More iPhone
January 12th, 2007This is CBS News on YouTube:
I like how you can see it in a slightly lesser-hyped environment. Sure, Phil Schiller is just doing the same stuff Jobs did, but the camera work is better and that interface is looking tight. The web browser tech is flat out rad.
I agree with most of the points that Kottke makes in his excellent iPhone Round-up, especially the part about current phones being so bad.
Some thoughts/questions/musings:
I wonder if Apple will forego announcing a phone-less iPod in a similar form factor.
If you look at the mobile phone landscape and the power that the carriers have over device manufacturers, who else could have the cachet to even dare to design something like this, much less get buy-in from the CEO of the carrier without ever seeing the actual product?
The uber-nerds will decry most of the phone, but I would guess the target market for the phone isn’t the SMS/Text kids or even uber-nerds. The target for this first revision is early-adopters who want a nice phone, have the money and don’t send a lot of text messages.
If this is a success, and I think it will be, carriers are going to have to make some changes to their networks. The visual voicemail feature is going to require some work. If you are Apple, and you want to sell to the most people, you have to go for the number one carrier.
I’m fortunate because I made the switch to Cingular last summer and I don’t have gripes about the service. It’s miles better than my old AT&T or Verizon services, neither of which would let me take calls in the basement.
I hope the phone is smart enough that when I pull up Google Maps, it knows where I am. I doubt this is going to happen with the first models, but that is the holy grail of map technology in a phone. I hit maps and a “you are here” button and a street-level view map opens up. I then say “liquor store” and it tells me the closest stores. Or better, I’m stranded or hurt, where the nearest emergency services and what are their numbers?
I wonder how much of the feature set they’ve shown is going to actually ship and what the functionality will be. If you can’t buy songs with an iPhone… that’s seems odd from the company who made it easy to buy songs on my computer.
Finally, the above video shows a very fluid interface and if it’s that butterylicious in real life, people will pay. Maybe not your thirteen year old niece or nephew, but their music-loving geek-inclined parents will. o
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January 12th, 2007 at 2:40 am
“The target for this first revision is early-adopters who want a nice phone, have the money and donít send a lot of text messages.”
I think you’re right about this. It will be a long road for Apple at that price point and limited to Cingular, but ultimately the road will lead to re-definition (not to mention upheaval) of the market. I would love to be an early adopter of this buttery goodness, but they won’t ship to Europe until Q4 of 2007.
I don’t even use my current phone for anything but an alarm clock, but I would buy one just to fondle it.
January 12th, 2007 at 2:56 am
“knows where i am”
from reading the live transcript of the keynote, i had thought there was a GPS unit in there… but now i don’t think there is.
January 12th, 2007 at 3:25 am
I watched the report. It’s the first one I have watched. I have to admit to not being an Apple fan but I did like the interface and the lack of buttons, but this can be as much a curse as a blessing. I use an MS Windows based Smartphone and it has all the features that this device has but not with such a slick interface. If MS and the current manufacturers can improve their offering before the end of ‘07 they will, I feel give the phone a run for its money but in the end I think that the main target is as you said those who seek form over function and fashion over practicality
January 12th, 2007 at 6:12 am
Kottke’s right about the stunted development of US phones. Is there much an iPhone could do that a Razr couldn’t if the phone company would just let us use the damn thing? Right now it definitely takes Apple’s muscle to make them do things differently, and even then it’s a (better) proprietary model.
The companies want to rent us access to technology rather than access to a network, and the results definitely reflect a central planning mindset.
I think it’s great that Apple is pushing such an elegant design ethic, but from my small experience with iPod I don’t care for their usability.
January 12th, 2007 at 7:54 am
I just have three words to say on why I’m drooling over this badboy - or rather, one hyphenated word and another word:
multi-touch touchscreen.
Awesome. Sadly, I’m sure I won’t be seeing this phone in either Ireland (where I’m currently living) or in Canada (where I’ll be living come summer time) any time soon.
January 12th, 2007 at 8:21 am
If you’re stranded or hurt, I highly recommend 911 as a reliable emergency number. 5 out of 5.
The better technology, if you’re stranded or hurt, would be to say “Liquor Store” and someone would automatically deliver a bottle of Grey Goose to you.
January 12th, 2007 at 8:27 am
CW what about in the mountains where there would be no 911 and no Grey Goose. Besides, Ketel One is better.
January 12th, 2007 at 8:30 am
I think during the keynote, something was said about when you bring up Google Maps it knows (approximately) where you are - probably just using the limited built-in GPS that cell phones have now.
I was at MacWorld on Wednesday. There was a huge crowd around the lucite-encosed phone (which was slowly rotating around). They were gaping, taking photos - like it was the Hope Diamond.
I love it. I think the interface is years ahead of anything out there. My main issue is capacity - it doesn’t have enough capacity to replace my video iPod, yet it’s too big (and pricey) to replace my Nano (which I use during exercise). There’s a footnote on the Apple site that says final specs may change. I hope they decided to give it a bump in capacity. Samsung just announced a 32 GB flash drive for mobile computers…
January 12th, 2007 at 9:19 am
The only thing I’m concerned about (besides the fact that I will have to sell something precious to afford it- anyone know how much newborn babies go for on the black market??) is the fact that I am likely to a) constantly smudge up the touch-screen with my greasy potato-chip fingers, and b) am likely to then drop the phone and thus will crack the screen. How much would it cost to fix a TOUCH screen??
It’s an awesome phone, but I will likely wait for the second generation (about 9 months away, right?).
January 12th, 2007 at 10:07 am
did you see Conan do a spoof on the iPhone yesterday? So funny, it can shred cheese for your salad, but depsite that I so want one too
January 12th, 2007 at 10:12 am
I hear that Cingular is switching to the AT&T ‘brand’ (after buying out AT&T wireless in the past, go figure)–I wonder if that will affect the quality of your Cingular service…
January 12th, 2007 at 10:26 am
And what if you have a liquor store emergency!?
Like all modern devices, it will only be widely adopted if it involves the major vices (pr0n and piracy).
The web browser takes care of the first and iTunes takes care of the second. And now blurb has figured out that Apple is creating a new “vice market” i.e., liquor stores and Google Maps! Genius! :-]
January 12th, 2007 at 10:28 am
Damn Apple once again. I want to hate them for their tyrannical ways (and I hope Cisco gives them a size nine poop-chute for using the name without an agreement), but their stuff - esp. portable devices - are SO DAMN SWEET.
Here in the Great White North, I doubt we’ll see it anywhere near the June release date, since they’ll need to climb into bed with a provider. I’m interested as to whether or not someone will come out with an ‘unlock’ for it - then I’ll just buy one and pop my SIM card in…
That’s probably going to be a bigger issue with this phone than any other, since certain features (visual VM) are likely tied heavily to the carrier’s network. That, and the words “unlock” and “Apple” just don’t seem to play nice together.
January 12th, 2007 at 11:05 am
It was a disappointing keynote address for us Canucks in general. Apple TV is kinda pointless since we don’t have movie or TV show content in the Canadian iTunes store, and the iPhone will probably end up costing $799 CAD with a 3-year plan through Rogers at $50 a month billing.
January 12th, 2007 at 11:32 am
Something else that I’m curious about is the distant release date (June). Why? Is it a manufacturing/supply thing, is it to allow time to try and make nice with Cisco, does Cingular have to make changes? It just seems a long way off for a hot new Apple product.
Maybe you MacGeeks can tell me if this is an unusally long time for a product from announcement to release. Some of them are available immediately (ie Shuffle) and others (ie MacBook Pro) had a short wait. Speculation?
Since Rogers is the only carrier up here that is able to support the device, they are in a unique position. It’ll be interesting to see how that plays out, and especially how long it takes. I may have to move to the States…
January 12th, 2007 at 12:07 pm
Doug, I think they did this for a couple of reasons.
1. there were too many leaks starting to happen
2. they have to file with the FCC for approval, and that’s entirely public
so they had to go ahead and announce it in order to make the FCC filing. Otherwise it would have been on Engadget within an hour and the hype would have been blown.
January 12th, 2007 at 12:11 pm
Also, it’s not entirely ready. So, the FCC filing had to happen now and since that’s public everyone would have heard about it anyway. This way, they get to announce it themselves, kill the inevitable leak, and get it ready for the June date. :]
I think.
January 12th, 2007 at 1:45 pm
All smartphone companies are going back to the drawing board right now. Apple had a head start with all the tech thats in os x (CoreAudio, Coverflow, CoreAnimation) and now they released something that everyone will have to re-invent the wheel to get.
I don’t think they want to let people download directly just yet because logistically, this would put it closer into geek territory. Syncing a song bought back to a computer where the songs are managed manually? Yikes, try explaining that to a non-tech.
January 12th, 2007 at 7:31 pm
That really was an amazing presentation, without the usual Macworld distractions.
I finally understand.
It’s going to be years before any other company can touch this. Apple is going to remain a Wall Street wet dream for a very long time.
January 13th, 2007 at 12:03 pm
Interesting iPhone questions:
http://tinyurl.com/wmbb8
January 13th, 2007 at 2:26 pm
DOES IT HAVE A CALCULATOR???
For $600 bucks (like anyone’s gonna buy the $500 version), it damn well better have a calculator!
January 13th, 2007 at 4:30 pm
Perhaps they will soon trademark their iLegalDepartment.
January 13th, 2007 at 6:13 pm
Tell ya what, patatomic, if it doesn’t every time you need to add something up, give me a call from it and I’ll hook you up with the correct answer.
January 14th, 2007 at 6:39 am
Recent information suggests that Apple isn’t stealing the iPhone name, but that Cisco allowed their rights to the iPhone trademark to lapse. So they no longer own the name.
In order to preserve a trademark, companies need to file a declaration of use (with photos) within five years of making the trademark. They didn’t. Cisco then gets a six month grace period, and they almost let that expire. Just before the grace period was over, they submitted the documents with a product box photo that makes no mention of the word iPhone, except for one little innocuous sticker added to the plastic on the outside corner.
That doesn’t satisfy the requirements, according to some trademark lawyers.
I get the impression that Cisco was going to let the name go, but then heard that Apple was developing a phone… and put two and two together…
Ed Burnett, a ZDNet blogger, has the full story.
January 14th, 2007 at 10:32 am
smartlikestreetcar, I’ve been following this story and you may be right that Cisco thought this could be a way to both garner more attention for a new product as well as make a jab.