look more genuine and something people can relate to.

Please do me a favor

If you think this article makes sense and is generally useful to your and/or peope around you, please give it a facebook like, retweet or google +1 (I would actually really like the google +1 as that is google’s own product.) Finally, it aint that often that I write stuff on here and I really don’t spam people, so please also consider signing up to the newsletter.

Thank you for your time – if you have additional input or comments, add them in the comments section. I keep and eye on it and will reply to them so that you are not talking to a wall

iPhone 4 is now available in Luxembourg – Luxgsm, Orange and Tango’s offers are analyzed and compared right here

Click here for the iPhone 5 article

Written 3-Aug-2010

In my post prior to the iPhone 4 launch in Luxembourg, there were many active readers of this blog discussing and sharing information on the launch of the iPhone 4 in Luxembourg. Now it is here. All three providers (Luxgsm, Orange and Tango) started to sell the iPhone 4 on the 30th July 2010. Due to the large readership of the prior post, I have decided to also make a comparison of the iPhone packages by Luxgsm, Orange and Tango.

Luxgsm, Orange and Tango iPhone 4 Prices and Packages

All three providers have at least 3 kinds of subscriptions. In order to provide the best transparency, I have made direct comparisons of the ‘same level’ subscriptions. I simply name them small, medium and large packages.

Small Luxgsm, Orange and Tango Packages

	luxgsm	tango	orange
iphone 4 (16 GB)	199 EUR	169 EUR	199 EUR
iphone 4 (32 GB)	299 EUR	279 EUR	259 EUR
subscription / month	35 EUR	30 EUR	35 EUR
duration	24 months	24 months	24 months
calls national	120 mins	100 mins	180 units (shared with sms)
calls international	0 mins	0 mins	75 mins
calls roaming	0 mins	0 mins	0 mins
sms	120	100	180 units (shared with national calls)
data national	2 GB	2 GB	2 GB
data roaming	0	0	0
internet tethering	Yes	No	Yes
Sim-Locked	No	No	No

Medium Luxgsm, Orange and Tango Packages

	luxgsm	tango	orange
iphone 4 (16 GB)	99 EUR	49 EUR	59 EUR
iphone 4 (32 GB)	199 EUR	149 EUR	159 EUR
subscription / month	50 EUR	45 EUR	50 EUR
duration	24 months	24 months	24 months
calls national	unlimited	unlimited	unlimited
calls international	0 mins	0 mins	150 mins
calls roaming	0 mins	0 mins	0 mins
sms	unlimited	unlimited	unlimited
data national	unlimited	unlimited	unlimited
data roaming	0	0	0
internet tethering	Yes	No	Yes
Sim-Locked	No	No	No

Large Luxgsm, Orange and Tango Packages

	luxgsm	tango	orange
iphone 4 (16 GB)	0 EUR	49 EUR	19 EUR
iphone 4 (32 GB)	99 EUR	149 EUR	79 EUR
subscription / month	75 EUR	50 EUR	75 EUR
duration	12 months	24 months	24 months
calls national	unlimited	100 mins	unlimited
calls international	0 mins	300 mins	200 mins
calls roaming	0 mins	0 mins	80 mins
sms	unlimited	100	unlimited
data national	unlimited	2 GB	unlimited
data roaming	0	0	10 MB
internet tethering	Yes	No	Yes
Sim-Locked	No	No	No

Which is the right package to choose?

This of course depends on your personal needs. Your best option is to take your itemized bill from the past months, and see how many calls you make within and outside of Luxembourg. Also look at how many sms you send and finally also check how much data you consume (in case you already have a smartphone). You will then get a better idea of what you need.
I still want to give you my opinion on things, so here we go:

iPhone 4 16GB or 32GB?

The price difference between the two models are roughly always 100EUR. If you look at the total sum you will be spending on owning an iPhone 4 (regardless of package chosen), 100 EUR is really not a lot of money. If you are honest to yourself, then you also know that your music, video and application collection is not exactly set to decrease in size – it is rather likely to increase. Remember, in theory you will have this phone for at least one or two years. In my eyes, it is therefore a no-brainer to get the iPhone 4 32GB.

iPhone 4 Data Packages

It can be rather tricky and confusing to choose the right data package. Over the past 18 months where I have been using the iPhone 3G, I have never managed to use over 500MB in a month. This is with 3 push-mail accounts, calendar and contacts synchronization as well as facebook push notifications. This is generally not very heavy data consummation, but I also view many youtube clips and I also use the iPhone as navigation device. This is the more data-hungry applications, and still – I don’t even get close to 1 GB data consumption.
In my eyes, the only thing that will really get your data consumption close to 2GB per month, is if you start using internet tethering (i.e. connecting your computer to the internet via your iPhone). I believe the number of people concerned here are very low.
Notice that the smallest data packages from every provider is set to 2GB per month. As a result, do not let the data consumption packages make the choice for you – you are very unlikely to reach the limit with any of the available data packages.

iPhone 4 National Call Packages

The medium and large packages all have unlimited national calls (except for tango’s large package). Therefore this section only concerns the small packages. I believe it is fair to say that most mobile phone users use their phone more than 100 minutes a month for national voice calls. If you choose one of the small packages, you should therefore expect additional call charges on your monthly bill.

iPhone 4 International Call Packages

Only Tango and Orange offer international calls as part of their packages. Orange as the only provider also includes international calls in their medium package. If you make numerous short international calls, this could be interesting for you. If you are more likely to make longer but less regular international calls, it is highly recommendable to use skype via your iphone. Since earlier 2010, skype’s application is also able to be used under 3G reception on your iPhone and not only wifi (as it was before). Skype’s international call charges can easily compete with any Luxembourgish mobile phone provider’s international call charges.

Other note-worthy iPhone 4 stuff

Orange offers 10MB roaming data transfer – 10MB is close to nothing. If you choose this package, make sure you ask Orange to notify you when the 10MB has been used, so you have the option to manually switch if off. If you are not careful here, you can very quickly get a nasty surprise on your bill at the end of the month.
Luxgsm has a package only for young people up to 25 years of age. If you qualify for this, it may be worth having a look at.

iPhone 4 without a contract

Unfortunately, none of the providers in Luxembourg sell the iPhone 4 without a contract. If you are looking for an iPhone 4 without a contract, you will need to order it from the French or British apple store. They are not simlocked, which makes it possible to use it in Luxembourg (or anywhere else for that matter). Note that local shipping addresses will be needed to place the order.

Antennagate – the ‘problem’ with the iPhone 4 antenna

Just after the launch of the iPhone 4 in Luxembourg, readers commented on my prior post with information concerning the antenna problem. Nobody saw any note-worthy change when touching the ‘sensitive’ spot on the iPhone 4 on Luxgsm, Orange or Tango. We therefore conclude that this problem does not seem to be anything serious for Luxembourg iPhone 4 users. Nevertheless, I recommend watching Steve Job’s video on how Apple handles the Antennagate problem. If you have purchased your iPhone 4 before September 30th 2010 – you can get a free case, by following this link.

Which provider is best for the iPhone 4 in Luxembourg?

Remember that the iPhone 4 is a very data-hungry smartphone if you compare it to other smartphones. If you are with a provider with a poor data network, you are not going to get the most out of your iPhone 4. I even go as far as saying that it can be very frustrating. Therefore, make sure that there is good data coverage in your area. I cannot tell you if it is good or bad in your area. This is where you simply just have to ask fellow consumers who have the device about their opinion or even make them get this app that can test the speed. If you test with this app, make sure that you are connected to 3G and/or Edge – not wifi. Do not ask the providers – they will not give you a neutral opinion. Generally speaking, all three providers have decent data coverage in Luxembourg City.

iPhone 4 is coming to Luxembourg in July 2010 – What’s the deal? Which provider will get it, when will they get it and how much will it cost…

Written 09-Jun-2010 02:12
(update 1 09-Jun-2010 12:15)
(update 2 10-Jun-2010 16:45)
(update 3 30-Jun-2010 13:00)
(update 4 15-Jul-2010 15:20)
(update 5 22-Jul-2010 11:55)
NEW POST-LAUNCH ARTICLE HERE

When Steve Jobs announced the iPhone 3G and the iPhone 3GS, he never gave specific details for Luxembourg. When Apple announced the iPhone 4 – it was there and it was clear. iPhone 4 is out in Luxembourg in July 2010. If Apple’s CEO says it himself on stage, then it is fair to say that there is something to it. From past announcements, we have learned that Luxembourg has been kind of the wild wild west. For the iPhone 3G, it was Orange who got it first. Then Luxgsm got it a few months later – and somehow without major announcements, Tango had it as well. When visiting the official apple iPhone page for Luxembourg – there is not any mention of the iPhone 4 (Situation on 9-Jun-2010). This means, all we can do at this stage is to speculate and contact the various operators in Luxembourg to see what they are willing to reveal.

Luxgsm, Orange and Tango will all sell iPhone 4 – it’s confirmed

Luxgsm

I contacted the commercial director of Luxgsm (Mr. Celis) who was only able to confirm to me that they will get the iPhone 4. I was not able to get any further answers to my questions with regards to:

• Will the iPhone 4 still be sim-unlocked?
• Will it still be 2 years minimum contract or still available without a contract?
• Will the release date be in July 2010?
• How much will it cost?

All I got out of him was: “All I can say is we will get it”.
Since mid-July (after very unclear communication to the public from Luxgsm), you can enter your email address to get informed when the iPhone 4 is available on Luxgsm via their website.

Orange

Mrs. Hoffmann (head of marketing and communication) from Orange Luxembourg confirmed via email that they will also be selling the iPhone 4. No details on dates, prices etc were given. Since mid-July, Orange is allowing people to enter their email address to get notified when the iPhone 4 is available on Orange via their website.

Tango

Mrs. Montagnese (communication manager) from Tango has also confirmed to me in an email (early June) that they will be selling the iPhone 4 at some point in July 2010. A press release on their website on 22nd July 2010 confirms that the iPhone 4 will be available at their retail stores as of 30th July 2010. The pre-order form that was available prior to 22nd July 2010 is no longer available. It is still unknown under which conditions and at what price tango will sell the iPhone 4.

Stay Informed About iPhone 4 in Luxembourg

At present, we have very little facts and many assumptions. So to keep everything nice and clear, keep and eye on the table below that will be updated on an ongoing basis:

Tariffs for the iPhone in Luxembourg

Chances that the talk plans remain untouched are pretty high. The prices for the devices is the big question. Will they remain how they are or will they change. Steve Jobs announced prices starting at $199 for the US at the WWDC 10. At present, the talk plans for the iPhone in Luxembourg are as following for each of the providers:

Luxgsm Talk Plan and iPhone Prices

Orange Talk Plan and iPhone Prices

Tango Talk Plan and iPhone Prices

Stay updated on the iPhone 4 situation in Luxembourg

This blogpost will be updated as soon as there are more news concerning the iPhone 4 in Luxembourg. To stay updated, simply sign up for the newsletter below in the orange section. Finally, please click the ‘facebook like’ button below in case you found this post useful.
NEW POST-LAUNCH ARTICLE HERE