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Apple iPhone, Helio and VOIP?

Wired article link

sishaw said:
There was a fairly good article on Helio in Wired magazine an issue or two ago. Even though I am not the target audience, I found it intriguing (hey, we boomers like music, games and cell service too!). Unfortunately, I cannot seem to find the article on wired.com, but I remember thinking exactly what this rumor says, that perhaps this could be a partnership for Apple for an apple-branded phone with iTunes service.
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OK, found the link to the Wired article: http://www.wired.com/wired/archive/14.03/helio.html.

It seems like a nice phone, and one that would fit in well with Apple. Also, at the very end, there is a quotation reminiscent of an Apple iPod ad:

"Music and video should be communications fodder," Dayton asserts. "It's not about downloading Desperate Housewives and watching it at the doctor's office. We're your connection to your community of friends." He stares at the device, glowing with electronic life. "All of your friends, in the palm of your hand."

Coincidence?
 
MacsRgr8 said:
I have this feeling, that even if this iPhone would be launched this summer, us folks over here outside the US will have to wait till 2008 before being able to iChat on the iPhone... ;)

Be nice seeing it happen though :cool:
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My thoughts exactly! Nevermind though, eh?

I'm guessing we'll have to wait for European carriers to pick up the phone and/or for apple to set up its own infrastructure over here (depending on whether they set up as a MVNO in the US or just use Helio)...

But golly-gosh, how much do I want an iPhone? Bet it comes out jusssst as I renew my contract!
 
iPhone please!

Let's hope Apple will come out with VoIP, 3G, mobile phone with PDA capabilites. i'm still waiting for something that can sync to my Mac and use as a phone. Treo has been the only choice for too long! now that they seem to be moving in the windows arena with the "hollywood".. perhaps it's about time for apple to take things back into their own hands.
 
i don't necessarily think the iPhone will be a separate product. my guess is that phone/VOIP features will be added to next generation iPods. the popularity of the ipod is already apparent, why try to break into yet another market while they have dominance in one already?

mr
 
dr_lha said:
I call bullsh1t.

Helio are a CDMA network based off Sprint. If the Apple iPhone is a CDMA based phone then they're making a phone that only will work with a very small percentage of the market (i.e. 50% of the US market and nowhere else).

This would be a very stupid move, the international cell phone market for GSM phones massively outsizes that for CDMA phones. Why would Apple want to limit themselves so much?

There is a possibility that they could make a "dual-mode" phone or two different phones for different networks. I just can't see Apple doing this, they like to have "one-solution".
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So what your saying is that this could easily be a US only service offered by Apple. That doesn't sound like something Apple would do ;)
 
MacsRgr8 said:
I have this feeling, that even if this iPhone would be launched this summer, us folks over here outside the US will have to wait till 2008 before being able to iChat on the iPhone... ;)

Be nice seeing it happen though :cool:
Click to expand...
Hear, hear... I am still waiting for free songs on iTunes... one day perhaps.
 
iPhone release date

2007 they will pull iTunes from Motorola. 2008 they will come out with the iPhone and partner with Cingular.
 
Sounds cool, I'd like a VOIP cellphone, especially one designed by apple.

I am moving to the states soon and I was planning on bringing my Nokia 6620 and getting a new sim card but maybe I should reconsider...
 
But wait there's more . . .

So where's the iChat supported iSight enabled cell phone! Now that's something to make the person sitting next to you at Starbucks just green with envy!
 
Big Fat Lies! said:
So where's the iChat supported iSight enabled cell phone! Now that's something to make the person sitting next to you at Starbucks just green with envy!
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Wouldn't it be tight if you could connect to your computer, browse & download files off your computer to your phone. Oh Snap!
 
backupdrummer said:
So what your saying is that this could easily be a US only service offered by Apple. That doesn't sound like something Apple would do ;)
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Exactly.
 
Pb G5

The powerbook G5 wasn't able to go public due to unstable temperature conditions. These unstable temperatures caused fires and left prototypes charred.
 
Hmm, I like what avensis said above about this not being a seperate product. Why start a new line when you can build off the success of the old one? It's not an Apple iPhone, it's an iPod that you can make calls on.

VOIP? If they added wireless to the iPod that would give us VOIP, but there'd be zero coverage, unless there was an included pcmcia slot that came with a cellular EVDO card. It'd be neat, though, to have your iChat nick be your cellphone number... Text, voice and video all to one nick/address/"phone number" and any internet enabled device? Interesting.

Regardless, I'd only get it if it came with PDA functionality. I like surfing the net and playing simcity on my palm-enabled phone, not to mention that I keep important information on there. Maybe this rumor dovetails with the touchscreen-enabled iPod rumor from earlier? Will we get a fully functional PDA/iPod with full-size touchscreen, iLife integration and phone capabilities?

As long as I'm wishing for the moon, I'd also like a million dollars and a pony, please.
 
BRLawyer said:
Damn, not again this living dead iPhone rumor...can't we just stick to the PowerBook G5..??
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I honestly think Apple eventually has to integrate a phone into the iPods if they want to keep their marketshare, since most people prefer one gadget over a specially designed geek-vest with pockets for: cellphone, MP3, GPS, pda, camera...
Just look at SonyEricsson. Their mp3 players might not be the best under the sun, but I still think that many buyers prefer that solution over being cought with the above mentioned geek vest.
 
Could it just be that the reason that the 'true' video iPod has been delayed because there could be issues with integrating telephony technology into it?
 
Steve Doesn't Do Market Research

We all know that Steve Jobs is great for Apple because he makes the things that he'd want. He's a businessman, sure, but he doesn't fall into giving the market what it "wants." Well, hardly ever. He may want a better cell phone himself, but I'd be surprised if he thinks it's a good problem for Apple to tackle. Unless he see the chance for Apple to do something obvious and brilliant that the current companies are too entrenched in their current models to do.

But, come on, consider the source. Market research companies are useless, especially at predicting what Apple's gonna do. For exactly the reason that I stated above. "Oh and Apple's gotta do VoIP too; it's so hot right now." If they're right about an Apple phone or VoIP, it's dumb luck. Market research predicting what Apple's gonna do is like a ten-year-old analyzing Big Blue's chess game.
 
If you were at apple watching your competition you are surely going to see mobiles as a steadily building threat. Either they simply slowly wait for them to erode their market share or join in and take on their competition. Look at 3 now, you can download songs already and my Nokia 6280 is a great MP3 player. I know apple aren't a normal company but they have shareholders who they will want to keep happy by keeping the share price high. I reckon if they do launch a good phone they could do what the ipod does times 1000. If they don't ipod and itunes will inevitably go the way of the Newton. They simply have to do it, apple depends on the ipod too much to see it die. The rushed Motorola effort was hopefully the first dabble but why on earth did they choose to partner with one of the worst mobile makers around??
 
i don't know if i really like the idea of an iPhone - okay, so we already know it's apple and that means the phone itself + the interface will be amazing and sleek, but the coverage..? the apple logo isn't so great that i'll see a phone and forget its purpose. the quality of a voIP service over an all cell based, national provider cannot possibly compare.

and on a second note - there's also no way that you can convince me that apple right now is worried about the cell phone market growing enough to overtake the ipod. the only way this is even feasible is if the ipod goes so far away from its original music purpose that the ipod becomes more phone-esque than anything else (ie: pda capabilities, etc).
 
There is no connection between Helio and Apple.

This is fact.

If Apple creates a phone, they will do so on their own terms and with a careful partnership with a well-established network provider.
 
It seems like this has been battered around to no end, but I think the next innovation could very well be mobile VOIP to integrate with something like iChat. I think it would be cool.

As far as the merging of functions currently available on the iPod, don't expect them on the iPhone any time soon. Apple is not going to cannibalize the sales of their best-selling product line. They would rather offer two products and increase their sales that way, it would be hard to imagine iPod sales increasing much more.
 
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