This has been a pretty interesting comment thread. Basically a bunch of people are upset because we called this non-device an iPhone knockoff. Why they're upset, I don't know: it's absolutely a complete rip of the iPhone, and Nokia admitted it to the press. ("If there is something good in the world then we copy with pride.") And I think that's fine! I think the knockoff scene is amazing -- a smart company can take all the good things about a popular device and make it even better. I'd really love it if they could take the iPhone's lead and improve it in ways Apple hasn't. I'd absolutely buy one.
But the point of this post wasn't even about that at all. The point was that we called Nokia because they showed this demo with very little context; we learned that they neglected to mention the demo WASN'T even about the hardware -- this isn't a device that's being announced or even necessarily being developed. They were showing what they envisioned future S60 touchscreen software to be like. And this software could run on any future touchscreen S60 device. Nokia (confusingly) chose to show the demo running on device that happens to look uncannily like an iPhone, and their software is very reminiscent of Apple's picture viewer, hence the commentary.
Sony's just released a 15.5-inch addition to its VAIO S Series that not only adds a crucial bit of extra display acreage, but also bumps things up to a full 1080p.
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This has been a pretty interesting comment thread. Basically a bunch of people are upset because we called this non-device an iPhone knockoff. Why they're upset, I don't know: it's absolutely a complete rip of the iPhone, and Nokia admitted it to the press. ("If there is something good in the world then we copy with pride.") And I think that's fine! I think the knockoff scene is amazing -- a smart company can take all the good things about a popular device and make it even better. I'd really love it if they could take the iPhone's lead and improve it in ways Apple hasn't. I'd absolutely buy one.
But the point of this post wasn't even about that at all. The point was that we called Nokia because they showed this demo with very little context; we learned that they neglected to mention the demo WASN'T even about the hardware -- this isn't a device that's being announced or even necessarily being developed. They were showing what they envisioned future S60 touchscreen software to be like. And this software could run on any future touchscreen S60 device. Nokia (confusingly) chose to show the demo running on device that happens to look uncannily like an iPhone, and their software is very reminiscent of Apple's picture viewer, hence the commentary.
P.S. -Complaining about how the iPhone is a ripoff of the Prada falls on deaf ears. It's not -- but even if it was, you HEARD IT ON ENGADGET FIRST, REMEMBER? http://www.engadget.com/2007/01/11/iphone-and-lg-ke850-separated-at-birth/