iPhone...

[Rob_k]

this is certainly an intriguing piece if technology, gonna have to see if i can get an unlocked version (i am on tmobile)

 

[BkCloud114]

These people have to be a bunch of morons.... the phone is not even available and they are bidding on it....

http://cgi.ebay.com/APPLE-IPHONE-4GB-PRE-S...1QQcmdZViewItem

 

[MiamiCubano]

I luv my smart phone.

Touch screen PDA. Excellent phone coverage. Expandable memory (2 gig card in now)
EVDO for internet browsing. Windows mobile, WMA and Mp3 player capability.Hell of a phone and I paid under 200.oo for it (thanks to employer discount).

Why would I need an over glorified IPOD??

I agree Steveie is a marketing genious. He marketed those IPOD's tremendously. I have had a ZEn microphoto which is far superiod to an IPOD and cost me half the price.

AC3 FTMFL!!!!!
MP3, WMA and AC3 FTMFW!!!

I held off on getting an iPod forever. Recently got the Creative Zen Vision W 60gb in a glorious, glorious widescreen. The screen itself is about the size of an iPod, with actual push-button controls. Nice. Loved it the first two days. Then the crashing and freezing and "rebuilding" started. What a goddamn nightmare that was. Over and over and over and then it would simply start crashing the minute it was turned on. Absolutely NO customer service/tech support from Creative. Forget it, back it went.

Then I got the 80gb iPod video. Flawless. Impeccable, with an intuitive-ness about it that is just mindblowing. So user-friendly and has worked without a hitch, sniffle or stumble. I'm sold on Apple products now, after decades of nothing but PC and non-Apple product use. Will I get this new phone? Maybe down the line *if* it opens up a bit to other providers and better networks. But I damn sure can't complain about their products.

 

[Rod]

I held off on getting an iPod forever. Recently got the Creative Zen Vision W 60gb in a glorious, glorious widescreen. The screen itself is about the size of an iPod, with actual push-button controls. Nice. Loved it the first two days. Then the crashing and freezing and "rebuilding" started. What a goddamn nightmare that was. Over and over and over and then it would simply start crashing the minute it was turned on. Absolutely NO customer service/tech support from Creative. Forget it, back it went.

Then I got the 80gb iPod video. Flawless. Impeccable, with an intuitive-ness about it that is just mindblowing. So user-friendly and has worked without a hitch, sniffle or stumble. I'm sold on Apple products now, after decades of nothing but PC and non-Apple product use. Will I get this new phone? Maybe down the line *if* it opens up a bit to other providers and better networks. But I damn sure can't complain about their products.

This is exactly why I have decided to switch to Mac. OSX is much more secure and reliable than Windows. How can it not be? It's based off UNIX. Microsoft won't have a reliable OS until they base their framework around UNIX. Windows is just too convoluted and full of bloated crap. I was hoping Vista was going to be UNIX based; too bad it's not.

I've been a PC user for the past 17 years. I think more people are going to be switching to Mac once they get a taste of Vista.

 

[jabba]

I will be switching, next machine... just because of Apples coolness factor

 

[Cheekie]

:love: DAMN THAT IS SOME SEXY SHIAAAAAAAAT!
Oh la la!

 

[MrOrange]

Too bad Cisco Systems owns the iPhone trademark Doh!!!

 

[BagfullofPings]

Now they can call it the iFkup.

 

[JHolmes763]

Will be interesting too see how the screen holds up on these over time and use, though. Other than that, these are damn sexy. I like it more for the portable OS X device with Wifi than the phone or iPod features...

---John Holmes...

 

[duglynukem]

I use mac stuff for the same reason I smoke... It looks cool

Not to mention that my iPod shuffle just keeps on working, no matter how much abuse I give it...DT

 

[Zeebra]

Cool video on the iPhone:

iPhone features

 

[dav1041]

I don't care if cingular was giving out free Ipod Phones with built in TVs and a free year service, cingular sucks here in TN and in Alabama (when I lived there I had it.)

I like my Verizon Pocket PC phone also. :thumbs:

I was intrigued, until I saw the Cingular part as well……sucks here in KC too. I’ll stick with my Verizon LG Chocolate, touch screen, expandable memory up to 4G(so far can't even fill 1G yet), and excellent service :thumbs:

 

[moki]

Alot of smart phones that have been on the market for a cple years that have a majority of the features minus the proprietary format APPLE uses to encode their music .

I think you're a little confused. First of all, you can play many types of audio on Apple's iPod, and also their upcoming iPhone. It's strange to me that people think you have to use a "proprietary format"; nothing could be further from the truth. I routinely put mp3s I've ripped from CDs and elsewhere on my iPod, and many other non-proprietary audio formats are supported as well.

If you're referring to Apple's AAC file format as being proprietary, that's not accurate either. It's actually an open format, and is the basis for the audio layer in the MPEG4 standard. I think what you are referring to is the encrypted AAC audio that Apple sells under the "FairPlay" license, which you can buy from the iTunes music store. This is a tiny subset of what the iPod can play.

Touchscreen, large displays, mp3/wma playback vis WM player, EVDO,wi/fi,bluetooth and all the other good stuff.

I dont think anyone has anything to worry about. Now if the IPhone goes multi carrier..than I would worry. Luckily they are stuck on Cingulars old crappy edge network.

You mentioned earlier that there are no innovations in the iPhone; I think this is far from accurate. I saw it in person, and talked with a number of people in the industry about it. If you have any questions, feel free to ask. In the meantime, you can check it out in more detail here:

Apple iPhone

Also the MacWorld Keynote is a good place to see the iPhone's features demo'd.

 

[moki]

The iPhone is not a glorified iPod - it's a PDA/cell phone that runs on a Mac based OS instead of Windows, and has media capabilities like every other Pocket PC - the iPod is simply a limited media player. It's intentionally marketed/hyped like it is to fool people into thinking it's a glorified iPod so it will appeal to people who would be intimidated by full powered PDAs in the first place - something that will appeal to the less tech savvy crowd that couldn't figure out, or be bothered to figure out, how to do the same thing on a Pocket PC. Most people are ignorant and lazy and won't be bothered with these specifics - Apple counts on it, and it's a genius move on their part, but it's really Apple's first generation competitor for existing PDA devices. What the Newton should have been, if you can remember that far back

Actually, no, it is not being marketed as a "glorified iPod" at all. It's being marketed as a convergence device that is 3 devices in one:

1. A widescreen iPod (play music, video, display photos, etc.)

2. A fantastic phone (with contact synching, visual voicemail, SMS client, and much more)

3. An Internet access device (with full featured eMail client, web browser, and many other features)

 

[moki]

Good old Apple - Even though they are just repackaging technology and marketing it as if it were new (sorry Steve, touch-screens are nothing new)

While you're right to a degree (more on that later), it's actually not true that a touch screen like this has been done before. The technology behind it is quite different than what is on other touch screens.

Most touch screens have a bezel on top of a recessed screen, which is where the touch sensors are located. The technology Apple is using in the iPhone can be thought of as a trackpad mounted behind the screen. That allows for much more accurate touch sensing, as well as multiple fingers used at once for "gestures" such as "pinching" to enlarge/shrink photos on the screen.

And proof of the "newness" is the veritable ream of patents Apple has on this and other technologies in the iPhone.

, people will still go ape-shit trying to buy it driving up demand and keep their prices disturbingly high relative to the rest of their competition (and it will most likely have some major defect, like every thing they release, and they will deny anything is wrong until just as the warranty is up and they release the fixed "upgrade" version). I think Stevie-boy could give Vince McMahon a run for his money when it comes to PR and marketing!

While I don't see Jobs as similar to Vince McMahon (there is real innovation in the iPhone, in innumerable areas), I do agree that there will be flaws in this product, just as there are in every first generation product. The largest flaws I can see are:

1) No removable battery. This is passable for an MP3 player, but for a cell phone, people want to be able to carry another battery

2) Tied to Cingular; people aren't wild about Cingular in some areas. Still, this happened with the RAZR at first too, and that sold like gangbusters

3) Battery life is in question. With any convergence device, the more things you enable a single device to do, the more things people will do with it. If the iPhone's battery won't last for a full day's worth of voicemails, calling people, web browsing, email checking, etc, etc., then people will not be happy with it.

Competition is good, and the high-powered palmtop market is small, so hopefully this will jump-start the market and even better stuff will be coming out for Pocket PC's - the technology has finally caught up to what people thought it was going to be like 7-10 years ago when Palm was king.

Right, if nothing else, the iPhone will certainly push the envelope, and force firms like RIM (Blackberry) and Palm (Treo) to step things up a notch or two. However it really does offer quite a bit of innovation in a small package. Check out some of the features it offers here:

http://www.apple.com/iphone/

BTW, the reason the device was announced 5 months before you can buy it is in part because any device like this has to pass FCC certification. Once Apple submits it for said certification, the cat is out of the bag... and Jobs would rather introduce the device with his reality distortion field than have the FCC do it.

 

[ThankYouForNotSmoking]

So, Moki, you not only get VIP passes to cigar events but to Mac events as well? You make me cream my panties with access like that. I've been on Mac since the days of the Quadra 800...

Anyhow, the only other miss that you didn't point out is that the iPhone is a 2G as opposed to 3G phone, that's significant, especially on a convergence device - I'd want the best of all worlds, not mediocre slices of each. The other thing, which you pointed out, is that it's tied to Cingular. If they'd sell this as a multiband unlocked GSM phone, it'd be worth the tag - as is, I think it's very much an early adopter's product.

 

[moki]

So, Moki, you not only get VIP passes to cigar events but to Mac events as well? You make me cream my panties with access like that. I've been on Mac since the days of the Quadra 800...

Anyhow, the only other miss that you didn't point out is that the iPhone is a 2G as opposed to 3G phone, that's significant, especially on a convergence device - I'd want the best of all worlds, not mediocre slices of each. The other thing, which you pointed out, is that it's tied to Cingular. If they'd sell this as a multiband unlocked GSM phone, it'd be worth the tag - as is, I think it's very much an early adopter's product.

3G is not significant for two reasons:

1) It's tied to Cingular for now anyway, and 3G coverage is available only in major metro areas through Cingular in the USA: http://www.cingular.com/learn/3g/?_requestid=13218

2) Apple stated they will be doing 3G versions of the iPhone, likely for Europe and Asia first, and the USA whenever 3G networks are more widely used here: http://gizmodo.com/gadgets/macworld2007/ru...ming-227850.php

It's a platform, not a static reference design. You'll see 3G versions of it.

 

[Lemon]

This phone looks great and I'm sure it will be easy to use. All I'm worried about is battery life ???

 

[IgwanaRob]

The iPhone is not a glorified iPod - it's a PDA/cell phone that runs on a Mac based OS instead of Windows, and has media capabilities like every other Pocket PC - the iPod is simply a limited media player. It's intentionally marketed/hyped like it is to fool people into thinking it's a glorified iPod so it will appeal to people who would be intimidated by full powered PDAs in the first place - something that will appeal to the less tech savvy crowd that couldn't figure out, or be bothered to figure out, how to do the same thing on a Pocket PC. Most people are ignorant and lazy and won't be bothered with these specifics - Apple counts on it, and it's a genius move on their part, but it's really Apple's first generation competitor for existing PDA devices. What the Newton should have been, if you can remember that far back

Actually, no, it is not being marketed as a "glorified iPod" at all. It's being marketed as a convergence device that is 3 devices in one:

1. A widescreen iPod (play music, video, display photos, etc.)

2. A fantastic phone (with contact synching, visual voicemail, SMS client, and much more)

3. An Internet access device (with full featured eMail client, web browser, and many other features)

So is the "widescreen iPod" Hardware or Software based? According to that site; "iPhone is a widescreen iPod with touch controls that lets you enjoy all your content" - so can it be used without the PDA/Phone being powered off, or is it actually nothing more than a software based media player within the PDA's OS, and not really an iPod as it's being marketed? The Moto phone with iTunes software in it was not marked as an iPod (granted, it's not an Apple product), but merely having iTunes media software does not make something an iPod.

I still think it's funny to watch people react as if it something completely new - even my boss likes it and he can't grasp what mine can do, yet he's just falling for the marketing hype and how 'nice it looks'. Not one thing in that list is actually new for a PDA/phone - more like standard fare for every PocketPC for at least a couple of generations now. Although the visual voicemail seems like it is, I'd guess it's somewhat related to the video conferencing available on Pocket PCs with the second video camera built into the front of the unit, and Cingular's video service (or it's something more simple like sending a video attachment in an MMS and re-marketed as voice-mail).

Until it comes out, and people can play with and actually come up with 3rd party software fort it, it's still just a guessing game based on the vague "tech specs" that they've released so far. The lemmings will be out buying in full force when it's released, then it will be ripped apart by the haters for every little flaw (real or imagined), and if they decide to smarten up and get with the times for the next version, Apple Inc. (that name change is a whole other can of worms they opened, yet again) should be at the very least something that will hold it's own by the time it's released for the rest of the carriers. Of course, if they insist on mindless things like not being apple to change a battery, especially with that quoted battery life, they might just end up with a Newton 2.0 on their hands.

 

[ThankYouForNotSmoking]

The iPhone is not a glorified iPod - it's a PDA/cell phone that runs on a Mac based OS instead of Windows, and has media capabilities like every other Pocket PC - the iPod is simply a limited media player. It's intentionally marketed/hyped like it is to fool people into thinking it's a glorified iPod so it will appeal to people who would be intimidated by full powered PDAs in the first place - something that will appeal to the less tech savvy crowd that couldn't figure out, or be bothered to figure out, how to do the same thing on a Pocket PC. Most people are ignorant and lazy and won't be bothered with these specifics - Apple counts on it, and it's a genius move on their part, but it's really Apple's first generation competitor for existing PDA devices. What the Newton should have been, if you can remember that far back

Actually, no, it is not being marketed as a "glorified iPod" at all. It's being marketed as a convergence device that is 3 devices in one:

1. A widescreen iPod (play music, video, display photos, etc.)

2. A fantastic phone (with contact synching, visual voicemail, SMS client, and much more)

3. An Internet access device (with full featured eMail client, web browser, and many other features)

So is the "widescreen iPod" Hardware or Software based? According to that site; "iPhone is a widescreen iPod with touch controls that lets you enjoy all your content" - so can it be used without the PDA/Phone being powered off, or is it actually nothing more than a software based media player within the PDA's OS, and not really an iPod as it's being marketed? The Moto phone with iTunes software in it was not marked as an iPod (granted, it's not an Apple product), but merely having iTunes media software does not make something an iPod.

I still think it's funny to watch people react as if it something completely new - even my boss likes it and he can't grasp what mine can do, yet he's just falling for the marketing hype and how 'nice it looks'. Not one thing in that list is actually new for a PDA/phone - more like standard fare for every PocketPC for at least a couple of generations now. Although the visual voicemail seems like it is, I'd guess it's somewhat related to the video conferencing available on Pocket PCs with the second video camera built into the front of the unit, and Cingular's video service (or it's something more simple like sending a video attachment in an MMS and re-marketed as voice-mail).

Until it comes out, and people can play with and actually come up with 3rd party software fort it, it's still just a guessing game based on the vague "tech specs" that they've released so far. The lemmings will be out buying in full force when it's released, then it will be ripped apart by the haters for every little flaw (real or imagined), and if they decide to smarten up and get with the times for the next version, Apple Inc. (that name change is a whole other can of worms they opened, yet again) should be at the very least something that will hold it's own by the time it's released for the rest of the carriers. Of course, if they insist on mindless things like not being apple to change a battery, especially with that quoted battery life, they might just end up with a Newton 2.0 on their hands.

What you're missing is that of course there are technologically superior products already out there - for example, the iPod is really not the most advanced mp3 player you can buy. But, what the iPod does, and what the iPhone looks to do, is it takes a somewhat limited product and does it the best - the simplest and the most elegant. Most people don't use 1/4 of the features on their RAZR, if they got a Treo or something similar they'd use hardly a tenth.

If the iPhone is anything like the iPod, it'll take what people actually do (listen to music, make phone calls, store pictures, watch movies, etc) and present it in an easy, elegant way. That's what Apple does today, and, as their sales show, it's what people want.

To wit: Microsoft Re-Designs the iPod