And the reality slowly sets in about what the
iPhone is and is not. Noted analyst and Engadget pal Michael Gartenberg stated that the iPhone is first party software ONLY -- i.e. not a smartphone by conventional terms, being that a smartphone is a platform device that allows software to be installed. That means hungry power-users -- you know, those people ready and willing to plunk down $600 for an 8GB musicphone -- won't be able to extend the functionality of their phone any more than Apple (but thankfully not Cingular) dictates. Other unfortunate realities about the device:
- No 3G. We know you know, but still, it hurts man.
- No over the air iTunes Store downloads or WiFi syncing to your host machine.
- No expandable memory.
- No removable battery.
- No Exchange or Office support.
posted Jan 9th 2007 9:41PM
so...it's a DUMBPHONE?
O2 XDA NEO cost me about $800 bucks. If O2 released something like this it would be well over a Grand. It runs unix, it will be hacked it will work with exchange server and I will be the first in line. Heck my old crappy Dell Axim cost me almost $500 bucks and wasn't even a phone.
Apple has always been willing to live or die "by its own hands," rather than relying on others to provide functionality. Be it the iPod or the Newton, Apple has a vision that it achieves without relying on 3rd party support, without laying blame elsewhere for failures, and richly deserving success when it comes.
I'd rather have an iPhone, with Apple-designed hardware and UI, than some "smart phone" having hardware by company X, OS by company Y and add-ins by company Z, where X blames Y and Y says call Z and maybe they can provide an answer as to why my "smart phone" crashes everytime I to use the thing the way they all promised it would work.
actually sony mylo pwns this. add an 8gb memory stick and its probably still cheaper. and its got skype.
Sharp needs to make a zaurus phone.
"won't be able to extend the functionality of their phone" What more do you need it to do?? the iphone is perfect. I'm just afraid of what Cingular's monthly charge will be for a calling plan and data.
"We plan to make 3G phones and all sorts of amazing things in the future"
-Steve Jobs
"We are really proud at Yahoo to be partnering with Apple on not only the Yahoo IMAP e-mail... but also on a whole variety of other services. One of the things that we are also going to be doing with Apple is launching services that we announced this week--Yahoo Go and Yahoo One Search--and hopefully we can get One Search... onto this phone."
-Jerry Yang
There you have it!
"won't be able to extend the functionality of their phone any more than Apple (but thankfully not Cingular) dictates."
This guy is an idiot. like any other smart or whatever you want to categorize it phone, there WILL be third party apps that won't be dictated by APPLE and apple is pleased by this like they are with all great third party apps.
SMARTPHONE: A smartphone or sphone is any electronic handheld device that integrates the functionality of a mobile phone, personal digital assistant (PDA) or other information appliance.
Many say this is a smart phone which
Michael Gartenberg should think before he makes dumb comments
So the million dollar question for me is - what's so great about it?
3G on a GSM phone requires 2 radios, one for voice and one for data. Therefore I predict that the 3G version of the iPhone will be thicker, in order to accommodate a bigger battery. Let's hope it also has an SD card slot.
Yes, but does it play Doom?
Wait, it has Wi-Fi but you can't use it to sync to the host computer?
WTF? That's just stupid.
"My main grip would be GPS functuality. They already put so much in here in such a slim package, but how cool would it be to use google maps live!"
WITH CINGULAR'S EDGE SERVICE - YOU COULD ACTUALLY USE GOOGLE MAPS LIVE AS LONG AS YOU ARE IN RANGE OF A CELL TOWER_ So It's Partially There_
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"I think the that the software "con" really isn't all that big. Apple likes to expand their products and I'm sure they will have software availible, albiet from Apple only probably."
NOT SURE IF YOU UNDERSTAND WHAT HAVING THE iPhone RUN OS X MEANS - BUT SIMPLY THEY PORTED UNIX TO A CELL PHONE [specifically the Mac OS] - WHICH IS TOTALLY CUSTOMIZEABLE INSIDE AND OUT_ THIS MAKES THE iPhone EVEN MORE CUSTOMIZEABLE THAN ALMOST ANY OTHER HANDHELD AVAILABLE NOW_ IN THEORY WE CAN SLAP THINGS LIKE THE MAC VERSION OF 'MS Office" ON THERE OR PHOTOSHOP OR WHATEVER WE WANT_
.
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"All things being equal, considering Apple has never made a phone before, this seems like a pretty impressive first effort."
I HAVE TO AGREE HERE -- MAKES THE ZUNE LOOK EVEN MORE STUPID -- ESPECIALLY SINCE MICROSOFT HAS A LARGER PILE OF CASH FOR R&D -- VISTA SO FAR IS CRAP AT BEST -- SPENDING 5 OR 6 YEARS DEVELOPING SOMETHING THAT IS WATERED DOWN AND BUGGY AS HELL_
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"As usual Steve`s minions get sucked in to the Reality Distortion Field(RDF(Reality Distortion Field) is the idea that Steve Jobs is able to convince people to believe almost anything with a skillful mix of charm, charisma, slight exaggeration, and clever marketing"
SORRY BUDDY BUT IF YOU THINK MICROSOFT AND LITTLE BILLY GATES IS ANY DIFFERENT THAN WHAT YOU SAY ABOUT Steve Jobs -- THEN YOU WERE SUCKED IN LONG BEFORE NOW_
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"And now that Apple has put it out, the price will EVENTUALLY come down and"
THE ONLY PROBLEM WITH THIS IS IF APPLE FOLLOWS SUIT WITH IT'S OWN TRACK RECORD -- WE'LL NEVER SEE A VERSION OF THIS FALL MUCH UNDER $300 or $400 BUCKS IN THE LONG RUN -- Unlike When the RAZR Came Out - It Started At $500 - And Now You Can Buy One Get One Free For $50_ I'LL SHOW UP AT WORK NAKED FOR A WEEK IF THIS THING EVER DROPS THAT LOW_
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"engadget dissing one of the best gadgets ever, who would have thunk it?!"
I'M GONNA LAUGH MY ARSE OFF - IF THE iPhone ENDS UP HITTTING THE GROUND RUNNING AND MAKES A BIGGER SPLASH THAN THE MIGHTY ZUNE FROM M$_
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"It's obvious that you will be able to add additional widgets by the intial display there's room for more icons"
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PEOPLE -- REGARLESS OF THE SPACE ALLOWING FOR ONLY 5 MORE ICONS -- THERE IS THIS INVENTION THAT HAS BEEN AROUND SINCE THE START OF THE PERSONAL COMPUTER - CALLED UM -- SCROLLING_
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"What's the screen size and resolution on this thing anyway?"
DID YOU WATCH THE KEYNOTE ?? 3.5" DIAGONAL 166ppi [that's points per inch] -- BASICALLY ONE OF THE HIGHEST RES SCREENS EVER TO GRACE THE SURFACE OF A DEVICE THAT SIZE_ For More Info On This goto www.Apple.com_
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"I don't even need to mention the price. What phone has *ever* been successful at $500 minimum? What PMP? What iPod, for that matter?"
THIS IS EASY -- THE ORIGINAL iPod WAS - Hmm - $500_ WAIT A MINUTE - WAS IT A SUCCESS ?? YES IT WAS_ -- THE Motorola RAZR Came Out at - Hmm - $500_ WAIT A MINUTE - WAS THIS TOO A SUCCESS ?? I THINK SO_ ALSO MOST MAJOR HIGH-END PDA's WHEN THEY 1ST CAME 5-6 YEARS AGO WERE VERY EASILY HITTING THIS PRICE RANGE OR MORE_
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"people are going to look at it a bit more objectively and realize it's an alpha product that's not really ready for prime time."
AS I SAID ABOVE -- AS AN ALPHA PRODUCT - IT'S A HELL OF A LOT BETTER THAN MicroSoft's OFFERING OF THE Zune_
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"and probably a better camera"
SHOW ME ANY OTHER PHONE OUT THERE - THAT HAS ANYTHING BETTER THAN A BUILT IN 2.0megapixel CAMERA [much less - for half that price]
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"Outlook is the most popular contact manager on the market,"
WATCH WHAT YOU SAY - IT'S THE MOST WIDELY USED - NOT THE MOST POPULAR - I HEAR MORE COMPLAINTS ABOUT IT THAN I DO COMPLIMENTS ALL THE TIME AS A TECH SUPPORT SPECIALIST_
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"it took them forever to come out with the new airport extreme"
UM -- 802.11n IS NOT A SET STANDARD YET -- AND IT'S ONLY BEEN RELEASED IN THE PAST FEW MONTHS -- THERE ARE MAYBE 4 DEVICES ON THE MARKET THE CURRRENTLY SUPPORT IT_
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"and near desktop-like the OS on this phone was"
NOT NEAR DESKTOP-LIKE -- DESKTOP-CLASS APPS_
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"Mainly what I am asking is can this be used outside of Cingular's data transmission rates"
DID ANY OF YOU PEOEPL WATCH THE KEYNOTE OR PAY ATTENTION -- IT COMES WITH WIRELESS B and G CAPABILITY -- THIS MEANS YOU DON'T HAVE TO USE CINGULAR TO CONNECT TO THE INTERNET -- MERELY ACCEESS AN EXISTING ISP VIA THE 802.11b/g NETWORK CONNECTION_
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"As for flash memory, we are currently limited by the market - as we progress we'll see these numbers double/triple/etc, as with everthing. SD support would be nice though (side note: there's a slot on the side that looks like SD, anyone know what it might actually be?)"
THE 1ST Gen RAZR MIGRATED FROM SIMs TO SD CARDS - THIS COULD VERY EASILY DO THE SAME THING_ BUT IT ALSO HAS A 4gb and 8gb DRIVE AND 802.11b/g AND BLUETOOTH -- SO WHY ADD THE REDUNDANT SD CARD ??
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SEEMS LIKE MANY OF YOU NEED TO GO BACK AND WATCH THE KEYNOTE AND TAKE NOTES -- A LOT OF THESE ISSUES ARE ANSWERED_
WE PROBABLY WILL GET SOME STATEMENT IN THE NEAR FUTURE ABOUT THE "...ONE MORE THING" CAMPAIGN STEVE JOBS TYPICALLY DOES -- HE AHS BROKEN IT UP IN THE PAST_
BOOHOO -- APPLE MESSED UP THE iPod -- THEN DON'T BUY ONE -- GET OVER YOURSELVES_
100% agreeing with you. Apple is hurting a beautiful product with this whole phone thing.
The features they've shown demonstrate that phone calls are (or should be) a small subset of its features. Thus, shouldn't it be more like a PDA (except with a more trendy name?). The phone contract should be optional.
Lots of sudden bits popping out that are a bit ugly. I thought the small hard drive would be made up for by WiFi (and thus, /presumably/!! iTunes on the go)... but no.
The thing will be hacked soon after release, and then Apple will be quite sorry when people start /pirating/ music on the go since they can't buy it from iTunes.
No removable battery is unacceptable for something this expensive. The iPod they could get away with it because the thing is still just below the "very expensive portable device" range... at this point, it is in the PS3 range. Just buying a new one is out of the question, and I for one would not want to risk opening the back, so the only choice is presumably expensive battery replacements by Apple.
I know it's unfortunate, but I am really hoping that people be very cautious about this thing and don't just blindly buy it because of flashy interfaces or the Apple logo. It may be a good idea to wait a bit and pressure Apple to add some of those missing features. (For example, if it simply "runs Mac OS X", as Steve claims, then why no 3rd party support? /Why/ no iTunes?).
Maybe a lot of this will be cleared up in a good way, and it probably will, but for now I am very cautious.
It's pretty early to be drawing many conclusions. It's not shipping for 6 months and the specs are bound to change slightly. Just because it wasn't mentioned in the keynote doesn't mean it doesn't exist.
I look forward to owning a phone that doesn't suck. That's where the bar was set and they cleared it easily.
they had me for half a second... but with all of these missing features of a real cell phone, the terrible battery life and the enormus cost, it seems like my razr will do just fine for quite some time until they can get features out that seem to be a little more pertinent then that categorized voicemail or ipod on board... they got a start to a great product but its not complete they need to start selling them first and see the feedback and then i think changes will happen quickly.... possibly a v2 of the Iphone by second quater of next year announced
Wow, I love all the denial here.
Go check Macintouch. They asked Apple if the phone would have a third party developer kit. Apple said no, the phone is a closed unit. No SDK. If you want to develop for it, you have to contact Apple (i.e. be a big corporation like Yahoo).
People are so quick to harp onto apple for doing what they do. So many people bark with the "well with my phone i can do this and that" arguement or complain about the product? WHO ASKED YOU? and why are you trying to criticize it? are you jealous?So what if people are amazed with the product. So what if people think its great. So what if it doesn't have the specs you have. PC fanboys FTL. I'm not necessarily a mac fanboy..but geeze give it a break, its like someone comes out with a great new product with great marketing, and people whine and complain. I'm sure if it were someone like HP or Motoral, everyone would love it. Yes you might have had a product that does what this does 3 years ago, want a cookie? Let it be. Obviously, they've got plans up their sleeves, and they know what they're doing. You're not a CEO, you aren't developing it.. so HUSH! Until you create a phone of your own, stop your fussing.
What we're criticizing isn't the device so much as all the people that think its the best thing since sliced bread when it is just a pretty rehash of stuff that was around years ago...
I'll tell you what - if that's your cup of tea - I have an old BetaMax VCR I can sell you for $500 that has a nice glossy white exterior...
Wait I thought the keynote showed that you could get email to the iPhone through IMAP
The specs aren't going to change in the next 6 months. The reason why he announced it today is because the phone is basically done, they just need to submit it to the FCC and get it approved, which is a time consuming task. They won't be able to change any of the specs once submitting their application for approval.
At least it's better than a ZunePhone: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WRLRjKCGHek
My favorite thing about new Apple products are how people need to take the time to list the seven reasons they won't buy one, but if it did have those seven features they would likely list seven different features they think are missing. Hey if the smartphone you have now works great, then don't buy one of these.
In my case I've never met a phone that I liked and when the iPhone was still nothing but a rumor I had no interest. I like my iPod. I didn't want a phone mucking it up.
But, after seeing it...how it looks like it won't be annoying to use and could actually change how phones are designed going forward I wouldn't mind having one. That said I agree with the person who wishes for an iPhone without the phone parts. That was what I wanted to see announced today.
Please, please give me a 30gb+ iPhone without the phone.
I think, ultimately, after reading all the articles and comments, I'll just wait for a gen2 on the iPhone front, and a widescreen iPod on the iPod front.
After remembering the gen1 iPod I'm really not sure if it's worth $600 just to have a better one next year... and I'm hoping that Steve might still put out a widescreen, 30gb iPod... Altho from a business standpoint I guess that would discourage people from making the jump to iPhone... which means in terms of good business they probably won't put out a widescreen iPod at all and just improve/update the iPhone once a year :-(
I guess what it comes down to is: get an iPod now, wait a year or 2 on the iPhone.
Five pages, and no one gives any props to that Magritte reference photo tag? Come on guys, I know we're all geeks here, but have a little class.
ce n'est pas un commentaire
It also appears that there is not a flash for the camera.
Now Microsoft is going to have to squeeze vista onto a cell phone! With Aero! Haw-haw!
It does EVERYTHING i need and then some. I want a dozen of 'em NOW! I would have paid DOUBLE the price. Besides - I know APPLE will continue to develop this thing and over the next couple years it will become a full blown computer for sure! Flash drive - photoshop - 3G- everything... I believe in APPLE all the way. RIght now I have to carry two different phones just to do email and some rinky dink version of websurfing. Either that or become a microsoft fanboy which is NEVER going to happen. APPLE rocks - period.
Apple knows what they're doing. These functions could have been added in, but why would people buy the next version 6-9 months down the line for the same price or more. Apple has perfected the art of bleeding their consumers of their income by making changes bit by bit to insure they return and plunk down their money and Apple Fans are blindly assimilated.
Jeff said, and I replied:
"I mean, Jesus Christ, my free Samsung A707 is better than this!"
Tell you what, you get ahold of an iPhone on launch day for me and I'll pick up an A707 for you and we'll trade. You come out on top.
"How are you supposed to dial when you're standing in a dark parking lot or a car at night?"
Apple introduced a new feature with the iPhone's display they're calling a "BackLight." I'm sure it'll show up in all sorts of things before too long.
"And how the hell are you supposed to use that fancy web browser with freakin' EDGE?"
Yep, it is pretty slow. That's why I'll be using the buit-in Wi-Fi unless I'm in the middle of nowhere.
"That screen is gonna get scratched, it's gonna get fingerprints, it's even gonna break unless you baby it. You're gonna need a case, which means you can't carry it in your pocket, which means you can't hear or feel it when it rings."
I'd be interested to see the complete results of this usability and durability study you performed for Apple. If you'll notice, the entire surface of the iPhone seems to be a single layer of hard plastic ... not a traditional flex or glass touch screen surrounded by a separate bezel. I have had zero hands-on time with it, just like you, but I doubt it's nearly as fragile as you claim given the unusual design.
"It needs expandable memory."
What the hell type of memory would you use to expand significantly on an EIGHT GIGABYTE mobile phone, and what the hell type of phone are you using now that 8GB is not up to par? Got a few extra 16GB CompactFlash cards laying around? Even the 4GB iPhone is rockin' more memory than most other phones' "expanded" capacities.
"It needs a protected screen."
Again, we'll see. Something tells me they probably thought of that.
"It's a 2004-era pseudo-smartphone"
Please. Show me ONE ... ANY 2004 smartphone with a widescreen, full color touch display, 4GB or 8 GB memory, EDGE, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth 2.0, a quality first-party music player and an embedded BSD operating system. That's a baldfaced lie, and it's enough to make me wonder who paid you to post here.
Do I have plenty of apprehension about the iPhone? Sure, such as wondering what "iPhone runs OS X" really means, and exactly what exciting and/or disappointing things we'll learn about it over the next 5 months. But my biggest wonder is how much I'll be able to get for my Treo 650 ... and what the hell your problem is with Apple.
gm80 says "Please. Show me ONE ... ANY 2004 smartphone with a widescreen, full color touch display, 4GB or 8 GB memory, EDGE, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth 2.0, a quality first-party music player and an embedded BSD operating system."
Let's see, how about the Zaurus 6000W? How does that stack up?
A widescreen? Check.
Full color touch display? VGA in fact, check.
4GB or 8 GB memory? It has a CF slot, and an SD slot, so sure, you could actually put 12GB in it at one time, and a limitless potential amount of storage if you swap out cards.
EDGE? Nope.
Wi-Fi, Bluetooth? Check!
A quality first-party music player? Well, I don't see why it being first-party makes it any better, but it runs Linux, so there are one or two pretty good open source music players. I call that a check.
Embedded BSD operating system? Nope Linux, which has more support, and more free software than BSD. I call that check+!
Yeah, your right, the addition of EDGE to a 2004 PDA makes all the difference in the world! How could I ever doubt the genius of Apple? Nothing like this has ever been seen before by mere mortals.
Or, let's go the other way. How about the other way, and look at the Clié UX?
A widescreen? Check!
Full color touch display? Check!
4GB or 8 GB memory? One MemoryStick, so only 4GB at any one time, but you can swap sticks. So, check!
EDGE? Nope.
Wi-Fi, Bluetooth? Check!
A quality first-party music player? Check!
Embedded BSD operating system? Nope, just the handheld OS with the most applications.
Once again, yeah, your right, the addition of EDGE to a 2004 PDA makes all the difference in the world! How could I ever doubt the genius of Apple? Nothing like this has ever been seen before by mere mortals.
I could go and dig up a PocketPC from 2004 that fit all the criteria except for BSD and EDGE too, but I think you get the picture.
Wow, they are innovative at Apple! No one else has ever named their handheld OS "OSX" before, so it must be an amazing invention that Apple did! How could we ever doubt them.
Put 3G in before it hits Europe and I'll buy it!
Um. How was he able to send an email (with picture) and maintain a call if the phone isn't 3G? Unless it was being done of WiFi...
Yeah, I wondered the same... my guess is WiFi, or it was a mock up and the cable was delivering other "things" over the wire. It wouldn't surprise me if that were the case to boost reliability during the keynote.
I find it funny that people actually believe Jobs that the iPhone runs OSX, and so claims that it should be able to do everything. Unfortunately, knowing how much of a resource hog OSX is, it is almost definite that we're looking at a OSX Mobile, as someone mentioned. I expect a Jobs/Apple statement in the near future to qualify this, or else we can expect lawsuits from people who bought the iPhone and expect to run full OSX software on it.
This will also determine whether there will be 3rd party software for it; if the iPhone really runs OSX, then it's very much possible, and would make one wonder why Jobs didn't mention this in his Keynote. If it's really OSX Mobile, this platform could be very well closed, unless Apple does release a developer kit.
Personally, I think the iPhone should be appreciated for what it is; a slick multimedia phone with PIM functions. I think this is enough for the general public.
Beautiful device with a bunch of great features and some serious drawbacks. I love the large touch screen designed for "fingering" and the way the everything works as a unit. I think that the device will operate seamlessly compared to Windows Mobile devices.
Unfortunately, there are too many drawbacks for me to buy this device.
3G is a must. Also, I should be able to use the phone to connect my laptop to the Internet as well (and at 3G speeds).
Put in a Mini or Micro SD slot for crying out loud!
With the short battery life I need to be able to carry a spare battery.
The "no Exchange or Office support" is a deal breaker. I have to have my contacts, email, calendar, and tasks sync'd directly with Exchange. Also, push email is a big plus.
It needs built-in GPS, or at minimum the ability to leverage a Bluetooth GPS receiver. The GPS directions should be audible and should automatically re-route you based on current traffic conditions.
Select 3rd party apps would be really nice. I hate feeling "locked in" to a specific set of functionality. Apple should allow for 3rd party apps and even have a testing and certification process so that they ensure that the 3rd party app doesn't screw up or slow down the device. It would be well worth Apple's time to have "Apple certified" 3rd party applications.
If it had all these features, I have no issue with the $599 price. Without these features it's not even worth $299 to me....
Blackberry has most of these shortcomings covered and cost is around $300 rather than $500 for something that looks cool and sounds cool but is unproven. If touchscreen is so right, it would have been done by an existing cell phone manufacturer already. Nice music player and video player but as a phone, I doubt it. I think I'll stick with my current Blackberry Pearl or a new version of the Blackberry as it comes out. Can't beat the battery life of a BB. Wifi and GPS is said to be coming out next. Check out blackberrycool.com for news on supposed new models. The biggest problem is the sticker shock and lack of removeable battery with this iPhone. If I need to make a phone call, I need to make a phone call by pulling out my charged backup battery. Who normally buys a $500 phone except for phone geeks.
Hmmmm... Somehow it feels like Apple had invitet a few guys over from Nokia, to show them how to mess things up - real good.
How can they with any reason not include these things? And the fact that you can't install 2nd part software?!? You can't change the battery yourself... Oh my God!
I see it as a new fancy iPod, with phone and internet (Safari... yeah right) possibilities.
Only thing that can make me dance a little bit, is that touch screen and the fact that it's only 11,6 mm thick.
Thumbs down from me.
Get your French right.
This phone is looking very nice... trumps most everything out there on many levels, hardware and software-wise... but...
... a few rants...
1.) This phone needs full fledge GPS with voice prompts. No GPS largely makes Google maps pointless. What good is that if you don't happen to know what street you're on or what the cross roads are? Are we going to drive or walk all over like a bunch of idiots looking at street signs? Sometimes in rural areas there are no street signs or cross roads for a long stretches.
The whole point of having maps is to help us get to where we want to go, and without GPS to help us know where we're at, this is going to largely be a worthless aspect of this phone. And without voice prompts, we won't be able to use it while driving, which is a shame.
Some people may not agree with this, and that's fine, but I don't care. GPS is something I and a lot of other people need and want, and with a handful of GPS phones on the horizon, for $600+ and a wait until June, this phone better have it, or it's going to be a deal breaker for me and many others, no matter how cool it is.
2.) No WiFi syncing? No wireless downloads from iTunes? I don't get it. The whole point of wireless is to get rid of the wires. No one wants wires when they can do things wirelessly. You'd think they'd understand this especially considering that they're offering a wireless BT earpiece and a wireless device. Jobs criticized the Zune for its WiFi implementation, but then doesn't offer one of the most obvious applications of WiFi there could be besides wireless internet access: syncing.
Now if you have a full fledge browser on your phone, then it seems silly that you couldn't go to the iTunes store and purchase and download content right to the device - maybe this is because GPRS/EDGE isn't fast enough to allow for a smooth experience... maybe we'll see this with v2 of this phone when 3G networks are more established and prices for those services have dropped. But no WiFi syncing? Total boneheaded blunder there.
3.) The biggest mistake they could have made with this device is not allowing third-party applications. Wow. That's just galactically stupid there. Why would you port such a powerful OS to a wireless device and then not offer the ability to expand its functionality a bit? If I'm spending that much money on a phone, I better be able to load other productivity apps, reference apps, games, and whatever else. This is the genius behind Windows Mobile - you can make the device whatever you choose it to be. I love the accelerometer and so forth in the iPhone - very cool - but if I can't store my files, if I can't play a few games, if I can't have apps that allow me to learn about or reference things or pursue some of my hobbies, then it's a no go.
Some people could say we can look things up on the internet. But you may not always have coverage, and with GPRS and EDGE, this is going to be slow and clunky to say the least. People need to be able to look up things locally on the device itself. I don't always want to be jacked into the internet everytime I want to look something up, or reference something, or play a game.
Total oversight there.
Those are my gripes about this phone. Everything else I really like. Maybe they'll rectify these shortcomings with the next version. And you know Apple... they'll have a second version by Christmas. OK, maybe not that soon. They better rectify those things.
One thing that's a real shame, is that they're not offering a touchscreen iPod outside of this iPhone device. The fact that the only way you can have a new iPod (AFAIK), is if you spend a ton of money for an iPhone, is a real shame. Many people want to have a touchscreen iPod, but won't want to have to buy a $600 iPhone just to get that.
If they don't, they'll kill the iPod. Otherwise, they're going to have to depend on a LOT of people wanting to not only spend $400-$600 or more on a new iPhone, but these customers are going to have to sign up on a two year contract with Cingular, which they may not want to do.
Which brings me to my next question? Where the heck is T-Mobile in all of this? T-MO - WAKE UP!!! Get your head out of the sand and get some new devices besides cheap crap! Cingular has everything and you guys are asleep at the wheel!
A lot of people are probably asking whether this iPhone will even be available for purchase as an unlocked device so people on T-Mo can use it.
This iPhone is very chic, but it's not what I'll be spending my money on. No third party apps and no GPS are complete deal breakers for me. And I'm not interested in Cingular.
It seems to me that this product will sell like hotcakes regardless of the lack of 3G (which I don't even know why I would want 3G). I don't like cell phones. I have an old Nokia 3360 which I keep for emergencies only.
I have been reading post after post about how it doesn't have this and that and it's dead in the water. Now although some claims about the timing of this thing (to be released in June) and the lack of 3G are certainly valid, Apple usaually does a great job of selling what the consumer should need (thats a problem and a blessing).
Also note that coming from years of ipod discussions with the lack of memory slot, removable battery, no FM, and a slew of other stuff that competitors couldn't imagine releasing without, are all left in the dust. This is what it means to think different and many of you, after reading your gripes, seem to come from what you know of the cellphone industry and have accepted the cellphone as a gadget and/or business needs with the stablished norms that go with it. Take for example the lack of a keyboard => a lot of you cannot understand the cellphone without a keyboard concept! you have half the phone face surface that is not usable except for typing...having that touchscreen on the iphone allows full use of the screen when the keypad is not in use which is a pretty amazing way to be efficient when trying to converge applications/devices which is does well (yet the competitors have sliders, flipcases, nokia has this N-series things which looks like a female medical tool that are plain awkward).
The reason I am drooling over the phone is after viewing the video demos on the apple site, it basically has everything I need and does it in amazing slickness and ease. Take for examples the accelerometer that switches between landscape/portrait automatically, use of various wdigets out there, the user-interface, the proximity sensor that turns (or dims?) the screen when held close to your ear, widescreen video, etc...
Has Apple trained me to give up memory slots and removable batteries? yes. I remember a time when I looked at them funny when I fooled around with my buddies Ipod but they have removed that need after using and understanding that I do not need it. Ask yourself why you even had that need in the first place?
I am TRULY amazed!!!! Not with the iPhone, but with the mentality of people posting here. It seems to me that most people weren't paying attention during the keynote and/or only watched a portion of the keynote and just decided the iPhone is crippled. WTF?
I think no matter WHAT features Apple put in there, people would be bitching. Just on here, some say too many features, some say too little. If it came with 3g and made coffee in the morning, some people would say "yeah but it doesn't have a flatbed scanner built in!!! Its worthless!"
I hate cell phones, but love them at the same time. I love the convenience of having a phone with me at all times, but can't stand crappy designs and horrible UI's. The iPhone is truly amazing. Gorgeous UI, Camera, iPod, and the Internet!!!! This is THE CONVERGENCE DEVICE I've been waiting for!!!! I mean... seriously.. This thing looks like something out of Star Trek.
One thing I'd really like to point out that a lot of people seem to miss. The internet. (hear me out) It seems that people are forgetting that you have a ton of applications that are web based. IE AJAX write. So yeah, you can edit/create word docs. Also, most corporate users can get to their email via the web too via webmail. It always amazes me that people will work for a company for years and not know they can check their email from any internet connection. Call your helpdesk.. most of them will tell you. And guess what, you can get to a web based version of outlook. Nevermind the fact that Steve absolutely, positively said "IMAP and POP3" hence exchange.
Oh and just so you all know... Apple's Stock went up 8% .....yeah.... EIGHT PERCENT in ONE DAY!!! So yeah, bitch all you want about "No 3rd party apps" or whatever else you wanna bitch about but most people dont seem to care and Im one of them. What did all the other smartphone companies stock do? Yep... you guessed it. It went down. Actually, you probably did NOT guess that because you're so jaded, but whatever.
I'll tell you what... lets bookmark this thread and come back to it in 8 months and see where we are with it and who was right and who is wrong.
OMG,
This whole post is one big troll. Way to go, Ryan. (Did you even watch the Keynote?) Nothing you've regurgitated is factual, save this:
"No 3G. We know you know, but still, it hurts man."
Nothing. Gee, well done.
This is what I just don't understand - why do people get all excited about a device that can't even do everything my PDAPhone from 3-4 years ago could do? My first 'smartphone' - and it wasn't even the first out there - was the Motorola MPx200:
Removable Media: Check
Removabile Battery: Check
Video Playback: Check
Office functionality: Check
Wireless Internet/Email: Check
Audio Playback: Check
I can't remember if it had bluetooth or not, but if it didn't it was because Bluetooth was not yet widespread, and my MPx220 added that. Why are people so excited about what is ultimately already outdated technology?
Steve even said that while these features are not new, they are redesigning them. The comptuer wasn't new, Apple made it better. MP3 players were not new, Apple made it better...get the idea?
The biggest "miss" is 3G access with iChat AV. Thats the killer app. How did they miss that?!?
ALSO - why on earth are people comparing the iPhone to the Zune? The Zune is a direct competitor to the iPod (both stupidly deficient devices in my opinion). The iPhone is more of a 'competitor' to the plethora of smartphone/PDAPhones out there - and as usual for Apple - comes up woefully short on everything but the marketing hype.
It is a bit curious that Apple has an oddly asymmetrical main menu. Looks to me that expansion is probable. Did anyone notice that there also wasn't any demo of the camera on the back either? I'm sure this is a very prototype model, and the SDK may be on its way. (Hopefully!)
iPhone is an awful name.
Very predictable and has so much baggage associated with it in terms of an expected feature set.
As a convergence device that has telephony features, they really should have gone for a name that emphasises the holistic experience as opposed to that one feature. That way, you prepare people to approach the device with a fresh mind and you don't have to break down any stereotypes.
iPod was a good name. At first, you didn't know what the name was about, but it eventually defined itself.
My vote for a new name?
Apple i.
Jeff: "This thing, as it stands, is a friggin' paperweight. I'm sorry, but there it is..."
I'm guessing you were serious when you wrote this diatribe. If so, I'm sorry because you seem to have a VERY narrow interpretation of this product as well as phone services overall. From a complete misunderstanding of the iPhone's features to absolute opposites of actual operations, your analysis is thoroughly flawed. So much so I'm not going to spend the time rebutting item by item.
Thank goodness there will be millions of people who will see and own the beauty of this product compared to the delusional few as you. Enjoy your Samsung flip, chief!!
As for the no Exchange sync, I cant do it.
And before you reply, I'm not talking about accessing Exchange via POP or IMAP. My Treo 700 and Blackberry 8700 syncs Exchange through the air. Although, by doing that, Apple would somewhat recognize Microsoft.