Apple today announced the long awaited iPhone, a device that I predicted about years 1.5 ago that it would happen (I won’t forget how a fellow editor from a Mac site emailed me to say that I am crazy after reading my blog back then). But the iPhone is real, and it’s public information now. So based on the little we know about the device so far, let’s see how it stacks up against its smartphone competition.First of all, let me just say that it’s one lusty, good looking device. It’s as long as a traditional 3.5″ PocketPC PDA (e.g. some recent iPaqs), but it’s much thinner and less wide (because of its 2:3 screen instead of the PDA’s 3:4). Overall, it’s definitely a good sized device. Not too big, not too small either. And it’s innovative too. Everything seems to work via multi-touch, a touchscreen-based input method (just make sure you stop eating potato chips from now on). The wide screen has a 320×480 resolution, which is the same resolution as some PalmOS PDAs have, and also the same resolution of some high-end Japanese phones. Overall though, the screen resolution is ahead of the curve compared to most smartphones sold today in Europe and US.
iPhone supports WiFi, Bluetooth 2.0+EDR and Quadband GSM/EDGE communications. It is a bit of a let down that iChat/WiFi-based video call is not supported via a front VGA camera, but I am pretty sure that this is a matter of time before it happens on a future (3G) model. The device also has a pretty good battery life, a 2MP camera, and it’s surprisingly light at 135gr (most HTC smartphones are over 150 gr). It comes in two flavors of 4 and 8 GBs of flash storage.
What really strikes you though is its interface. Apple has used OSX as the basis of their OS, even if it’s not really OSX. You obviously can’t run any of your MacOSX apps on the iPhone, so saying that this phone “runs OSX” is not as accurate as saying “runs a mobile, modified and incompatible version of OSX”. Regardless, this is one good looking UI they got there. Looking at the flash demos at Apple’s site, everything just looks more beautiful than any smartphone out there today. I wouldn’t even be surprised if the UI is hardware accelerated with QuartzExtreme using maybe a high-speed Intel XScale ARM CPU and a 16 MB Intel 3D card (same to what the Dell x50v/x51v uses), but I guess we won’t know that unless we learn more about the device itself in the future.
Visual VoiceMail and SMS and photo management seem to be very nicely implemented, and the whole iPod-based UI has been massively reworked to look more impressive. Google Maps are included, although there is no real GPS support inside the device (and we don’t know if it can be used with a Bluetooth-based GPS device). HTML-based email is a very strong plus, given the fact that very few smartphones actually support HTML email. The WebKit version of Safari is working a lot like Nokia’s “minimap”, where the user can zoom in and out of a page and focus on where he/she wants to read. While this is a very good feature, it won’t be as good as my Dell x50v Opera-based browsing or the Nokia N770/N800 experience, because both of these devices use a higher resolution screen (but they don’t have any GSM phone functionality, so things balance out).
There are a few stinky points with device. Steve mentioned nothing about an SDK. Personally, I do not consider a “smartphone” a phone that can’t run native applications. I consider it instead a “high end feature phone”. And no, I don’t consider widgets to be as good as native apps because they don’t give you the same level of control and system access as C/C++/ObjC or even a good implementation of Java/C# gives you. And speaking of Java, Steve mentioned nothing of a J2ME implementation on this phone, which means that you might not be able to run any of your games or applications that you are accustomed on any other cellphone (personally, I like Opera Mini, Yahoo! Go and… VideoPoker). And even if widgets are reworked to require less CPU and RAM (which is my main beef with them on my Powerbook), even then, Apple said nothing about actually allowing third party widgets to get installed.
The other stinky point is that of the text input method. Sorry, but I don’t buy the current input method at all. As a person who owns over 10 touchscreen devices (from Moto-EZX-Montavista to WinMobile to Nokia to Palm to Zaurus), I know better than anyone that typing characters one by one is the worst thing in the world, even when on a large screen. YES, I did notice that the iPhone is predicting words, but this is not the problem. Instead, the problem is having your thumb trying to be precise when tapping on the keyboard to hit the right key! What Apple should have implemented in addition to their current solution, is something like TenGO, the BEST text input method for touchscreens ever created (which is a solution that can’t be implemented as a widget btw as it requires real system access). In fact, if Apple could buy TenGo or implement their technology somehow, that would be an amazing thing and it would take out any possible “touchscreen fears” that people have. But as it is now, I am not happy with it.
Two more problems with device is the tactile feedback; that you don’t get when you press a virtual button, and the fact that some usability issues remain (for example, there is no “send via Bluetooth” option when you try to send over an image — as Steve demonstrated). Also, I saw nothing about MMS support… And what about wireless Stereo Bluetooth support (A2DP/AVRCP), a feature that many new phones support (all the new LG/Samsung ones for example)? And finally, does it have a user-replaceable battery as it is true for all other cellphones?
Rest assured though, most of the problems I mention here will be eventually fixed or added in future models. It’s just that I personally I am a bit of a perfectionist –like Apple is too–, and so I will be waiting for a future model before I shed a minimum of $500 to get a new phone. If the iPhone will be sold unlocked and without a contract (I never buy locked phones, it’s a matter of principle) there is a good chance that it will cost a minimum of $600 or even $700, and for that money, it better have all my pet peeves fixed.
Overall, I think that this product will sell well though and it will bring many new customers to Cingular/AT&T. It won’t displace Nokia or Motorola, but it will find a niche of its own. And remember, being “successful” in the phone market does not mean that Apple must get 80% of that market share just like they currently have with the iPod. In the phone market, having a 5% share means more iPhones sold than iPods! I am confident that Apple not only will achieve this, but it will push the whole smartphone market to take over the plain feature-phone market.
The future is convergence, the future is bright!
Let’s wait until June and see who the competitors are and what they have on the market.
As it stands, the iPhone is not a big deal if really isn’t introduced until then at the $600 price point.
right…
the only thing it is missing is 3g video confrencing in ichat…. complete communication via the web plus cellular and position on maps and an MP3/video player… seems a very big deal.
the only thing it is missing is 3g video confrencing in ichat…. complete communication via the web plus cellular and position on maps and an MP3/video player… seems a very big deal.
Actually it’s missing all of 3g. It’s also missing a GPS. Oh, and you can’t use external media with it. The battery is not replacable and 8gb is going to seem tiny in six months.
It is a pretty awesome phone and I am not even into that kind of thing.
As a phone, it is nice. As a smartphone, it lacks a bit for now, such as 3G, and it remains to be seen how much of the features that will be made available on other OSes than OSX (will you need a Mac as well?). As a PDA, it definately seem to lack features such as Office tools integration and possibility to play back presentations on an external screen, which would also be nice for a functional multimedia device.
As Eugenia said, give us Java and an SDK, but also a mini-DVI port, GPS, room for an optional stylus pen and support for libre media formats.
The problem is though, that with all those additional things in there, the little machine would probably cost more than a Mac mini (and possibly even replace it).
If it DOES end up having an SDK, I’d expect it just to be awesome even without using it as a phone. i.e. I think that it might make a nice little PDA IF it has decent battery life AND an open SDK.
As to being a phone: I HATE cell phones, and therefore would find it entirely useless as a phone. I’ll read email and other text messages while moving, but phone calls?! No thanks.
Still, it means OS X will be the world’s dominant OS in 1-3 years instead of 5-10.
And what exactly makes you think that? There are plenty of phone Operating Sytems, even a couple from Microsoft.
Also it is quite unlikely that Apple is going to license it out… you don’t realy think all phone manufactors are going to say “oh my goth, Apple introduced an Phone… let’s stop making phones, we don’t have a chance anyway!”
By the way, i doubt the markets for cheap Phones are going to cease existence and the Apple Phone is sure as hell going to be quite premium priced.
Mmmnnn … no.
This is OSX in the same way that Windows Mobile is desktop Windows. You can’t run the same apps, so it’s a completely different OS, and it is a little dishonest to dress it up otherwise.
Windows Mobile is NOT the same OS as Windows, you are mistaken. You can NOT run the same applications. iPhone can not run OSX apps either.
I think you are mistaken. His comment indicates that Windows Mobile != regular Windows.
More information at.
http://www.engadget.com/2007/01/09/live-from-macworld-2007-steve-jo…
Has some pics etc.
Also, it’s hard to complain about lack of features, it does run OS X so I’m sure by June, they will have tweaked out some extra things, added some functionality.
If the hardware is in it, at least it’s a lot easier to write apps for it, exactly the same as OS X, so something Apple may not implement software wise, we might see some extra unlocking.
Either way, it’s very exciting, and we will have to wait until June for some real hands on stuff.
I looked at the pictures and device and have to say that Apple missed the boat. Apple is trying to sell a device that does everything but nothing well.
1) Keyboard: Instead of having a real keyboard like a RIMM they have a geeky screen keyboard which is lame.
2) Too big: I like my phones small, so that I can put it into my pocket. My Nokia 6131 is flip top with 2GB of memory and has a built in MP3 player, and it fits into my pocket.
3) Too expensive: Oh yeah I am going to buy a device that costs as much as a low end notebook. Sure smart one here!
What galls me about Steve Jobs is that he thinks everything that everybody has done until now is irrelevant. Only what Steve has done matters! Yeah give me a freaken break! Steve, whatever hair you had will be lost! People with deeper pockets, and better ideas have tried to succeed in the cell phone business!
Steve Jobs has done good things with Apple, but as usual his streak ends and most likely it will end with the iPhone. Though the iMac for the home does look quite interesting!
1) They have a screen keyboard because they’re pushing this as a multimedia device, and as one, it needs a large, wide-format screen. I’m all for tactile feedback as well, but don’t call it out until you’ve actually used it (not one like it, but the one on that phone itself).
2) The iPhone is not in the same class as your Nokia 6131, and for that matter, it well sized for the phones that it IS competing against: http://www.engadget.com/2007/01/09/apple-iphone-sized-up-and-compar…
3) Your Nokia 6131 is on the order of $100 with a 2-year contract. Strap the storage of an iPod nano and the functionality of a 5G iPod onto that, huge screen, scalability, and all the R&D that goes into the interface that you can see on Apple’s website. How much should it cost?
The tone of your post does nothing but remind me of October, 2001. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ipod#History_and_design
Watch the demos on Apple’s site. It only dawned on me just how different this phone is when I watched how one interacts with it. Apple understands that it’s not always just about features. How something works is also just as important. Look how you can flick through your address book using the iPhone. When I use my M600i, I need to take out the stylus if I want to be able to scroll through the phonebook at any decent speed. Being able to flick through it like that? Priceless.
“Though the iMac for the home does look quite interesting!”
I think you meant Apple TV there, Apple TV does look promising and so does the new Airport Extreme incorporating the 802.11n standard.
I can counter those arguments and you can too if you think about it.
1) The “fixed” keyboard has been a longstanding problem with handhelds and smartphones and Jobs said so too in the speech. You can’t possibly accomplish the next gen smart communication and entertainment device rolled in one without a virtual interface that changes as you go. There’s just too much functionality to be able to cram it into a fixed interface. The touchscreen is pretty much the only feasible solution available today.
2) Being too big… it’s not _that_ big. And it uses the large size mainly for 2 dimensions, for the touchscreen, so it’s not all bad.
The only thing I can think that would be better for both the above points would be a device like a thin pen, which projects its interface holographically in the air. And that’s not around just yet, although I’ve seen proofs of concept.
3) Expensive it sure is. But is that such a big suprise, coming from Apple?
and you think touchscreens weren’t considered by everyone else? PDA’s are touchscreens but you use a stylus. Why? The fundamental problem is that touching ruins the beautiful screen!
Edited 2007-01-10 15:44
I love the concept and I adore the design. Buttons would be nice for the tactile response as mentioned in the article, but I could overlook it with a small audio response. Again, we’ll know more in June when real user reactions come in.
So far it looks like a winner, but my only gripe is the Cingular exclusive. I hope I can still buy it direct and swap out Cingluar for T-mobile. Actually, unless Apple plans to keep it US only, that’s got to happen at some point…
I would imagine the phone can be unlocked, though it wouldn’t surprise me if it couldn’t. And if it can be unlocked, then this is usually something that Cingular will help you with for free. I did the same thing with a Sony Ericsson w810i (their current Walkman phone). I bought it via Cingular and called them up and told them I wanted to unlock the phone. They had no problem sending me an email with the necessary information.
I like the look of the phone but I hate the input method. It’s interesting how Steve Jobs states that all other “non-configurable” keys as being irrelevant.
For most people, tactile feedback is very important. At least, people find it very awkward once it’s not present.
I am one of the many people who uses the phone one-handed. Without dedicated touch keys, it would be very difficult to dial a phone number without looking at the screen. Voice-dialing helps somewhat but that is not a replacement for tactile feedback.
(not that I’m saying this is advisable but) dialing a phone while driving without looking at the keys is probably better than having to take the eyes off the road to look down at the so slick and nice looking OS X screen of the iPhone.
If you look at text messaging contests, the winning individuals can only win if they rely on tactile feedback and reaction. this is something that iPhone seriously lacks. Thus, iPhone does not do well as a regular cellular phone
As a media player, this phone don’t have the nice wheel most iPod have either. So, it doesn’t play media as nicely as an iPod. Never mind the smaller storage.
So, what do we have here? We have a incredibly expensive device that is less of a media player than an iPod (smaller storage too), and less of a phone/PDA than the alternative (no tactile input).
I think the iPhone will become a fashion/novelty item but will not replace the phones of people who need to do real work until they address both issues.
Edited 2007-01-09 22:49
You say you work with your phone in one hand. How’s that text messaging with your thumb working, on that one hand?
“You say you work with your phone in one hand. How’s that text messaging with your thumb working, on that one hand?”
Text messaging with one hand is easy.
take the “2 key” for example: click once for “a”, twice for “b”, three times for “c”, and four times for the # 2.
And no, you don’t have to wait for the timeout to type two letters bounded for the same key.
For example, if I want to type “ba”, I can just type “b” #2 twice, hit another key, hit clear, and then type the #2 key once for the button “a”.
This way, I don’t even have to look at the screen to type a word like “bag” b/c I don’t have to care about the timeout. It’s fast and intuitive when u got the hang of it.
I often send short SMS with one hand without looking at the phone, sometimes even while driving. My thumb knows where the letters are
And, going to text message composition on my oldish nokia is “menu->down->menu->menu->menu”. I can do it in less than a second.
They are going for 1% markett share. I’m sure not 99,5% of people type in messages as they drive.
Abou the price: Mobile phones are like watches. You can buy a watch for half a dollar. And it will tell you the hour.
But people spends hundreds of dollars for having a “quality” watch.
It tells you exactly the same hour, but, men, that’s a Rolex!!
Mobile phones are just the same, because they tell about you the same as your shoes, your shirt or your hair.
So being expensive is not going to be a problem.
Finally, anyway, I think nokia’s 770 device is sligthly a better idea, even when they didn’t push the best they have yet.
That is: you have a mobile phone in your pocket, really wereable, and you most times you have a nokia 770 in your suit. You don’t have to carry your 770 around to call. But if you want to, you can use its build-in microphone and it acts as a bluetooth speaker to your mobile phone.
No.
It looks fine compared to what Nokia, Motorola, Palm and RIM currently have on the market, except:
1) not much storage
2) short battery life and non replacable batteries
3) touchpad keyboards are not well accepted
4) no external media
5) no umts
6) no gps
7) may not have a removable SIM card
8) a steep price
As I said, we’ll have to see what the competitors have on the market when it finally goes on sale. Six months is a long time in this industry.
I love how we see movies like the matrix or minority report and think how amazing the future could be when all their interfaces are touch sensitive and they are using their finger to move things around. Amazingly cool
Well here we are, at the beginning of a revolution to get us on our way to these cool ways of life…and everyone is complaining about it!! Most amazing things we do/have today came at the cost of many complaints..that’s how good changes generally happen.
The interfaces in the matrix and minority report are really inefficent. But look really cool.
I hope that’s not were we are heading.
that’s a really good point. But I would also point out that that’s where we’re coming from too.
I dunno who thinks that the windows interface is exactly efficient. or even OS X. The Dock is kinda a useless fifth wheel to me right now (been on OS X for a yr or so)
Basically I think that inefficiencies in interface design will continue as long as people think that more is better. why have simple operating systems with more features when everything can be transparent? lol. gotta love vista for that. (that one looks less useful then minority report to be honest.)
Sure it has some cool features (I like the proximity sensor) but overall nothing new here. We have had touchscreen-interface smartphones for years, with good mobile web browsers, stable OS, powerful email clients etc. My SE M600i is already feature-wise comparable with iPhone, but with a price of $300, not $600-800.
Really! The M600i gives you visual email? How about wifi?
How about a 3.5 inch screen? How about multi session SMS that looks like a chat interface so you can actually follow a conversation?
The I phone isn’t just a touch screen it allow multiple touch points to allow things like the pinch gesture to zoom.
That’s what people said when the ipod debuted oh it’s cool but nothing revolutionary! It’s all about how easy it is to use in the end and how it seamlessly integrates with iTunes.
Let’s get our hands on it before passing judgment.
I’ve got a SE M600i too. It’s a nice phone, but simple stuff like browsing for a contact in the phonebook drives me nuts. If you want to scroll through the list quickly, you need to use the stylus. Scrolling is laggy and I tend to overshoot the contact I’m looking for. The iPhone’s interface seems so much better, to be honest.
If you want to scroll through the list quickly, you need to use the stylus.
Use the jogdial wheel.
… is in my opinion, that we today saw two Internet/Computing Billionaries (Steve Jobs, Jerry Yang [Yahoo Co-Founder]) who have a lot of influence in their markets and two CEOs of big players on communication market (Eric Schmidt [Google CEO], the Cingular Chef [anyone got his name? ;D]) promoting one product. Normaly I wouldn’t expect google and yahoo promoting a device together, but they did.
I don’t think that MSFT can stand this one.
Personally I’ve today seen my Multimedia-Goolge Handheld who gives me everything I need for my daily communication and multimedia needs.
Don’t forget: Google is creating WLAN Access Points among big cities in the U.S., Yahoo offers you free space to backup your fotos and so on…
Anyone still wants a Zune and Visa? Come on
I am also weary of the touch screen interface, though I am thinking about “gestures” and hoping they include a clicker sound like in the regular ipods.
They are really pushing a dramatically different UI for this item, which may really be an evolution in PDA-type items. I generally assume this much will be true:
X Code integration for developing custom apps (which may help launch OS X as a really ubiquitous development environment for personal digital devices).
That this is in fact a new development platform for the next iPod generation, hopefully allowing integration of vorbis/flac/etc codecs.
Bluetooth 2.0 EDR support, I imagine they just dropped the EDR acronym for stylistic purposes on their website.
My main concerns:
Cell Phone Provider lockin/lockdown.
Perhaps not being able to port Skype/other wifi based VoIP providers).
No Video iChat/3G support.
Scratches.
No Bluetooth headphone support.
All in all, I hope this is not a flop. Mostly because I dream of a simple and effective PDA/communication device, and honestly believe if Apple can’t do it now, it will be a long time before anyone else can.
Also, Apple dropping “Computer” from it’s name scares me.
“Also, Apple dropping “Computer” from it’s name scares me.”
I agree whole heartedly.
Hopefully they won’t pull a Be, Inc. stand with their “focus shift” back then…
If it scares you, you haven’t been paying attention. Apple’s been a CE company since the iPod took off, and they’ve been taking steps to slowly disentangle themselves from the computer business since.
It makes perfect sense that they’d drop “computer” from their name as an acknowledgement of that at a time when it’s not going to get so much notice.
and if it works as advertised, if it is truly ready with not so many version 1.0 bugs that it destroys the market; Apple should have a very successful product on their hands. And I imagine the feature-set will increase with time.
I just hope no one rear ends me while trying to dial this device, the on-screen key pad is a bad idea.
experts are laying here all their knowledge and opinion down without using the device theirselfs, watching the keynote demo or even reading the tech specs on Apples website.
Well, I watched most of it, and my impression is that it’s damn cool … not $500-$600 cool, but cool nonetheless. If I can get a phone with a slightly steeper learning curve for $300 less, I will.
As for people bitching about the touch screen, I kind of like the idea. If this phone really catches on, perhaps the non-tactile keys will convince a lot of assholes out there to quit dicking with your f**king cell phone will you drive and watch where the hell you’re going.
experts are laying here all their knowledge and opinion down without using the device theirselfs, watching the keynote demo or even reading the tech specs on Apples website.
Just a shame. But like Eugenia said: “90 percent of all people are stupid”
Ralf, I just do not like interfaces that lack tactile feedback. Whether I’ve used the phone or not.
Thom, there are lots of things that you don’t like that are totally irrelevant to just about everyone else out there. Just because you don’t like it makes it a bad idea? Get real. The general tone of just about everything you write suggests that you believe if you don’t like it nobody else should either.
Yes, touch screens have been tried and in the past have been quite dismal – but you have ignored the 200+ patents that are associated with this device – a number of which are related to the interface and input methods – and from what I saw in the keynote they have gone significantly beyond anything that has been offered on a touch screen device previously.
Maybe its time to put aside the prejudices and try something new and exciting…
I don’t understand the bashing, except that it may be a reaction to the unqualified orgasmic prasing that this thing is getting.
I think the iPhone looks great! But not $600 great. As for “putting aside prejudices and try something new and exciting”, $600 is a lot of money to “try” something. I think the wealthy will eat this up, but not the masses. This is too expensive to be a massmarket success like the iPod, IMO.
Same thing was said about the original $500 iPod.
Same thing was said about the original $500 iPod.
The original iPod dropped into a nearly new market with very few players. It had iTunes going for it.
The iPhone drops into one of the most competitive CE markets against playes that dwarf Apple and have extensive, rapidly changing product lines. It’s got, um, Cingular, going for it.
the iPhone will hit a niche and do fine, but it ain’t gonna do to cell phones what iPod did to pmps.
Maybe its time to put aside the prejudices and try something new and exciting…
I cannot use a device that does not give me tactile feedback. The reason for this is that it is impossible t use devices like this blindly (without looking at the screen). This is annoying.
I can send text messages on my Nokia 8800 without looking at the phone even *once*. This is extremely important in i.e. class, while listening to boring presentations, while riding my bike, while being at the cinema. The iPhone will NOT allow me to do these things, and that is a MAJOR drawback for me.
For the same reason, I detest the iPod. Because of the lack of tactile feedback, you have to *look* at its screen when browsing through the songs on an album. That just SUCKS.
Thom im sure Apple iPhone will do just fine with out you, just like the iPod is doing right now!!! I respect that you do not like it, its a free world right? However as a journalist I would prefer that you keep your personal (maybe biased) opinions away from the front page. That’s what makes a good reported right?
To the ppl saying that this is too expensive or not feature rich blah blah blah; all i can say is wait and see. Much harsher things were said about the first iPod, and look where it is now.
I liked Eugenias article howerver I feel she rushed to submit this article without first watching the Keynote. Jobs does mentiion that this is not a crippled down OS, the UI might seem oversimplified. Apple however has not released any info on the capabilities of the OS so dont be fast to judge.
As for tactile feedback; are u kidding me?
Look at what kind of device it is. Widetouchscreen with video capabilities. Tell me where would u like the keyboard? Maybe opewn downards like nokia phones ? Maybe, but that would make it larger, and ppl are already complaining about its size. You have to understand that compromises have to be made.
Personally, and i believe that sales of this device will agree with me, this is an amazing device with most of the features ive been looking for into a smartphone and it damn looks good.
PS: didnt apple release a bluetooth headset ? what are you ppl sayin ? watch the keynote before you start talking
Thom im sure Apple iPhone will do just fine with out you, just like the iPod is doing right now!!!
Where am I saying otherwise?
However as a journalist I would prefer that you keep your personal (maybe biased) opinions away from the front page.
Euh, what are you talking about? I reported the release of the iPhone fact-by-fact, without passing any judgments. You do realise this particular story is an editorial by Eugenia, right, and not the announcement, which was done by me a little earlier?
As for tactile feedback; are u kidding me? Look at what kind of device it is. Widetouchscreen with video capabilities. Tell me where would u like the keyboard?
I am not kidding you. Why am I kidding you when I say I want my devices to give me tactile feedback?
this is an amazing device with most of the features ive been looking for into a smartphone and it damn looks good.
I have not said otherwise, now, have I? I actually want this thing. However, that does not make me blind to the fact this device has its shortcomings (from what we can tell by watching the keynote, that is).
Thom I should have checked my post before submitting.
I was refering to any future articles concerning iPhone that you might write; as i mentioned later on i do know that this is Eugenias article.
The rest of the points i make are not pointed directly at you but the general audience. The whole post was by no means directed at you, only the first part.
and as i mention at the end, you cant satisfy everyone.
Some like tactile feedback, some want the device to be smaller.
Yet the world has been eagerly anticipating a widescreen video ipod.
Compromises have to be made in order to make a device sell WELL and not to Everyone, that cant be done.
Solutions to ppls problems?
Get an ultrasmall notebook and stick in a 3G card. Then youve got a pda, phone, video mp3 player etc etc.
You think the device is too big ? There are pleanty of solutions from all the companies out there.
Dont look at the device and point out what it hasnt got, instead look at what it does have. If its good enough for you, go ahead and buy it, if its not there are other solutions
Edited 2007-01-10 12:12
For the same reason, I detest the iPod. Because of the lack of tactile feedback, you have to *look* at its screen when browsing through the songs on an album. That just SUCKS.
And how does tactile feedback help you choose songs on an MP3 player? Have you memorized the exact order in which your songs appear so that you can ‘count the clicks’?
Touch sensor systems have traditionally been bad yes, but Apple have coupled the scroll wheel with audible feedback. Most people can handle this fine and will actually see that the precision control over large songlists coupled with audible feedback more than compensates for the lack of any tactile feedback. There is not that much value in the ability to navigate blindly. Depending on how you look at it you’ve either got too much time on your hands or too little to need to do that.
You’re over blowing the issue so much, it’s starting to sound shrill.
Yes, and you are one of them. You know, when people complain that they don’t like touchscreen controls on a phone it quite might be because they already tried that with another phone.
I think that this is good stuff for all of us. I hate carrying 3 or 4 devices to meet my needs now the only problem is how do I pick. I have to say that the iphone looks sweet (I already use cingular anyway), but there are some things that atract me to the new Nokia n800 table like VoIP (I make tons of international calls and their rates are low) I love the new canola player for the Nokia and the fact that you can use it as a gps, but I also like the UI if the new Iphone maybe I am going to hold out on the iphone until its next release. Good stuff that companies are finally getting a hint and making this kind of gadgets.
Apple is going to print money with this thing.
Actually everything’s not all that horrible. Unless you have to use the keyboard extensively, you can live with that input method.
It looks truly amazing, except that if you are really supposed to have music and MOVIES on the thing (on top of the OS), how can even 8 GB of space possibly be enough?
If you make sure that your movies are h.264 and well-optimized, then you don’t need more than 300 MBs per movie for the 480×320 resolution. That’s enough for at least 25 movies on a single iPhone.
I was pretty damn mad at first when I saw the focus on electronics at MacWorld, but hey at least Apple is making good functional gear. I don’t use a fone much, I hate them. But I would use it for other things
Edited 2007-01-10 01:21
It is not a complete paradigm shift or anything like that but by the initial looks it is a well packaged unit. At least at first blush they seem to come up with a overall “formula” that is distinctive from any other phone on the market right now.
The concept of gestures bring me back to the days of the fingerworks keyboard, which I loved. The lack of tactile response does make things more difficult I grant, but the same is true of current smart phones. i do not have huge hands but my fingers are big enough it is a struggle to dial a number without a stylus for me. i imagine I would have the same problem with this kit.
Also they are implying it is a full fledged OS X running on that phone. That is bollix, but i would like to know what the level of portability between the phone and a Mac is.
Overall I would buy one except for the cingular lock in. I will not switch to cingular, nor would I be willing to commit to a 2 year contract. When the phone is unlocked I would consider it, but not like this.
I will probably try out an OpenMoko (without wifi, sniff… ) instead. Not nearly as powerful by appearances, nor as slick, but it is unlocked and a lot cheaper. The fact that it is somewhat of an open platform does not hurt either, though I figure it is a geeks only phone.
I’m reading people around the Internet going on as if this is big news and the iPod of phones, but I must be lacking energy today or something because this doesn’t seem to be that great a deal..
1. Over the top price.
2. Lacking features.
3. Poorly thought out features.
4. A great deal of competition.
Maybe in future versions it’ll be better but the price has to come down. I already have four mobile phones, and each time I renew my contract I get one for ‘free’, each time they do what a phone is meant to do… call people.
I highly doubt the likes of Nokia will sit back and just let Apple walk in and take over sales.. there’ll be stiff competition for sure.
Apple will own the high end musicphone/smartphone market with the iPhone. It overclasses its direct competitors which are in the same price bracket like the SE-w950 or the Palm Treo’s by a large margin (larger screen, touch screen, wifi, iTunes syncronisation, motion sensor, …). SE has been pretty serious about this market lately with their walkman branded phones and they’ll have to get their act together if they want to stand a chance.
Nokia has nothing that can even touch the iPhone. They’re trying to sell their new high-end phone on the basis of DVD quality movie recording, what’s that all about ? They’ve completely lost the plot and it doesn’t help that they seem to have fired their design department.
Once Apple own the high-end they can move into the low-end, like they did with the low-end iPod models. Someone has already joked about an “iPhone shuffle” : hit a button and call one of your friends at random
Cingular == fail. I’d shell out ~1k for it, otherwise. Now I won’t touch it with a ten foot pole. That really sucks, and to see the words “multi-year exclusive” in the keynote made me cry.
I’d totally agree, but for the simple fact that, as others have said, the American mobile phone business is designed from the top down to screw its customers. In other words, you hate Cingular, I hate Verizon… I don’t think Apple could have picked a carrier that would have made people happy.
Of course, if they want to sell it outside the States, they’ll have to make it unlockable…
T-Mobile (if you have good service where you live) is generally considered a good cellular provider. They are constantly rated best for customer service, etc.
Since the phone doesn’t have 3G anyway, pretty much the only complaint people have about T-Mobile is moot.
You’re right though, no matter what provider was picked, some people would have complained. I suspect less so if they had chosen T-Mobile, but that’s ok.
If they are smart, they’ll offer an unlocked/unbranded version along side the Cingular exclusive version. Having an exclusive contract with Cingular as a partner for wireless service doesn’t prevent them from offering the phone on its’ own. We’ll see…
Darn, for one brief moment I thought “If it runs OS X, it will be able to run already-existing Mac software that plays Vorbis files.”
I dunno; the fact that the technical specs on the iPhone are very vague (I wanted to know exactly how it compares to the iPod) I’ll wait before making my choice.
That said, I have Cingular; I hate Cingular. This is not a good announcement for me.
Alright, i fail to understand what is so different in this phone?
I have a sprint Pocket PC and it can do everything that is mentioned about iPhone. It has wireless and i can get my emails anywhere from my exchange server.
iphone is more slimmer than my phone, which is nice but then my phone has qwerty keyboard.
My phone has the same touch pad buttons to dial and that is the biggest thing i HATE. Now Apple is saying that is cool? Sorry Steve i think that sucks. When i am driving, it is so hard to make calls from my phone because i can’t feel the buttons.
And rest everything you mention, i can do with my Windows mobile powered phone and it is way cheaper.
OK your iPod clicked but cell phones are a whole different market. I think this is going to be a flop show.
1. You shouldn’t be trying to dial phone numbers while driving in the first place.
2. iPhone will surely have voice dialing capabilities built in. Even the cheapest free phones that are given away do this.
3. Almost every new car on the market since 2005 has an optional bluetooth integration kit to allow hands-free operation of your cell phone. Time to upgrade that rust bucket
You’re not supposed to dial and drive. It causes accidents.
If Apple does put out an SDK for the iPhone and it has built in hardware acceleration then it could put it in competition with devices like the PSP too. iPod games already have a distribution channel through the iTunes store and some customers. Add to that convenient way to sync (and buy) movies on the device and Apple could well lure some customers away there too. Especially the “homebrew”-games type users which Sony seem intent on driving away.
One thing I find interesting in the US mobile market is how distorted peoples idea of the cost for a device is.
People here are talking about this being expensive compared to Palms and Blackberry’s, so I thought I might put up some prices from hi-mobile (who advertises here), who I consider one of the more inexpensive options for buying unlocked devices.
Smartphone/Blackberry/PDA
BlackBerry 8700 Fully Unlocked: USD$ 599.98
BlackBerry Pearl 8100 Fully Unlocked: USD$ 475.98
Palm Treo 750v Fully Unlocked: USD$ 699.98
HP iPAQ HW6965 Fully Unlocked: USD$ 609.98
HP RW6828 Fully Unlocked: USD$ 599.98
Then Some Nokia ‘Lifestyle’ phones:
Nokia N91 Fully Unlocked: USD$ 459.98
Nokia N93 Fully Unlocked: USD$ 669.98
Nokia N80 Fully Unlocked: USD$ 439.98
Nokia N73 Fully Unlocked: USD$ 434.98
Nokia 8800 Sirocco Fully Unlocked: USD$ 819.98
To me it looks to be in the same range if not cheaper for more features and a nicer os.
You have a point however all of the phones above are unlocked without a service agreement. The iPhone is in the same range but is a locked phone with a 2 year service agreement requirement. This implies a fairly hefty subsidy by Cingular.
So the prices are similar but the comparison is not equitable. Check to see what one of the phones above would cost from Cingular with a 2 year agreement.
You forgot the 2 years contract. Also what about PPC-6700
PPC-6700 $299
http://www.sprint.com/business/products/phones/ppc6700_allPcsPhones…
That’s nice. But you realize you’re comparing the competitors’ unlocked prices today to Apple’s subsidized price in six months, right?
Given the history of phones, in six months, with a 2 year contract, you’re probably going to be able to get any of the phones you mentioned for under half the price of the Apple phone at that time; in many cases, for a quarter of the price or less.
There is nothing compelling about this phone:
– too big, looks like a brick
– as expensive as a PS3? you’ve got to be kidding me
– difficult to use touch interface as text input. SMS anyone?
– no G3?
– locked to carrier
…
Anyone embarassed by the sheering and standing ovations at the keynote? For moments, I though I was on a scientology pep rally. And that my friends is why iPhone will succeed: there’s a sucker born everyday.
Eugenia,
At about 50min 25-30secs in the keynote video, Steve says that it has: Quad-Band GSM + EDGE, and Wi-Fi Bluetooth EDR, and plan on doing 3G in the future.
So I’m fairly certain EDR is a done deal since they said they had it…
Kokopelli ,
I agree. The service agreement part of the equation sucks and you are absolutely correct.
I think my point was that phones are expensive. But infact, the more I look around about the contract part of the deal, the more it looks bad.
Ever since I had my first Palm, I’ve wanted a PDA with a touchscreen that was usable without a styus. I hate using a stylus. I guess I’ll have to see how usable this really is. There are still a couple things that bother me about it.
First of all is price. The price would actucally be quite reasonable if it weren’t carrier locked and required a 2 year contact. chrisschwa, you seem to be missing the point, the $499 and $599 are with a two year Cingular contract, so comparing it to the prices of unlocked peers isn’t very uselful. Of course a large chunk of that price does come from the large amounts of flash memory, so it’s understandable, and I’m guessing within a generation or two the price may come down, just like it did with every iPod model when first released.
The other is Cigular exclusiveness. While I don’t have a current cell carrier and have no particular aversion to Cingular, I would like a few more options.
As far as the complaints about it not being OS X since it can’t run full OS X apps. It’s probably about as much OS X and Linux smart phones are Linux(especially the ones that use a GTK/QT UI), in that the base it the same, but there are still some important differences.
Trivialize this all you wish, but this is a major kick in the ass to all other phone manufacturers.
Edited 2007-01-10 03:33
Trivialize this all you wish, but this is a major kick in the ass to all other phone manufacturers.
Sure doesn’t seem that way from here. Sure, a few of its features are ahead of where other phones are now and the industrial design is up to Apple’s usual high standards, but it’s lacking as much as it’s providing compared to current phones, it won’t be available for six months, during which most of the competitors will have introduced new products, and it’s very expensive.
I’m not buying this whole “convergence” thing. Problem is, with most of the smartphones, you get one thats a good pda (Treo) and lousy phone; or one that’s a good phone and a lousy pda (Moto Q). These type of devices have been around for a number of years now and haven’t been really that popular. I would say it’s probably not because the consumer was waiting for a competing product from Apple to arrive, either.
Apple, apparently, is under the impression that the ROKR failed because they didn’t build it.
It’s also obvious that Apple isn’t too concerned with call quality and performance, hence the bundling with Cingular at launch. If they were serious about the phone-aspect they would have teamed it with a carrier like Verizon, whose service is much better than that “bubble-gum and duct tape” network Cingular has put together.
Maybe that EDGE thing, whatever it is, will improve Cingular’s service. Although, it sounds like the type of thing that’s limited to metropolitan areas. No iphone for you rural people.
Maybe that EDGE thing, whatever it is, will improve Cingular’s service. Although, it sounds like the type of thing that’s limited to metropolitan areas. No iphone for you rural people.
EDGE is last year’s hot technology for data over cell radios. It’s 2nd generation or ‘2g’ technology.
This year’s is UMTS.
So they’re already starting off “behind the 8-ball”, so to speak. At least, that’s what I got out of your post….
The way the article read about not having 3G, you’d think it was a good thing and they were happy about it.
I was under the impression 3G is used mainly in Europe.
3G is mainly deployed in Europe and Asia because US carriers are behind the power curve on cell technology, but US carriers are starting to deploy it now and some expect to have it in most metropolitan areas before the end of the year.
Apple has positioned iphone as a cellphone/media player, and are counting on wifi to cover for the lack of higher speed cell based data movement.
Given Google’s experience in Mountain View and San Francisco, it’s not a bet I’d back.
Building a quad band GSM phone makes more sense than a CDMA one because most of the world uses GSM vs verizon and sprint in the US.
Also Cingular is the biggest GSM network in the US and they were willing to support and modify their back-end to support visual voicemail/ random access vmail.
So It’s simple, support verizon and you get a minuscule portion of the 957M unit worldwide cellphone market and no market out side the US. Build a GSM phone and you get a bigger chunk makes perfect sense to me. I use Cingular and get better reception in my area than most verizon users.
Going with verizon would be suicide for the iPhone. Building two different versions would be silly for a first time products development costs.
Edited 2007-01-10 09:27
True, CDMA isn’t supported overseas, and it’s an older technology. It’s just that Cingular’s network in the states is sketchy, at best. The problem is, with this phone and every other cell sold, that the product lives and dies by the network it’s on. If the service sucks, the phone is potentially going to get an unwarranted bad rap.
If you’re getting better reception than Verizon users, then you must not live near me (Philly, PA). Everyone who has Verizon, that I’ve talked to, swears by it. And those who don’t have them wonder why they’ve waited when they switch.
This whole discussion is really moot, though. iPhone w/Cingular-only service will be had for 6 months after launch. Afterwards Apple is going to release versions for other carriers.
If you’re getting better reception than Verizon users, then you must not live near me (Philly, PA). Everyone who has Verizon, that I’ve talked to, swears by it. And those who don’t have them wonder why they’ve waited when they switch.
Well the biggest problem with verizon is they want too much control over the device. Verizon cripples its phones so they can charge you more. They disable bluetooth file transfer, which cingular never does.
Verizon would not have worked for Apple that wants to control the device. According to the Time article Cingular was most felxible and won out in talks with Apple. I think Verizon is partly to blame for Apple not picking it.
Edited 2007-01-11 06:08
At the bottom of the iPhone webpage http://www.apple.com/iphone/ a little disclaimer exists.
“This device has not been authorized as required by the rules of the Federal Communications Commission. This device is not, and may not be, offered for sale or lease, or sold or leased, until authorization is obtained.”
Did Steve make this announcement too soon?
Not Vaporware. The FCC requires 2 months lag time before they allow it into the licensed markets.
Not Vaporware. The FCC requires 2 months lag time before they allow it into the licensed markets.
The FCC doesn’t have a time requirement. They require the device to be certified to comply with standards. Most cell vendors time this certification (which is done by independent test labs) so that it is complete and approved a few weeks before they announce, so that they’re sure they’ve got it, but also sure that the FCC won’t accidently leak too much too soon.
Sometimes you don’t make certification. Sometimes you announce six months before you intend to ship, so you still have plenty of time to certify.
Did Steve make this announcement too soon?
Preannouncing any product by six months is a risk, because you tip your hand to your competitors.
On the other hand, waiting until next year’s MacWorld would have made the iphone seem like a me-too phone.
Cocoa is part of what is on the iPhone. It’s not that difficult to expect Cocoa SDKs for this device.
People do not like the price, the service lock-in, the input method, the lack of high bandwidth…
iPhone is not one model, is a brand. Watch this with an iPod perspective. They went a long road with the iPod from the 1st gen, Mac-only compatible model from 2001.
” iPhone can not run OSX apps either.”
the problem is that steve had confirmed that iphone will be closed, no SDK to produce Iphone apps.
it will be a low IQ pretty “smartphone”, a kind of blonde
I dunno; it does look like it can run some kind of dashboard widget though ….
iphone has cool features and way of doing things but if what you’re saying is true and there are no apps for it like palm or winmob, then they have nothing to worry about. No games, no database. So much for my vision of a pocket brain that keeps track of everything you need to know combined with the gaming potential of a PSP
The touchscreen…wouldn’t it get all smudged after a while?
Nevertheless, it is good they are bringing new capabilities to the table. Palm’s OS can’t even try to do most of these things even with a practical implementation without the special effects
This strikes me as a little odd; Apple is sitting on what is arguably the best hand-writing recognition software created. Used to live in the Newton as I remember, and then made it through to Inkwell. I guess they will nab a whole boatload of early adopters with this, and then they’ll add it in the second release or something …
Aside from that, there is nothing I’m seeing in this phone that is revolutionary; the gesture thing is not new, and the whole mini-app on a device thing was released a couple of weeks ago by Microsoft.
But as with all things Apple, the revolution will be in the way all this so-so technology is put together. Rather than slap onto a phone that was obviously made for use by programmers, they’ve come up with something that should offer the power of Windows Mobile, but will be a damn sight easier to get stuff done on. A hell of a lot of thought has gone into this, and the results are breathtaking.
The quality of the finished product is the really big question mark, but this thing has raised the bar. Don’t think technology; think people.
I wouldn’t want to be in the Zune Division coffee shop when the videos of this thing hit the wire.
A quick question though; is there any other smartphone that will allow you to scroll through your voicemail on screen, and pick out the ones you want to listen to?
No. It’s carrier-specific.
Right, so the carrier has to support this feature.
Thanks.
MAYBE. If the phone is somehow able to “download” the voicemails, then it would only be a matter of playing mp3/wav files on the phone itself rather than streaming.
Not a functional PDA.
Not as good as a Ipod.
Possibly vendor locked phone.
Classic case of the “Jack of all trades” if you ask me. Not that I wouldn’t mind checking one out. But I will have to say that if it’s reduced to running widgets and has no real 3rd party app support..(which wouldn’t be beyond the realm of possibility because Apple is the lockin king) I will have to pass.
It’s the makings of a great device, but as I have read on many blogs today, it won’t be a bad idea to wait until the 2nd generation comes out. Apple is notorious for rerolling products with minor update people want., as a matter of fact, THATS THEIR BUSINESS! We’re up to what, a new Ipod version every year? Maybe the iPhone ’07 will be worth the $599.
Could turn out to be a great overall device, but as is targets ATM, its not a device for PDA users, I don’t even see a simple chat application shown by default. You would think they would roll iChat for the device, but hey, that would cut back on Cingulars text msging money.
I think I am going to go ahead and pick up the N800 instead, this is not gonna be a upgrade for PDA users who NEED pda functions… I don’t think people would be giving it such a hard time about apps if Jobs dint spend so much time emphasizing how much better that all the cureent smartphones on the market it was. When it much less of a pda and pretty much any current smartphone on the market. Should have left out the smartphone bashing.
“you’re going to want one”
I don’t have much use for cell phones, and living in Canada, we’ll be the last G8 country to see this thing, but…. I like the concept. The crapolla motorola I use is patheticly small (about middle of road for size) , and the keyboard is useless for me. See, i’m a tradesman, i use my hands all day long. And my hands take a beating, and i’m 40 years old, so why would i want to have a cell phone smaller than a Tic-Tac?????? And while i drive? or when i’m walking, or not wearing my bifocals????
I know, smaller equals more cool, and soon they’ll just shoot the phone up your nose one day and put a fax in your a$$ while you get a haircut…. but please..
Finally, a device for the rest of us…
I have mixed feelings about it.
1) to those complaining about the input method, I have to remind the fact that this product seems not to be comparable with current generation touchscreen devices. I have a motorola A1000 and the onscreen keyb is lame, I have to use a stylus and press one key at a time. But the multitouch feature related to the input keyb means (and if you watch the videos you can clearly see) that you can press more than one key at a time, and without a stylus. Sounds a lot like a real thumb keyb to me, apart from the tactile feedback. (And again that’s very subjective matter: I’m not a kid anymore and I have some big hands, therefore the treo keyb for example is quite unusable 4 me as one finger tends to cover two or more keys. There it goes the “tactile feedback”)
2) Operation. If it really does what it is supposed to do, in the way we saw, well… There’s simply no smartphone that I can think of that has similar power. Winmobile? No way: powerful but too cumbersome and beginning to show its age. UIQ? You kidding? Nokia OS? mmmmh. Simple but like kidsplay in comparison. Palm? bah. There’ simply nothing that compares. Today that is, we’ll se in a 7 months frame. But there’s a little thing that worries me. Which brings me to:
3) Sdk. This is a real concern to me. I haven’t heard the word “closed environment” from steve, and I really hope he didn’t make such an awful mistake. Even the ipods have some sort of openess, selling a smartphone without the “smart” factor that enables you to use other applications would be an incredible mistake. One that I believe the guys at Apple are simply not doing. We’ll see.
4) Cingular: ah ah ah ah ah. I live in Europe, no sign of cingular here. Let’s just hope they don’t partner with three (3).
5) Timing. ah ah ah ah ah I live in Europe. Oh wait… Damn I LIVE IN EUROPE!!! One year to go and wait for this?!?!!? Oh man this is going to be a loooooooong year.
6) UMTS (or the lack of) Boy in Europe this sucks. we almost even don’t have any EDGE compatibility here. Everyone already have UMTS and we’re currently moving to HDSPA. What’s EDGE? are they kidding? sheesh. The real problem in here is that while we’re quite advanced in GSM/HDSPA coverage, we simply suck with Wifi. And this is a real problem. Unless they add a HDSPA module, the lack f UMTS compatibility might be an issue in europe, especially (almost) one year from now.
7) Everyone is concerned about the disappearance of the word “computer” from Apple. I tend to agree, but let’s put two puzzle pieces together, shall we?
a)The multitouch technology is something that took (if we have to believe Steve Jobs) something like 5 years of R&D. He said that this technology is a breakthrough and something Apple will rely on in the future. Now my question is: what is making you think that they won’t use the same technology in Leopard too? Add puzzle piece number two:
b) Tons of rumors about some leopard-only applications, running fullscreen and with a redesigned black interface. If the guys at Apple are smart enough, we’re going to see some pretty exciting new product announcements this year like a Multitouch-enabled iMac and lcd screens. If leopard really comes with that feature built-in, we’re in for some pretty new exciting applications.
Anyway IMHO the bottom line is: the product looks promising and while not revolutionary, it might simply be what everyone has tried to do but now “being done properly”.
Anyway whatever side you choose, with iPhone, Leopard Vista, Home server, new Linux projects and the other tons of news, the 2007 really begins to look an exciting year.
H3G (3, three), is mainly a UMTS/3G company. Only 3G, in italy.
So don’t expect to see the iPhone working with 3, not this model at least. Maybe in a couple of years…
…but then again, in a couple of years Nokia will probably add GSM and UMTS to the successor of the N770 and N800, so…
For those of you who had a comment that compared the features of iPhone to other smartphones….
Ok i won’t bash people here, but i don’t see why its so hard to understand the significance of this phone. Everyone posting here has watched the keynote, right?
I agree this will not take the market by storm like the iPod did. Its down right expensive. However, anyone who owns an iPod, and is happy with it, is stupid not to buy this phone as their next iPod and phone(unless you own a shuffle or use a nano for running).
This is way better than current iPods. The FUD spreading is crazy up in this piece! I mean commmmmon, 2X the screen, coverflow, bluetooth headset, and a built in speaker??? way better.
it is really a choice between CDMA and GSM for carriers. Apple wisely went with GSM. Verizon doesn’t do GSM. AFAIK, only cingular and T-mobile provide GSM network coverage in the U.S, and you can roam on either network without paying extra.
Okay, i have a lot more rant left in me, but i’ll make one last point before bed. Don’t sell Apple short. The hardware may get locked down for FCC approval, but apple still has 6 months to refine the software, and it will continue to improve kinda like the iPod firmware updates, on steroids.
One more thing- if you think you need more hard-disk space, you probably aren’t using your smart playlists smartly
Just have it upload recent, popular, and 4+ star stuff first. This isn’t drag and drop like other smart(ish)phones, this is automatic syncing. I have a 10 gig music library and my nano serves me very well. G’night!
Edited 2007-01-10 09:06
How is html email a “very strong plus” on any device??
How is html email a “very strong plus” on any device??
You know, I use text only mail most of the time, but I find it annoying when people complains about email being HTML. Guys, update your computers… HTML email properly formated contributes to readability and gives you the ability to do a lot of things. Command Line Geeks can really “go to hell” with this “pine/mutt” thing. There’s a huge difference between a properly formated HTML/Rich email and a p(l)ain text only email. If you don’t like fancy fonts, use HTML with Courier New/Monospace or whatever font suits you best. But please…
Of course then you can find people writting emails with Comic Sans MS in size 20 with purple color… but that’s just another story.
hm, all this talk about itv, then bang – ms comes with iptv for the xbox360 and suddenly it’s apple tv
also, let’s see what will happen in the german market, strato a.g. [big german internet provider] has the trademark for iphone in germany.
http://tinyurl.com/y3gd5e
for bad points you missed the underfeatured camera (no flash, fixed focus) and the terrible battery life.
News of the iPhone is everywhere. You’d expect the tech media to focus on it but the news is also prominent in the London Times and Guardian papers, on the BBC’s website and no doubt everywhere else.
Since when did any other mobile attract this buzz? Yesterday I checked out Apple’s flagship store in London. It was packed. Not many other stores are destination hang-outs.
Of course the technical stuff is important, but Apple are relying on their brand marketing to steamroller all that. Provided Apple produce something that actually works and doesn’t fall to bits, the iPhone is bound to do very well simply by virtue of the Me! factor that’s clearly already out there.
And they don’t have to sell hundreds of millions of units. Just a few million would fill their coffers very, very nicely.
All I know is that I won’t buy it for the same reason I won’t buy an iPod:
Overhyped and overpriced.
There is a na"ive belief that, as the rich get richer, they consume more of the world’s resources and – in so doing – leave an ever dwindling amount of stuff over for the poor.
In which case, purchasing the new Apple iPhone must lead to poverty. As those from Naomi Klein, to UK-based Enough, to members of the far left, delight in continually saying, “The USA alone, with only 6% of the world’s population, consumes 30% of its resources.”
http://www.whythawk.com/analysis/does-the-new-apple-iphone-cause-po…
I just bought my brother cingular’s 8525 for christmas. $599 unlocked, $499 with 2-year contract. I spent 2 weeks playing with it and thought it was the greatest thing ever… then came the iphone and this 8525 is just crap compared to it!
What is people’s issues with cingular? I’ve been through all of them except for T-Mobile(N/A). I found cingular to be the lesser of all the evils. Sprint’s coverage blew. Verizon crippled their phones. Alltel.. well its alltel. I’ve been with cingular for 1.5 years now and don’t plan on switching anytime soon. CAN’T WAIT FOR iPhone!! This thing is amazing and very competitive on price.
Remember too that Apple has 6 months to listen in and tweek. We barely know anything about this device. Chillax folks..
Hardly.
Consumer devices like iPods and iPhones are the “killer app” for Macs. The integration will be “just that little bit better”.
People care more about music and personal communications than spreadsheets. Apple will leverage these devices to sell Macs, don’t worry. I imagine Steve Jobs is not done with the OS wars just yet.
If nothing else his ego will not let him do so.
why Jobs walks in T-Shirt all the time…. he hates buttons!!!
I think it is an amazing phone, well done Apple. Its time for linux and MS to come up with new and futuristic ideas now. I am sure Linux can create such a neat thing like iPhone using Xgl and Beryl. Common guys do something. I want to see some healthy competition.
[sarcasm]
And at the small price of $499 they’ll revolutionize the market because at that low price even common people can afford to pay that for a cell phone.
[/sarcasm]
Yes, because it has been heavily emphasised that the iPhone is meant to compete with low-end phones. That’s why in the keynote it’s features were being constantly compared to the Treo, Blackberry, etc.
hey wait a sec
The business challenge is surely going to be making four distinct businesses work well, any of which alone is quite a challenge for even a very competent management team. And all of which have very competent aggressive, different competitors. You have music players, OS + software, PC hardware, and now phones. Yes, they are to some extent connected, but they are still distinct products and business segments.
And Apple does not seem prepared to go to a business unit structure, which is the traditional way of running multiple businesses.
The odds on a management oversight, and there being more bad news and less good news in the next two years than the market now expects, even if the news is overall quite good, must be very high and rising.
If you are betting $100 and the odds are equal, which do you buy at this point: a long term put, or a long term call? When you look at what it will take to make a success proportionate to the effort in the high end phone market, and what it can take away from the other businesses the odds point only one way.
One doesn’t see in this announcement anything so dramatic as to make it an easy success – and logically, how could there have been? This market, high end and low end, is probably the most intensely fought there is both in terms of design and costs. They might have come up with something really totally different and convincing, but it was unlikely, and doesn’t seem to have happened. And removing the ‘computer’ tag? Well, it sends a message. High margin and boring, lets diversify out while we can. Doesn’t inspire confidence. Lack of any mention of Leopard also makes one wonder about where the effort and attention is going.
We’ll see. I can’t think its good news for MacOS.
There is one problem with this phone that will need to be addressed. How do you store it in your pocket pouch without it constantly touching the screen? I’ve got a phone with a keypad on the front which I set to lock after so many seconds. Now with this sensitive touch screen how is that going to work? You really wouldn’t want to accidently bump the phone and then have it start redialing the last call.
have you ever tried to use a laptop touchpad with anything but your bare finger? It doesn’t work… Try to use it with a pen and you’ll see. I imagine their touchscreen will use the same technology to prevent what you describe.
“have you ever tried to use a laptop touchpad with anything but your bare finger? It doesn’t work… Try to use it with a pen and you’ll see. I imagine their touchscreen will use the same technology to prevent what you describe.”
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Touchpad
I think that if this technology could be semitransparent instead of opaque, we would already have seen that.
Somebody else posted about locking the phone.
You put it to sleep/lock by hitting a button on top. You then wake it and have to slide a finger across one specific area in the bottom part of the screen to unlock it.
So if you accidentally wake it in your pocket it is unlikely you can make that gesture to unlock it with anything in the pocket.
Edited 2007-01-10 16:47
The device with similar concept is already on the market.
It’s called Neonode N1.
Neodone has been out for a long time. Made by a swedish company it has had at least 1 revision.
However there have been many problems with it and comparing it with the iPhone there are lots of features it lacks.
and iPhone goes far beyond than the neodone’s screen, just take a lookt at the Keynote
“A lot of people are wondering just how big this thing is. Using the technical specs from apple.com, I grabbed some cardboard, scissors, and glue and made a scale model of the iPhone.”
http://www.kottke.org/07/01/the-apple-iphone
I… WANT… AN… iPHONE!!!
After seeing how easily this device does everything Steve Jobs was showing (I especially like “teh pinch”), I could FEEL the Reality Distortion Field’s effect on me. Seriously! And I haven’t felt it that strong, since… EVER! And I’m a Mac user! The whooping and hollering and whistles and especially the… *STANDING OVATION* Steve Jobs got in the end of his keynote is evidence enough that a LOT of people are in love with this device.
If I had $600 (free and clear; shame that doesn’t happen but once in a blue moon) right here, right now, and the iPhone was available today… I’d own one today. No if’s, and’s, or buts. That thing is AWESOME!
As a born-again Christian, the effect I was seeing him have on everyone (including me!) and how awesome and unique the device was, got me to wondering…
Did Steve Jobs sign on with the DEVIL to be this charismatic and make devices this neat, time and time again? I don’t think he was anywhere NEAR this influential, during his first stint at Apple. And you just KNOW, he’s gonna be the last CEO Apple has before this world ends… unless something happens to him first. I sure hope not.
Now I *KNOW* the “Reality Distortion Field” is for real… because I actually FELT it this time! I haven’t felt that effected by any one person, since I rode my bike from Pasadena, CA to Anaheim, CA to see Kenneth Copeland back in the early 90’s.
There is no doubt in my mind… Steve Jobs *IS* Apple. If anything happens to him, Apple will flounder and wither, just like before. I only hope the Rapture occurs before then, because… without Apple… life just isn’t gonna be much FUN!
the secret rapture isn’t true btw. The iPhone is pretty damn slick. I want to see a review and want an explaination in why the iPhone is 5 yrs ahead of others.
For me, the most interesting aspect of the entire keynote was the mention of patents. Jobs seemed to be very proud of these 200 new patents and appeared to label them as some sort of feature of the iphone. These days, I thought it was decidedly uncool and corporate to build patent arsenals.
I bought an Ipaq 4700hx on Ebay for 300EUR and it delivers
0) a battery that you can change
1) Beautifull 640*480 VGA 4″ touchscreen
2) bluetooth (can connect to headset, or..printers..)
3) wifi (wanna surf on internet)
4) CF and SD (supporting SDIO)
4a) For 70$ you can add 4Go of Compact flash memory
and 8Go, 16 Go compact flash modules are coming to the market, who knows their cost in 7 months or 1 year…
4b) Through the SDIO, I can add to my PDA either :
a camera,
a gps tracking chip (around 70$),
a device that allows me output to a videoprojector
or who knows what..
5) infra red connection
Wanna use it as an universal remote control device, anyone ?
6) with a few easy change, I made my Ipaq able to read and write japanese. I installed a free japanese IME allowing japanese handwriting recognition (thanks Bagoj) and a few free japanese wordprocessor and flashcard programs software JWPce and JFC (from glenn rosenthal) and I turned it into the ultimate japanese learning device.
7) embedded visual C++ is free as the windows mobile SDK. You can develop and run your own apps on this device…
8)Forgot to tell that my ipaq can read audio files and play video files with subtitles in ANY format
(mp3, vorbis, flac, wav, ogg, matroska, avi, mov, mov..you name it, it plays it) ans there is NO drm infection nor vendor lockin
(Man..If I bought an IPOD I should have to rerip my 400cds as I encoded them in ogg…talk about ease of use of the ipod…looks like it’s a pain in the ass to use to me ^_^)
So…The next device I buy will have to compete against this 2 year old great Windows 2003SE device, if it wants my bucks.
I really like what I saw of the interface of the iphone (but hey…try writing japanese characters with your fingers…lol), the design looks real nice too.
I would love to have the exact same interface with the same features as my PDA…
But well…I guess I will have to wait a few years (for windows mobile 7 or the 3rd generation of the iphone ^_^).
On my wish list, there is too :
32Go (better 64Go) of flash memory
convergence : I wanna have a GPS-phone-pda-mp3/video-player-3d-accelerated-videoprojector (http://www.cxotoday.com/India/Future_Technology/Now_Project_Movies_…)
… please, pretty please…
Also design is cool (of course every product from Apple have awesome designs), and also touchscreen feature. Very nice!
That’s what I want. iPod in a mobile phone.
its a niche phone, high priced, underpowered in a saturated market. I compared it to the Nokia N95 http://blog.2blocksaway.com/2007/01/11/the-iphone-why-it-is-and-wil… , based on specs only and not only will the N95 come out earlier but it will cost LESS and have more, a LOT more. I am sorry but a rotating screen and a flashy gui won’t cut it nowadays. I just think its too little for too much.
http://www.taipeitimes.com/News/biz/archives/2007/01/11/2003344332
Comparing a PDA to the iphone is like comparing a desktop to a laptop. The smallest pda on the market is twice as big in volume as the iPhone. The size of the device is actually one of its greatest selling points. It screams “smart RAZR” more than the motoQ.
The “multi-touch” is a generation ahead of any other touchscreen. Its a completely different UI, depending on how you implement in in software.
The battery is not horrible either. 5 hour talktime/video is average; it usually equates to 400hr standby. You will be able to charge&sync it from your laptop. My current sidekick won’t last the second day if its not plugged in everynight, and the same goes for my friends MotoQ. Just get used to plugging it in everynight, and bringing your charger if you’re going on a trip.
I think a great software addition i hope apple implements is that you can turn the iPhone on its side (in text editing screens) to pop up a nearly full screan keyboard- that way you can easily hit the keys with both thumbs. Good idea?