iChat iPhone from Apple?

[ClimbingTheLog]

and in my opinion it doesn't look like current 3G GSM cellular networks simply don't have the duplex bandwidth to deliver that kind of content. (and 4G is still a ways off)

Do you mean latency? evdo gives up to 3mbps in urban areas. That should be plenty.

 

[jsw]

But lately I've been thinking about this and what if Apple bucked the system a little. They made a phone which connected directly to your computer and you downloaded the correct carrier setting to. So if you used Verizon, all you had to do is in setup select Verizon or Sprint....

Many manufacturers already do this with their unlocked phones - but they just store the settings on the phones (no need to connect to a computer).

Would the carriers care that a generic iPhone ran on their network, maybe the stupid ones, but in the long they're lives would be easier, because they wouldn't have to market the phones, just their service (which is where they really make their money).

Manufacturers selling unlocked phones is common elsewhere and is now already beginning in the States.

I also like the idea of using the click wheel to make a retro style digital-rotary phone. However, I doubt Apple would just display the numbers on the screen and not on the unit. So when in dial mode, you would spin the click wheel and the numbers, displayed on the display in a circle, would highlight the number that you were on and then click the center button on the click wheel to select.

This won't fly - usage is terrible and would make dialing slower than it currently is. And texting would truly suck.

 

[ClimbingTheLog]

After reading his previous predictions, Shaw Wu is about as good a fortune teller as Carnac.

Yeah, what an idiot. Apparently this guy gets paid bug bucks to read about stuff on MacRumors and Slashdot all day and assemble them into predictions.

Wait a second...

 

[Macula]

i've sort of dismissed the iphone rumors in past, but the ichat connection makes it sound like something that could well be and soon. but the wifi phone sounds like an effort to build up ichat. why not?

I've never been able to understand how a WiFi phone could be a success before WiFi networks become pervasive and virtually free. How could you use a WiFi phone in your car, for instance? And what's the point of having iChat on your phone when you can only use it in the currently few and limited WiFi-enabled areas?

 

[ClimbingTheLog]

I've never been able to understand how a WiFi phone could be a success before WiFi networks become pervasive and virtually free. How could you use a WiFi phone in your car, for instance? And what's the point of having iChat on your phone when you can only use it in the currently few and limited WiFi-enabled areas?

Hmmm. I think I figured this one out. It's Apple. Apple makes Macs. All new Macs have Airport. Macs are plugged into the Internet. iPhones are made by Apple. Apple controls the default settings on Mac OS X.

"If you're near a Mac your calls are free."

How 'bout them Apples?

 

[jsw]

I've never been able to understand how a WiFi phone could be a success before WiFi networks become pervasive and virtually free. How could you use a WiFi phone in your car, for instance? And what's the point of having iChat on your phone when you can only use it in the currently few and limited WiFi-enabled areas?

The phones aren't purely WiFi - they use WiFi when they can, and downgrade to cellular when necessary.

 

[Maccus Aurelius]

Well this certainly beats that ipod integration nonsense. MP3 player phones are a dime a dozen, I'd rather see great communication device that take how the user communicates to the next level, not just stuff a music player in it.

 

[SilvorX]

deja vu...

 

[Maccus Aurelius]

Hmmm. I think I figured this one out. It's Apple. Apple makes Macs. All new Macs have Airport. Macs are plugged into the Internet. iPhones are made by Apple. Apple controls the default settings on Mac OS X.

"If you're near a Mac your calls are free."

How 'bout them Apples?

Sweet. But, there's more to just piggybacking on your mac's airport connection to make calls. I think more has to be done to make this networking possible.

 

[lmalave]

Sweet. But, there's more to just piggybacking on your mac's airport connection to make calls. I think more has to be done to make this networking possible.

There are already wi-fi enabled phones that can make Skype calls if you have a wi-fi connection. This is nothing new or groundbreaking.

Well this certainly beats that ipod integration nonsense. MP3 player phones are a dime a dozen, I'd rather see great communication device that take how the user communicates to the next level, not just stuff a music player in it.

MP3 player phones are a dime a dozen and also *hugely* popular. Look at how well the LG Chocolate is doing with their craptacular phone. The iPhone *must* have iPod integration to be a success, IMO. At minimum it must have seamless iPod integration and a decent-to-good phone experience. Everything else is gravy.

Many manufacturers already do this with their unlocked phones - but they just store the settings on the phones (no need to connect to a computer).
Manufacturers selling unlocked phones is common elsewhere and is now already beginning in the States.
This won't fly - usage is terrible and would make dialing slower than it currently is. And texting would truly suck.

In fact, Sony launched their w800i phone unlocked in the U.S. (was only availalbe from the Sony Style store). The thing is, at $500 it was extremely cost-prohibitive and definitely aimed at technology early adopters. I'm sorry, but phones are just too darn expensive at full retail price. Apple *needs* the subsidy for signing a new contract. That's the only thing that will make the price competitive for the mass market. I expect Apple will partner with T-Mobile and/or Cingular, and that the phone will be available for no more than $300 with new contract (and even that is expensive by today's standards).

Do you mean latency? evdo gives up to 3mbps in urban areas. That should be plenty.

EV-DO is not available on GSM networks in the US. As far as I know the GSM providers (basically T-Mobile and Cingular) are using HSDPA for their 3G network. And everything I've heard about it has been good. The early reports on the Cingular 3G network are that it's quite zippy and handles streaming video just fine...

I also like the idea of using the click wheel to make a retro style digital-rotary phone. However, I doubt Apple would just display the numbers on the screen and not on the unit. So when in dial mode, you would spin the click wheel and the numbers, displayed on the display in a circle, would highlight the number that you were on and then click the center button on the click wheel to select. If you wanted to get really old school, you could have the rotary sounds come through the headphones. Or course you would still be able to dial by your address book or search through a downloaded version of the white or yellow pages (which would naturally sync into your phone whenever you charge it at home, via blue tooth or direct connection to your computer).

Text messaging is extremely popular and I just don't see Apple crippling text messaging on the iPhone. Can you see inputting a 120-character text message on a "rotary-style" interface? Yeah, I can't either. Any kind of rotary interface on the iPhone is a non-starter idea, IMO.

P.S. The title of this thread is: "iChat Phone from Apple?". Kind of implies that there must be as simple, fast way to input text, right? I'm thinking a full qwerty keyboard is a definite possibility...

 

[Elrond39]

I guess this gives me another reason to repost my own 'shop of it... 1:1 ratio. And now, for your enjoyment, imagine iChat instead of the terrible texting in the pic.

 

[Sweetfeld28]

Who needs a phone with a touch screen? Unless Apple wants to only sell a $500+ phone which most people would not throw down the cash for, this will most likely never happen.

Just imagine what the cost of one of these screens would cost, and how much it would cost to get replaced if it broke.

 

[Zigster]

It will list at $399.00 and be called the "iRake".

 

[Zmmyt]

iChat phone? Who is using iChat?

Belkin has a already a nice looking Skype phone on the market and I'm tempted to buy it.

If Apple really wants to release an "instant-messaging-phone" they should keep the options for other messengers open. I believe.

 

[justflie]

What about something like this?

I'm pretty sure this was brought up on this site many moons ago, but it's still a pretty sweet idea. Maybe something like what the iphone will be?

 

[gauriemma]

I want a device the size of an ipod that I can check my mail on, chat, and do some web-surfing for info, all without the ridiculous GUI deformities of windows mobile and treo, etc. and simple, easy to use hardware to back it up. I want to take it out of my pocket, see what I want, then put it away. Seamless integration with my macs as well.

Geez, dude. Relax a bit. Read a book, do a crossword, eat lunch in the park and listen to the birds. Why do people feel like they have to always be "on" and instantly accessible? Value the time you have that's your own.

 

[Detlev]

iChat phone? Who is using iChat?

Um, I do. How else are you supposed to IM people using AIM, GAIM, etc.?

Belkin has a already a nice looking Skype phone on the market...

Hmm, Skype. The service that keeps dropping my calls and is going to make me pay for it come 2007. Thanks but I'll stick with the phone, email and IM.

BTW, the rumors are taking on a new life. Check this out.

 

[Zmmyt]

Um, I do. How else are you supposed to IM people using AIM, GAIM, etc.?

Of course. I know that some people use iChat, but how many? .X %?

I'm fine with SkypeOut. One number for the rest of the world. But like I said. It would be nice, if Apple keeps their Phone open to other IMs (mass market).

 

[lmalave]

Geez, dude. Relax a bit. Read a book, do a crossword, "eat lunch in the park and listen to the birds". Why do people feel like they have to always be "on" and instantly accessible? Value the time you have that's your own.

Geez, dude, it's all about saving time so you *do* have more time on your own. For example, texting is now used in situations where you would have called/answered a phone call before. Texting is more efficient because you can just put off answering the text until later (you could also not take a call and just call the person back later, but you wouldn't know how urgent the call was unless you took the time to check your voice mail if they left one).

Likewise, I use the humble web features on my Sony Ericsson phone a *lot*, to look up restaurant/bar addresses, movie times, etc. when I am out and about. Again, normally I would have no other recourse other than calling 411 or MovieFone, or finding a newsstand/bookstore where I could possibly look the information up. It would just be a time-saver to have faster, easier access to information from my phone.

Embrace technology, dude. It's only there to help you. You can always *choose* not to check your email even if you have an uber-phone. Heck, you can even turn the phone off while you "eat lunch in the park and listen to the birds".

 

[peharri]

Is Shaw Wu the new Dvorak?

...and if he is, is there the frightening possibility that if he says it for long enough, the iPhone rumour will come true.

That'll be in 2021, when Apple, the media division of Packard-Dell, rebrands a Sony-Ericsson-Realnetworks Q-380Z 6th-gen personal communicator and sells it as the "iPhone Yahoogolous."

Sorry, that probably needs some explanation. In much the same way as "Turbo" was in the '80s, and "Power" was in the '90s, and "Extreme" is in the 2000's, "Yahoogolous" is the marketing-word of 2021. Nothing to do with the .com that took over Microsoft in 2015 though.

 

[BornAgainMac]

Sorry, that probably needs some explanation. In much the same way as "Turbo" was in the '80s, and "Power" was in the '90s, and "Extreme" is in the 2000's, "Yahoogolous" is the marketing-word of 2021. Nothing to do with the .com that took over Microsoft in 2015 though.

Turbo brings back memories. The concept of having a button on your computer to use a higher clock speed and turn it off so games run at the standard speed. Some games were designed to run at 4.77 mhz. No faster.

I like the iChat function with the phone but I will be happy to see a phone that fully syncs with a Mac using Bluetooth. Addresses, photos, pictures, dial tones, music, movies, todos, and calendars. That would be cool if the basics would work. I hate my current phone because the designers have no creativity or brain to come up with those features.

 

[840quadra]

It's for when you install Boot Camp. 😉

Anyway, as much as I'd love to see a truly "smart" phone, I'd be (pleasantly) surprised if Apple's able to do so with their first release.

Since it is the microsized version it will be called Bootie camp!

 

[ClimbingTheLog]

Sweet. But, there's more to just piggybacking on your mac's airport connection to make calls. I think more has to be done to make this networking possible.

Yes, I wasn't clear on that. I was envisioning a software stack on the Mac that would help the iPhone make a call, do the NAT-busting, browse the local iTunes store, etc. 802.11n is going to be necessary to reach the far ends of most homes.

I don't know that 802.11n low-power silicon exists yet. There are a couple folks here would would though.

 

[donlphi]

just to clear something up. This right now appears to be a text-based phone. I don't think Wu is talking about iChat AV functionality. Some other sites (of much, much less accuracy) have been claiming that the iPhone would be able to do videoconferencing and whatnot, but currently there isn't any good evidence to support this, and in my opinion it doesn't look like current 3G GSM cellular networks simply don't have the duplex bandwidth to deliver that kind of content. (and 4G is still a ways off)

This is why I think it is pointless to do it unless you are connected to an EV-DO revision A connection. I don't need another "awesome phone" regardless of how well it syncs with iLIFE. I would much rather be able to travel and show somebody what I see, rather than talk about it or send a photo.

EV-DO revision A allows you to connect wirelessly at speeds fast enough to video chat. TEXT im feature is pointless... I can do that on any phone. I'm sure Apple has figured out a FASTER way to type than T9 Word or something.

We need to forget about this 3G & 4G GSM worthless networks. Sony did it right by pairing up with Sprint. If I didn't hate Windows so much, I would buy that new ultra-portable VAIO TXN17P/T Notebook they just came out with.

Oh well... we'll wait for our 3G or 4G iPhone before getting it right I'm sure.

 

[SRSound]

Yuck, windows key?

wow. I didnt even notice that when I made it.

Elrond39 Yeah, that's what I was going for...