iPod Touch: 'Mainstream Wi-Fi Mobile Platform'

[YuriVoorhak]

...such a half-assed piece of manure like the iPhone/iTouch? Just because St. Jobs tells ya you don't need copy&paste etc.? (well y'all know all the points why it blows chunks)

Sir, you make a reasonable and sober argument here! This device was clearly the substandard effort of a group of shiftless and unintelligent hacks! To think some guy pumping Win Mobile on a Mac forum would lift this veil of ignorance from my eyes!

Really though, I got an iPod touch to develop for the iPhone. It's great to hear I might be where all the action is after all. I predicted that Apple was poised to dominate this space, and it looks like I was accurate for a change. Having a touch in my hot little hands, I suspect this is going to be a huge win for "St. Jobs" and Co.

 

[TitoC]

(3) Best Browser

Absolutely not.

Are you f*cking serious? Sweet Jesus, are you that far up your Windows Media's device that you can't even see the light of day? Go ahead, show me some piece of crap WM browser that even tries to hold a candle to Safari on an iPhone? Are you kidding me? Do you really want all and I mean ALL the reviews that stated "this is the best browser on any cell phone, PDA OR Smartphone?"

You can nitpick every thing wrong with every little nook and cranny you find wrong with an iPhone. But we all really know what you are doing. You're just some Windows tool, coming in on a Mac-related site so you can bash everything that is Apple. Go right ahead if it helps you sleep at night. You know, we're all just trying to have a civil discussion in these forums, and we don't need some 13 year old coming in here and acting like his mom took away his Playboys. Here's some advice: Go to your Windows Mobile forum sites and stop throwing "manure" around (as you so eloquently put it).

P.S. Do your homework and go to bed. I'm sure it's way past your bedtime.

 

[BrownManUPS]

What you dont know is that most campus wifi is protected with 802.1x, a supplicant that requires you to enter your username and password...something the touch cannot do.

Says who? The first thing the touch asked me was for a username and password. After that, it hasn't asked me it again.

And you can do authentication under the network settings...is that something different?

I don't know I can't speak for you I guess but my network is working great and I love my iPod .

 

[GQB]

Can you receive and send Gmail on the Touch ?

Boy, can you ever.
With the new mail app on the touch, accessing Gmail is almost as easy to use as the desktop version (at least for reading.)
Really well done.

 

[GQB]

Third-party microphones.

The hand-built microphone that I just bought from the Touchmods team for my iPod touch works great with the SIP-VoIP application released for jailbroken iPods.

I've already made several overseas calls using the setup.

While I'll wait for supported product, I've been hoping for a variety of snap-ons for the docking port. I have no problem with the idea of having a collection of snap-ons that I use when needed, but keep the base unit slim for 90% of its use.
First 2 on my wish list:
1) 3 megapixel camera (or better) with zoom, its own battery and flash (the touch becoming a great viewfinder and brain.)
2) High quality DSP for field recording.

I wouldn't even mind if snapping them on made the whole package look a little Transformer-ish... might even add to the fun.

 

[LizKat]

I don't think we're all going to be as excited about all this when we find out how much all these extra apps are going to cost...

Why not?

Surely you would attribute some value to the efforts of the developers who bring application software to market?

People who create this stuff save us the trouble of doing it ourselves, assuming our talents even lie in that plane.

I don't know what you do for a living, or why people are willing to pay you to do it. I did get paid for the software I helped design, for the code I wrote, for the time I spent making it behave predictably for the clients. I could not have written it for free because I would have had to spend that time doing something else to round up three meals a day and to sleep under a roof every night.

 

[Westside guy]

What you dont know is that most campus wifi is protected with 802.1x, a supplicant that requires you to enter your username and password...something the touch cannot do.

This certainly isn't true at the University of Washington.

On a completely different topic - one of our Windows admins was just complaining about his Windows Mobile browser, and how it didn't work with gmail because his password was longer than 12 characters. I did ask him why his browser should care about his password length, since Google certainly didn't; but he didn't have a good answer for that...

 

[jicon]

You have to be kidding me. The whole market is in the toilet and will be for some time. The fact that APPL is posting $1.58B in profit for 2007Q4 is nothing short of amazing. However, until this recession mess sorts out, I wouldn't blame the stock price on much of anything Apple does or doesn't.

And I haven't. I'm not blaming Apple for anything. It just isn't a stock I'd be happy to have in my pocket today. Apple's outlook is more recession based than anything, and that doesn't help anyone's books. The fact that Apple predicts a weaker quarter speaks volumes more to investors than a record profit or new mainstream wi-fi platform however.

Apple's stock has gone from $200 to $135 in the past three months, certainly today is not the day to be excited for the stock. Wait till it bottoms out first. I still think it'll drop another $10 - $20.

 

[GQB]

Quite the rebuttal, there. Was that the 3rd thing WM does that iPhone doesn't? Because that does seem to be the consensus.

We have many Treos in my company, they are much-maligned. So were their predecessors, a mix of stuff. And nobody will upgrade (read: try something else) because we aren't on AT&T and they aren't allowed to get iPhones. Only 2 people really use them other than as a phone, and just for email on the road.

Just ignore the troll and he'll go back under his bridge.

 

[a1016neo]

I wonder when the mac tablet comes out???

 

[lord patton]

So this is the other secret weapon that Apple has (along with phone functionality in the, well, iPhone) to manage the inevitable slowing growth of the portable media player.

5% unit growth in iPods year over year. That's a huge slowing of growth, and it's not going to pick up.

But Apple has seen it coming. They knew that the cell phone could usurp the media playing functions of dedicated mobile media players, so they came up with the iPhone. Now, with the iPod Touch, they're incorporating mobile computing and networking.

How do you maintain market dominance in a stable sector? You don't. You create a new one.

(And the growth of mobile computing/networking on a OS X enabled device like iPhone/Touch will be the real halo effect driving consumers to Macs over the next 5-7 years)

 

[bloodycape]

Id take the archos over this as it has a 4in screen and up to 180gb.

 

[GregA]

If the iPod Touch is the 'Mainstream Wi-Fi Mobile Platform', then what does that make the iPhone, the 'Mainstream Wi-Fi Mobile Platform, Plus Phone'?

It makes it a MEMBER of Apple's mainstream WiFi Mobile platform.

It actually frames the phone portion as less important to Apple's vision. Like wifi is the key, not phones (though the mobile phone's ubiquity will continue to be a very important component I'm sure!)

Perhaps they're thinking of everything that can be done over the "air".

Now - if Apple would only create an 8 inch screen/battery combo with USB keyboard and mouse (bluetooth option would be good) - that an iPhone or Touch could plug into to provide the CPU and storage, then you would have a killer ultra-portable platform.

If the SDK is up to giving us pocket iWorks.

Would you prefer an 8inch screen with attached keyboard to plug into an iPhone, instead of a standalone 8inch "ultraportable" with touch screen, keyboard and the iPhone OSX?

Definitely needs a pocket iWork though

 

[bootedbear]

I think the SDK is a mistake. Apple should control the apps on the Touch so some third party's lowqual app doesn't ruin the Touch's reputation.

It's a good thing that only Apple makes software for the Mac. Otherwise some low-qual apps might ruin it's reputation!

Oh, wait a minute...

 

[Kar98]

Are you f*cking serious?

Absolutely. A properly coded web site scales down to the display of the device it's displayed on. Doesn't even take any extra effort, and you can still see all the information on a 3.5" display at a glance, without having to nudge, drag, stretch, lick the display like on mobile safari.

Sweet Jesus

"Master" is sufficient.

But we all really know what you are doing. You're just some Windows tool, coming in on a Mac-related site so you can bash everything that is Apple.

Actually, I've been using a Mac exclusively for years and like my iPod very much, and I was looking forward to ditch my Windows Mobile smartphone for a better solution I hoped would be coming from Apple. Instead they present some half-assed whatsit.

Go right ahead if it helps you sleep at night. You know, we're all just trying to have a civil discussion in these forums, and we don't need some 13 year old coming in here

OK, I'll tell my son.

Here's some advice: Go to your Windows Mobile forum sites and stop throwing "manure" around (as you so eloquently put it).

You'll laugh, there ARE Windows Mobile developer sites, imagine that.

 

[GregA]

I'd call any WIFI enabled smartphone or PDA with a worldwide marketshare ( note: worldwide, not u.s only) of over 10% 'mainstream'. All of these are open platforms too - developers freely allowed to develop their own apps.

What are the numbers for WIFI enabled smartphones? I thought most of the smart phones were only beginning to offer wifi (and recently VoIP)

Thanks
ps. market share of 10% of what?

 

[ryanw]

honestly i dont think apple had these thoughs in mind when FIRSt developing the iPod Touch.

In fact steve made it clear that he only considered the iPod Touch a high-end iPod.

Thing that i think is making apple think this way now is ALL the 3'rd party support the device has gotten throuhg jailbreaking. sure steve doesnt like jailbreakers... but he can't help but admit that ALOT of support from ALOT of people have gone into it, and that it's obvious this device could become something EXTREMELY big if he allows it.

You're 10 thousand percent WRONG ... Steve knew exactly what he wanted the iPod touch to do. I can't tell you how I know, but there are things brewing over at apple that nobody's wildest dreams could come up with... The next 2 years are going to be wild.. hang on for a crazy ride!

 

[Jetson]

I'd love to see a 5 megapixel camera added and 30gb+ of storage.

 

[Philsy]

I can't see the point of the Touch. Why not buy an iPhone? It saves having to carry a separate phone as well as an iPod.

Or am I missing something? Is there something the Touch can do that the iPhone can't?

 

[queshy]

somewhat interesting, I suppose...

 

[Cognomen]

I can't see the point of the Touch. Why not buy an iPhone? It saves having to carry a separate phone as well as an iPod.

Or am I missing something? Is there something the Touch can do that the iPhone can't?

I know the answer to this kind of question is always "horses for courses" but let me give you my situation. I have a company mobile which is paid for and which is not likely to be upgraded to an iPhone in the foreseeable future. On the other hand, I need a PDA-type device for my contacts and calendar as well as a means of carrying around some music.

So, instead of carrying around a phone a PDA and an iPod, in this case, the iPod Touch fits my requirements exactly ....... and I don't think I'm alone.

 

[Agathon]

I can't see the point of the Touch. Why not buy an iPhone? It saves having to carry a separate phone as well as an iPod.

Or am I missing something? Is there something the Touch can do that the iPhone can't?

Not cost $2000 over 2 years.

 

[LiveForever]

Of course they had applications in mind when they first released it and the iphone. Sorry I really don't think people on forums gave him the idea.

I can't see why people gripe about paying, even a modest amount, for applications!! What does the world owe you all this stuff for free? Surely the people developing them have to eat so they can spend their days writing this stuff for us?

Selling them on itunes is also a genius idea. Yes there will be the non apple endorsed apps available off itunes but after years of viruses and dodgy crashing windows software (even though I paid for it!) I would rather have software which had some guarantee of quality control and worked most of the time.

Anyone cant write an application that is 90% right in a week or less and put it up to downlaod.Getting the last few % is what takes time and effort. Its just verifcation and its grinding, thankless, boring work testing testing testing. And that has to be paid for as it probably takes at least the same time as first writing the app in the first place.

I would rather pay for quality.

If they released an official Skype app which came with a plug in mic and head set then I will get a touch tommorrow. Its like video consoles which sell games with steering wheels etc.

 

[Philsy]

I know the answer to this kind of question is always "horses for courses" but let me give you my situation. I have a company mobile which is paid for and which is not likely to be upgraded to an iPhone in the foreseeable future. On the other hand, I need a PDA-type device for my contacts and calendar as well as a means of carrying around some music.

So, instead of carrying around a phone a PDA and an iPod, in this case, the iPod Touch fits my requirements exactly ....... and I don't think I'm alone.

Ah, good point.

 

[Philsy]

Not cost $2000 over 2 years.

But you'll be paying for a mobile anyway, albeit at a lower monthly rate.