iPhone: 6/29/07, Will it live up to the hype?

sevenoneeighty · October 2007

lilbangladesh wrote: How much are those?

http://www.electronista.com/articles/07/09/21/meizu.iphone.interface/

The M8 is expected to ship in China by the end of this year, costing the equivalent of $259 for a 4GB model or $453 for a 16GB phone. It is unlikely to leave China however; as it is so conspicuously similar to the iPhone, it is likely to violate intellectual property laws in the United States and in many other countries. China is notoriously free in its application of copyright laws, resulting in many imitation products....

But I am still wondering about the interface/ software. I'll bet they reverse engineered the iphone and copied the software code. I also wonder if the screen behaves the same way. If anyone is going to Hong Kong, let me know, I'll give you some cash to pick one up for me

groovewithjamie · October 2007

im gonna wait till its cheaper and more advanced

sevenoneeighty · October 2007

Microsoft patents Touch Interface, Looks strangely like Apple’s

Hum let me look in the future… Microsoft is going to come out with a Windows Modile “Touch Interface”. Oh wait a minute, I wasn’t looking in the future, but simply at these images and at the patent office website. People are already calling it the ZunePhone, although it sounds ridiculous. Oh well, sometimes, it’s better to copy something that works than invent something that doesn’t.

http://www.ubergizmo.com/15/archives/2007/10/microsoft_patents_touch_interface_looks_strangely_like_apples.html

Microsoft will copy it, make it crappier, add all kinds of confusing junk and claim it as an incredible breakthough. It WILL be crappier, believe me.

How are the brown Zune sales going anyway?

carnivore · October 2007

Coming Nov 18h, LG's answer to the iPhone, for VERIZON!

http://cellphoneforums.net/cell-phone-reviews/t260305-lg-vx10000-voyager-review.html

lilbangladesh · October 2007

I notice the article doesn't say anything about cost.

I have an LG phone that I really like, but if I want to get all the bells and whistles, I have to get the iPhone because I'm with AT&T.

theoryofpractice · October 2007

Mrs theoryofpractice gave me an iPhone for my birthday. It's terrific.

jackson · October 2007

i've got the iphone too, it's pretty cool, but has some downfalls: It freezes sometimes, you can't text more than one person at a time (which is horrible when you're a textaholic like myself) and you can't send images to other phones. But.... It is great because of the amazing internet use and having my music, phone, and email all in one device. Also, it's just going to get better and better as they fix some of the kinks. All in all, the iPhone is the coolest phone out there, hands down. Just like the iPod, yeah, you can have any mp3 player, but you want the cool iPod. I'll admit it, I'm a sucker for being cool.

alafairnadia · October 2007

want to be a badass?

http://www.openmoko.com/

sevenoneeighty · October 2007

Carnivore wrote: Coming Nov 18h, LG's answer to the iPhone, for VERIZON!

http://cellphoneforums.net/cell-phone-reviews/t260305-lg-vx10000-voyager-review.html

I addressed that one in my earlier post above ...

Whats up with the logos wasting so much room. I don't understand the constant plastering of crap on products. Couldn't they have put it on the outside of the phone and made the screen bigger...?
Why, why, why?

I can hear some 30 something VP talking about branding in the board room. Why does it seem that no one can match Apple in design? Are they just hiring better people? Is the rest of the PC/ tech world in a rut?

Seriously, what is it?

Reminds me of this ( video below) and how Apple gets so many design things right - including the look and packaging of their products:

http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=36099539665548298

PS: how do you post a 'youtube' video now that the button is gone?

carnivore · October 2007

D'Oh!

:oops:

sevenoneeighty · October 2007

Promising news:

New MAc OS X 'Leopard' release on Oct 26th may be the key to Apple's delay in allowing 3rd party Apps for iPhone. I just got an apple email today about it for pre-ordering it: $126.

http://www.businessweek.com/technology/content/oct2007/tc20071015_258257.htm

Will Apple Open the iPhone?
An official software-development kit may finally be announced at January's Macworld. Why the wait? It may have something to do with Leopard

by Arik Hesseldahl and Olga Kharif
Technology

William Hurley loves his iPhone. But he'd love it even more if he could write software for it.

He's not alone. Hundreds of programmers showed up at an iPhone event organized by Hurley, an executive at software maker BMC (BMC), even though Apple hasn't released the source code they need to exploit the device. That was in July, and the criticism of Apple's refusal to open the iPhone hasn't died down.

Now it appears Apple (AAPL) will soon answer those pleas. Sources familiar with the company's plans tell BusinessWeek.com that Apple will release a software-development kit for the iPhone in early 2008, enabling programmers to create games, business-productivity tools, and countless other applications for the device. Few details are known, but sources say an announcement will come in January, which suggests it may be slated for Jan. 15, when Chief Executive Officer Steve Jobs takes the stage at the Macworld Expo in San Francisco.

Why the wait? Some analysts suggest the delay has little to do with frustrating developers or Apple's official position about bugs from third-party software posing a threat to cellular networks. Instead, the timing may have more to do with Apple wanting to wait at least until the launch of the new operating system for its Macintosh computers. Known as Leopard, it was originally planned for June, 2007, but is now set for release on Oct. 26. Since the iPhone was built with the current Mac OS, the thinking is that Leopard's new capabilities will enable more robust features on the iPhone as well...

lilbangladesh · October 2007

SevenOneEighty,

You post Youtube videos by copying the embed link to your clipboard. Click the URL tag, paste the link from your clipboard, and then close with another URL tag.

There ya go!

sevenoneeighty · November 2007

http://www.time.com/time/business/article/0,8599,1678581,00.html

Invention Of the Year: The iPhone
Wednesday, Oct. 31, 2007 By LEV GROSSMAN

Stop. I mean, don't stop reading this, but stop thinking what you're about to think. Or, O.K., I'll think it for you:

The thing is hard to type on. It's too slow. It's too big. It doesn't have instant messaging. It's too expensive. (Or, no, wait, it's too cheap!) It doesn't support my work e-mail. It's locked to AT&T. Steve Jobs secretly hates puppies. And—all together now—we're sick of hearing about it! Yes, there's been a lot of hype written about the iPhone, and a lot of guff too. So much so that it seems weird to add more, after Danny Fanboy and Bobby McBlogger have had their day. But when that day is over, Apple's iPhone is still the best thing invented this year. Why? Five reasons:

1. The iPhone is pretty
Most high-tech companies don't take design seriously. They treat it as an afterthought. Window-dressing. But one of Jobs' basic insights about technology is that good design is actually as important as good technology. All the cool features in the world won't do you any good unless you can figure out how to use said features, and feel smart and attractive while doing it.

An example: look at what happens when you put the iPhone into "airplane" mode (i.e., no cell service, WiFi, etc.). A tiny little orange airplane zooms into the menu bar! Cute, you might say. But cute little touches like that are part of what makes the iPhone usable in a world of useless gadgets. It speaks your language. In the world of technology, surface really is depth.

2. It's touchy-feely
Apple didn't invent the touchscreen. Apple didn't even reinvent it (Apple probably acquired its much hyped multitouch technology when it snapped up a company called Fingerworks in 2005). But Apple knew what to do with it. Apple's engineers used the touchscreen to innovate past the graphical user interface (which Apple helped pioneer with the Macintosh in the 1980s) to create a whole new kind of interface, a tactile one that gives users the illusion of actually physically manipulating data with their hands—flipping through album covers, clicking links, stretching and shrinking photographs with their fingers.

This is, as engineers say, nontrivial. It's part of a new way of relating to computers. Look at the success of the Nintendo Wii. Look at Microsoft's new Surface Computing division. Look at how Apple has propagated its touchscreen interface to the iPod line with the iPod Touch. Can it be long before we get an iMac Touch? A TouchBook? Touching is the new seeing.

3. It will make other phones better
Jobs didn't write the code inside the iPhone. These days he doesn't dirty his fingers with 1's and 0's, if he ever really did. But he did negotiate the deal with AT&T to carry the iPhone. That's important: one reason so many cell phones are lame is that cell-phone-service providers hobble developers with lame rules about what they can and can't do. AT&T gave Apple unprecedented freedom to build the iPhone to its own specifications. Now other phone makers are jealous. They're demanding the same freedoms. That means better, more innovative phones for all.

4. It's not a phone, it's a platform
When Apple made the iPhone, it didn't throw together some cheap-o bare-bones firmware. It took OS X, its full-featured desktop operating system, and somehow squished it down to fit inside the iPhone's elegant glass-and-stainless-steel case. That makes the iPhone more than just a gadget. It's a genuine handheld, walk-around computer, the first device that really deserves the name. One of the big trends of 2007 was the idea that computing doesn't belong just in cyberspace, it needs to happen here, in the real world, where actual stuff happens. The iPhone gets applications like Google Maps out onto the street, where we really need them.

And this is just the beginning. Platforms are for building on. Last month, after a lot of throat-clearing, Apple decided to open up the iPhone, so that you—meaning people other than Apple employees—will be able to develop software for it too. Ever notice all that black blank space on the iPhone's desktop? It's about to fill up with lots of tiny, pretty, useful icons.

5. It is but the ghost of iPhones yet to come
The iPhone has sold enough units—more than 1.4 million at press time—that it'll be around for a while, and with all that room to develop and its infinitely updatable, all-software interface, the iPhone is built to evolve. Look at the iPod of six years ago. That monochrome interface! That clunky touchwheel! It looks like something a caveman whittled from a piece of flint using another piece of flint. Now imagine something that's going to make the iPhone look that primitive. You'll have one in a few years. It'll be very cool. And it'll be even cheaper.

michaelkeys · November 2007

sweet tea wrote: i do notice a loss of quality in digitally compressed music on my ipod, itunes, etc. mostly my speakers aren't good enough for it to really get to me -- and if we're just talking rock or pop, i don't care much -- but when i listen to the kind of classical music i grew up with, i can often tell. there's a certain flat quality to the sound. i'm not an expert at this stuff, but i do think i can hear it.

Oh, so true. Check this out.

lilbangladesh · November 2007

Now I'm annoyed. I don't expect top-quality sound from my iPod. It sounds good enough when I'm at the gym or on the subway, or when I have it on a low volume for work. But if they are tinkering with the sound of the tracks to make it sound good on an iPod before I even turned it into an MP3 file, that's annoying. When I'm at home, I expect it to sound good coming out of my speakers. I'm not an audiophile. My standards aren't super high, but I expect a *reasonable* amount of fidelity!

sevenoneeighty · November 2007

Subject: This is interesting: A choice of phone...

I am happy to hear that this is at least being talked about...
I am so frustrated with my choice of cellular phones right now and was waiting for my contract with Verizon to simply run out to switch.

Wireless companies are going to have to get it together or lose customers.
We'll see where this goes and if it will actually causes a domino effect.

Verizon Wireless to Open Its Network

Article Tools Sponsored By
By LAURA M. HOLSON
Published: November 28, 2007

In a major shift for the mobile phone industry, Verizon Wireless said Tuesday that it planned to give customers far more choice in what phones they can use on its network and how they use them.

While there are technical limitations involved, the company’s move could lead to an American wireless market that is more like those in Europe and Asia, where a carrier’s customers can use any compatible phone to easily reach a wide array of online services — and take their phones with them when they switch companies.

The move, which surprised industry watchers because Verizon Wireless is known to be highly protective of its traditional business, is part of a larger shift in the communications world. With the introduction of the iPhone from Apple, one of the first mainstream multimedia devices, and Google’s plan to make the software that runs cellphones, the industry is being pushed toward a more open approach.

Carriers like AT&T and Verizon Wireless, which is a joint venture between Verizon and Vodafone, have spent billions on cell towers and other infrastructure, and traditionally they have tightly controlled what happens on their networks. They decide what phones subscribers can use and then steer them toward ringtones, television shows and other media they can buy.

The details of Verizon Wireless’s alternative approach have yet to be worked out. The company did not disclose how much the open service would cost or what rules would apply to it. Lowell McAdam, Verizon Wireless’s chief executive officer, said the company would hold a meeting with mobile phone makers and programmers in the first quarter of next year to talk about the service, with the goal of introducing it next summer.

“The trend we see here is an explosion of innovation,” Mr. McAdam said “People want to take so much of what’s on the Internet and put it on the phone.”

Other companies are likely to feel pressure to follow Verizon’s lead, analysts and industry executives said. “If they don’t change their own business model, someone else will do it for them," said Roger Entner, a senior vice president for communications at IAG Research. “This way they have control.”

Consumers are already able to add software and make purchases online with many cellphones, but often the carriers do not make this easy, preferring instead to highlight their own offerings on phone screens. The carriers have also been at odds with Silicon Valley companies like Google that want people to be able to use their phones in much the same way that they can use any PC to access the Internet and then visit any Web site.

Verizon Wireless, though, is not abandoning its traditional service. Instead it will offer a separate service plan where consumers can buy a phone — one compatible with its network — and call a toll-free-number to have it activated. Verizon will have a lab where it will test whether the phones can connect to the network, allowing the company to still maintain control over what devices are permitted.

Separately, programmers will be able to develop software to run on the phones without authorization from the company. “We will not be the gateway to go through,” Mr. McAdam said.

But while the company’s move won praise from Google, Microsoft and the Federal Communications Commission, among others, consumer groups offered a cautionary note.

“There are a lot of unanswered questions,” said Gene Kimmelman, vice president of federal affairs at Consumers Union, an advocacy group in Washington. “We have significant concerns about prices being sky high.”

Another potential hurdle is that Verizon’s network uses CDMA technology, which is less common than the GSM technology used by AT&T, T-Mobile and many overseas carriers. As a result, users of Apple’s iPhone and many other GSM-compatible phones will not be able to take advantage of Verizon’s offering.

Still, added Mr. Kimmelman, “it’s a step in the right direction.”

That step has not come without a bit of prodding. Federal regulators are moving to encourage the creation of a more open national wireless network when they auction off spectrum licenses in January. The auction rules require bidders to build a network that is largely free from carrier constraints.

Among those expected to bid are Google, which many in the industry say will be a formidable competitor to the likes of AT&T and Verizon. Google has put together a consortium of companies to use its software and help it turn mobile phones into hand-held computers. Mr. Kimmelman said the Verizon Wireless announcement was fueling speculation that it would be a bidder in that auction too.

But analysts have noted that Verizon Wireless has been sending mixed signals. It filed a petition in September with the federal courts requesting a review of the auction rules on openness, calling them “arbitrary” and “capricious.” Mr. McAdam said his company filed the petition not to halt competition, but because it believed “it was not necessary for the F.C.C. to get involved.”

He added that Google was not the enemy of the traditional telecommunications companies that the news media had made it out to be.

“It’s very common and popular in the press to view Google and Verizon at each other’s throats," Mr. McAdam said. “We have far more in common with Google in meeting demands of consumers than in conflict.”

No matter the motivation, many expect the result to be good for consumers. “This is only going to drive innovation for consumers, which is a good thing," said Cyriac Roeding, who is in charge of mobile content efforts at CBS.

If Verizon’s effort is successful, then content creators, software developers and device makers, who have chafed under the control of the wireless companies, will need to show what they can do. At a recent telecommunications conference in San Francisco, those groups were outwardly hostile toward the carriers, complaining that they were too controlling.

Now, Mr. Entner said, “the ball is in the court of the device manufacturers and software developers. They have to put up or shut up.”

carnivore · December 2007

iCrap

iPhone: 6/29/07, Will it live up to the hype?

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