MacWelt.de - What Steve Jobs didn't tell about the iPhone

[c-Row]

German online (and print) magazine MacWelt (www.macwelt.de) apparently talked to Apple Germany about the iPhone to get some information Steve Jobs didn't mention at the Keynote.

(1) Apple didn't give a definite answer whether the iPhone would run OS X 10.4 or 10.5, but they emphasized that it deploys a full version of it. However, see (3)...

(2) The complete OS will be stored on the flash memory, but it takes up far less than 500 MB. So while this draws away some storage from the 4/8GB memory, it's extremely easy to install software or firmware updates.

(3) Apple decides what programs will run on the iPhone, just like with the iPod games before, and Apple won't release any specs at the moment. This also applies to 3rd party widgets.

(4) No iTMS download at this time. Chances are that Apple and Cingular couldn't find an agreement on this topics. However, they don't rule out that this option might be added at a later point. (see (2) about software updates)

(5) No iTunes songs as ring tones.

(6) No VoIP support, as this would cut down Cingular's profits.

(7) Safari is said to include as many plugins as possible, but there is no fixed list yet. It does include Flash and Java, though.

(8) There have been no decisions yet about which provider will sell the iPhone in Germany - the Apple/Cingular contract only applies to the USA.


(http://www.macwelt.de/news/messen/342764/index.html)

[After G]

Sure about 5? That would suck.

[c-Row]

Originally Posted by After G

Sure about 5? That would suck.

That's what they were told. No ringtones or alarms from iTunes songs.

[bartelby]

Originally Posted by After G

Sure about 5? That would suck.

I'm going to guess that that would be bought tracks from iTMS. The record labels would want royalites from ringtone use too.

[joshysquashy]

Originally Posted by After G

Sure about 5? That would suck.

Every once in a while, apple's "my way or no way" approach strikes a chord.

they don't want people playing crappy ring tones, so you can only play theirs. I recon there may be workarounds for this, and perhaps hacked widgets you can install but are not supposed to, what do others recon?

[c-Row]

Originally Posted by joshysquashy

they don't want people playing crappy ring tones, so you can only play theirs.

Honestly, I would rather want a smooth and discrete "beep" or little melody than having to listen to the latest black music cr4p everytime some 14 year old next to me gets a call from his homies...

[bartelby]

Actually, I'm not bothered about the ringtone issue.
In nearly 10 years of using a mobile phone I've always had my phones on vibrate and silent.

[joshysquashy]

Originally Posted by c-Row

Honestly, I would rather want a smooth and discrete "beep" or little melody than having to listen to the latest black music cr4p everytime some 14 year old next to me gets a call from his homies...

I find a song that almost sounds like a ringtone, but nicer, like a nice moby track, or royksopp. Something simple and repetitive.

I think its nice to have the choice, they could even add an app to clip the ringtone to the right length and fade in/out the bit you want, similar to setting a photo as the background, you can zoom in/out and position it how you like it.

[emotion]

It wouldn't surprise me if a lot of the limitations are down to Cingular not Apple. Cingular are known to hobble their phones.

[c-Row]

Originally Posted by emotion

It wouldn't surprise me if a lot of the limitations are down to Cingular not Apple. Cingular are known to hobble their phones.

At least (4) and (6) point towards Cingular, yes. Looking forward to what things will be like outside the USA.

[jsm4182]

Originally Posted by c-Row

(1) Apple didn't give a definite answer whether the iPhone would run OS X 10.4 or 10.5, but they emphasized that it deploys a full version of it.

As stated in some other threads, Apple was careful to say OSX and not MacOSX, implying its a different operating system.

[dextertangocci]

Rev b will be out by the time South Africa gets it, in 2008, which is probably better because it will then have Leopard on it for sure, and it will be a lot more refined, even though I hate waiting...

[Sesshi]

No deal-killers, but limitations as expected. No doubt more will surface as time goes on.

[4np]

Originally Posted by joshysquashy

Every once in a while, apple's "my way or no way" approach strikes a chord.

they don't want people playing crappy ring tones, so you can only play theirs. I recon there may be workarounds for this, and perhaps hacked widgets you can install but are not supposed to, what do others recon?

I hope they will ban that stupid frog ringtone, man that is awefull... Just like all those other lousy ringtones you can buy :S

[Tymmz]

i think we have to wait and see how the iphone develops.

i see a bright future.

[engpjp]

It has been reported on the net, from several interviews with Apple employees, that the browser will NOT include Flash or Java - including Dave Pogue's recent Q&As for iPhone (and he's probably the journalist with the closest connections to Apple).

This will of course save the iPhone from a lot of online threats, but it also prohibits access to the manifold Web 2.0 possibilities that are presently unfolding "out there"...

**Addendum** The German source says, "wird aber sicher", about Flash/Java inclusion, which could be translated "presumably" - they are merely guessing.....

And I have a hard time believing that they could squash any variation of OS X into 500 MB of memory - unless they have suddenly decided to optimize major parts of it by reprogramming it in assembler! Most likely, they have taken a kernel already optimized for the (ARM?) CPU and grafted optimized versions of only the most necessary OSX APIs onto it - yet another reason why they don't want 3rd party programs.

[Compile 'em all]

Originally Posted by engpjp

And I have a hard time believing that they could squash any variation of OS X into 500 MB of memory - unless they have suddenly decided to optimize major parts of it by reprogramming it in assembler! Most likely, they have taken a kernel already optimized for the (ARM?) CPU and grafted optimized versions of only the most necessary OSX APIs onto it - yet another reason why they don't want 3rd party programs.

Any OS designed with scalabilty in mind can be squashed down to run on small devices. It's just a matter of changing a couple of compile-time parameters and you can get a kernel that is a few KBs. You can do that with Linux and I don't think OS X is that much different.

[stingerman]

Originally Posted by engpjp

And I have a hard time believing that they could squash any variation of OS X into 500 MB of memory - unless they have suddenly decided to optimize major parts of it by reprogramming it in assembler! Most likely, they have taken a kernel already optimized for the (ARM?) CPU and grafted optimized versions of only the most necessary OSX APIs onto it - yet another reason why they don't want 3rd party programs.

The biggest part of OS X is not the code parts but the graphic resources. All the images and UI stuff. If Apple were to strip out the Graphics and instead use as much Vector art as possible, they could definetly get the size down.

[GFLPraxis]

I hope 5 doesn't apply to generic MP3s. I wouldn't see the point in purchasing ringtones when you've got 4-8 GB of music sitting on a hard drive.

[paranoid87]

so theoretically would it be possible to install Linux on iPhone??



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[aristobrat]

Originally Posted by paranoid87

so theoretically would it be possible to install Linux on iPhone??

Theoretically, it's possible to install Linux on virtually any device that has a processor.

[wyatt23]

Originally Posted by c-Row

Honestly, I would rather want a smooth and discrete "beep" or little melody than having to listen to the latest black music cr4p everytime some 14 year old next to me gets a call from his homies...

black music? i hope you don't mean louis armstrong or miles davis?


i think you meant to say: rap crap music. not that i agree.

[emotion]

All modern pop/dance/rock/funk music is essentially black music.

[Kid Red]

If Apple is serious about Safari then they will need to include flip4mac, I mean you can't watch CNN videos without it. Ridiculous that QT can't play avi or wmv.

[rockthecasbah]

#5 seems a little fishy but what can ya do....