By Michael Santo
Executive Editor, RealTechNews

One of the negatives of the iPhone, which many have complained about, is the lack of a user-replaceable battery. And let’s not talk about the great battery replacement plan. PC Magazine has gone through the trouble of developing an online calculator that will predict when your precious iPhone’s battery will bite the dust. You enter the date of purchase, and it pops up the result, including a countdown timer.

Our methods for finding a date were simple: we used a fully-charged iPhone the way one typically would. That meant four phone calls, between three and ten minutes each; listening to the iPod on a 40-minute commute to and from work; checking Google Maps at one point when we were lost on the way to a meeting; and checking e-mail a whole bunch of times over both Wi-Fi and EDGE. The phone lasted about 30 hours. Counting in the four hours or so it takes to trickle-charge over a USB port, the iPhone gets about 34 hours, or roughly 1.5 days, per charge.

Apple says that after 400 charges, the phone will hold 80% of a charge. Alas, they wouldn’t tell us any more than that. (When we inquired, they skirted the issue.) Regardless, we’ll push it a bit beyond 400 charges and say that you’ll really feel like replacing your battery at 450 charges. Thus, 450 x 1.5 = 675 days. Source: PC Magazine

We Say: Naturally (especially if you look at their disclaimer), this is mostly tongue-in-cheek. However, I’d make a couple of adjustments … for example, based on how well the iPod batteries seemed to hold up, I’d wonder about the 400 charge claim. Yeah, yeah, I know they’ve made improvements.

Also, my understanding is you don’t want to let Li-ion batteries drain competely … and most people would just plug it in at the end of the day rather than wait for the extra half-day. So assuming this electronic back-of-the-envelope calculation is even close to correct, you’d get 450 days or less than 1 1/2 years.

Or, you could just wait and see what happens …

By Michael Santo
Executive Editor, RealTechNews

This is large number, and AT&T today reported earnings that easily beat forecasts … but originally analysts estimated sales of 500,000 iPhones in the first weekend. A difference of 354,000 iPhones, and it showed in the performance of both stocks today. What happened?

But investors and analysts were clearly disappointed that AT&T had not signed up more iPhone customers as subscribers at the end of the quarter, sending down shares of both Apple and AT&T in early trading.

AT&T said it signed up 146,000 iPhone customers, well below analyst estimates, which ran as high as 500,000 units. Shares of Apple fell more than 6 percent, closing at $134.89, down $8.81 on the day. AT&T’s shares were off less than 1 percent, closing at $39.68, a decline of 35 cents. Source: The New York Times

We Say: There were undeniably activation problems during the first few days of iPhone sales, and that likely changed the numbers somewhat … but most likely not by 354,000 or anywhere close to that number. However, about 40% of iPhone activations were new AT&T customers, so that’s really good news for AT&T … and bad news for Verizon and Sprint. On the iPhone numbers, I guess we’ll see what Apple reports tomorrow.

By Michael Santo
Executive Editor, RealTechNews

Eastman Kodak, who has struggled for years to catch up in the world of digital photography, announced today the EasyShare C513, which will also include Kodak’s first homegrown CMOS image sensor.

“The C513 provides consumers true value through easy-to-use and intuitive technology at an affordable price, thanks to the efficiencies that Kodak’s CMOS technology has brought to camera design,” said John Blake, General Manager, KODAK Digital Capture and Devices. “Traditionally, CMOS has allowed for lower cost camera design but was not able to provide top image quality. Kodak has changed that dynamic with the introduction of a digital camera at a remarkably affordable price without compromising image quality or camera function.” Source: Kodak Press Release

We Say: Kodak’s press release just says sub-$99, but Kodak’s own online store says $79.95. It’ll use an SD card and AA batteries when it debuts in August.

By Michael Santo
Executive Editor, RealTechNews

On the same day they announced that mass production of the XO-1 was starting, the One Laptop Per Child (OLPC) Foundation indicated that they were considering launching a commercial version, at twice the cost, or approximately $350, by Christmas. The idea would be to subsidize the costs of the units for developing countries with profits from the sales of the commercial version.

Its entry to the commercial market would be a challenge to traditional PC industry companies. “The PC industry will be watching this very closely,” said Roger Kay, an analyst with PC market researcher Endpoint Technologies Associates Inc.

Although the green-and-white XO was designed for elementary school children in poor countries, analysts say that some of the features make it attractive to kids in wealthier countries as well as adults. Source: eWeek

We Say: Interesting since it would be a low-cost laptop you could give to your kids … still, green-and-white? And I can’t play WoW on it (yeah, yeah, I know it can still be used to surf for porn)?

By Michael Santo
Executive Editor, RealTechNews

Authorities in Buenos Aires are using Google Earth in an unexpected way: checking on properties to be sure their owners didn’t expand them in ways that should result in a real estate tax increase … but only if they reported it, of course.

According to Buenos Aires province tax official Santiago Montoya, images of properties from the sky can help square the actual size of properties with that declared by taxpayers to make sure the proper amount of taxes is being paid, the reports said. Source: Raw Story

We Say: Apparently there’s widespread tax fraud in Argentina (no! ) and they’re pulling out all the tricks they can think of to stop it …

By Michael Santo
Executive Editor, RealTechNews

First proposed in 2002, despite seeing its cost rise to $176 and its uses expand to, oh, porn, the OLPC (AKA the XO-1) is ready for mass production.

Hardware suppliers have been given the green light to ramp-up production of all of the components needed to build millions of the low-cost machines. Source: BBC News

We Say: Laptops should be ready to surf for porn, er, I mean, reach the hands of children in developing countries , by October of this year. This is, however, one month later than originally planned. BTW, if you didn’t know, the XO-1 will be produced in Taiwan by Quanta, the world’s largest laptop manufacturer … and many of you have likely used Quanta hardware.

By Jimmy Daniels
Contributing Writer, RealTechNews

Looks like the first reported iPhone vulnerability is a doozy, they said they can read the log of SMS messages, the address book, the call history and the voicemail data, and they can take control of the iPhone and dial phone numbers, send text messages, or record audio (as a bugging device) and transmit it over the network for later collection. Almost like there is no security at all.

Three security researchers claimed Sunday that they have found the first exploitable vulnerability in Apple Inc.’s iPhone, a flaw that allows them to steal any data from the device or even turn it into a remote surveillance tool.

According to a paper posted by the three, they rooted out a vulnerability in the iPhone’s version of Safari using “fuzzing” tools and wrote a proof-of-concept exploit that can be delivered from a malicious Web site or using “man-in-the-middle” tactics to trick users into connecting to a malicious wireless access point. Source: ComputerWorld

We Say: The hackers gave Apple until August the 2nd to fix the vulnerability as they will release the vulnerability and exploit at the upcoming Black Hat 2007 security conference, that opens next Saturday, July 28, in Las Vegas. No pressure Apple, take your time.

By Michael Santo
Executive Editor, RealTechNews

Start looking for a new carrier if you are an Amp’d subscriber. Amp’d sent a text message yesterday to their subscribers indicating that they would be shutting down on 7/24 at 12:01AM.

We Say: The full Q&A related to the shutdown is here. Since it’s Chapter 11, if you have leftover Pay As You Go or hybrid plan minutes, you’ll have to file a claim and get in line with the rest of the creditors … good luck! Customer Service will shut down today (7/23) so if you have questions, you’d better call them ASAP.