Apple's iPhone Not Likely Soon?

[rockthecasbah]

honestly, ITS JUST A CELL PHONE! It's like the one tech product that Apple shouldn't have to venture into (that and toasters 🙂 ). Well i hope this never comes. It will be very expensive, probably disapointing, and get too many complaints that it does compliments. Just leave making cell phones to the other companies, please.🙄

 

[Krevnik]

The iPhone is indeed a horrible idea. I'm convinced that Apple's intention was to make the iPod wireless. Voice capability is just a simple add-on.

A wireless iPod is not much better than what many see as what the iPhone would be. Unless you are on 802.11n, transfer speeds would be pretty poor for anything but streaming content onto or from the iPod. While this would be an interesting feature, it is also hard to justify that one feature for the added price it would require, and the extra bulk to get reception beyond 30 feet. Oh, and forget about having reasonable battery life in an iPod with that. 1 hour streaming video, 4-5 hours streaming music if you use 802.11, simply because Bluetooth EDR isn't widespread enough to rely on for better battery life, and about 16KB/sec is a minimum for streaming a 128kbit MP3.

As someone who actually works in the field of mobile devices, I personally see an iPhone as being more likely right now. While what is currently on the market isn't that great, multiple companies, including my own have some really polished stuff in the pipe. If the market goes where we think it is going, then it would be a great chance for Apple to get into the PDA/Phone market as it combines and other companies are still working out how to do it right, and essentially drop a bomb onto the market before someone like MS does.

 

[MacGuy88]

I'm still wondering if the iPod and iPhone are one and the same.
Perhaps Apple is, if they can get the ball rolling again, going to create a peice of hardware that does it all. Cell Phone, Media, PDA... who knows.. maybe it will be called the iBerry.

 

[bluebomberman]

Apple should just buy some Korean phone maker and be done with it. Hire some bi-lingual engineers and have a phone within 6 months. Easy 😉

But not necessarily good.

 

[MrCrowbar]

Remember Steve saying the 5G iPod won't do video? So I say: April 1, touch screen iPod with phone and iChat built in. Boom! 😀

 

[ChrisA]

This is good news. It means they are NOT doing something that is easy. It implies they are breaking some new ground.

What I figure it is is a combo WiFi-VOIP phone and standard cell phone with a full 20GB or more iPod inside.

 

[bluebomberman]

The cell phone market looks to me like what the MP3 player market would be right now if the iPod was never introduced: crowded, filled with crappy inferior products, and competing for pocket space with other digital devices.

There is definitely opportunity. Just look at how many people get a Treo and then grow to hate it afterwards due to hardware and interface problems.

I also don't see what's all the whining about how phones have nothing to do with computers. Playing music and videos, sending text messages, sending email, using Internet hotspots, syncing with your computer's contacts, even using VoIP: this is all where cell phones are heading. The day may come in the distant future when a separate MP3 player like the iPod is laughable.

 

[Maac]

Bad news

I'd like to see an iPhone come out to replace my old Nokia7110. I can't wait any more.

 

[BWhaler]

Good riddance. The iPhone concept was horrible to begin with.

You've got to be kidding me.

Because there are so many great phones on the market?

Please...

Dropped calls...
Crappy battery...
Functionality that only the carriers want...
Impossible to figure out (easily) the phone's functionality.
The terrible operating systems that ship with most of them (Sony Ericsson is not bad, but not great either.)

And my favorite...the 400 "branding opportunities" carriers shove down our throats. If I have never have to look at a Cingular logo again, I'll be happy.

I think the problem is, and why you posted what you did, is we have all gotten used to bad cell phones. It's happened with the MP3 player, and why all of the "experts" wrote off the iPod. The couldn't understand the value proposition that Apple brought to the table.

Come back when Apple releases their phone, and we'll see what you think...

 

[Maac]

V70, one phone I've never owned.

Once I met the Motorola V70 in the market, I fell in love with it because "it" was designed by "someone" from Apple(right? I thought there would be nothing better that).For some "battery" reason I didn't get it. But it was amazing, isn't it?

My wife persuaded me to change my cell with some "cool" and "colorful" one, I said I will wait my Apple one.

 

[fatfish]

I just don't see any reason Apple needs to produce a phone. How does this sell more iMacs or Computers. Can anyone think of a reason?

I don't think many could see the reason for an ipod back in 2001. I'd buy an iphone simply because it would integrate seemlessly with ical, address book etc. unlike many of the phones out there now that are supposed to.

It would be cool and simple to use as well, the same factors that sell the ipod.

 

[boncellis]

I think this "news" from TS is more of a commentary on them than a rumor about Apple. Sure, Apple owns the name "iPhone" but that could be just to keep some other manufacturer from branding its product with the distinctly Apple-esque "i" as to avoid consumer confusion (see the Apple Corps v. Apple Computer thread).

I have read so many things about the alleged iPhone coming soon from Apple that they don't even faze me anymore--yet here is another rumor about how it will be either delayed or nonexistent. TS may have manufactured "news" about a rumored product that no one was sure would exist in the first place.

Is it just me, or does that seem off?

 

[EricNau]

You've got to be kidding me.

Because there are so many great phones on the market?

Please...

Dropped calls...
Crappy battery...
Functionality that only the carriers want...
Impossible to figure out (easily) the phone's functionality.
The terrible operating systems that ship with most of them (Sony Ericsson is not bad, but not great either.)... ...

You can't blame dropped calls on the phone - it's usually the carrier.

 

[Lepton]

Yoiks. I'm sure they'd make a swell phone but they don't necessarily have to make the phone themselves! It's complex and not squarely in their field, so for a first model - there are a number of existing phones they could have used as a blank slate and customized to make their own. I've said this here before.

Consider just as one example one of Moto's own phones, not released in the US yet. The Moto e680. (Follow link for a review.) It runs Linux and has a great array of hardware: GSM, touch display, MP3 decoder, video decoder, big bright screen, plays video in landscape mode, Bluetooth, FM radio, voice recognition, text to speech, speaker phone, Samba, Telnet, lots of Unixy things.. It even looks a little iPodian. They could dump all the UI software and implement their own. They could even go down to the Linux kernel and make the thing VERY OSX. It could be iPod, phone, AND video player. This phone hardware is already manufactured, debugged and in the field. Don't like Moto? There are other possibles.

The key is not so much the phone, but the UI in the phone and especially the total integration with the phone company. This is easy too, as you can partner with a company like Cingular and use their air in your own virtual phone company. There are examples of this, Virgin is one. Apple will absolutely need to do this to integrate downloading of tunes and so on without interference from a third party cellular provider.

 

[fatfish]

Apple simply has to enter this market.

The forecasts are huge for d/l on moby's and apple will need to be part of it if it wants to keep it's lead in digi music.

The key will be simplicity and coolness, the market will be hard to break into, but well worth it, the numbers are huge. Nokia expect to sell 100m this year, if apple can sell 25m in 5 years, it will be as big as the ipod for them.

 

[Seasought]

I just don't see any reason Apple needs to produce a phone. How does this sell more iMacs or Computers. Can anyone think of a reason?

You're right. Sort of like how a portable MP3 player from Apple didn't really help them sell computers.

...

 

[bluebomberman]

You're right. Sort of like how a portable MP3 player from Apple didn't really help them sell computers.

...

It helps keep Apple in business.

 

[BornAgainMac]

All phones today remind me of the MP3 players before the iPod. A ton of improvement is overdue.

 

[iMeowbot]

I just don't see any reason Apple needs to produce a phone. How does this sell more iMacs or Computers. Can anyone think of a reason?

"If I were running Apple, I would milk the Macintosh for all it's worth and get busy on the next great thing. The PC wars are over. Done. Microsoft won a long time ago."

 

[(L)]

Well, yeah, making a phone has it's pros for Apple.

1) Entering an arena where everybody else isn't doing all that great on the ease of use, gui streamlining, music delivery, synchronization, etc. Apple, at least, can make a good phone, at least technologically. (Of course there are complications, like the service aspect, and this sort of alleged problem rumored recently.)

2) The iPod effect. Apple experimented with the "cool" factor. Apply that to phones, not forgetting the ease-of-use factor. I wish someone would do that in Japan (we have phones that have all kinds of features but are essentially crappy in ease-of-use, and others that are so simple they couldn't be hard to use if you were a hundred years old). In other words, Apple can both make a decent phone and get attention for it, IF they have the service side in line and without annoyances.

3) To some degree, switchers. Then again, my guess is that Apple phone users would be likely Mac users and/or iPod users, so there's much duality there. Unless they can make it get 75% market share like the iPod. Which, umm, despite all those improvements Apple could make, is still a difficult feat. Not like those other companies will sit on their hands - they'll start copying as soon as it looks somewhat successful, while people are still like "Apple? Apple has a cell phone service? My provider's fine, I might want a new model though."

4) Staying in business. This seems important. Yup.

5) If MS can be lured into this business, it might give Apple a chance to embarass them again. This is probably not on Apple's mind though. Nobody whittles at a giant by embarassing him.

In the end, my opinion is that if Apple can afford to design and engineer a phone, they should be focusing more creativity in what they can do with the Mac OS to beat the crap out of Windows and capture more market share. Starting with businesses. How to get the businesses....

 

[BWhaler]

"If I were running Apple, I would milk the Macintosh for all it's worth and get busy on the next great thing. The PC wars are over. Done. Microsoft won a long time ago."

That was in the mid-90's before open source started to set-in and Microsoft stopped executing.

Don't get me wrong. There is still some truth there. Apple will not take an Office in a serious way in the next 5 years because of the power of the Monopoly. Nor will Apple try to unseat MS in the broad business market. That's going to be up to Linux.

But it's a different ballgame today. For no other reason than MS really can't execute anymore.

 

[(L)]

"If I were running Apple, I would milk the Macintosh for all it's worth and get busy on the next great thing. The PC wars are over. Done. Microsoft won a long time ago."

I forgot who you are quoting. Anyway, good thing there's things like comeback, revenge, niche.

If Microsoft made Windows Works-Perfectly-Fine-and-Looks-Great-Doing-It Edition, which they can't as long as they keep 50 million lines of old crappy code nobody dares to and few (not at Microsoft) are able to untangle, the Macintosh would go down in a blink of the eye. Apple could go out of the hardware business and muscle in on the OS like MS for Windows, and conceivably gain much market share...but then the OS would not be as good, Apple, a hardware company, would have to bear a huge shift, and probably have other complications Jobs would be concerned about.

I'm thinking, steal the guys who designed XBrite or whatever tech that makes Vaio screens look good. Work on areas people will have difficulty following your trail, like new interface concepts (touchscreen has been one). Redefine laptop design like desktop design has been to some degree, what with no tower in the iMac (but far more radically). This is a bit out of the ballpark, but imagine a <1 lb computer that utilizes virtual keyboard, virtual track pad, and choice in size of touchscreen with built in crystalline memory, nanotech molecular hardware (cpu and board, etc), for $2000, when everyone else has itty bitty conventional hardware and plastic conventional design, slower speeds, less memory, for the same price. Yeah, I'm talking about a difference in hardware so big a Windows fan boy would not think twice about switching. Is it possible now? Of course not. Some of the technology isn't there yet. Can it be made possible early enough by Apple to make the above scenario come true? Well, that depends on the employees at Apple. A feat like that amounts to accelerating innovation so far it appears you have arrived from the future with products that cannot be rivaled. 2015. At the latest. After that, it'll probably be too hard to get enough of a difference to kick Windows out of the arena.

 

[mugwump]

Where is Apple

Apple is absolutely missing out on the mobile marketplace -- the future of computing for many emerging markets.

Apple Mobile OS -- there's already Windows, Linux and Palm, with Palm no longer since it was snapped up by a Japanese firm.

The palm treos are everywhere, the stock is shooting through the roof, and Apple could've been there with any bit of vision. Sheesh, Jobs had to be forced into the mp3 market, but apparently all he saw were PDA's and never realized the phones were getting smarter.

Mobile darwin, iCal, Mail, iChat, Safari, Pages, iTunes -- it's all there and ready for a mobile OS -- where is apple?

It's not about phones, it about mobile computing -- multitasking, multithreaded with a low voltage Intel core dual, mobile spotlight searching.

WHERE IS APPLE FOR MOBILE COMPUTING?

My treo does everything, but is all single tasking with hideous searching. Otherwise, it's a laptop replacement -- the same way the first powerbooks were desktop replacements, though no one realized it for quite some time.

 

[iMeowbot]

I forgot who you are quoting. Anyway, good thing there's things like comeback, revenge, niche.

Steve Jobs said that, and that is exactly what he is doing. Mac manufacturing has already been farmed out to low bidders, and now hardware development has been shifted to rely mostly on Intel reference designs. This all frees up working capital to be spent on developing other products.

 

[skwert]

It would be cool and simple to use as well, the same factors that sell the ipod.

absolutely. the thought of a phone that looks like my ipod gets me giddy. apple has already made a huge fashion hit with the ipod...they could definitely ride that popularity wave with a similar iphone.