WHAT'S NEXT: INNOVATIONS IN NEWSPAPERS

Le Tour de France started in London in a big way.

Like Il Giro in Italy, Le Tour de France is a fabulous “brand extension” from newspapers!

Conrad Black goes to jail.

The Daily Telegraph fails to recognize that he saved the paper and The Spectator.

He is not another Robert Maxwell, but has been presented like him.

Wrong.

They were crooks, but at least Lord Black improved his papers.

Journalists must accept the fact.

News Corporation and Dow Jones agree about the sale.

The Bancroft family wanted another buyer but nobody, nobody, offered more than Murdoch.

So, they will sell.

The New York Times is in its new building.

But the financial results are worse than ever.

The Sulzberger family and their (poor) business managers must be accountable for the failure.

The Apple iPhone is a success.

Apple and AT&T sold more than one million sets in the first week.

They could sell more than 10 million sets before the end of the year.

The new Independent on Sunday is doing better than the critics expected.

Well, we were almost alone when all the bloggers were negative.

The new, compact, Sunday news magazine works.

The new ET in Greece confirms its success.

Again, against the conventional view.

INNOVATION was right.

And the ET team did a super job!

Pictures from Norfolk, Virginia, at 3 p.m. today.

The Apple store in the MacArthur Center shopping mall is closed.

There were around 60 iPhone fans waiting outside.

If each store has to sell 200 iPhones this weekend…

Wait and see how soon those 200 iPhones are gone here just tonight.

The AT&T store in this mall doesn’t sell the iPhone and the sales force didn’t seem very enthusiastic about the iPhone. They were giving advice to an old lady and the conversation was like this:

“She wants to get one.”

“How old is she?”

“Sixty”

“Don’t buy it.

“Get one of these…”

I asked about the cost of checking emails in Europe: two cents for each kb.

His comments:

“Very expensive.

“And very slow.

“We have better plans here for you.”

So… my guess is that the Appple and AT&T marriage is going to be a rough one.

This is the question:

How many iPhones will be sold in its first weekend in the U.S. market?

The goal is 200,000, but with no need for in-store activation (you can do it from your own computer at home), the sale will be very fast.

There are a total of about 2,000 Apple and AT&T stores.

If each one sells 200 phones over the opening weekend, that’s 400,000 phones.

My take: more than 400,000 in the first 48 hours.

Period.

I will tell you my own experience:

I will try to get mine this Friday night.

UPDATE: All 164 Apple retail stores in the U.S. will stay open until midnight, and customers can purchase up to two iPhones on a first-come, first-served basis.

On June 29, Apple fans are expected to line up in the early hours of the morning outside some AT&T and Apple stores in hope of getting their hands on one of the new iPhones.

There will be a big demand.

And a short offer.

You will see.

Apple shares are now over $124, but they could hit $150 before that date.

In July 2006, they were only $50.

TWBA has won the Apple iPhone account, edging AT&T favorite BBDO.

TBWA has handled Apple’s iPod campaign and has a long history with Apple Computer.

Responsible for the ThinkDifferent campaign, TBWA’s latest effort was the Hello iPhone commercial that appeared during the Academy Awards.

Lee Clow, chair of TBWA, is a personal friend of Steve Jobs and was responsible for the 1984 ad.

AT&T and Cingular announced, more than a month ago, that about 1 million people (including me) have given their email addresses to receive information about the launch of the iPhone.

A good sign of popularity, and a good benchmark for future sales.

Here is the page at Cingular.com where you can enter your email address.

If you are crazy about the Apple iPhone, this is your Web site.