iPhone Analysis and Palm Perspective

[CrackedButter]

Palm has several things still going for it still. The biggest being 3rd party app support. This is something that Apple really does need to push over the next year. If they don't all we have here is an expensive, closed smart phone.
However as I said before I'm not overly concerned right now since there is almost half a year until the *Phone comes out. In typical Apple fashion they are taking things slow and steady. Nothing wrong with that approach. It just drives some people insane in a world of I WANT IT NOW! NOW NOW NOW!

I personally think the people in the linked article are short shighted, I don't think they know what Vapourware is and its unlikely Palm is going to catch up in 6 months. It will have to remove all its buttons at least to get anywhere on the right road, how much Q and A testing does that take?

iPhone is going to overtake Palm like a gale force blowing over a daffodil. I want one and I told my PC friend last night and my room mate and they watched the demo... they are both getting one as well and we both do not have smart phones to begin with, Palm has never had our business so they are clearly doing something wrong.

Those two guys are still debating usability between the iPhone and a Treo... lame.

 

[matticus008]

Now understand why 3G is important?

It's utterly irrelevant in the launch market. It will be added later, as mentioned in the keynote, and undoubtedly before any international launch.

 

[IlluminatedSage]

I agree, I have a palm right now.

Unless Apple has within it's design removable/replaceable batteries. This power hungry device won't be right for me, a power user who frequently needs to swap out an empty battery for a full one.

also, i really want cingular hdspa standard for broadband anywhere. NOT Edge which is terminally slow.

 

[dernhelm]

I dunno, this vaporware clearly has them beat. Even Jobs knew that or he would never have announced it 6 months in advance. It seems to me this could make a severe dent in the Cingular smart-phone customer base (of people who want/could afford a $500 phone), and maybe draw a few of those big spenders over to Cingular from somewhere else.

However, Palm is not in any real trouble until Apple can market this phone to all providers. So they've got 2.5 year notice and a bunch of patents to overcome. Palm is far from through, but in typical Apple fashion they've skipped the "learning curve" part, and produced a phone head and shoulders above anything Palm has to offer from a usability standpoint.

Except for missing MS Office compatibility, and possibly a few other nits, there is very little Palm can use a leverage to promote their phones over this one. And since this phone can run OS/X, I wonder how hard it would be to port something like open office over to it? It wouldn't surprise me if in 6 mos time Apple announces an XCode plugin toolkit (free to the open source community even) for developing smartphone applications. Once that happens, Office compatibility will be solved at no cost to Apple.

 

[sishaw]

If it is true, though, that the battery is not easily user-replaceable on the fly, that aspect may be a "learning experience" for Apple. It's one thing to be without an iPod for a few days while the battery is replaced, but a cell phone is different. People rely on them, and the broader cell phone market, which is what Apple is aiming for, is not going to accept it. I would hope that somehow they've made battery replacement easier, even just to the extent of making the case easier to open.

I'm a huge iPhone supporter, by the way. I think the multi-touch screen and the "convergence" as people call it of web, computing, media, and phone functions is the best realized yet, by far. But I did recently learn how difficult battery replacement is with my old 4G iPod.

 

[Carniphage]

It's utterly irrelevant in the launch market. It will be added later, as mentioned in the keynote, and undoubtedly before any international launch.

There are a ton of features that the iPhone can clearly do - which will not be announced at launch.

Skype-style voice-over-ip-via-WiFi will not be included because it would piss-off Cingular. I suspect that user installable content is currently blocked for the same reason. Someone might find a way of getting them new fangled free phone calls. Cingular want people paying for calls even if they are at home.

The iPhone is being compromised with the tie-up with a mobile carrier. But currently Apple have no choice. Their hands are tied, they had to go with one carrier.

But this will change. The European launch will compel Apple to offer an unlocked handset - and possibly 3G at launch. The Asian market will change the game again. And at some point the exclusivity deal with Cingular will end.

If production costs have fallen by that point - Apple might then be bold enough to offer a $599 handset unlocked. This unshackled handset could be equipped with VOIP, 3rd party software and become a much more convincing new platform.

But of course Apple cannot say that is going to happen. 'cos it would piss-off Cingular.

C.

 

[matticus008]

Skype-style voice-over-ip-via-WiFi will not be included because it would piss-off Cingular. I suspect that user installable content is currently blocked for the same reason. Someone might find a way of getting them new fangled free phone calls. Cingular want people paying for calls even if they are at home.

I have Skype installed on my current smartphone, and it didn't require anyone's permission or any strange hacking. There are also hundreds of (usually crappy) applications which I can install at will. Unlike standard cell phones, smartphones have never been locked down to the extent you suggest. They're too expensive, and professionals simply won't stand for it, especially given the monthly cash piles we send them.

If there is any actual restriction on installing 3rd-party software, it's completely Apple's doing. The statement might simply reflect the lack of a proper coding environment to write for it--something which relies on Leopard.

 

[mymacluvsme]

What about SIM card? I do not see any ways of putting it in the phone. Is the iPhone going to be US-only device? Here in Europe each phone uses a SIM card from a service provider... Does anyone know more information on that?

Cingular also uses SIM cards, and the iPhone will be made available in other countries using GSM. As such, there has to be some way of inserting and swapping the cards, but it's not clear how, exactly.

In the keynote Steve said there is a door for inserting a SIM, it's next to the headphone jack on the top.

 

[entropys]

Palm VP was quoted in terms of marketing against the iPhone in the coming months:

Quote:
"How do you compete with vaporware? You sell the product that only costs half as much, and is available now. Palm's not going to try to market against product that they haven't seen yet."

Ok, So this guy is messing his strides over the iPhone mini that will no doubt make its debut around September/OCtober, in time for the Christmas market.

 

[tny]

I personally think the people in the linked article are short shighted, I don't think they know what Vapourware is and its unlikely Palm is going to catch up in 6 months.

Palm don't know what vaporware is? I'm guessing you think Cobalt is just a slot on the periodic table ;-)

 

[Nym]

Cingular also uses SIM cards, and the iPhone will be made available in other countries using GSM. As such, there has to be some way of inserting and swapping the cards, but it's not clear how, exactly.

The iPhone has a sim card slot on the top from what I can remember from the keynote.

 

[GregA]

The iPhone has a sim card slot on the top from what I can remember from the keynote.

Is it possible to have an external battery that connects to the bottom of the iPhone for long days? I know it'd be far lamer than changing the battery, just wondering.

Otherwise the market for car chargers and secondary chargers (home + work) will be huge.

edit: okay, found a few external batteries, all quite large (eg half size of regular iPod). The redeeming feature is that it'll charge your iPod while connected, so you don't have to necessarily USE it with the external battery. Ah well.

 

[csimmons]

Most pundits and critics still don't get it

I watched a news program on German TV last night where a tech mag writer (from the German mag Connect) was not impressed by the iPhone because "Nokia and Sony Ericsson smartphones already have all the same features the iPhone has". Many of these critics still don't understand that the iPhone isn't about the features per se, but the implementation. It will be by far the easiest to use smartphone on the market.

This mindset is exactly why the iPhone will be a hit, despite it's perceived high price and the growing FUD campaign against.

Microsoft has just been technologically b*tch-slapped. Again.

 

[GregA]

So how does the "visual voicemail" work?

I'm hoping Apple has made Cingular send the voicemails to the phone, as Multimedia Messages. At least that uses existing technology - so would be far easier for other carriers around the world to design.

Will Palm be able to do a similar multimedia message design? Hell... all they REALLY need to do is use a system that attaches the voicemail to an email that goes to your phone. At least that integrates voicemail and email!

 

[Stella]

Its new - Cingular had to specifically develop it for Apple. Other networks will have to follow suite if visual voice mails are to work with iPhone.

Its a new protocol.

So how does the "visual voicemail" work?

I'm hoping Apple has made Cingular send the voicemails to the phone, as Multimedia Messages. At least that uses existing technology - so would be far easier for other carriers around the world to design.

Will Palm be able to do a similar multimedia message design? Hell... all they REALLY need to do is use a system that attaches the voicemail to an email that goes to your phone. At least that integrates voicemail and email!

 

[Rychiar]

is there a vibrate feature on this or is it just ringtones? cus that would be annoying. I've only ever used vibrate on my phones

 

[jwa276]

I've had multiple palm devices from the Palm IIIxe to the more recent Palm T|X. I have recently switched to the HP iPaq hx2495 because my T|X battery simply up and died.

Granted, these are not smartphones- but I have learned both the Palm OS & Windows Mobile extensively. I truly believe that Palm is just seeing this as a last chance scenario, since the iPhone has not been released yet- this is their last chance to convince people of good alternatives. When comparing the two interfaces, it is like night and day.

I believe that Apple has created a device that will set the new standard for personal communication/computing. Palm has nothing right now. With the death and failure of their long awaited Palm OS 6 (Cobalt), they are now shipping palm devices with windows mobile. I still think Palm OS 5 is better than Windows Mobile 5, but it looks like the iPhone interface will blow ANYTHING clean out of the water- and it's obvious that Palm is well aware of that.

Multi-Touch
Core Animation
Visual Voicemail
Dynamic Interface
Sexiness

Palm may think they will win if they slam the iPhone for its initial shortcomings, but hopefully they realize that the product hasn't even seen its first cycle. Apple seems to always make the users happy, and I'm positive if something is that big of a problem that Apple will fix it one iPhone generation or another.

How will Palm and other smartphone manufacturers keep up? Time will tell!

 

[JeffDM]

I think Palm makes some points, but just weeks ago they suggested that "PC guys" won't be able to make significant impact because PC ideas would be unusable in a PDA phone. Now it looks like they are trying to distract people from the fact that they made that prediction.

 

[Motley]

I watched a news program on German TV last night where a tech mag writer (from the German mag Connect) was not impressed by the iPhone because "Nokia and Sony Ericsson smartphones already have all the same features the iPhone has". Many of these critics still don't understand that the iPhone isn't about the features per se, but the implementation. It will be by far the easiest to use smartphone on the market.

This mindset is exactly why the iPhone will be a hit, despite it's perceived high price and the growing FUD campaign against.

Microsoft has just been technologically b*tch-slapped. Again.

Wasn't this how the iPod took off? It didn't beat the competitors on price or features, but intergration and interface.

 

[Sol]

Notice how Steve Jobs refered to the bottom port as an iPod, not Dock connector? I hope it is a standard Dock connector so that we can recharge iPhones using the same peripherals we have for our iPods.

 

[freeny]

The battery issue could be a deal breaker for allot of people. Me included. If I cant make it through a whole day without my phone draining, whats the point?

 

[Zadillo]

I hope Palm keeps their "this isn't a threat to us" attitude; they have been ignoring customer demands for years, and this is par for the course for them.

I've had a Treo 650 for a year and a half, and was thinking about upgrading to a Treo 680 or even maybe a 750w (as much as I dislike Windows Mobile), but those devices both look like jokes now. Now I'm going to just keep going with my Treo 650 til the iPhone is available.

I do like the third party Palm apps, but I'm not completely tied to them or anything. But the Palm OS itself has been completely neglected (and I have no idea what is going to happen with Access's new Access Linux Platform to replace Palm OS).

The iPhone looks like what Palm should have been doing if they ever wanted to really move things forward, rather than releasing incremental updates and hacks to the aging Treo design.

I'm still hoping Apple will clarify things in regards to third-party support. So far I've only seen vague comments on blogs, etc. but nothing concrete. Some people are claiming it will be a closed platform like the iPod (I think gizmodo even said that an Apple exec told them that), while on another blog when they asked about it, they were said to keep an eye on developers.apple.com.

I will say that the core featureset of the iPhone is compelling enough to me that I might still buy it even without third party support, but it would be a major disappointment, since it seems like such a natural platform for all sorts of cool stuff.

-Zadillo

 

[Samurai]

Somewhat true, the iPhone is still lacking although its a solid competitor i dont see it replacing my treo but rather partnering with it.

So you're saying you're going to pay for and carry around both a Treo and iPhone ??

 

[mick4394]

i think the phone ships 3G... no way it stays edge... they just didn't want to announce it without knowing it could be completely implemented in the phone yet (kind of like the 3GHZ in one year thing)... of course i may just be making that up...

This isn't the type of thing that can be kept secret. All cell phones have to pass FCC testing. You can't just slip in different communications chips.

If this thing ends up being 3G before it ships, Howardforums will be all over it long before June.

 

[KindredMAC]

My prediction....

The iPhone will go the way of the G4 Cube.

Check back here 1 year after it finally makes market and we will see if I am right. Even the G4 Cube didn't have this much bad press when it was released.... It also didn't make the stock value jump over 10 points in a 3 hour period either but.... we shall see what happens.