Apple iPhone, Helio and VOIP?

[visor]

Yepp, only logical step

let's face it, with the sonyericsson W series, there is absolutely no more need for some ipod nano or the like. The music goes onto the Mobile and that's it. btw. one does need to remove the itms drm first... go France go, make em share their drm techs

 

[hyperpasta]

UGH! NOT ANOTHER ANALYST SAYING iPHONE!!

Seriously, this should be on Page 2.

 

[pjkelnhofer]

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.

I have to disagree with some of what you say. For one, people are not replacing their digital cameras with cellphones. The main issue is quality. Would you rather have one gagdet that does everything or several that are all well designed?

I think a majority of people like the iPod because it does one thing really, really well. If the phone features are sub-par it will stop people from buying it as an mp3 player. If the PDA features are weak, then people won't buy it to be a phone, etc.

Finally, how do all the extra features affect the battery life of your phone. I would hate to not have my phone when I need it because I spent the day listening to music, watching last night's tv shows, and surfing the web!!!

 

[j26]

I have to disagree with some of what you say. For one, people are not replacing their digital cameras with cellphones. The main issue is quality. Would you rather have one gagdet that does everything or several that are all well designed?

I think a majority of people like the iPod because it does one thing really, really well. If the phone features are sub-par it will stop people from buying it as an mp3 player. If the PDA features are weak, then people won't buy it to be a phone, etc.

Finally, how do all the extra features affect the battery life of your phone. I would hate to not have my phone when I need it because I spent the day listening to music, watching last night's tv shows, and surfing the web!!!

In that view of the world everyone would be carrying about a 5g iPod, a phone, a Nikon D50, a digital camcorder, a portable radio and a pda, along with a PSP and whatever else takes your fancy.

Personally as a person travelling quite a bit, I want one preferably small bit of gear that will do it all reasonably well. I want a decent camera for on the go shots (with a better camera for planned pics), and all of my needs covered without having to hire a Sherpa to carry it all about for me.

My phone is close, but the UI sucks and since I don't have Tiger, it doesn't sync well so I'd love an iPhone (iPod with phone function, if you like)

Battery life is a major issue - perhaps a second small battery limited to phone use only with enough power to ensure the phone lasts for about a day after the main battery is gone.

 

[MacRonin]

Would you rather have one gagdet that does everything or several that are all well designed?

I want one well-designed item from Apple that does everything perfectly…!

I have been refusing to sign a new contract with Cingular (originally an AT&T subscriber…) for the better part of forever waiting on Apple to produce my new cellphone/smartphone…

And this Nokia candybar phone is really sucking…!

 

[Dr.Gargoyle]

I have to disagree with some of what you say. For one, people are not replacing their digital cameras with cellphones. The main issue is quality.

Hmm, I see your point. I do agree that people won't replace in all their cameras with combined gizmo... Not right now at least. I myself is a good example of that. I have just ordered a new point and shoot Leica. However, low-end cameras are gradually being pushed out of the market in favour of combined phone/cameras. As the digital cameras and phones become smaller at constant quility, a larger fraction of cameras will be replaced by a combined gizmo. The main reason is physiology. Our hands and fingers can't cope with too small gadgets.
The quality of the cameras in cellphones has improved radically and will contiue to do so. As an example: Nokia has a long term exclusive contract with Zeiss optics. That is a far cry from the piece of plastic that constituted a lense in the early camera/cellphones.
Apple shouldn't make the same mistake as Hasselblad and Leica. They basically underestimated the speed of the evolution of the CCD chip, which made them believe that it would be many more years before a digital camera would be able to compete with high-end "film" camera. Bad mistake.

Would you rather have one gagdet that does everything or several that are all well designed?

I think a majority of people like the iPod because it does one thing really, really well. If the phone features are sub-par it will stop people from buying it as an mp3 player. If the PDA features are weak, then people won't buy it to be a phone, etc.

Just as in the case with the iPod. It is all about making a user-friendly interface. The company that manage to do that will take more or less the entire market, just as Apple did with the iPod. I don't believe that we will see a camera/phone/mp3/pda/gps... emerge out of the blue, but rather a not-so-slow growth in that direction. The handheld market is converging towards a trusted-best-friend with capabilities we can't imagine. For example, Nokia has the last five years done research how a cellphone can double as a creditcard. This research will pay off one day, be sure of that. My point is that companies like SonyEricsson, Nokia, LG, and Samsung realize how much that handheld market is worth and they would love to have a big chunk of that. Their best option to compete with Apple in the MP3 market is through a combined phone/mp3-player.

Finally, how do all the extra features affect the battery life of your phone. I would hate to not have my phone when I need it because I spent the day listening to music, watching last night's tv shows, and surfing the web!!!

Compare battery life today with how it was a couple of years ago. Heck, just compare the battery life of the iPod. It more or less doubled between the 3G and 5G.
Moreover, more or less all cellphones besides the very low-end ones, have besides the phone capability a mp3 player (crappy UI) and a camera (low-end quality). As I stated above, the evolution is pushing things forward fast. There are already phones with 5Mpx cameras.
Or just consider SonyEricsson's W950i which is a tri-band GSM + UTMS cellphone with a touchscreen and 4GB flashmemory mp3 player. If THAT doesn't make Apple get of their asses I don't what will do.

Bottomline: If Apple wants to be a player in the MP3 market five years from now, they better come up with something fast.

 

[Dr.Gargoyle]

Personally as a person travelling quite a bit, I want one preferably small bit of gear that will do it all reasonably well. I want a decent camera for on the go shots (with a better camera for planned pics), and all of my needs covered without having to hire a Sherpa to carry it all about for me.

LOL.. I am in more or less the same situation, so I do know what you mean. I think we fool ourselves if we believe that the iPod with remain to be just a music player five years from now. Evolve or perish. Either way, iPod wont exist as we know it five years from now.