Hands on the iPhone, and History of iPhone?

[danibo77]

We have playstaion 3 from Sony (of which I would love to get when it finally is released in Europe), and XBox from Microsoft.
Dalen

You seem to be forgetting the Wii

How many average consumer uses internet on the cellphone? Unless you have a smartphone you wouldn't need it. I hate using it to check movie times or anything, the UI has been pathetic.

Quite many here in Norway.. The cellphone can be used for anything from payments in shops and billing, to parking-fees and ordering cinema tickets..

It is only until this year that FINALLY the number of households in the US with a DVD player surpases the number thas a VHS player.... now think about it, we are already talking about HD DVD and BluRay.... Most people don't even know their difference or what the heck it is.

VHS?? Can't remember the last time I saw someone with a vhs-player

And as for iChat connectivity or video conferencing, remember there is a huge consumer population in the US that is still using very basic phones. Video phone conferencing is a reality elsewhere, but it is still really behind here in that regard.

Apple, please give us 3G! Can't talk to my wife and child thorugh normal phone anymore, need to see them

 

[Hunabku]

...the following features are still missing from iPhone:

1. GPS
2. Games
3. Remote (could it handle hid profiles over bluetooth? I always use my K700i for remote controlling my PowerBook)
4. other?

I think that 2. Games should be the first to check off the list - since that is a no brainer to add with software - given core animation and os x built right in. Apple would be shooting themselves in the foot if they didn't open this thing up to 3rd party developers - who would swoop all over gaming.

 

[firsttube]

iphone

I wish this alleged iphone would just get announced already, the suspense is killing me! What if it never comes out and apple plays us all for fools? So where's my widescreen 12" powerbook g5, huh?

 

[simontarr]

I'm not sure if someone has already mentioned it but...

I have a feeling iTunes may be renamed when leopard is released. It no longer manages just music anymore. With the release of Apple TV being managed by it and now the entire iPhone (which is way more than just a phone) it just seems odd that they would still call iTunes iTunes

Can anyone think of some cool names? iLibrary? iCatalogue?

As you can tell, I'm not having the most creative of days

 

[4np]

I wish this alleged iphone would just get announced already, the suspense is killing me! What if it never comes out and apple plays us all for fools? So where's my widescreen 12" powerbook g5, huh?

And my MacBook Pro 15" with high resolution screen, resolution independant Leopard, Santa Rosa, blue ray drive and a newer and better GPU? Now I have to wait until march to get one!

 

[4np]

I'm not sure if someone has already mentioned it but...

I have a feeling iTunes may be renamed when leopard is released. It no longer manages just music anymore. With the release of Apple TV being managed by it and now the entire iPhone (which is way more than just a phone) it just seems odd that they would still call iTunes iTunes

Can anyone think of some cool names? iLibrary? iCatalogue?

As you can tell, I'm not having the most creative of days

iApple? iMedia? Although since iTunes is quite a strong name nowadays they may just keep the name instead of rebranding....

 

[Hunabku]

Mi posting a lot right now - much coffee that i ordered with my virtual rumored g5 iphone

Come on iphone get here already and get one percent market share - 10 million new users will mean 5 million new safari browser hits - which will mean that many more reasons for big web sites to support safari better. And i'm sure those phones will support flash and not windoze medicore player.

Come-on CNN get with it!!!!

 

[Stella]

NOT A SMARTPHONE!!

If Engadget is correct and you cannot install 3rd party applications, then -
- iPhone is not a smartphone.
- iPhone is dead on arrival
- What is apple thinking - no 3rd party applications - that is just stupidity - and apple have sunk to new levels of incompetence.

Apple have grabbed defeat from the jaws of victory and they don't understand what a smartphone is. They have truly redefined the 'smartphone' - unfortunately crippling it.

I hope this is only temporary until the software is complete.

The iPhone NEEDS 3rd party software AND Java support.

 

[simontarr]

iApple? iMedia? Although since iTunes is quite a strong name nowadays they may just keep the name instead of rebranding....

I agree that it's a strong name, but iTunes is synonymous with music & iPod. I just think that the name will be changed and maybe a 'new' application will replace it (not in Leopard though).

To me, it just makes sense to have a new application, or at least a rename for the software that is slowly but surely controlling all digital media on your mac.

 

[Machead III]

Ugh, isn't it obvious? We're not talking about a phone here, and it's not dead on arrival - this is a tablet PC.

The bloody thing plays HD movies! Did you see how fast cover flow was? Can you say multi-tasking?

You all realise that the processor in this thing is going to be 800Mhz+ right? And it's got to have at least 256mb of ram.

The Nokia N70 has 8mb of RAM...

This is a tablet PC, and that's why it's ~$1000 unlocked, $1999 locked inc. contract fees every month over 2 years.

If this is supposed to be a phone, it's literally the most expensive mainstream phone in history.

But it's not, it's a tablet PC, and I guess that's why Apple are charging (subsidised with contract) the same cost as a MacBook for it.

 

[odedia]

I agree that it's a strong name, but iTunes is synonymous with music & iPod. I just think that the name will be changed and maybe a 'new' application will replace it (not in Leopard though).

To me, it just makes sense to have a new application, or at least a rename for the software that is slowly but surely controlling all digital media on your mac.

Actually, they already changed the name, from "iTunes Music Store" to the "iTunes Store". So I guess that's how it will remain for a long time.

Oded S.

 

[Stella]

It runs mobile OSX.

If its a tablet PC you should be able to install 3rd party apps on it.

What good is a tablet PC if you can only use 1st party software?!!!

Nokia N70 runs a slim OS - Symbian - and doesn't require LOTS of ram, i.e., 256mb. Mobile OSX and Symbian are different beasts and can't be compared that way. However, granted, Nokia do starve their phones of memory, just slightly - but it doesn't need 256mb of RAM.

Ugh, isn't it obvious? We're not talking about a phone here, and it's not dead on arrival - this is a tablet PC.

The bloody thing plays HD movies! Did you see how fast cover flow was? Can you say multi-tasking?

You all realise that the processor in this thing is going to be 800Mhz+ right? And it's got to have at least 256mb of ram.

The Nokia N70 has 8mb of RAM...

This is a tablet PC, and that's why it's ~$1000 unlocked, $1999 locked inc. contract fees every month over 2 years.

If this is supposed to be a phone, it's literally the most expensive mainstream phone in history.

But it's not, it's a tablet PC, and I guess that's why Apple are charging (subsidised with contract) the same cost as a MacBook for it.

 

[simontarr]

Actually, they already changed the name, from "iTunes Music Store" to the "iTunes Store". So I guess that's how it will remain for a long time.

Oded S.

I'm not talking just about the Music Store- I'm talking about the application as a whole. Are you saying that iTunes used to be 'officially' called the iTunes Music Store?

 

[Orge]

I noticed this during the keynote, too. Does anyone else think that it loaded the web sites slower than they should over broadband internet?

It wasn't loading, it was taking its time to render the pages. This is pretty normal, given the state of the art of embedded proocessors for phones. Whilst I think that Apple have put together a good package, it's still going to be subject to the same limitations their competitors are facing.

J

 

[Stella]

Fire up XCode - and?

What do you compile against - what processor - what is the API?

This doesn't run the same OSX as your Mac - not a chance. It runs 'mobile' OSX - so the API differs.

Also Apple may require apps to be signed thus restricting developers.

How do you install your app / widget on the device - there may not be any installers?

If apple doesn't provide a mechanism for application installing then you don't stand a chance!

There is already an API: all of the frameworks and such for OS X. Fire up Xcode, or Dashcode, and you too can write programs for the iPhone!

That's the beauty of this thing being based on OS X...we just need to know what APIs are installed, and then you can write and test on your OS X box, and then upload to the phone for final tweaking. At least, it should work that way...we'll have to see what the reality is.

 

[Hunabku]

It wasn't loading, it was taking its time to render the pages.

Are you sure about that? It seemed like the loading bar along the top was the limiting factor - albiet that may be directly dependent on how long it takes to render the page.

So this opens the question - what processor is this thing using? Did i hear somewhere the mention of an intel. What intel chip would have this class of performance?

 

[SPUY767]

I would like to have more 'drive' space though. If I want to bring my media (audio/video/photo's) i think 8GB is a littlebit too small. The reason I don't have a nano is bacause my 2nd Gen iPod (20GB) is already stuffed and then I don't even have video / photo on there.

Sounds to me like you sync your entire library. Out of 16000 songs that I have ripped, I can only find about 1500 that I REALLY like, so those are the 1600 in my iPod Playlist. Even in Apple Lossless format, they only take up about 3 Gigs of space, so I don't have a problem. Granted I can't get in a pissing contest with the dude that has his entire library on his iPod and spends all day skipping thru the tracks he doesn't want to hear, but I can turn mine on and not give it another look all day. This phone rocks, MacRumors people whine too much, and I'm going to own one the second they go on the market, cause my MessagePad 2100 is getting long in the tooth.

 

[SPUY767]

I'm not sure if someone has already mentioned it but...

I have a feeling iTunes may be renamed when leopard is released. It no longer manages just music anymore. With the release of Apple TV being managed by it and now the entire iPhone (which is way more than just a phone) it just seems odd that they would still call iTunes iTunes

Can anyone think of some cool names? iLibrary? iCatalogue?

As you can tell, I'm not having the most creative of days

iMedia fits, but don't expect it. Perhaps iSh*t if Steve is feeling confrontational. I can see the marketing releases. Get it together with iSh*t, all your Sh*t at your fingertips.

On a side note I would be quite nifty if this device could interface with iTV units via 802 as a remote control, i.e., if you've got an iTV, the iPhone detects it and downloads an iTV control widget. Awesome, a device like this, provided Apple allows it to be open, really does represent a possible revolition in mobile phone technology.

God it is priceless when it hangs up on the lady at starbucks during the Maps demo.

 

[bigmc6000]

Why all the hate?

I know that's what goes on here at macrumors (the excessive amount of hate for absolutely anything apple releases) but come on people. I've heard quite a few complaints:

1) Battery life is awful and you'll, gasp, have to plug it in every day.

Oh no, not plug it in!!! What in the world do you people do with your phone now? I get home - take my phone out of my pocket and plug it in. Why? It's certainly not because I need to - my phone gets 16 hrs of talk time - I just always like to have a 100% charge

2) it's hard to type

Oh come on - give me a break. a guy plays with it for 10 mins and says it's hard to type. When the iPod first came out people said the click wheel was hard to get used to and we all know how that turned out

3) "Only" 4/8 GB

It's a PHONE!!! when apple's most popular iPod is a 4GB it's quite obvious that not everyone has the massive libraries that most of us have.


I finally got a chance to see the keynote and watched the little demos online - I think this thing is freakin crazy awesome. I don't care if I need to plug it in to sync it - I'm betting 99.99% of you guys use your computers everyday anyway and you wouldn't need to sync it everyday - juts as often as you do your iPod right now.

I will agree on 1 thing tho - if that was a wi-fi connection they were using to get the webpages it was strangely slow - makes me think it was edge...

Count me in the group that can't wait for my contract to expire so I can get this bad boy! Lucky me, my company get's a 50% hardware discount w/ Cingular - hello $250!!!

 

[Compile 'em all]

I think they could always enable wireless synching later on -- maybe just for phone/contacts/calendar. 8GB of music over Bluetooth would take forever!!

What was meant by Wireless synching is WiFi not bluetooth.

 

[ahasver]

ichat

Summary:
- No 3G/umts
- No SIP
- No iChat support
- No iChat videoconferencing support

we have had these GSM+EDGE phones for a long time now and almost every new phone is 3G phone these day. Who wants to go back to slow EDGE? And no SIP-support, which corporate wants to buy these things to workers?

What I would like to see, is (to osx) iChat with SIP-support and (to iPhone9 3G + SIP w/ video conferencing support.

- Joose

FOLKS WAKE UP there will be no such thing as ichat in that phone. Your favorite company is there to make money and keep there partnes happy. Who would use the phone capability if you could use the free ichat (or skype for that matter). That won't happen ever (though that would real innovation wouldn't?) I am not mad about it because that is just a fact of life that big companies want to make big money.

 

[Machead III]

Oh course it'll be open to 3rd part developers, even Apple wouldn't cripple a product that much. At it's asronomically extoirtionate price, the only way it'd make any money is if it ran 3rd party apps.

 

[Hunabku]

FOLKS WAKE UP there will be no such thing as ichat in that phone. Your favorite company is there to make money and keep there partnes happy. Who would use the phone capability if you could use the free ichat (or skype for that matter). That won't happen ever (though that would real innovation wouldn't?) I am not mad about it because that is just a fact of life that big companies want to make big money.

I fail to see how using iChat would diminish the big companies ability to make big money. Free iChat over wifi and paid over 3G. The truth is were talking about a new model here lots of powerful free functionality that drives users to the device - in turn cingular makes out like a bandit because you also have to contract with them.

Fortunately we don't have to squeeze water from a rock like the traditional lame-o cellular model.

 

[Stella]

One giant apple apology, ahasver, open your eyes.

Hmmm..... my cell phone operator doesn't cripple phones and disallows its customers to install applications. I can install third party apps - including messenger clients - i.e., icq, aol, msn, VOIP apps et al.

So why should Apple close the iPhone off third party developers due to a small minority of u.s carriers who have bad reputations for its crippled phones?

FOLKS WAKE UP there will be no such thing as ichat in that phone. Your favorite company is there to make money and keep there partnes happy. Who would use the phone capability if you could use the free ichat (or skype for that matter). That won't happen ever (though that would real innovation wouldn't?) I am not mad about it because that is just a fact of life that big companies want to make big money.

 

[rosalindavenue]

.... Apple has made such a strong turn towards entertainment that it fails to consider mixed users (professional and consumer) when developing these products. This is Apple's answer to the Treo and Blackberry's limitations as entertainment devices. Sadly, they seem to have limited this device on the pro side. Why not provide for both? I'm sure that 3rd party apps will help fill the void, but it may be costly for people who have invested a lot of cash in add-ons already. For the price, I sure hope that slick looking face holds up to the kind of abuse my Treo puts up with. [...]

A check of their current price list makes using the iPhone's full capabilities a costly $120 plus dollars a month. [...]

Still, with all my whining, nice job Apple. You guys really know what you are doing in the consumer market!

Agreed 100%. The smartphone market is just starting with consumers, professionals (by this I mean people who can figure out how to get their employers/ businesses to pay for the gadget and the service) have been going strong for 2-3 years now. I just started a new contract with a treo 700p (verizon); my office has an exchange server and PCs with tons of PC only apps, so I couldn't use the iphone even if I wanted to. (Not to mention that cingular service is horrible here). If consumers are willing to pony up the cash (and the price is not bad at all for a phone, ipod and internet/OSX device) and (more importantly) cingular is willing to come up with a reasonable monthly data/phone plan, this could really catch on-- but its going to have to catch on with consumers, not business.