iChat iPhone from Apple?

[lmalave]

this conversation to me sounded more like we were talking about the iPhone2 or whatever needing NEW FEATURES to make it stand out from the crowd even more. i agree that the iPod interface would make the phone experience more familiar to a lot of people and the mp3 player portion much much better then all the mp3 phones out all ready, but its not something new that the other mp3 phones don't already do.

does that make sense?

Let me ask you this: besides the scroll wheel, what has Apple ever done on the iPod that is new? It was not the first mp3 player. It was not the first hard-drive based player. It was not the first player to offer photo browsing. It was not the first player to offer video playing. It was not the first player to offer games. Well, you get the idea.

So the iPod has never been about offering different features. Rather, the iPod success story has been based on different things: 1) elegance/ease of use, 2) smaller/cooler design, 3) "hipness" factor.

I don't see why Apple couldnt leverage all 3 of the above for the iPhone.

1) Apple could make the iPhone easier to use than other phones. Nokia and SonyEricsson already have pretty decent user interfaces, but Apple could still top them. Again, it's a matter of degree and Apple tends to get the little details "right". Plus Apple's solution for synching with the computer will probably more seamless than with any other phone

2) Apple has proven to be extremely adept at miniaturization. Ask yourself this: why hasn't someone made a 15.4" laptop that is 1" thin and weighs only 5.6 lbs like the MBP? Why is no other 30 GB or 80 GB MP3 player as thin and light as the iPods? With both its Macs and iPods, Apple has proven that one of its strenghts is putting consumer electronics in a tiny, appealing package. I expect the same from the iPhone.

3) The Apple brand is still quite potent. If Moto could sell so many of their craptacular RAZR phones based on "coolness factors" alone and very other redeeming features, can you imagine what Apple and its marketing machine could do with the iPhone? The mind staggers.

...and that's why the numbers we're hearing through the grapevine are 10-15 million iPhones sold by the end of 2007 alone. I think those kind of numbers are pretty spot-on.

 

[whatever]

But can they make money...

As an Apple shareholder, my main concern over the iPhone is whether or not Apple can make money on such a product and also not damage the reputation for releasing quality products.

Alright I know a few are going to say that Apple products suck and have been on downward spiral for years, whatever, bottom line, their products and reputation are better than most.

I'm sure Apple could create a great iPhone, but I would never want them to be controled by the various carriers. I can hear it already, my iPhone drops 1/2 of it's calls, my old crappy phone was so much better (blah, blah, blah) and the whole time it's really the carrier which is terriable not Apple. This is something that Apple wants and must avoid. FYI, I've used Verizon, Sprint, AT&T and T-mobile and none of them seem to work with their top of the line phones in my area. Meanwhile my Sister-inlaw had managed to keep her simple stripped down Verizon phone for years and it works perfectly at my house. She needed to get a new battery and they tried to upsell her a new phone and she refused and then the sales person told her that the older phones just work better than the newer models.

I agree with you 100% about the RAZR, when I thought about getting one, everyone I knew who had one advised me against it, all of them claiming that it's the worst phone ever!

 

[rand()]

Obligatory blog posting.

Hey guys.

I've been pushing my passion for the iPhone idea down for so long, that the ideas inspired by this rumor were simply too great to post in the forums. So, I'm shamelessly linking to my blog.

http://ofthelion.blogspot.com

Terrible. Shameless. So whatever you do, don't support my behavior by clicking the ads. You'll only encourage me.

-rand()

 

[Montserrat]

I'm not that concerned about what features the new phone has. My iPod is by far the easiest to use gadget I own. My phone on the other hand is a horrible design. Loads of features, so on paper it looks good, but in practice is a mess to use. If Apple design a phone that links up via iTunes, works seamlessly and reliably with a well thought out UI and OS, I'll buy it. I do think that they'll stick with iTunes as the sole software for the phone as it already supports contact and calendar synchronisation.
I will be truly shocked if there is something that this phone can do that no other phone can do. I would also be surprised if Apple didn't make a phone that made it easier to do at least one element of current phone usage. Hopefully the basics of phoning, contact organisation and searching, and texting will be better than any of the useless phones I've been lumbered with. It's also important to remember that the design should easily top anything else out there, as design-wise I don't think the competition's that hot.

 

[Ha ze]

perhaps as far as adding things to phones a cell phone has topped out?

now the solutions to "good ones" are just to organize and simplify what they already have and thats how Apple will be able to do the same as iPod with iPhone.

One item i wish i had would be the ability to organize people by where i know them or something like a "playlist" or folder set up. you know, work people, school people, restaurants etc... i think it would make browsing through the phone book a bit nicer

 

[wilburdl]

Cnet just posted an article

(Credit: Ministry of Tech)

That chill in the air means two things: the holidays are approaching, and the height of sports gambling season is upon us. The upcoming slate of college bowl games, the Super Bowl, and March Madness always warms the heart of even the casual gambler.

But this year, techies can get in on the fun. A sports betting site called Bodog.com is taking bets on the launch date for Apple's long-rumored iPhone. Bodog's using the money line system to gauge whether Apple will introduce the iPhone by the end of April 2007, or whether it will introduce the product at January's MacWorld conference.

For example, if you think Apple's going to launch the iPhone by April 30, 2007, you need to wager $150 to win $100. That means Bodog considers that likelihood as the favorite, while a launch after that date (or no launch) would win $110 on a $100 bet. Based on the odds quoted by Bodog, it's even more likely that Apple will annouce the "impending release" of the iPhone at January's MacWorld. A wager of $280 on that possibility is required to take home $100.

We think Bodog should consider additional wagers, such as: Will Steve Jobs come out at MacWorld wearing his traditional black mock turtleneck or something different, like the button-down shirt he sported at Apple's Showtime event earlier this year? But, as usual, nobody asked. Since nobody's asking for our sports picks either, Crave likes Ohio State over USC in the Fiesta Bowl, San Diego's high-powered offense exposing Rex Grossman and the Bears in the Super Bowl, and North Carolina to bring the hardware back to Chapel Hill.

source: http://crave.cnet.com/8301-1_105-9664161-1.html?tag=cnetfd.mt

 

[bboyredcel]

A convesation that bboyredcel had with himself.

bboyredcel- Hi, I'm a stupid moron and I want to show people that I think I'm really cute.

himself- Let's pretend you, bboyredcel, call Apple and ask them about the iPhone.

bboyredcel- Yeah and I, bboyredcel, can pretend that I know more than the Apple Expert.

himself- You could then threaten to purchase a competitor's product.

bboyredcel- Yeah, I bet that would really upset him.

himself- And while you're at it you can show the world or at least those who read this page, how stupid you really are.

bboyredcel- What.

himself- Well, everyone who reads MacRumors should know how Apple operates by now. You might as well be calling Apple about a rumored iPizzaMaker or something.

bboyredcel- Really Apple is working on an iPizzaMaker.

himself- God, I wish someone would just lobotomize me!

that was... ummm... not good at all. it wasnt even a good attempt. so umm no.

 

[Corpus_Callosum]

Mobile iChatAV would use WiFi, not cellular

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)

Apple would not try to deliver iChatAV video conferencing services over 3G (or any other cellular network). It's a ridiculous idea. However, having iChatAV capability over WiFi is totally doable and completely within the realm of possibility. Apple would be retarded not to have a camera and WiFi on their new phone, mostly because it would represent a step backwards from current state of the art cellular phones.

So, what is the real issue? If they have WiFi capability and have a camera, all they need is the horsepower to encode and decode H.264 and iChatAV on the iPhone becomes a reality. While H.264 is a demanding codec, there already exists hardware encoders/decoders in the wild. This is the stopping point. If Apple includes silicon that can handle H.264, iPhone will do AV conferencing ala iChatAV. My own personal belief is that this one feature is the primary differentiator that Apple is going to leverage to gain traction in the mobile market. While everyone else is yakking and texting, iPhone users are holding their phones up to show their friends what they are seeing, watching iTunes movies and listening to iTunes music. A true lifestyle change as is the Apple way.

You can speculate all you want, but until you realize that Steve Jobs isn't going to enter a market that he can't shatter preconceived notions in, you aren't going to understand Apple's modus opperandi.

I also believe that this will be sold in Apple stores and not through carriers. There are two reasons for this:

(1) Apple will be selling a WiFi digital lifestyle device as the iPhone's primary role (e.g. if you are within range of usable WiFi, it will perform all functions through WiFi, including VOIP) and only use cellular networks as a fallback condition when WiFi is not available, crippling many features of the iPhone. Carriers are not going to be happy about this and would have no incentive to carry such a device as it represents a competitive threat. But don't let that alarm you, you should be able to slip any normal SIM card into the iPhone and make use of your existing carrier. Just don't expect to be subsidized - Apple doesn't tend to market to cheap consumers anyhow, they won't be worried about starting out with a non-subsidized and reasonably expensive phone. People will pay for this advancement and prices will go down over time.

(2) Apple will promote direct purchasing of video and audio content from iTunes using the device when on a WiFi network. This direct sales approach is also a threat to the carriers who want a piece of the action and demand much higher price/margins on digital content ($2 for a ringtone anyone?)

This all seems pretty obvious to me.

 

[Elrond39]

that was... ummm... not good at all. it wasnt even a good attempt. so umm no.

Pot, meet Kettle.

 

[OdduWon]

Looks like Apple has some new competition 😀

lol TelePod clam shell

 

[bense27]

So, a second generation of a product that doesn't even exist.

hahahahaha

 

[MikeTheC]

My sources are actually talking about an advanced, radical design which also incorporates a radical new feature set.

It's called the iOmni, and it's really cool.

It comes in solid brass with a mirror polish finish.

Here's some descriptive photos that were smuggled out of a highly-classified location which, apparently for reasons of national security, are not at the 1 Infinite Loop campus location.

In this first image, you can see the iOmni in it's closed mode. Unfortunately due to the angles of the images, you cannot really see it, but there is a pair of standard 1/8th inch headphone jacks at the top of the device, one on either "bump". It would seem that some people have been taking the "stick it in her ear" comment a little bit too literally, and due to complaints, Apple has now built in a second headphone jack to allow both parties to listen to the music in full, clear stereo.


Moving on...

As you can see in this first image, Apple's famous electro-static click wheel remains a central part of the design. I'll come to the set of rings it's set into in just a moment, but one of the things I'd like to draw your attention to are the two colored lights, one red and one green, at the top of the device. Nobody my contact has spoken with seems to know exactly what they're for, but there has been some speculation about them being part of the power meter system.

However, it's the concentric rings which are of very great interest, since they seem to contain a sequence of date codes, from days to weeks, and then down through centuries. According to several unconfirmed reports, it seems the device rumored to be able to let you listen to any song, at any point in time in Earth's history. Now, if true, of course this would suggest a considerable scientific breakthrough in temporal physics and acoustic detection. Whether it transports the user, the performer, or just the music itself is as yet unknown.

There have been rumors around the Apple campus that Steve has gone missing once or twice when visiting the off-campus facility, but these have been largely discounted by most of the people my source has spoken with.

My source said there was no LCD mounted to the unit pictured above, but there did seem to be some extraneous connectors in between the two lights, though what their purpose is remains unknown.

Isn't this exciting news, folks? You've heard it here first.

 

[applekid]

I think Apple should sell the iPhone unlock, if they really plan on selling an iPhone. Try to innovate the cell phone market, if you will. Every gadget wearer knows about unlocking phones or buys unlocked phones and hops around services. It's a niche thing, but if Apple was to make some in-roads with this, I think Apple can dodge all the phone crippling, while still selling this phone directly to the masses. The partnerships with services can come later.

 

[caity13cait]

Wu's stock price target of $92 I think is another good indication of how crappy of an analyst he is. AAPL is currently trading at $88.24 (of course it's probably changed since then). I know it probably won't close at the price but there's only a $4 gap between that and the target. I would be very surprised if between now and MWSF, given all of the expected big announcements (and the crashing of the Zune), if the stock price does not rise higher. Then again, I'm not exactly a stock broker...

I think that this shows how close he is coming to his estimate. He predicted $92 a few months ago and look at how close the stock is to that price right now.

 

[LastZion]

I will be the first inline to grab one of these... I am a cell phone whore

 

[OdduWon]

TelePod

with the iTv and nike+ as testing groungs for apples wirless products, perhaps this is why we have seen the delay in the release of the fabled "iphone"? Also contributing to the delay is the time spent in developing the new ear buds. Mr. Jobs said the studied 10,000 ears or someting right? so the could have been developing the iphone pod set. the head set that is a fasion statement and a music player. great sound quality built into a stereo wireless headset that hooks up to iphone. like the first itunes enabled phone commercial with the guy walking and his shadow is dancing, and then answers a call,and then keeps on going 🙂 this pod set will be the next big thing😉 😀 😛