Walt gives his first impressions of the free Kindle e-book reader application for the iPhone.

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Walt Mossberg and Katie Boehret were at the GSMA Mobile World Congress in Barcelona this week, and sent back this report on some of the highlights of the show.

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Google’s (GOOG) new G1 phone announced today is the first real competitor to the iPhone. Like Apple’s (AAPL) product, it’s a serious handheld computer with a powerful new operating system (called Android) and a clever touch-based user interface.

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Yesterday, Walt spoke with Yahoo Tech Ticker’s Aaron Task about the 3G iPhone and its impending launch. Since it’s more of a “handheld computer,” as Walt describes it, its success is naturally tied to the iTunes App Store and the embrace of the software development community. Here’s their conversation:

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I’ll have a full, detailed review of the new 3G iPhone in a few weeks, but here are some first impressions based on Apple’s announcement today. Biggest pluses: speed, price and third-party programs. Biggest minuses: still locked to one carrier, missing features and wimpy camera.

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As regular readers know, I have frequently attacked the U.S. wireless phone carriers for exerting near-total control over what phones, software and services American consumers can use on their networks. In fact, since 2005, I have dubbed the carriers “the Soviet ministries,” for inserting themselves between the producers of mobile hardware and software and the [...]

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Suppose you own a Dell computer, and you decide to replace it with a Sony. You don’t have to get the permission of your Internet service provider to do so, or even tell the provider about it. You can just pack up the old machine and set up the new one. Now, suppose your new computer came with a particular Web browser or online music service, but you’d prefer a different one. You can just download and install the new software, and uninstall the old one. You can sign up for a new music service and cancel the old one. And, once again, you don’t need to even notify your Internet provider, let alone seek its permission.

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One of the nice things about the iPhone is that, like the iPod, it can be easily updated by Apple with new features and bug fixes. When such new software is available, you are notified the next time you plug your iPhone into your computer and the new stuff is downloaded into the phone automatically.
Apple [...]

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