Apple iPhone

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

What on earth is that thing? It looks like a gorgeous version of the cellular companies all in one pda/phone/etc... Does anyone know any details about it, and what service it will be available on?


*Edit, after looking closely at a picture, it says cingular at the top. Any other info would be awesome though.

 

There's a lot of discussion on this device going on with our sister site Brighthand.com http://forum.brighthand.com/showthread.php?p=1469480

Yes, it's on Cingular, and it is basically a Mac OSX powered Smart Phone device cum iPod. Comes out in June.

 

Awesome man, thanks for the link. I appreciate it. Been thinking about switching anyways, this may be a good reason to do so.

 

I'm hoping Apple fixes a few things before it's Asia Pacific launch next year.

1. UMTS/HSDPA support, EDGE just won't cut it.
2. Where's the freakin' expansion slot? Would a microSD port cost that much?

 

The iPhone is awesome yet Cingular has exclusive rights to sell the iPhone until 2009.

Expecting an unlocked iPhone? Good luck.
Forcing us to switch to Cingular? Smart strategy.

Screw the iPhone, I'm sticking with RIM.

 

I'd get one, but I don't have $500, unfortunately, and I'm not ready to switch phones yet.

 

$500 and 2 years of undying loyalty to Cingular...That's just too much.

 

I understand most criticism to the price tags and being bound to Cingular, but, as someome who had once great interest in PDAs and smartphones, I understand Apple motivations:
- The (very) high price reflects the technology the device has. I'd say it has nothing of revolutionary, BUT everything it has (4GB/8GB player, touchscreen with mutitouch, VERY thin, gorgeous interface, wifi b/g and BT) is done so much better than the competition can even dream of achieving. Packing so much tech in such a nice pack has its price. Besides, by introducing a high end device first, Apple digs in the market of wealthier people who may well break an existing contract with a cellphone provider only to have the iPhone. iPods nano and shuffle are not extremely expensive but benefit from the same halo the early iPod developed as a high-end, luxury device. I guess soon afterwards Apple will develop/release a smaller version of the iPhone and wreck the low-end market as well.
-As for Cingular, as I understand the US market is mainly CDMA based, and Cingular is the biggest or one of the biggest GSM providers. CDMA, while technically superior to GSM, is a pain in the *ss of developers; it is strictly controlled by Qualcomm, while the GSM standard is much more open. Also, tipically GSM providers are more open to data use of their plans, and they are ot scared of people uploading photos or downloading ringtones using wifi or GPRS instead of paying US$2 a piece. From what I read, Cingular is one of the least bothersome US providers in this respect. So, considering that distributing the phone itself in an open state would be quite a nightmare from a support viewpoint, Cingular was possibly the only apple in the basket (pun intended).

Also, comparing it to similar offers from Sony Ericcson (p990i, W950), Palm (various Treos, which lack wifi) and Nokia (N95, N93i), the price is ok.

I am very sad knowing that this baby won't come to Brasil anytime soon. I'd happily sign in for a two year contract for this (and would regret bitterly later, but...). Hope it will be easily unlocked.

 

I like the design...its very slick....I hope the price comes down after a while, then I will consider getting one.

 

Wooky, unfortanately you are wrong in regards to the CDMA being a superior technology. GSM is a global technology that has far greater acceptance and capability.

 

That phone is sweet

 

I said "technically" superior. Spec for spec, CDMA is better. But since it is so tightly controlled, GSM ends up being better and more accepted as you mention.

 

It does look like a very compelling product, I hate mobile phones, they are the one device that I just cant seem to figure out, can build a pc with my eyes closed, work my digi cam into a artistic frenzy, but ask me how to get my phone to go on loud speaker and I'm stumped. So I hope that this thing is as easy to use as it looks.
On other notes I assume that this has an ipod dock on the bottom of this thing (could make for an interesting aftermarket market), also hope that there is a standard headphone jack...would also be nice for a sd/microSD expansion slot but I guess that might be asking to much.
Also another thing on my wish list is gps navigation...perhaps tomtom or something similar for software, with bluetooth gps unit would be nice.
Then I could then dump my pda,ipod,and mobile, all for this one device, when you think about it that way, the price is actually quite cheap.

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I bet there will be a GPS addon for in your car. That would be nice. I like the idea of a micro/sd slot. Thats what sold me on the Sansa mp3 player, but it doesn't work with itunes.

 

I think they are missing their target. People who are in the smartphone market at that price want something for productivity. They are not interested in music, movies, pictures, etc. Most of them also use Windows, and I am skeptical as to how well it will sync in Windows. Could you imagine businesses actually installing iTunes on every computer for syncing your iPhone? The phone itself is more geared towards people like myself who want all the PDA functionality and the ability to do some movies and music. Unfortunately that is not worth $500-$600 plus a 2 year contract. My other beef with the actual phone is too little storage for movies music and pictures, and battery life. I know 5 hours is good, but say you get on a plane and watch a movie. When you get off your battery will be dead or nearly dead. My questions would be, is it REALLY OS X, as in can you use any OS X app with it? And does the input actually work? According to David Pogue, typing on the device is very difficult.

I think it is real slick and I think it sells great at $350-$500, but at $500-$600 it is just out of reach of their target audience. I love Apple, but I think they may have missed the mark here. I am really hoping they repackage this same device without the phone.

Here is David Pogue's article, one of the only people to actualyl use the device:
http://bits.blogs.nytimes.com/2007/01/09/some-hands-on-time-with-the-iphone/

 

I also agree with regards to space. 8Gb is just too small for my needs/wants. I have a 60Gb ipod now and love it, I could go as low as 20Gb but 8 is just too small. Thus I doubt I will jump on board this year, maybe when the 2nd version comes along and flash memory prices have dropped.
The only hope I have is perhaps someone will release a battery/hdd pack that can plug into the ipod dock...thus allowing for more storage and longer life.
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ps Im guessing that the ipod v6 will be a striped down version of the iphone (if its still gonna be called that now that cisco is suing). I cant see apple not upgrading the ipod line.

 

seems like a gimmick

i wonder how long that battery will last if you're using all that **** all day (music etc)

i bet less than 24hrs.



and remember, people were paying $500 for the moto razr when it came out.

 

Yeah, roor, it lasts about 14 hours with music. 5 for talking. Not bad. Most cell phones are about 5 hours for talk time I think. It didn't say what the standby time was.

Yeah, give it a year or less, and we'll see it for 300-400. But I wonder if it will ever drop in price enough to where it becomes a choice between nano or the iphone.

 

Nokia N95 costs more and you can buy yourself out of the contract.

Me, I am not in the U.S. which is a bummer because we will get the iPhone later but also good because we don't need to use Cingular and most likely will get the UMTS version.

ps: I used to have a cingular phone, all I can say is that was the worst customer support I have ever seen in my life anywhere on the planet. Especially outstanding because in the USA, home of otherwise excellent customer service.

 

yeah, cingular sucks ass in my area...hehe, but the touch screen is very nice, but think of all them fingerprints on that beautiful screen xD

 

Unfortunately many manufacturers (Apple included) tend to grossly overstate usable battery life. If those were "real" numbers they would be more than acceptable - but I worry that like the numbers they give for their iPod's and Laptops, they are not very realistic.

And for those of you hoping for UMTS over EDGE - cut your battery life in about half if you get it, as thats what people are experiencing on Cingulars current UMTS phones (although some allow you to limit to EDGE network then you get your normal battery life but...)

I hope Apple gets this right - it would be an awesome alternative to Windows Mobile phones.

 

blackberry pearl for the win

 

This looks to me like a very compelling product. I think I'll pick a third gen one up. My surmisal is that, by then, I'll have someone I want to talk to on it, it'll come down in price a bit, and will have more storage.

 

I think tomshardware put it a good way. This is not so much aphone as a UMPC that has phone functionality. Which is true.
It really is a UMPC.