Telstra & the iPhone - will we be stuck with MyPlace?
Telstra have announced this evening that they have concluded an agreement with Apple and will be offering the iPhone from the global launch date. That’s great for the millions of us Australians who are stuck with Telstra for various reasons (company policy, rural coverage etc.).
Here’s the big question - will Telstra still force all internet enquiries to go through their stupid My Place search portal?
All previous smart phones sold onto the Telstra network have been modified so that as soon as you go the web browser you are forced onto Telstra’s My Space search portal - a portal universally regarded as one of the poorest attempts at internet search since… ever! It’s bloody annoying because every time you launch your browser you have to wait for the page to load before you can then navigate over to Google.
All the media reports this evening note that the delay in announcing the Telstra deal was caused by a dispute over Telstra’s content services. Which knowing Telstra, means they wanted to lock users to their search portal and, probably, to their upcoming 3G broadcasting services.
Who won? I hope to god it was Apple.
