No Apple-Nokia Connection?

[MacRumors]

Rumors of an Apple-Nokia collaboration appears to be unfounded... according to one seemingly reliable source.

An Apple-branded Phone -- and specifically and Nokia collaboration -- has been rumored in the recent past. This, despite Steve Jobs' ongoing denials (http://www.macrumors.com/pages/2003/05/20030529030024.shtml) that Apple would enter this market.

According to the source, Nokia has no current projects with Apple. (Of course this does not exclude other partnerships or an independent Apple project.)

[pmj]

I'm left to wonder what exactly Apple is doing with iPhone.org (http://www.iPhone.org/).

[hokka]

This does not surprise me as most recent Nokia users would know Nokia uses RealOne for video playback ( http://www.infosyncworld.com/news/n/3532.html ) - since the 3650 about a year ago

[el gringo]

I think apple is working closer to SonyEricsson than Nokia - and a friend of mine (working at SonyEricsson development in Sweden) told me that there are some kind of joint development - but obviously he couldn't say any specific...

[ITR 81]

I wonder if this means Apple will start saying "Hello Moto".

[dloomer]

Yeah, I had always heard it being Sony Ericsson as well ... not Nokia.

[Singen]

I have a couple of friends working at Nokia. While there are people at Nokia using Apple Laptops and such, there are definately no plans with Apple at this time that they are aware of.

I think we just have to count our blessings that Nokia is going with SyncML in the first place, they are after all the Microsft of the cell-phone world.

[Le Big Mac]

Originally posted by pmj
I'm left to wonder what exactly Apple is doing with iPhone.org (http://www.iPhone.org/).

preventing someone else from using it?

[Le Big Mac]

Originally posted by el gringo
I think apple is working closer to SonyEricsson than Nokia - and a friend of mine (working at SonyEricsson development in Sweden) told me that there are some kind of joint development - but obviously he couldn't say any specific...

But that's all that really makes sense. It's perfectly sane for apple to work with phone companies to ensure compatability (with isync etc.), and then cross market. It doesn't make sense for apple to make its own phone to compete with them.

Other than getting the exact features you want, can anyone not find a single cell phone that doesn't provide as good an experience as apple likely would provide, for probably a much lower price?

[Stella]

Shame.. Symbian is a damned good OS for Smartphones (in fact, the only one I would bother with - Palm, and WINCE as smartphone OSes.. no I don't think so), since its specially built for this purpose.

I would have loved Apple/Nokia to have made a Apple brand phone with Symbian under the hood.

[hvfsl]

Forget about multi function phones, there is a really big market for a simple phone that just calls people and nothing else. I know so many people that would love a simple phone.

[idkew]

Originally posted by Stella
Shame.. Symbian is a damned good OS for Smartphones (in fact, the only one I would bother with - Palm, and WINCE as smartphone OSes.. no I don't think so), since its specially built for this purpose.

I would have loved Apple/Nokia to have made a Apple brand phone with Symbian under the hood.

Sony Ericsson uses Symbian UIQ in a couple phones.

But, i think the idea behind an Apple phone is that they designed the OS. THis is why I do not see an Apple phone. I do see continuing collaboration between Apple and phone manufacturers to make them work well with OS X.

[Victoriatus]

Originally posted by hokka
This does not surprise me as most recent Nokia users would know Nokia uses RealOne for video playback ( http://www.infosyncworld.com/news/n/3532.html ) - since the 3650 about a year ago

...except that the software has nothing to do with this Apple - Nokia situation. Nokia uses MPEG4 technology in their phones, and since RealNetworks happens to have a media playback software for the Series 60, it's quite understandable to use it, instead of some nonexistent QuickTime for Series 60. MPEG4 would work just as fine with QT, if it existed.

[rikers_mailbox]

Originally posted by hvfsl
Forget about multi function phones, there is a really big market for a simple phone that just calls people and nothing else. I know so many people that would love a simple phone.

I'll echo this. Saw a news program the other day about how modern cell phones are actually scaring off clients. . . they are too complicated and frustrating to operate, especially for older people (who have $$ to spend).

I just want a phone. Not a phone/PDA/camera/bottle opener.

-rik

[e-coli]

Originally posted by rikers_mailbox
I'll echo this. Saw a news program the other day about how modern cell phones are actually scaring off clients. . . they are too complicated and frustrating to operate, especially for older people (who have $$ to spend).

I just want a phone. Not a phone/PDA/camera/bottle opener.

-rik

I second that. Just let me make a receive calls. None of that other annoying bloat.

[scifiman]

Originally posted by pmj
I'm left to wonder what exactly Apple is doing with iPhone.org (http://www.iPhone.org/).

Perhaps waiting to release a VoIP device called the iPhone that would also integrate into iChat to have a real video phone. Just a thought.

[windowsblowsass]

Originally posted by Le Big Mac
preventing someone else from using it?
i wonder why theyre protecting this address if its not for a phone

[windowsblowsass]

maybe its a g5 powerphone instead of a powerbook (sorry about the stab of all who keep posting about g5powerboooks on every thread)

[Krizoitz]

A cellular phone with the following features

- bluetooth
- address book/caller id
- data sending/recieving capability
- models available for each of the different wireless standards

what i can live with IF it doesn't cost too much
- color screen
- polyphonic ring tones

what I don't need
- camera
- games
- other extraneous crap

Just a simple phone that serves as a simple phone. I don't want a do it all device. I want it to be a phone that I can integrate with my computer to share data. The digital hub idea all over again. A camera thats a camera, a printer thats a printer, a phone thats a phone. KISS principle. And I'm not saying you have to do away with the everything+the kitchen sink cell phones, just make a cell phone for the rest of us!

[Le Big Mac]

Originally posted by windowsblowsass
i wonder why theyre protecting this address if its not for a phone

how many iproducts are made by others these days? a lot. Start with iRiver. Everything's an i-something. Apple is happy to prevent someone from adding to the i's, especially in an area they might not want consumer confusion, if they have relationships with SE, Nokia, or anyone.

[Le Big Mac]

Originally posted by Krizoitz
A cellular phone with the following features

- bluetooth
- address book/caller id
- data sending/recieving capability
- models available for each of the different wireless standards

what i can live with IF it doesn't cost too much
- color screen
- polyphonic ring tones

what I don't need
- camera
- games
- other extraneous crap

Just a simple phone that serves as a simple phone. I don't want a do it all device. I want it to be a phone that I can integrate with my computer to share data. The digital hub idea all over again. A camera thats a camera, a printer thats a printer, a phone thats a phone. KISS principle. And I'm not saying you have to do away with the everything+the kitchen sink cell phones, just make a cell phone for the rest of us!

Here, here!

I don't understand the focus on cameras. Sure, some people want them, and that's fine. But it seems like there are two choices: stripped down, basic models, or models with a camera, games and what not. Why that?

Is it purely a revenue generation issue: stick features on phones that generate extra $$, as sending pics does (data rates) and renting/DLing games?

[selloutvixen]

I'm a wireless consultant.. and being a geek, I'm frustrated with the lack of decent phones that we offer.

Basically three categories:
Get-what-you-pay-for free phones
Camera phones with lots of extra crap
one or two decent phones that would be really good if it weren't for style/price

The only decent phone with the least bells and whistles is probably the Ericsson T616. The more basic of the bluetooth models is probably the Siemens S56, but people trust the Ericsson name more, which is fine. They both have bluetooth, color displays, polyphonic ringtones, extensive phone book, GPRS, etc.

I definitely heard through the grapevine of many iSync collaborations between Sony Ericsson and Apple. :)

[squatch]

Seeing as they hold the rights to iPhone.org and not iPhone.com leads me to believe that for whatever reason, it will NOT be a website for commercial gain. Otherwise it would be iPhone.com. The only logical reasoning for the non-commercial domain site Apple owns is if they plan to use it strictly for information postings, owner feedback/suggestions of an "iPhone", or develop a community of iPhone owners who what an interconnected network between themselves. Just my 2 cents.

[jwhitnah]

Originally posted by e-coli
I second that. Just let me make a receive calls. None of that other annoying bloat.

Totally agree. I'm on my 5th phone since 1997 and I'm damn sick of learning yet another complicated unintuitve interface. But there is also room for interface improvement while keeping or improving current phone features.

[MacSlut]

If you want a simple phone, just go and get one. They're usually free. The complex phones are the ones that cost money.

Today's cell phones really suck when you think about it. The cameras are really poor quality, it's not real video, low storage, etc... As Ed Helms said in Digital Watch on the Daily Show...Finally companies are combining the battery life of digital cameras with the image quality of a cell phone.

However, things are going to improve very rapidly. It won't be long before "The Portable Device" is something that can take 4-6 megapixel images with decent quality and store tons of them in the tens/hundreds of GBs of storage.

Likewise they'll have headphone jacks so you'll use them like an iPod...again with enough storage to carry the entire library of an average person.

Combine this with all the usual PDA and game stuff in a unit that is as small as today's smallest cell phones.

These units will be dockable with your car, computer and home entertainment center.

Apple can not make this device, it could, but it can not compete in the market place. What it can, and should do, is provide licensable technology and services for these devices.

Most notably, they should start ASAP in getting these phone to be able to use a handheld version of iTunes and iTMS.

iPods days are numbered. Don't get me wrong, it's a friggin' awesome product...best on the market today...but hard drive capacities will increase to a ceiling where they hold just about anyone's entire library. Physical sizes will decrease, and prices will inevitably drop down to the point where Apple can not deal with the razor thin margins and competition.

The iPod was created to support Mac sales. iTMS was created to support iPod sales. At some point if the iTMS emerges as the winner (and it sure is looking good today), it will become not only a significant revenue stream, but a powerful force for Apple to influence and enter other markets.

[SilentPanda]

Originally posted by pmj
I'm left to wonder what exactly Apple is doing with iPhone.org (http://www.iPhone.org/).

Make your own ringtones in GarageBand!

[SilentPanda]

Originally posted by Krizoitz
A cellular phone with the following features

- bluetooth
- address book/caller id
- data sending/recieving capability
- models available for each of the different wireless standards

what i can live with IF it doesn't cost too much
- color screen
- polyphonic ring tones

what I don't need
- camera
- games
- other extraneous crap

Just a simple phone that serves as a simple phone. I don't want a do it all device. I want it to be a phone that I can integrate with my computer to share data. The digital hub idea all over again. A camera thats a camera, a printer thats a printer, a phone thats a phone. KISS principle. And I'm not saying you have to do away with the everything+the kitchen sink cell phones, just make a cell phone for the rest of us!

I'll be in line right after you.

[fatbarstard]

Ya just can't rule out Apple doing something neat with phones sometime in the near future.

The problem with most of the current stable of mobiles is that they are a solution looking for a problem. A camera in a phone is novel for about 5 seconds and then who cares...

The mobile network operates need to find handset solutions that ramp up data traffic on their networks otherwise things like 3G are dead... I mean if your just going to make phone calls even 2G is pretty much a dumb idea.

Apple's reputaiton for producing stunning ideas and making them easy to use is what will draw Apple and phone companies together - I suspect operators more than handset manufacturers.

Its not that Apple is going after this market.. it seems to me that it is more the phone market going after Apple - and who wouldn't want to play hard to get??

I suspect that it will be a phone manufacturer that licences some Apple software brilliance to produce a device that is actually easy to use, makes people want to use it and doesn't scare the pants off them...

[VIREBEL661]

Originally posted by Le Big Mac
Here, here!

I don't understand the focus on cameras. Sure, some people want them, and that's fine. But it seems like there are two choices: stripped down, basic models, or models with a camera, games and what not. Why that?

Is it purely a revenue generation issue: stick features on phones that generate extra $$, as sending pics does (data rates) and renting/DLing games?

I totally agree... I don't understand this trend either... I have a GBA to play games on when I go on trips and stuff - I would probably never use a phone for this.. Camera thing doesn't suit me at all either... I think that particular portion of the market is aimed at teens/pre teens.... Unfortunately, we all suffer for that...

[wallabyguy]

First Poster here........

I am a member of the Greenfield consumer panel and received an invitation to a product evaluation about 3 months ago. The product was a cell phone. after running me through a series of routine questions and showing me some picture of current Nokia phones (although they were not named as such and at no point was any manufacturer named as the subject of the review) and features, they asked several questions about a "possible upcoming product". The phone had 2 cameras and was capable of video conferencing, email, voice recon., digital music, "hard drive capabilities", bluetooth and other features. The thing that really caught my attention was that the phone had a white inside shell and a clear outer shell. the edges where rounded, but here was the most interesting part, the keypad had the typical Nokia "send" and "end" buttons on either side of what appeared to be a IPod dial! Based on the feature description and the unit designed I was sure that it must have been an apple product but knew nothing of a phone in the planning stages until now. My thought, like many others, was that Apple was working on some type of next-gen Newton, so I dismissed it.

On last thing that I thought was odd about the survey. AT the end it asked me who I thought made the phone and listed several manufacturers and a blank at the bottom to fill in under "other". I wrote in Apple.

[Toby O Notoby]

Okay, a case for more complicated phones:

A lot of times I'm called on trips where I'm only gone for a night or two. Ever since the Pismo blew up, we're down to one computer at home. So we have the choice of me taking the 12"PB with me or giving my wife access to Internet/Email.

But with, say, a SonyEricsson P900 I can surf the web, answer emails, take pictures or video, listen to MP3s at the gym, play games and even watch pre-taped television shows. Throw in a bluetooth keyboad and I can even get some serious work done with writing scripts and the like. So it effectively replaces not only my PowerBook, but my digital camera and iPod as well. Sure it doesn't do any of those as well as individual devices, but it does fit in my pocket and lets me travel light.

Having said that, We recently bought a new phone for my wife and went with a stripped down Nokia because she doesn't want, need or use any of the extraneous stuff.

[MacQuest]

Originally posted by el gringo
I think apple is working closer to SonyEricsson...some kind of joint development...

The only reason I have a Sony Ericsson phone and use Cingular Wireless as my provider is because at MWNY ´02 Steve Jobs announced a partnership between those two companies and Apple.

Still waiting to see what comes out of that collaborative effort.


UPDATE


Hmmm. Interesting.

Just saw a new commercial for Cingular that promotes America OnLine Instant Messenging through their network. Apparently AIM users can access their Buddy List from their phones and other stuff.

Hopefully this will tie in with iSight and iChat´s new Mac and Windows AIM compatability. Maybe we´ll be able to video conference from iSight to Sony Ericsson cell phones using Cingular´s network or something.

Dunno.

[GregA]

Originally posted by hokka
This does not surprise me as most recent Nokia users would know Nokia uses RealOne for video playback ( http://www.infosyncworld.com/news/n/3532.html ) - since the 3650 about a year ago At least the new Nokia's play AAC (in addition to MP3). That's a good technological choice, but I'm not aware of the background alliances anymore.

ps. Not that I've listened to music on a phone... just glad to see it wasnt WMA.