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Nexus One only moved 80,000 units in its first month

Google Nexus One.The world’s first self-titled “superphone” isn’t posting super sales. Frankly, the numbers are terrible. Embarrassing. Worse than I ever would have expected. The Nexus One has only sold 80,000 units in its first month.

It’s hard to say where the problem lies. Sure, the phone wasn’t marketed very well, and what efforts were made were aimed a demographic that likely already has their smartphone of choice. It also launched shortly after the Droid, so Android fans had just picked up a new phone. There’s also the fact that it was being subsidized by T-Mobile, which just doesn’t have the kind of support Verizon’s got.

Whatever the reason, I was surprised by the number. The iPhone, by comparison, sold 600,000 units in its first month. The Droid sold 525,000.

Source: Wall Street Journal

iTunes Preview extends to iPhone apps

Apple iTunes 9.In November of last year Apple released a new iTunes feature called iTunes Preview. The service allowed users to preview the music available in the iTunes store without launching or even installing the iTunes software. It was a nice move, long overdue, and it’s now been extended to include iPhone apps.

Basically, any time you click an iTunes link for an app, your browser will redirect to a page that contains the standard iTunes information. You get screenshots from the application along with reviews, pricing, descriptions and ratings. From there you can click to view the app in iTunes and go through your standard download process.

I’m just glad I can’t be fooled into clicking those damn links anymore. It was so infuriating to be on a site and accidentally hit a link on my touchpad only to have iTunes blow up and start loading the app store.

App Review: iWhiskey

iWhiskey app for the iPhone.Few things entice me more than a glass of small batch bourbon. Over the past several decades, the list of quality craft whiskeys has grown exponentially, yielding a market place that can be as confusing as it is rewarding. F. Paul Pacult wants to help you navigate the sea of options and blends with an iPhone app called iWhiskey from Jolt OS.

This app is definitely the best resource I’ve found on whiskey for the iPhone. It opens on a “shelf” of whiskey bottles with options for American, Canadian, Irish, single malt Scotch, blended Scotch, and whiskeys from other parts of the world for browsing. There’s a search function if you’re looking for a particular brand and a feature that allows you to save some favorites to your own “My Barrel” section.

Each individual whiskey has a feature page, complete with tasting and bouquet information and a picture of the bottle so you can more easily locate your preference at your bar or the liquor store. There are quite a few with missing pictures, something I’d assume will be updated in the future. The app also features a selection of cocktails made with various whiskeys. The list is small, but again, easy to update.

The app only has two drawbacks. First, it needs a home button. The front screen is so pretty, but there’s just no way to get back to it without closing the app and reopening. The second problem is the price. It’s tough to say whether $10.99 is really worth this kind of information on a phone with web access. Pacult’s reviews are top-notch, and it is a one-stop shop for more than 600 whiskey reviews, but I think you’ll likely only see this on a very serious whiskey lover’s phone.

iTunes Link

Motorola Devour is like the Droid’s weird cousin

Motorola Devour.Verizon and Motorola announced a new phone today. Called the Devour, the phone looks like a mini-Droid, or as my title suggests, the Droid’s weird cousin. It’s got a smaller display, a presumably smaller keyboard (yikes) and runs Anroid, albeit through Motoblur, Motorola’s odd Android distro.

I would guess the phone is going to fall somewhere around the Droid Eris in terms of price. It’s not a bad phone for $100, but like the Eris, it seems like a waste for what you’d get if you spent another $99. I can’t for the life of me figure out why Motorola is so obsessed with the physical keyboard, either. The pad on the Droid sucks. It really sucks. Android’s software keyboard is just so much nicer, why not rely on that?

If Motorola is your thing, you can get the Devour in early March.

Presented with options publishers turn on Amazon

iPad running iBooks.During News Corp’s quarterly earnings conference call, Rupert Murdoch finally revealed his true feelings about the deal between HarperCollins, which News Corp owns, and Amazon for ebooks in the Kindle Store. “We don’t like the Amazon model of $9.99….we think it really devalues books and hurts all the retailers of hardcover books.”

That pretty much says it all. Now that the company has an option coming with the iPad, it no longer needs to succumb to Amazon’s demands. Things are just the opposite, in fact, thanks to flexible pricing options from Apple. The competition is forcing Amazon to renegotiate prices with publishers for fear of losing market share or publisher support altogether.

It’s tough to say that increased ebook prices actually preserves the value of the book, particularly after prices have been so low. Fortunately for publishers, the ebook reading population was small enough that the rest of the world might not know to care about the difference.

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