iPhone details uncovered in Sales Training Workbook
By Darren Murph 
posted Jun 9th 2007 6:36AM
posted Jun 9th 2007 6:36AM
- No one-touch dialing (two touches at a minimum)
- Vibrate mode is included
- Voice dialing is not mentioned as a feature, though it's not specifically excluded either
- Users can have a voice conversation whilst browsing the web "when WiFi access is available"
- iPhone users will not be able to conduct IM conversations with instant messaging users
- Emailing videos and pictures are a go, MMS is not supported
- MEdia Mail won't be used for ringtone and answertone downloads
- MEdia Net, MobiTV, and Cellular Video are (unsurprisingly) not available for the iPhone
- iTunes will sync iPhone with the Address Book on Macs or Outlook/Outlook Expess on PCs
- No GPS or TeleNav support, sorry Google hopefuls
Update: It's worth pointing out that only 15 of at least 33 pages have been published so far.
Alright, so we're sure just about everyone has a bone to pick with Apple's first stab at a mobile phone, but it seems like many of these quibbles have already been recognized and accounted for. Namely, it appears that the Apple is already aware that some potential buyers will be clamoring for more than 8GB of onboard storage, yet the recommended "solution" is just a runaround about keeping your excess data stored in iTunes until you absolutely need it (gee, thanks). Furthermore, a blurb concerning the on-screen keyboard for customers used to "real buttons" lends even more legitimacy to the worries that have cropped up already around this questionable "feature." Lastly, don't think the selling agents will act surprised when you question the lack of integrated GPS. They are pre-programmed with a response of "thanks for the feedback, we'll let Apple know of your interest" which insinuates that someone at Cupertino is fully aware of how beneficial this would be (in a second generation?).
Interestingly, Cindynjgirl79 (the source of these leaks) claims to have acquired this information while not being employed by either AT&T or Apple, but we can't help but question the outrightness of her actions which includes posting a picture of herself holding the manual and stamping her email address on every scanned page. Of course, it would certainly be quite the feat if every single scan here was faked, but you can never ignore that minute possibility. So, now that you're in the know, feel free to sound off in comments.
the iphone is going to be a huge disappointment without 3g or gps kinda weak if you ask me I think I'll just stick with my blackberry.......and my se k790
harry K on iPhone June 2007:
the iphone is going to be a huge disappointment without 3g or gps kinda weak if you ask me
CmdrTaco on iPod Oct. 2001:
No wireless. Less space than a nomad. Lame.
--
Looks familiar, except Taco used capitalization and punctuation. See ya in five years.
Engadget should make a new sister site solely for all the iPhone stories.
Also,it looks like they have to persuade their staff that the iPhone is "revolutionary".
Good grief, no MMS! How can they possibly get away with that.
GOOD GRIEF! How did Apple get away with no floppy drive in 1997?!?!?!!!!
Removing a feature sometimes can be a feature to push innovation for a similar service in a better way. Stop crying.
I agree with you on that. A lot of my friends don't have access to email on their phone. MMS, while buggy sometimes, is the only way to send them pictues on the go.
Besides how many people ask for your email address as well when you trade contacts?
Laz: Every cell phone carrier has an MMS e-mail address (10digitphone#@mms.att.net for example) that you can swap pictures with other devices with through e-mail.
I currently have an 8525 on Cingular/AT&T and I've got unlimited MMS, guess how many I've sent? 5 tops? And three of those were in the first week when I was all excited about having it. I don't think you'll be missing much without MMS.
What I don't understand is this, "iPhone users will not be able to conduct IM conversations with IM users". What kind of crap is that? It's MORONIC if they don't include IM tools on the phone, what possible reason could they have for leaving it out?
The only possible excuse is that it will be an early 3rd party app, or an early upgrade you can get.
Either way, I think it's time for me to dump my Apple stock, to rebuy after the release, although I already missed out on that ridiculous temporary swell late last week.
@dleet:
That comparison doesn't apply at all. Hardly anyone used floppies in 1997, and the emergence of other faster/higher capacity/more convenient options such as the internet, CD-Rs, and even Zip disks meant they were obviously on the way out. To the contrary, MMS is presently the de-facto standard for sending pictures, sound and video between devices over the mobile network, and is yet to be superseded by anything significantly better. Making a mobile which doesn't support MMS isn't like making a computer which doesn't have a floppy drive- it's like making one which can't run Microsoft Office. There is no reason to not support MMS.
@Donald:
So if I want to send a picture to someone whose phone doesn't support email (or if I don't know either way- I know people's names and numbers, I don't keep track of what features their phones support!) I have to find out what carrier they're on (which isn't always obvious from the number as people can transfer a number between networks), find out the equivalent email address to forward to their phone as MMS (assuming there is one for every carrier, including outside the US!), hope my email isn't too big or pictures/attachments in the wrong format so it can actually be sent as MMS, and then send it? And if they want to send me one back they need my email as well as my number and have to find an MMS -> email forwarding service? Man, that sounds much more user friendly than the obvious option of just supporting both MMS and email to give you both options, like most other new phones today.
MMS will certainly have to be present for the iPhone that Apple releases in Asia in 2008. They'll never be able to penetrate the market without it. So rest assured, it's coming.
actually dleet, MMS is the future. It seems a bit rudimentary to have to e-mail a picture on your mobile to some one computer. especially for a machine that touts picture,video and music access on your mobile.
Engadget should put most of this on a sister site but trolls, haters, and fanboys are good for business. If you sick of iphone news, don't click the article. Simple right?
Without Outlook Exchange access, this phone will only limit itself to the average joe/jane who has money to burn on expensive phones. One shouldn't have to pay more than $300 for ANY cell phone.
if you want 8 gig or 4 gig flash memory how in the hell do you expect to buy that for 300 or under. if you dont want then dont buy it. try to have a discussion and not just stupid comments
hey greg, seeing as you brought up having a discussion and not being stupid, maybe you shouldn't be stupid. It's okay though, its not your fault you speak without doing your research.
I just purchased a sony ericsson w810i, total cost out of pocket for me, 82 dollars and change. then I got a 4 gig memory card for 75 dollars online. not to mention the sony headphones included are much better quality than the lame excuse for headphones apple provides with their products.
I'll do the math for you.
82 + 75 = 157 for 4 gigs
82 + 75 + 75 = 232 for 8 gigs
Sooner or later people will stop paying top dollar for apple's mediocre junk.
iPhones touchscreen keyboard will be its demise. Unless you are anorexic and your fingers are the size of a PDA stylus.
I doubt it can be a 'huge disappointment' if you know exactly what you're getting...
Not sure why the on-screen keyboard is cited as a "feature" with the quotes round it. Little bit subjective, this report. Isn't it?
"...iPhone users will NOT be able to conduct IM conversations with instant messaging users."
Ouch. Are they gonna wait until after you purchase it to tell you that?
My SE w810i doesn't "support" IMs and yet I do it all the time. My wife sends me a message from her IM applications at my phone number (with a "+1" in front of the number) and I reply via SMS. She replies, I reply.
It's not IM in that I don't see a list of online buddies, but I'm communicating with my buddies all the same. If they're no online when I try to send a SMS.
Now, about that MMS bit.
MMS is broken anyway, IMHO.
People can't MMS from comp to phone or phone to comp (that I'm aware of).
You can't retrieve an MMS that was sent to a different device (i.e. if you grab another phone or are in front of your comp.)
I can't even get correct MMS from people on other carriers. Pictures comes through, video and sound don't.
I'd MUCH rather have that stuff emailed to me.
Here's the caveat. I'm a Mac user, so I'm kinda' used to "work arounds" ;)
Flame on.
Why on earth would you need for the iPhone support IM? Ok ok.. actually it would be great.. especially since Apple SHOWS someone having IM conversations in their demos ads and other videos. But with every major IM provider that I can think of, MSN, Yahoo, AOL etc. They all have webbased apps that you can IM with. With iPhone supporting a full Safari browser, all those Java apps shouldn't be a problem right?
Your W810i does support IM. If you go under the Messaging menu, you will find IM, from which you can configure your IM client.
If you're on AT&T (since you have the W810i), your IMs are billed as SMS.
Dang! I just learned something! :)
I'm so scared of being anally raped on AT&Ts data plan that it never occurred to me to try their IM service. That, and SMS has been bloody easy.
Cindynjgirl79 is a Macrumors reg.?
So I doubt the scans are fake. Shes a big iPhone groupie so to speak.
"iPhone users will not be able to conduct IM conversations with instant messaging users"
Now if iChat is missing then no IMing's and SJ lied about it being a complete OSX OS.
If it does have iChat then the training guide is kinda misleading.
However iChat could be added if Apple makes it downloadable from them only.
"Now if iChat is missing then no IMing's and SJ lied about it being a complete OSX OS."
Yeah, and where's iMovie and Garageband?
First, Apple never promised a complete Mac OS X. Also, there's a distinction between the OS and bundled applications.
@^^^^^
I believe Sir Jobso did specify either at D or another iPhone plug that it "is OSX, just striped down so it can run on a mobile device." That isn't the exact quote, but I do believe he mentioned that and something to the effect that of course it wasn't the same visuals as OSX on traditional Macs, but that the underlying OS was still OSX and that the visual layer had been reworked. I'll look for that quote...
Mike
http://macdailynews.com/index.php/weblog/comments/13800/
First quote box in the article:
http://blog.wired.com/gadgets/2007/05/steve_jobs_ipho.html
Mike
"Yeah, and where's iMovie and Garageband?
First, Apple never promised a complete Mac OS X. Also, there's a distinction between the OS and bundled applications."
iChat is part of OSX. It is included as part of the Operating system, like Mail and iCal.
GarageBand and iMovie are part of iLife, which although is usually bundled with the computers, is not a part of OSX.
Your point is invalid.
The iPhone not having IM features is inexcusable. IM is a very useful and basic features that all "smart" phones should have.
"
Now if iChat is missing then no IMing's and SJ lied about it being a complete OSX OS."
Wrong. He didn't lie about anything. You just made a assumption. He said the iPhone runs OS X. AS in the operating system. iChat is not part of the operating system.
surely the IM need will be catered for by a third party app? there is no reason not to have it on the phone. of course there are online clients that could be used but an integrated solution would be preferable, IMO. Enterprise integration seems pretty poor to me, it seems apple isnt going after the business market so much. The inclusion of an integrated gmail app would be great though. Im sure GPS will be added in a future revision
The sort of phone the iPhone is really up against is the N95 (*bias alert* i own one). another kind-of smartphone. both have wifi, display the web naturally. the key difference is input method, and i think the iphone keyboard is a risky idea that while looking futuristic will be down to individual preference. I have fat thumbs :-(.
Yes, if Stevie feels kind enough to let that 3rd party program though his 'quality assurance service' (more like revenue assurance service)
Does the iPhone support Adobe Flash Lite content? Would the built-in browser be able to view Flash web sites? I don't see it mentioned anywhere at all.
The promo's and info say Safari so I'd assume it include the most recent flash and other plugins, just short of Flip4Mac that is...
;^)... Nuff Said...
Holy isht, I know what you're talking about and just pee'd my pants! Wonder if Steve will mention it Monday?
Does it support third party Voip Applets?
Carmelo Lisciotto
Say what you will. Carriers are having a heart attack thinking of the IPhone jumping off their networks and onto the web. Worse, millions of them...
Does anyone find it odd or inconsistent that the iPhone will have Yahoo push email but not .Mac push email?
Just speculating here, but I think .Mac's days are numbered. I would not be surprised to hear about it being replaced with a like service from Google in the days ahead. There's little reason for Apple to be in this type of business anymore. Again, just my personal speculation.
Thomas
The iPhone will support pop and imap protocols. Your .mac mail will still work with your iPhone.
Ryan,
Thanks for the comment but my point was specifically about PUSH email. The iPhone will support almost all POP and IMAP protocols. Yet they are actually going beyond that with Yahoo email and instead of having "scheduled pulls" they are having Yahoo Mail "pushed" to the device. For those of us that are dependent on Blackberry and also have .Mac accounts it seems weird that Apple would not support push email of its own IMAP service.
The european version will be with UMTS support.
How do you suppose I text?
What is UMTS?
No MMS,no IM...hmmm!!
UMTS is: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/UMTS
iPhone is no way near N95. it's not a smartphone. it's lack of 3rd-party. apple deliver a platform that works like the existing iPods, so some software will likely never show up. and no 3G no wifi, what a marvellous masterpiece.
only if you knew what you were talkin about...it has wifi, you idiot
Nice call Will. Also, your claim of a lack of third-party support isn't entirely true either. It's speculated that Apple will release the developer kit at WWDC on Monday which means new apps are soon to follow. Even though Apple will regulate them, I sincerely doubt an application which can support external bluetooth GPS devices for iPhone, for example, would be blocked by Apple.
The Google Maps app for Blackberry which I use now doesn't currently support GPS but I do know that Google is working on getting it included. RIM has their own mapping application that does support GPS and they've just recently released their SDKs so a third party application with GPS support can't be far away if it hasn't arrived already. This will be the same case for the iPhone assuming Apple does release the dev kits.
do NOT buy this phone. It doesn't even have high speed data... it's crippled. Wait for iPhone: part deux.
no mms? this is probably a fake, why would apple skip an important feature like mms?
The iPhone is a really exciting product, but I share the concerns about the touch keyboard. Particularly because I've never seen anyone (Jobs or commercials) use it with thumbs. I don't want to have to stab emails out on my phone.
For my purposes, without MS Exchange, the phone may as well not have email access.
I'd bet there are a lot of Blackberry and Windows Mobile users that'd be willing to move over to the iPhone (me for example) that can't unless they start supporting Outlook. Synching contacts is good, but email and calendar is what I want. Plus, we are basically the only cell phone users used to paying hundreds for a phone.
My gen2 wishlist: 3G, GPS, MS Exchange support.
I was a potential iPhone buyer till I read this article. No MMS makes this phone a complete failure, instantly, in my mind.
MMS is just one method of delivering multimedia content to other cellphone users. If they have a robust and incredibly easy to use email platform and (if they) require that you have an unlimited data plan - i don't see what the concern is here.
My point is that in the US, and Australia, where I happen to live, most phones have MMS support -even the ones WITHOUT cameras.
That effectively means that in terms of MMS support (which is an important feature to me), my Bluetooth/wifi-lacking $100 Sony Ericsson K508i is better than the iPhone. Go figure.
Man no MMS and IM, that right there is making me look the other way. Google needs to leak some info on their phone.
Well that stinks. It seems the iPhone is not all that revolutionary. Looks like a really expensive iPod with cell phone functionality. I'll pass.
MR LOGHEAD i phone has wi fi. and besides that why did you compare i phone with the useless n95
Steve Jobs said that this phone will be revolutionary. How can it be if it doesn't even include basic functions that are included on 'worthless' phones? And yet I doubt it will be a failure purely because of one thing: RDF.
You mean that device with GPS built-in, a 5 Megapixel camera and UMTS, so you can REALLY use voice and data at the same time without being tethered to your router.
Oh, that useless device...
"iPhone users will not be able to conduct IM conversations with IM users"
Wait. What? Steve demoed this in January! Did they strip it already? No IM, no MMS... I'll pass.
No, he demonstrated SMS which looks like instant messaging in the iPhone's layout.
Thomas
I would guess that, given these are software based features, these kind of things can be easily remedied. In this way the iPhone kinda reminds me of the PS3 - plenty of things it should be able to do out of the box, but it will take a while for the firmware to catch up to user demands. I know its a bitch, but Cupertino know they'll sell either way...
im pretty sure im not the only 1 waiting for the 2nd gen iPhone... am i?
Besides the UI, there is NOTHING revolutionary in the iPhone. It might suit the American market but if they hope to sell in the Europe, they better come up with something much better. Other phones have nothing to envy, especially with that price tag.ANY brand can come out with a phone like that for that price. I am among the most dedicated Mac and Apple worshippers, but this makes me feel sincerely betrayed. Ever so disappointed!
No GPRS, No UMTS (video conferecing, every European and Janapeese smartphones have it standard), No 3G, No GPS. Can anyone tell me what the delay was about. I'd rather have Leopard than his mere phone.
Apple, you have loads of work during the next six months if you don't want to be ridiculed by an iPhone flopp...
in terms of price the N95 and iphone are quite similar, N95 has greater capability in terms of wireless performance (3G) and has added features. The iphones' potential lies in a usable interface and good design (you ave to admit it looks pretty stunning). The iphone will be good at what it does (potentially barring the keyboard) but will not be as feature heavy as some phones in the same price range (N95) that boast features that may not be wanted/needed by apple's target market. Though i do see a lack of mms as a pretty shocking omission.
Well the N95 is cheaper than the iPhone acutlay (is roughly the same price (around 600$ but without a contract,so it's cheaper). The closes thing to the iPhone right now is the HTC Trinity (size etc cause featurewise the Trinity has GPS,3G,HSDPA,removebal bat,MiniSD etc...) and it's "alot" cheaper. It's 99€ right now with a contract in france (!) Or you have the HTC Touch, around 450€ without contract and 199€ or 99€ (depends if Orange or Vodafone) with contract..
Well you can pick up a N95 or the New HTC Touch for free here in the UK (at least £30contract required of course) so the the iphone better be cheap if it is to reach a critical mass.
"And no 3G no wifi, what a marvellous masterpiece."
It has Wifi. Read the specs.
Apple's iPhone Specs and Requirements
System requirements
- Mac or PC
- iTunes 7
- Internet access is required, and a broadband connection is recommended
- Mac: Mac with a USB 2.0 port, Mac OS X 10.4.8 or later
- PC: Windows PC with a USB 2.0 port and Windows XP Home or Professional (Service Pack 2)
• External Controls
- Volume Up / Down
- Ringer / Silent
- Power / Lock
- Sleep / Wake
- Menu Button
• Dimensions
- 4.5 x 2.4 x 0.46 inches / 115 x 61 x 11.6mm
• Weight 4.8 ounces / 135 grams
• Input Method - Multi-touch
• Operating System - OS X
• Screen size - 3.5 inches
• Screen resolution - 320 x 480 at 160 ppi
• Storage - 4GB or 8GB
• GSM - Quad-band (MHz: 850, 900, 1800, 1900)
• Wireless data
- Wi-Fi (802.11b/g) + EDGE + Bluetooth 2.0
• Camera - 2.0 megapixels
• Battery
- Lithium
- Up to 5 hours - Talk / Video / Browsing
- Up to 16 hours - Audio playback
(Battery life varies by use)
• Connectors and other input & output
- 30 pin iPod connector
- 3.5mm jack includes audio and mic support
- SIM tray
- Built-in speaker
- Built-in microphone
You mean to tell me a $500 and $600 dollar phone, respectively, doesn't have an IM client? Pass. Cingula... I mean uh, AT&T 8525 ahoy!
I'll pray every night that this turns out to be a bunch of bullshit...
This is lovely:
Q: "I'm used to a keyboard with real buttons, so I know when I've actually pressed a character"
A: "With an actual keyboard, it's easy to make a mistake and press the wrong key. iPhone's virtual keyboard helps prevent this through software..."
They're not answering the question at all. The question is about tactile feedback, the answer is about a software dictionary. Both real and virtual keyboards can have dictionaries, but only real keyboards have tactile feedback.
Looks like the iPhone smear campaign is in full swing and almost as big as apples iphone campaign. Must be allot execs from other phone brands sweating at the moment, but there is allot to loose isn't there.
This phone is not design for techno geeks. You have Htc devices for that. This is designed for the 80 percent of the market that hasn't adopted a smartphone as of yet. It's a piece of history. Will be interesting to see how well it's sells.
this is exactly right. in terms of productivity and features moving to this from a smartphone (HTC) is a downgrade. this is for people with say a sony k750 and an ipod, to whom this is a useful convergence product.
Umm, geeks?
Apple re-invented the mobile phone. If the iPhone ain't got it - it probably didn't work anyway.
I know this concept is completely foreign to you pocket-protector types - making products that actually work for humankind is much COOLER than stuff you can tinker, or have to tinker with - just to make it work.
You guys should try getting laid.
re-invented it? By taking it back to 2003?
@philip:
So everyone who comments on an iPhone story is automatically a geek, except you? Nice.
How exactly have Apple "re-invented" the mobile phone? What exactly qualifies this quite ordinary phone, with a quite average (and occasionally lacking) feature set as a "re-invention"? The iPod has been around for years, so making a phone which looks a bit like one is hardly anything new- the only thing that's actually new is the snazzy UI.
Calling a phone which is missing many important features (MMS, 3G, UMTS, IM, GPRS etc.) but has a nice UI a "reinvention" is like making a car with no CD player, radio, air conditioning, electric windows or heating (things we've all come to expect) but with an otherwise very nice looking interior a "reinvention" of the automobile. It wouldn't be, it would be just another car, and a rather odd one at that. Just as the iPhone is just another phone.
Maybe you're too "cool" (read "dumb") to be able to employ the eleven brain cells needed to use an average mobile phone these days, but I've gone through loads of them and they all "actually worked" just fine. None required any "tinkering" to do so either- as Apple would say they worked "right out of the box"! I don't know what the few people who actually believe all of Apple's marketing babble think most "non Apple" products are like, but in my experience most are indeed functional. I can't think why- probably because selling products which don't work isn't a great way to sell products.
Whatever.
Sounds your mangina is inflamed ever since you heard that Apple wasn't gonna let you little freaks fung it all up with your pathetic little bells and whistles.
Gimme a phone that works - I've spent thousands on PC techs to fix my computers but I've never had to call a Mac tech. This phone will be a huge blow to the PC world when people figure out that there's a company out there that makes products for them, not the geeks.
Aren't you late for your shift at Radio Shack?
Did you just say "Whatever." as a sentence? Man, I haven't heard that since about 1998.
Why would incorporating useful features into the iPhone "fung it all up"? Which of those are mentioned are "pathetic little bells and whistles"?
Take MMS for example. Have you never sent a picture message? Isn't sending a picture message to one of the MILLIONS of phones which support MMS much simpler than sending a picture attached to an email either to someone's computer or to the minority of phones which support push email?
Ok, so if not MMS then why not GPS? Wouldn't it be useful if the ever-so-fancy maps they've demoed actually knew where you were?
What else- 3G? Wouldn't a "revolutionary" mobile internet device be more useful if it was capable of internet access above dial-up speeds when you're not in a wifi hotspot?
Seriously, I think it's great that you can throw childish insults around. Yeah, anything the iPhone doesn't do is "pathetic", and anyone who disagrees must be a "geek" and/or a "little freak"- you go ahead and think that. What I would prefer, however, is if you actually had any argument whatsoever behind these childish ideas.
Your story about "spending thousands" on PC repairs but "never having to call a Mac tech" is lovely, but it doesn't prove anything. Yes, PCs break, but so do Macs! Why else do they have a "genius bar" in their stores? Why else can I do a 2-second Google search and find "maxfixitforums.com", with a whopping "1220518 Registered User(s)", and literally hundreds of thousands of posts from Mac users with problems?
Are people who work in Radio Shack geeks? In my limited experience of them (I'm not from the US) the staff I've talked to didn't seem to have a clue about what they were selling!
Why is it that Apple does something they either invented it or re-invented it, but when other companies do something they just stole it from Apple? The only thing new on this phone is the multi-touch screen. Everything else has been done before, many people alread own an iPod, the phone takes pictures, but not the best quality. The phone can use the internet, again many phones can do that, the phone has wifi, again many already have that. The phone doesn't have 3G, which many phones already have(and works), it doesn't have external storage support(which works on other phones), no GPS, my craptastic free phone has GPS(that works). So you comment that if the iPhone doesn't have it doesn't work is more Apple fanboydom. It seems like a nice phone with a nice interface but not a must have for many people.
And what is it with this phone working for Humankind? This isn't going to cure cancer or stop poverty. It is a phone. Apple people like to say
"It just works", again, my craptastic free phone, "Just works"
I have no problem with Apple or their products. Some are great some aren't, some I want some I don't. But Jobsians are fanatics. Telling an Apple fanboy that Macs suck is like telling a Star Wars fan that Captain Picard would kick Luke Skywalkers ass. You will insult and enrage them at the same time. Why can't Apply fanboys see past Steve Jobs sweaty ball sack while licking his asshole?
Why is it that Apple does something they either invented it or re-invented it, but when other companies do something they just stole it from Apple? The only thing new on this phone is the multi-touch screen. Everything else has been done before, many people alread own an iPod, the phone takes pictures, but not the best quality. The phone can use the internet, again many phones can do that, the phone has wifi, again many already have that. The phone doesn't have 3G, which many phones already have(and works), it doesn't have external storage support(which works on other phones), no GPS, my craptastic free phone has GPS(that works). So you comment that if the iPhone doesn't have it doesn't work is more Apple fanboydom. It seems like a nice phone with a nice interface but not a must have for many people.
And what is it with this phone working for Humankind? This isn't going to cure cancer or stop poverty. It is a phone. Apple people like to say
"It just works", again, my craptastic free phone, "Just works"
I have no problem with Apple or their products. Some are great some aren't, some I want some I don't. But Jobsians are fanatics. Telling an Apple fanboy that Macs suck is like telling a Star Wars fan that Captain Picard would kick Luke Skywalkers ass. You will insult and enrage them at the same time. Why can't Apply fanboys see past Steve Jobs sweaty ball sack while licking his asshole?
Just to clarify - this phone is clearly not Revolutionary, but Evolutionary. It doesn't add amazing new features, it makes a large set of features much more usable and a new and intuitive way.
A lot the features people are screaming for (in particular 3G and GPS) are features that are used by a significant minority of cell phone users on US networks today. It may be the case that almost everyone and their mom has a phone that supports similar features but I am willing to bet that they haven't purchased the additional plans to go with it. They bought a phone that moves with them - that's what they want it to do. It's too much of a bother to do much else (i hear that on the RAZR it takes 8 key presses to set the alarm clock - if that's the case, who will want to bother trying to use any other features on the phone)
A lot of the outcry is coming from people who think they know the cellphone market when in fact - look - we're responding to a blog about cell phone users who salivate over gadgets. I think we are a minority here. We know our market, period. Not the grandfather/mother, boomer dad/mom, markets. I am not saying Apple knows what is right - this is a big gamble for them - but it is a change, and who is to say they're wrong to bet on usability to capture the real mobile market? Especially on this blog. I read an article recently that said of the billion+ of handsets sold worldwide, only about 80 million of those are "smartphones". Don't sell this phone as a smartphone to "enterprise" users, and you have another billion person market to go after.
Personally and sadly, they'd have to pay me to use it, then again I need a real phone, something that is a true extension of my Macs (Address Book, iCal, Mail, .Mac) with some 21st century features and add-ons like MMS and GPS. On second thought I can't be bought. My Nokia e61i with apps like Smart2go and excellent iSync synchronization is pretty damn good until Apple can come up with something better, and I wished they would have.
Like it has been said, the iPhone isn't a smartphone, so dumb people will buy it.
Look, I know it's probably just conjecture, but maybe we're misinterpreting the whole "no IM" thing. When I read the page, which is all about SMS Messaging, not Instant Messaging, I was left with the impression that what it means is that you cannot chat to IM users from the SMS app. - i.e. if a customer were to ask, because of the "instant messaging" style of the app, if they could chat to their iChat buddies. Which through the SMS system, they obviously can't.
that makes sense. if it was on a page about SMS, then that would mean that an IM app (iChat) is plausible.
@Chris:
No, I don't think that's it. As Engadget quoted above, the page says:
"iPhone users will not be able to conduct IM conversations with instant messaging users"
This seems pretty clear- you can't have IM conversations, period. The /page/ may be titled "SMS text messaging", but the /box/ that quote is in is more generically about "iPhone messaging" - meaning messaging in general, not just SMS messaging. Thus no IM means no IM - there's no link to SMS implied. (The same box also mentions MMS, again, they're saying it's not supported, not "it's not supported from the SMS app", which would be absurd)
no mms, no regular ichat
bullshit, just bullshit. even if it isn't supported out of the gate it won't be long before those things are fixed. chat could already be fixed by web based clients.
Badz Maru,
Ummm the iphone will sync with iCal and the address book do a little research before trying to brag about your POS nokia... please refer to the post directly above yours. It was written for you.
This HAS to be fake. My current phone (2 years old) that came FREE with a two-year service agreement has MMS and AIM in it. If this is true, Apple is going to have a LOT to answer for. Then again, how hard is it to make something look official from Apple? I mean, the Myriad font is installed by default with Adobe CS2, so I really smell fake here.
First off - I don't believe this is an Apple sales manual - it's ATT's.
2 - I think it is completely plausible that there is no AIM or MMS included. It's not unlike apple to not include things that they feel doesn't work as well as it should or can. Case and point, 1997 release of the iMac with no floppy drives. People were as outraged as you were about that fact. Today, i'm hard pressed to find a computer with a floppy drive (and if it does, it probably has one of those 35 in 1 smart card readers).
Besides looking cool it's really not a great phone at all. I'm not trying to "flame" or whatever but isn't this the case with most of the apple hardware? It looks cooler than most, cost more than all, and does less dollar for dollar.
I don't see why anyone would pay this much money for this phone, eat a two year commitment and put up with these shortcomings. And god forbid your battery is dying when you have to run leave the house for the day. It seems you would have to change some stuff around just to keep this thing charged because of course, you can't even do something as ho hum as change the battery.
If I had to have one of these phones I would wait for Version 2.
And I am laughing at iPhone hopefuls while doing almost all above with my Blackberry pearl.
If you guys are bummed about this news read this. Wait until sept. to get the iOhone that is when the second gen. comes out. It will have full time gps and many other features.
Calling Shannigans SHANNIGANS... Your tell me that ATT let these people keep that manual B.S No way they had a meeting and the manager took them back after. This is some really good B.S. No one can get there hands on any Iphone stuff, but this person does. Oh yeah and you can send messages with pictures. It's actually on the Apple Website, an Jobs did that during his last WWDC presentation. Still calling this is a real good fake.
brian
I think ill stick with my nokia n95 its everything the iphone isnt!
"iPhone users will not be able to conduct IM conversations with instant messaging users "
What the hell is that supposed to mean?
Voice Recorder anyone notice that i use mine on palm small item but it's good sometimes. Anybody see anything for a Voice REcorder on the Iphone???
And what about voice commandand voice dialing (did apple mention this)? Voice dialing is included by default on smartphones (and many othre "normal phones"). Voice command is even better (sucks that you have to buy it thought..)
You guys need to calm down. Obviously APL wouldn't include IMs as part of the iPhone since it would cannibalize ATT's txt msg'ing revenues.
That doesn't mean you wouldn't see widgets or the like bringing IMs to the iPhone.
Sounds like yet another Apple sandbox. Will it support A2DP? Apple (Jobs) have said they won't support Java ME, which is bizarre, considering how many useful cross device apps - browsers, mapping, blogging tools - the "different" phone won't be able to support. Like this. http://radar.oreilly.com/archives/2007/06/yahoo_releases.html I guess Apple will just make their own "special" version of all these things. Just what we need, another schism with a sorta standards based device.
You people do realize this isn't a "fixed" device? Meaning that what you buy now isn't all the functionality you're ever going to have? If you don't think that someone will eventually develop a GPS attachment through the iPod connector, you're pretty damn stupid. Also, the OS could be updated at any time to include a lot of the software shortcomings some of you seem to think is an absolute must.
This is how all Apple products are designed. Keep it simple at first, then let them evolve. This was true with the original iPod as well - started out as JUST an MP3 player, then Apple added the ability to synch contacts and calendars, added a clock, a game. All the to the original 5GB iPod. That device was updated through software several times for a couple of years.
This is not just a cell phone, it's a new communications/computing platform. It may not be wide-open for development, but there will be 3rd party applications available for it at some time. More than likely synched and sold through iTunes, so Apple can keep application QA in check.