Julie Ask

I have been fielding quite a few calls about Apple's filing of the 'Mobile Me' patent. Folks have been speculating read more

I have been fielding quite a few calls about Apple's filing of the 'Mobile Me' patent. Folks have been speculating about a phone from Apple for more than a year. Being that I am a wireless analyst, I don't follow Apple as closely as others do. What I do know though, is that we are not likely to know until Apple wants us to know. They are pretty good at big surprises. Do I think they are developing a phone? Probably. Probably somewhere in their labs, there are prototypes of phones. Whether or not they bring one to market commercially is another story. Whether or not they will do so on their own is another open question. Hard to imagine carrier subsidies on a device unless there are revenues to be earned through downloaded services and content.

If you're in a Manhattan building with 30 apartments that's one thing. But if you're the guy who parks your read more

If you're in a Manhattan building with 30 apartments that's one thing. But if you're the guy who parks your car in front of a suburban house in the middle of the night and you've got the screen from your laptop glowing, well...

Apple sells hardware and software. They don't have an existing subscriber base like cable companies, and they don't have content read more

Apple sells hardware and software. They don't have an existing subscriber base like cable companies, and they don't have content like ESPN that people have an affinity to.

The way people make decisions about cell phones is still about cheap minutes, good coverage at home and a free read more

The way people make decisions about cell phones is still about cheap minutes, good coverage at home and a free handset.

The potential for local search and local advertising comes into play.

The potential for local search and local advertising comes into play.