A smartphone, as is defined as a "cellular handset using an open, commercial operating system that supports third-party applications" says ABI Research. As such the iPhone being unveiled as a closed phone to third party developers does not truly qualify as a smartphone.
This is ridiculous. Perhaps the folks deciding what makes a phone "smart" should make those definitions based on usability and capability regardless of who controls the reins on releasing new software for the device.
With OS X running on the iPhone it is incredible to me to find "experts" portraying the phone as something less than a smartphone. The expectation is that third party developers of lesser phones somehow make better software than what a single source (in this case Apple) is capable of.
Wake up! Nobody has multi-touch gesturing except Apple and you can bet the farm the single source software provider will be pushing the envelope beyond what others have been able to do for the competing devices. With visual voicemail, Safari and widgets to start I find it surprising the "experts" might not want to take a closer look at what "smart" means.
According to the AP News Cingular has reported fourth quarter profits nearly quadrupled over the previous quarter.
When combined with the recent discovery of a potential 50% profit margin for Apple on sales of the iPhone one has to ask at what point these giants will begin discounting the iPhone and contract service to attract more users after the initial adapters have snatched up theirs.
Stan Sigman, the company's president and CEO, predicted sales of iPhones would drive wireless company subscriber additions in the second half of the year which would contribute to still higher revenues. Cingular has an exclusive multiyear deal to offer the digital convergence device, which will be sold in both Apple and Cingular retail stores. Cingular has not disclosed how service activation will be done.
"The only word to describe the iPhone is 'wow,'" Sigman said. "I have no doubt the iPhone will be a big seller."
We're going to be offering iPhone wallpapers here and instead of waiting to get the wallpapers section up and live we've decided to go ahead and offer up our first three wallpapers for your iPhone.
These are all 320 x 480 images to fit the iPhone screen perfectly. If you have any suggestions or want to contribute then by all means comment in here and we'll get in touch!
In another size comparison take a look at the size of the Sony PSP vs. the Apple iPhone. I was pretty startled to see how large the PSP is by comparison.
When looking into the size specifications of the iPhone many folks seem to have the sense that this device is large. It's larger than life, that's a certainty, but the device compares quite well to other devices in the market and thanks to the fine tools at SizeEasy we have made this comparison model of the iPhone versus the 30GB iPod and the iPod Nano. For those who don't have familiarity with any of these devices there is a CD case also for basis of comparison.
It is clear then that the iPhone really is an amazingly small device for all it accomplishes.
iSuppli Thursday revealed analysis of component prices for the production of the iPhone leaving Apple Inc a fifty precent profit margin.
The price analysis shows that a 4-gigabyte iPhone costs about $246 to make. The 4GB phone has been priced to begin selling at $499. The larger storage version of the iPhone will have roughly the same profit margin.
With that sort of margin on the device I expect Apple to be able to cut the price after the initial release while at the same time releasing more robust versions of the phone with greater memory capacity and improved camera specs as well as (hopefully) 3G support.
I have mentioned the idea of ringtones being available on iTunes when the iPhone launches, but it occurred to me today that in fact it is likely you will be able to assign anything from your iTunes library as your ringtone. What does this mean to those who are out there marketing (and even pulling in a decent dime) on the sales of ring tones?
iPhone has the potential to change the market in general for these extra goodies we are now accustomed to paying for. As much as the hardware revolutionizes what to expect in a device, the UI and software have the ability to impact the marketplace just as iTunes and the iPod turned the music industry upside down.
One of the big concerns I have been reading about and discussing with people since the unveiling of the iPhone is the potential for that widescreen iPod to turn into a widescreen scratch attractant. Many folks, myself included, are quite simply used to tossing our phones in pockets, backbacks, car seats or purses. And all these places are just begging to scratch the multi-touch screen surface.
So although there are likely to be as many (if not more) accessories made for the iPhone as there are for the iPod, I think the aftermarket for protecting the device from wear and tear is going to be enormous.
So here's my idea (one of them):
Remember the old jelly bands people used to put on swatches to keep the face from banging into things? Well that wouldn't exactly work on an iPhone, but the concept of wrapping something around the upper and lower parts of the device where there is no screen is sound. What if you had what amounted to a jelly band on each end of the iPhone with a tear-off (velcro even?) cloth that would act to protect the screen and could even double as a cleaning cloth much like those for eyeglasses?
The "bands" at either end could of course be something other than those no longer trendy jelly bands - they could even be a more rigid material to match the sleekness of the unit. Point being there are thousands of people out there right now thinking of devices, accessories, programs and more for this beast.
I live in Vermont which is not yet covered by Cingular and it is unlikely they will do so by the time the iPhone rolls out. So I started to think about how many folks out there might be in the same predicament: wanting an iPhone but unable to get service?
See for yourself the reaction in this interview with Steve Jobs. Many highlights of the phone features, wall street and market analysis and general reaction to the announcement of the iPhone.
We have heard and seen about Google Maps on the iPhone, about the phone software, about Yahoo push email, stock and weather widgets and the SMS TXTing ability on the iPhone.
What we have not been shown is the calendaring application, Notes and the camera. In an earlier blog post I brought up the liklihood that software for the iPhone would not remain an Apple-only thing forever.
Calendars are not that exciting, there isn't too much you can do with Notes. I expect the photo software to use some of the whiz-bang multi-touch capabilities we have been shown. But what else will there be? The answer may well be in the OS X Dashboard - widgets.
There is a huge value to these small pieces of code and I think the usefulness and ingenuity of the userbase should allow the iPhone to run some pretty spectacular things.
The list of widgets available grows all the time and many of these are easily adaptable to a mobile environment. I can imagine check server status on the iPhone through use of a widget or using a widget to track my packages without having to use the Safari browser to go to UPS.
The golden egg is truly the small snippets of functionality that extend the device. I can't see Apple ignoring this ability.
One of the pioneering features of the iPhone according to the keynonte address by Steve Jobs is the introduction of Visual Voicemail where voicemail messages are represented visually and you can select which messages to listen to in Random Access manner rather than sequentially - eliminating the requirement to hear messages you don't care about in order to get to those you do.
This is an obvious application for a visual connection to voicemail and surprisingly absent from the marketplace until now (or rather, until June).
I have to wonder if the iPhone will further allow "folders" inside visual voicemail to automagically sort incoming voicemails into categories.
I find it curious that the iPhone is not being rolled out as a 3G phone and will not offer connection to Cingular's BroadbandConnect service whichoffers connection speeds of 400 to 700Kbps. Why when the new Palm Treo 750 does?
There is still time for additions to the iPhone specs (afterall we only know what we are told) and I certainly hope the folks at both Apple and Cingular are paying attention. It may be that the target market is not in fact the business traveler, but rather the audience that owns both a phone and iPod currently. It may be they are more concerned with getting the devices into as many hands of these people as possible and less concerned with addressing the network connectivity issues of those on the road.
For the most part the Wi-Fi connection will allow for high speed data access, but the point of a cell phone with broadband capability is to have it available at high speeds at all times.
With EDGE network speeds similiar to those of a dial-up connection one has to wonder if Apple plans a later 3G version.
Of all the shortcomings of the iPhone this has got to be the one that concerns those of us who hope to see Apple gain strong acceptance in this market.
It has been confirmed that the iPhone will carry software developed by Apple and Cingular only. Apple has always been a company to hold their cards close and the unveiling of an entirely new platform idea is not the time for them to open the platform. They want to manage the user experience as much as possible and not introduce the potential for software bugs from a third party that could hinder the functionality of the device or network.
I expect Apple to open the iPhone to other software over time. Surely they will provide downloadable applications, wallpapers and ring tones through iTunes.
Third party development may be some time off although there are presently no plans for an API or developer tools. If Apple intends to explode the usefulness of the device they are likely to open to third party developers at some point, perhaps with a process requiring review by Apple before release to the public.
The lack of an API reduces the liklihood of the iPhone becoming the handheld gaming console I discussed earlier this week. I think Jobs and company are going to see the writing on the wall that sell the device at the price point they are after they will eventually need to further distance themselves from the crowd of competitors and the best way to do that is to add functionality. The best way to do that is to open the platform to third party developers.
Here's a little speculation brought about by the iPhone UI and the rumors a couple years back about a Mac Tablet. What if the iPhone truly is the Mac Tablet brought to market as the sleek iPhone?
It's been a long and hard battle to get tablet PC's accepted into hands of many users - they have been the toys of a few and the useful tools of still fewer. However, it seems to me that Apple is keenly focused on becoming the de facto entertainment hub and I see further signs of this with the release of the iPhone and what I believe will be the release of a tablet-based entertainment hub.
How is the release of a phone the sign of entertainment? Because Apple will woo millions of new consumers to the device and they will become hooked much as we are all hooked on our iPods now. Once acceptance of the convergence device is ubiquitous in its' sexy packaging you can bet Apple will move to further its' design influence in home entertainment.
The Mac Mini has been touted for awhile now as the possible source of such a hub device, but I am beginning to wonder if Apple has its' eyes set on a device more akin to a tablet that works seemlessly with Apple TV, iTunes, your iPods, iPhones etc. and would act as a portable control center for your entertainment. If the touch screen keyboard on the iPhone gains acceptance then certainly a tablet based machine could offer a nearly full sized keyboard.
Whatever happens will be interesting to see and though this is pure conjecture and speculation I for one would be pretty pleased to see Apple make further inroads into the living room.
Cisco has announced a lawsuit against Apple over the use of the name "iPhone'.
Cisco obtained a trademark for iPhone in 2000 after acquiring Infogear, which owned the name before. Apple is dismissing Cisco's claims as "silly" and "tenuous at best".
Apple spokesman Alan Hely states "We think Cisco's trademark lawsuit is silly. There are already several companies using the name iPhone for Voice Over Internet Protocol (VoIP) products. We are the first company to ever use the iPhone name for a cell phone, and if Cisco wants to challenge us on it we are very confident we will prevail."
Cisco senior vice-president and general counsel Mark Chandler replied "Cisco entered into negotiations with Apple in good faith after Apple repeatedly asked permission to use Cisco's iPhone name."
I expect Apple will indeed prevail. Apple has already captured the imaginations of so many with the device and the name is now worth the fight. I don't think Apple Phone would have been a poor choice for a name and would have enforced the branding, but iMac, iLife, iPhoto, iTunes, iPod et al lay the foundation for the use of the term iPhone.
As noted during the unveiling of the iPhone the killer application for a phone is in fact making phone calls. The seemless way in which iPhone handles incoming calls and conference calling is unique. I know that I struggle to manage such features on my current cell phone and I look forward to the ease of doing this with iPhone.
There are, however, some features clearly missing from this killer app - voice dialing in particular. I doubt that the feature set is complete and possibly by the time June rolls around and units are shipping the ability to add a voice dial to contacts will have emerged. I think this is one feature basic to most phones today that the iPhone - claiming to be the easiest cell to use - lacks.
Calls certainly are the killer application for a phone. So although the UI is revolutionary and the ease of conferencing is amazing, I wonder where the ability to call mom by simply saying "mom" has gone? I suppose the issue is with, ironically, the lack of plastic buttons. On a normal cell you simply hit call and then speak the name. On the iPhone you actually would first need to select the phone THEN connect - which means voice dialing would require twice as much of the user as on a traditional cell phone. Voice Dialing could potentially be it's own icon on the bottom row but that breaks the mold of what that row is all about.
Anyone else think the iPhone could be the Sony PSP killer as well? I found it interesting that during the unveiling of the iPhone at MacWorld 2007 the market for cell phones was discussed and Steve Jobs made note of several markets:
Digital Cameras
MP3 players
PC's
Mobile Phones
and
Gaming Consoles
I don't think this was an accident. Why mention gaming consoles if the iPhone is not destined to become one of these as well? All the other categories mentioned are covered by the iPhone - it has a built-in 2 Megapixel camera, is a fully functional iPod, carries desktop quality applications running on OS X and is obviously a phone.
I can play some stupid games on my iPod now, but what about the capabilities of the iPhone in landscape mode as a handheld game machine running on OS X?
Keep your eyes and ears open - this could be one of the things they intend to do!
The screen is gorgeous with 3.5 inches of high resolution (320 by 480 at 160 ppi) graphics with the same native graphics handling as OS X. This compare with the Sony PSP resolution of 480 by 272.
It is foreseeable that iTunes could carry downloadable games for the iPhone in addition to the obvious ringers they are certain to carry.
Apple has a habit of changing the way we do things. Steve Jobs in his keynote address made mention of three devices that Apple Inc. has brought to the market that have changed things forever: the mouse, the click wheel and now multi-touch.
There are of course concerns about any touch screen device such as smearing, smudging and scratching, but you can bet the world class engineering Apple has become known for will deliver a screen that is beyond anything else previously built. Though the demonstration doesn't give us a chance to actually use the multi-touch it did wow the crowd at MacWorld to see images being resized with the "pinch".
When I took a look at the so-called "smartphones" currently on the market and I watched how Jobs was seemlessly going from phone to web to music in his demonstration I realized this convergence is going to tear apart the competition.
Although the UI truly is revolutionary I think it will be the convergence rather than the multi-touch that will spawn sales. The UI seems to make it possible to have this device capable of so many things (another post on speculation of what may be yet to come will be written soon) that another phone simply cannot do. As I watched the keynote I went to send a TXT message to somebody and laughed as I realized that Apple has once again "gotten it" and will be providing yet another revolution: Apple Style.
Steve Jobs is an absolute genius. If I were able to invite three people to dinner he'd be one of them. I have always enjoyed watching him and have further enjoyed watching the company he co-founded struggle against the tide of conservative stuffed suit mindsets with lack of innovation.
I remember when he was ousted by the fellow from Pepsi (John Sculley) and I thought then how tragic it was that the visionary behind this company was being lost. It was many years later that Jobs returned to Apple to regain his seat as CEO. Today, with the introduction of the iPhone I have to believe that Jobs must be feeling on top of the world.
For some time there has been speculation about what an Apple phone might be, but I don't think anyone imagined the depth this new product offers. The feature set, technology, pricing and network are all worth looking at in depth as well as some of the features that were not addressed in the MacWorld KeyNote Address earlier today.
There will be plenty of speculation about the apps, the battery life, the user experience ... until we all have one in our hands - but given Jobs' penchant for putting the industry on notice and thrilling the user base I expect to see Jobs lead Apple Inc. and the rest of us into a new world altogether.
For those fortunate enough to work in the Mac world (and I am not yet one of them) and those who groove with the telltale white earplugs (I am one of those) I think our man has delivered well beyond the expectations and rumors of what an Apple phone might be.
We will be taking apart the keynote over the next several days and looking at each aspect of this amazing gadget as well as the other products the folks in Cuppertino have created.
What's your take? Will iPhone be the revolution it intends?
iPhone is the revolutionary gadget the brilliant folks at Apple have brought to bear on the cell phone market. Part widescreen video iPod, part gorgeous cell phone and part internet appliance this device will be THE MUST HAVE device for years to come.
AlliPhones.com offers a place to discuss iPhones and the other products Apple offers.
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