iPhone Rumors Accelerate as WWDC Approaches: TelecomNZ, Support Staff, Possible Specs?

[Maury]

I think most people that will move to o2 have done so already and if it was opened up to other networks apple would clean up the rest of potential customers and sell a shed more iphones

I think that's true worldwide. The people who were willing to switch to get this phone probably already have, and are locked in for years as a result. Now it's time to go after everyone else, and they're going to have to go multi-carrier to get them.

I don't discount the idea of a low-end model that is sold to other carriers. I don't know what the differentiation would be, perhaps no WiFi or 3G? WiFi seems like a particularly good target given the Chinese laws on WiFi in mobile phones. Nevertheless, this would allow their existing carriers to keep selling the high-end model and let new carriers enter the frey.

Maury

 

[bbtrinet]

Actually what you said made me thought of this: what if they use Apple logo as a flash? That would be a neat solution and won't require additional hole or space made just for the flash...

If you think of it this way, glowing Apple logo may not be as far fetched as we thought...

That would be REALLY cool and a HUGE selling point.

Apple would have a flash that is larger than any other cell phone, and not look bad or odd.

I doubt other cell phone manufacturers would make a 'flash bulb' 1/2 inch x 1/2 inch. This would look horrible on some other device.

 

[Maury]

OLED screens are becoming more common in devices everyday; besides, Apple would hardly be 'betting the farm' by including them.

Yes they would be. Sammy and Nokia can just drop models that don't work, because they represent a small percentage of their product line. Apple has exactly one product, and if it doesn't work, they are seriously porked.

Maury

 

[thelairster]

Apparently the new iPhone runs on love. Also you have to charge it.

 

[Sakura Eclair]

iPhone 3.0 specs?

Well, let's see each of the rumored specs and speculate how accurate they could be:

* 32GB and 16GB to replace current capacities. This is quite likely since Flash capacities have continually increased since last year and follows the iPod model in the yearly refreshses. So I consider this a definite YES.
* $199 and $299 price-points to be maintained. Also, likely since Apple likes to stay at an established price point. Also a YES, but I do hold out the possibility of keeping the current iPhone 3G with 8GB available at a lower price point ($129?). This last is more wishful thinking.
* 3.2 Megapixel camera. YES , also on this one as 2.0 megapixels is fairly outdated on cell phones now.
* Video recording & editing capabilities. YES, considering the that iPhone 3.0 OS seems to indicate this capability.
* Ability to send a picture & video via MMS. YES, duh?, confirmed in iPhone 3.0 introduction.
* Discontinuation of the metal band surrounding the edge of the device. Possible, but I doubt that it will just be all plastic. If different colors are introduced, then this would make sense.
* OLED screen. Since no leaks have come about OLED supplies being shortened have not surfaced, I would consider this DOUBTFUL. Would love it though
* 1.5X The battery life. YES, but you need to consider that Apple (like most manufacturers) tend to overestimate battery life in their claims. It would be logical that Apple would claim a batery improvement for this new phone.
* Double the RAM and processing power. YES. Considering that this phone might do video, it would be a necessity.
* Built-in FM transmitter. NO, would not make sense to add another radio to this thing as it already has 3 radios on it (GPS, Cell, Wi-Fi)
* Apple logo on the back to light up. POSSIBLE, all portables light up the logo when on. It's done by using the backlighting, so no additional power is being used.
* Rubber-tread backing. UNLIKELY, even though some high fashion watches use rubber in their design, somehow I feel that this addition would cheapen the look of the phone.
* Sleeker design. OBVIOUS. Since Ive has his hands in the design on this thing, it should be sleeker.
* Built-in compass. YES, iPhone 3.0 seems to indicate this possibility
* Revolutionary combination of the camera, GPS, compass, and Google maps to identify photo and inform about photo locations.YES, I would expect some usability improvements versus what Google's Android implementation has done on the G1.
* Turn by turn directions. YES, confirmed in iPhone 3.0
* July 17th, 2009 release date. I would said yes, but I feel now that Apple might look into buzz on the Pre, before deciding how much time they want to leave that phone by itself.

 

[zub3qin]

At first I thought these rumors were leaks by someone in Apple to take some steam away from the Palm Pre release announcement today.

Now I wonder if this is a leak by Palm itself....
Clearly, they are going after Apple with the Pre, and are prepared to fight via marketing as well (they are releasing the Palm Pre 2 days before WWDC!)

The iPhone 3 specs like OLED, 1.5x battery life, super camera, faster, sleeker, etc.... may be falsely rising expectations for the iPhone 3 so that when it is announced there will be a lot of disappointment.

Seriously?

Why would they rise expectations for the iPhone and then launch their product BEFORE the iPhone is announced? Hyping up the iPhone would make people not want to buy the Pre when it comes out. If you wanted a pre but were reading all this great stuff about the next iPhone, you might wait to see what the iPhone has to offer instead of diving in with the Pre.
Your theory is ridiculous, I'm sorry.

Because:
1) The Pre is out only 2 days before iPhone announcement at WWDC. The wait to buy would only be 2 days if you wanted to wait to see what Apple had in store for iPhone 3.

2) Today Palm's CEO said there will be low stock on Palm Pre initially- perhaps only 30,000 units available for sale at release time according to one report. Sounds like they couldn't ramp up manufacturing fast enough. I don't think Palm is worried about losing sales for 2 days- more likely, there won't be enough to go around.

 

[zub3qin]

OLED advantages:
-better contrast (OLED are 1500:1 and LEDs are like 500:1);creates far better picture quality with better blacks
-better battery life (OLEDs have no backlight like LCDs) and can save up to 40% in power
-thinner and lighter (possibly better for touchscreens. Could potentially give more space for a larger battery in the iPhone.)


OLED disadvantages:
-direct sunlight. Somebody already posted pictures. Since OLEDs have no backlight they fare worse. Picture can appear to be washed out or even looking like a blank screen. Potentially very bad for the iPhone since it's so heavily geared towards multimedia applications (picture,videos,& games)

If OLED has no backlight, then the glowing apple logo is unlikely. The glowing Apple logo, if it came, would be lit the way macbooks are- via the backlight for the screen so no additional power is needed. I happen to think that glowing Apple is exactly the thing that is coming, not OLED.

 

[Osarkon]

They can keep it how it is for all I care, just release it to other carriers in the UK.

I'm on Orange and I can upgrade my phone as of next month. I don't like the idea of jailbreaking, i'd rather it worked out of the box and was supported.

 

[-hh]

2) Today Palm's CEO said there will be low stock on Palm Pre initially- perhaps only 30,000 units available for sale at release time according to one report. Sounds like they couldn't ramp up manufacturing fast enough. I don't think Palm is worried about losing sales for 2 days- more likely, there won't be enough to go around.

Having news reports of consumers waiting in long lines for your products makes for good marketing...and it will happen in the last few days leading up to the Apple Event. As such, I'd not put it down to an inability to 'ramp up' manufacturing, but that Palm explictly desires shortages to occur to generate buzz.



-hh

 

[Shiner]

New Iphone prediction

The camera changes to the rumored 3.2 MP, ram gets a bump (maybe a processor bump), wireless N. This is all that will happen. Apple will then show 3.0 software and talk about how great all the iphones are at running the new 3.0. They can't change the form factor and really the tech has not changed that much since last release. The network is still 3G and that is it. They will piss off all the people that bought into the 3G phone if they add to much. They are screwed if they do and screwed if they don't.

 

[ZDDP1273]

I'm so excited to hear what's in store for everyone at WWDC.

 

[AtlasBoy]

Well, let's see each of the rumored specs and speculate how accurate they could be:

* 32GB and 16GB to replace current capacities. This is quite likely since Flash capacities have continually increased since last year and follows the iPod model in the yearly refreshses. So I consider this a definite YES.
* $199 and $299 price-points to be maintained. Also, likely since Apple likes to stay at an established price point. Also a YES, but I do hold out the possibility of keeping the current iPhone 3G with 8GB available at a lower price point ($129?). This last is more wishful thinking.
* 3.2 Megapixel camera. YES , also on this one as 2.0 megapixels is fairly outdated on cell phones now.
* Video recording & editing capabilities. YES, considering the that iPhone 3.0 OS seems to indicate this capability.
* Ability to send a picture & video via MMS. YES, duh?, confirmed in iPhone 3.0 introduction.
* Discontinuation of the metal band surrounding the edge of the device. Possible, but I doubt that it will just be all plastic. If different colors are introduced, then this would make sense.
* OLED screen. Since no leaks have come about OLED supplies being shortened have not surfaced, I would consider this DOUBTFUL. Would love it though
* 1.5X The battery life. YES, but you need to consider that Apple (like most manufacturers) tend to overestimate battery life in their claims. It would be logical that Apple would claim a batery improvement for this new phone.
* Double the RAM and processing power. YES. Considering that this phone might do video, it would be a necessity.
* Built-in FM transmitter. NO, would not make sense to add another radio to this thing as it already has 3 radios on it (GPS, Cell, Wi-Fi)
* Apple logo on the back to light up. POSSIBLE, all portables light up the logo when on. It's done by using the backlighting, so no additional power is being used.
* Rubber-tread backing. UNLIKELY, even though some high fashion watches use rubber in their design, somehow I feel that this addition would cheapen the look of the phone.
* Sleeker design. OBVIOUS. Since Ive has his hands in the design on this thing, it should be sleeker.
* Built-in compass. YES, iPhone 3.0 seems to indicate this possibility
* Revolutionary combination of the camera, GPS, compass, and Google maps to identify photo and inform about photo locations.YES, I would expect some usability improvements versus what Google's Android implementation has done on the G1.
* Turn by turn directions. YES, confirmed in iPhone 3.0
* July 17th, 2009 release date. I would said yes, but I feel now that Apple might look into buzz on the Pre, before deciding how much time they want to leave that phone by itself.

There's been many rumors that the next iphone will use the BCM4329 chip by Broadcom.
" Broadcom's most integrated 65 nm single-chip combo device with single-band (2.4 GHz) 802.11b/g/n or dual-band (2.4 GHz and 5 GHz) 802.11a/b/g/n, plus Bluetooth 2.1 + EDR and FM receiver and transmitter features"

The chip uses less power than the current chip in the iphone, so better functionality with better battery life. So the only question (if this chip is really used) is would apple activate all the functionality or turn some of it off.

Heres a link to Broadcom. http://www.broadcom.com/products/Wireless-LAN/802.11-Wireless-LAN-Solutions/BCM4329

EDIT: I just came across this press release on Broadcom's site. It clams to have achieved Bluetooth 3.0 certification on a combo chip. It's not clear to me if this was in time for the chips that Apple would have gotten (assuming the rumor that they will use these chips is true)

http://www.broadcom.com/press/release.php?id=s378967

 

[Blue Fox]

I'm thinking more capacity (hoping for 64GB, but that's wishful thinking, most likely 16GB and 32GB models). Possible processor upgrade (but not major), as well as minor tweaks here and there. Camera upgrade as well. That, along with a few minor cosmetic tweaks is all that I'm expecting.

The ONLY thing I'm worried about is the future (like the 2010 iPhone). You know they will eventually have to leapfrog the processor and components. And you know the App developers will IMMEDIATELY take advantage of it, making their apps incompatible or unable to run on previous gen iPhones (including the new one about to be launched in a few weeks). I'm concerned on how the App store is going to handle it.....but maybe I should worry about all that later on.

 

[Data]

Apparently the new iPhone runs on love. Also you have to charge it.

Gotta love it ;-) , i sure do, maybe thats why my 1st gen iphone lasts me for up to 2,5 days on 1 charge , that means there is some love left for my gf too .

 

[binaryskies]

The glowing apple logo is kind of cool, I cannot lie..but it does cause me to ask a couple of questions:

How much battery life is this glowing apple logo going to take up? Also, when is it going to light up? I know it's a small power source, but still..it's just one more thing the iPhone's battery will have to power (on top of the other new features that are rumored to come with the phone)

Apple using the glowing apple logo as a flash? It is a pretty good idea, and it goes with the way apple designs their products. But I would be worried about covering the flash. I have big hands and I can only imagine the trouble I may encounter with this.

My iPhone 3G is on it's last leg. I spilled water on the headphone jack a few months back and ever since it's been degrading in quality. I really want to buy the iPhone 3 in July, but I will wait until the last minute to see what is real and what is a rumor.

 

[Roessnakhan]

* Rubber-tread backing. UNLIKELY, even though some high fashion watches use rubber in their design, somehow I feel that this addition would cheapen the look of the phone.

Plastic already did that, if this means the iphone will have a better grip and matte look, I'm down.

 

[DarrenSW]

I think taking the Telecom NZ guy's reference to a "3rd gen iPhone" as indication of a new model is something of a leap of faith; the present model is of course called the iPhone 3G, the 3G referring to the third generation of wireless communication. So Telecom NZ could just as easily be doing a deal on the present model.

 

[MacFly123]

The new Samsung is being advertised as having an OLED screen so...


http://www.oled-display.net/samsung-omnia-pro-with-35-inch-amoled-touchscreen

There are already a handful of phones out with AMOLED I am aware, but I don't expect one in the iPhone till next year unfortunately.

 

[PlayRadioPlay]

The glowing apple logo is kind of cool, I cannot lie..but it does cause me to ask a couple of questions:

How much battery life is this glowing apple logo going to take up? Also, when is it going to light up? I know it's a small power source, but still..it's just one more thing the iPhone's battery will have to power (on top of the other new features that are rumored to come with the phone)

Apple using the glowing apple logo as a flash? It is a pretty good idea, and it goes with the way apple designs their products. But I would be worried about covering the flash. I have big hands and I can only imagine the trouble I may encounter with this.

My iPhone 3G is on it's last leg. I spilled water on the headphone jack a few months back and ever since it's been degrading in quality. I really want to buy the iPhone 3 in July, but I will wait until the last minute to see what is real and what is a rumor.

If the light up Apple logo was a combination of a flash and a new message indicator, that would be awesome. All of Apple's laptops have light up Apples, it makes sense for them to have light up Apples on the iPhone. However, I'll only care for it if it improves usability in some way.

 

[Fraghax]

http://www.engadget.com/2009/05/21/sonys-oled-x-series-walkman-torn-apart-stripped-of-its-dignity/

Thats pretty close to the setup that I would expect.

That also uses a 250MHz NEC MP201 ARM processor. Much better than current iPhones. If sony could use this in a PMP so why not iPhone. My only doubt is battery life. Battery life is up to 33 hours of music playback and up to 9 hours of video playback on the Sony. So if apple does what they do best and take current tech and modify it to their standards....I think the battery life will be much greater than previous models. Im just guessing of course. I can always be hopeful.

 

[Karl Stephens]

Who the hell is Telecom NZ?

Who the hell is Telecom NZ?

Telecom New Zealand is the national telco in New Zealand - http://www.telecom.co.nz.

TCNZ is launching a UTMS 850 network nationwide ('in 97% of the places where New Zealanders live and work') at 0730 hrs, Friday 29th May 2009 (NZST which is 1930 hrs Thursday GMT).

The twitter account TelecomNZ is an official spokesperson for the company and I can confirm it is public information that Telecom are in *negotiation* with Apple but of course anyone in the know doesn't comment during negotiations and the NBR - National Business Review has the story, http://www.nbr.co.nz/article/telecom-deep-discussions-with-apple-102639

Cheers, KSS.

 

[vrillusions]

The July 17th release date I could believe. It's happened with previous iphones. They announce it and then won't be available for a month afterwards. Which really sucks for me because I'm using a cheapie little phone since my 1st gen died and I'm holding out for new phone.

 

[TapHappy]

The wait is almost over....