Comprehensive article reporting environmental changes in the electronics industry. Hazardous materials, recycling, energy conservation...The big players are more and more concerned with environmental issue and aware of the public interest. Motorola, Toshiba, Sharp, Sony, Sun, Dell, Apple... are quoted on their new initiatives.

For months, nay, years I've heard of the coming iPhone from Apple. For a long time, I thought it was exactly what I wanted. I could have all the niceness of an iPod and my mobile phone all wrapped up in the same device. Surely it'd be far easier to use than any other music phone and would probably synchronize with a computer better than any smart phone. It's from Apple, it'll be great! Well, now I've had a chance to think about it. I'll pass!

The US mobile phone market is a beast. All of the carriers fight so hard to suck you in to a multi-year contract. Sure, you can have a phone for nothing, or nearly nothing, if you'll stay with us for at least 2 years. Come to our network, you'll love it. If you don't, you can pay us an exorbitant cancellation fee. Does this sound familiar? Problem #1 with an iPhone: You're stuck to your network. Sure, GSM is a global standard, but you'll have to figure out how to circumvent the carrier lock that comes enabled on your phone if you want a truly portable device. Oh, and did I mention that at least 2 major mobile phone carriers in the US are CDMA, not GSM. Apple would either need to release 2 different phone models, or hope that everyone wants to move to the limited number of providers that their phone supports. Well that doesn't sound like such a good deal to me.

Do you travel much? I do from time to time, often enough to realize that airplanes are filled with people listening to their iPods. What a great way to tune out the engine noise, or the annoying person in the seat next to you who thinks everyone wants to hear about his latest doctor's visit! Oh, by the way, you can't turn your phone on. But it's an iPod!? No, it's a phone, so you can't use it on a plane. Ouch, I'll pass!

Have you noticed that Apple likes to update their products a lot? Every year there's a new iPod for all of the fanboys to snatch up. Are you willing to buy a new iPhone yearly? Maybe you're willing to buy a new phone every year, but not a new iPod? What if you move to a city that your current carrier doesn't cover? How often are you willing to replace your iPhone? It just seems like trouble, not to mention the expense of adding the mobile phone hardware to an iPod, or vice versa. That could be an expensive upgrade!

So I no longer think an iPhone is a good idea, but what's the alternative? I've seen a few products lately that I think come close to the perfect iPhone alternative. They are bluetooth adapters that connect your iPod to wireless headphones and your current mobile phone. When a call comes in, your music pauses and you can answer your call through the same headphones without taking your phone out of your pocket. This is what the iPhone should do! Give me an iPod with bluetooth. Give me an iPod that links with my phone and lets me dial from my iPod addressbook, see who is dialing on my iPod display, and let me use bluetooth stereo headphones to do it all. There's no need to worry about my mobile phone provider or using it on a plane, it uses my existing bluetooth phone. It's the perfect storm!

Apple, I hope you're listening. Please, no iPhone, just a bluetooth iPod for me. What do you think?

The "Zune", Microsoft's attempt to provide an iPod-killer, is finally here. While we should never forget lessons such as those from "thread 500" (http://forums.macrumors.com/showthread.php?t=500) in which Apple enthusiasts felt the iPod was doomed from the start, it seems, unfortunately, that the Zune will be a flop.

But it could have been the iPod killer, had Microsoft connected the dots. The last few months I've been discussing with hardcore Apple fans why the Zune might had been the expected iPod killer, and, though they had been (or at least seemed to be) convinced, their response was quite simply: "you are assuming Microsoft can connect the dots, but it can't!'

Oh My, Microsoft, why can't you connect the dots?

Here's what an iPod killer could be like, and, by the way, every single bit of tech is already market-mature.

The only interesting thing about the Zune is that it has Wi-Fi. Wi-Fi alone should suffice for a serious iPod competitor, but I'm not talking about "sharing" music. I'm talking about attacking Apple's iPod, the Telecoms, eBay, and MySpace in one single move. Something truly bold, something that could boost Microsoft's shares. But I guess the company just passed up the opportunity. Maybe next year.

So let's connect the dots.

When you send a two-line email to a colleague next door, it is free, right? And when you send a huge email with an attached video to that friend of yours in Kazakhstan, it is still free, right? Data going through the internet does not carry a price, regardless of destination, or length. As it is for emails, so it should be for next generation phones. The Zune should have been the first major mp3 player with an VOIP Wi-Fi phone, using Microsoft's own messenger network. Want to call Tokyo? No need for a dialpad, just select your messenger buddy from a list and presto. They can be at their computer or at their Zune, and conversation flows nicely. For free. From any hotspot, on your home, your work, on the go, and so forth. It's not a cell-phone, no such coverage, but hey, these worldwide calling rates are unbeatable!

Quite literally unbeatable.

Not only would such capability make the iPod seem pale by comparison, but this move could create a huge network effect around Microsoft's VOIP service, bringing a severe blow to eBay's skype, and a warning message to the (already troubled) telecoms. Of course, there are already Wi-Fi skype phones on the market but who's willing to carry around a cell phone, a VOIP phone, and an mp3 player, at sky-high costs? A single Wi-Fi skype phone costs over 200 bucks.

Moreover, these skype phones are totally wrong in design. They come from the previous age of phone numbers--and that's the wrong metaphor to think about them. In VOIP, there are no phone numbers. Regardless of where your buddies are, there's only a buddy list. So the crucial insight of the original iPod should be incorporated in Wi-Fi phones: manage music and buddies on the computer, not on the device. Make the device extremely simple and futuristic looking. Click wheel plus button.

There are hundreds of millions of VOIP users around the world. And they all look like call center people. Why not give them something cool instead? Something sleek?

Finally, the iPod is about identity, it's about showing off who you are, with the latest model and your own pick of music. So there's plenty of space to attack that other player on the market for showing off your identity: MySpace. Why not let users create Zune (or iPod) profiles, which could be seen (optionally) by anyone within your wireless range? The Zune does it to some basic extent, but it's no MySpace threat. The mere curiosity of walking into a restaurant and looking at that girl's profile (or that guy's one if that's your preference), with personal info, background music, photos and videos, could make for an iPod killer. It could bring people together.

That's the formula for an iPod killer.

But don't expect Microsoft to connect these dots. At least not so fast.