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More Hints of an 'iPhone Nano' from Case Manufacturers

Orng said:
When the iPhone was just a twinkle in the rumour mill's eye, all the photoshoppers were churning out mockups that were basically responses to the question "What would an iPod look like if it had a phone in it?"

They were creative, yes, but essentially shortsighted. Nobody seemed to comprehend the possibility that it might be very different from an iPod. That maybe it was not an iPod with a phone in it, but rather a SMARTphone with an iPod in it.

Now, you say "iPhone Nano", and all the shortsighted pundits say, "It's like an iPhone, but smaller! That won't work at all!"

Stop trying to miniaturize the existing device, and think about what mobile market segments need to be filled, and how Apple might fill them. Then we can probably discuss this without freaking out about how a miniature iPhone won't work.
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If you look at your user name really quick, it looks like it says "Omg" Heh ;)
 
nano sized touch screens are fine. I have a tocco - I find it much easier to text on single handed than the iphone.

Look at the Prada - Armani - Tocco - Diamond - Touch and Touch dual, all way smaller than the iphone and they're all doing just fine.
 
Doodledoo said:
My only question: how will they manage the screen size?
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I can see how this might be done.

Remove the top and bottom headers from the current iPhone and shrink the size down to make the face ALL screen, by moving the home button off to one of the sides and put the speaker on the top or under the glass like on the iPod Touch.

This sounds like something Apple could do quite easily. Just my 2 cents.
 
SFStateStudent said:
Yup, smaller = easier to drop or lose, or worse "sit on it!" Not sure if I'm in the market for smaller anything...
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I've had several people comment that my iPhone is too big for a cell phone. There is a market for this I think. I'm guessing it would do email/web/iPod but no 3rd party apps.
 
jholzner said:
I've had several people comment that my iPhone is too big for a cell phone. There is a market for this I think. I'm guessing it would do email/web/iPod but no 3rd party apps.
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Yeah, about 50% of everyone I've ever talked to about the iPhone says it's too big to even consider buying one. My boss, who is a diehard Apple fan and works in software, took one look at the iPhone and said "nope, too big. I'll think about it if they ever release a Nano version" and has stuck to his miniscule SonyEricsson phone ever since. Many people simply take the small form factor over features any day. So there's clearly a market for an iPhone Nano.

I also think that the question "but how will they fit the iPhone into something much smaller?" is the wrong starting point. Forget about replicating all the functionality of the iPhone, this thing will be to the iPhone what the iPod Nano is to iPod Touch. SMS, phone, iPod, calendar, notes, and possibly a tiny Safari, but no 3rd party apps and no full keyboard on the screen, just 0-9 w/ T9-style input.
 
4gb?

I haven't read the whole thread but could this possibly tie into the rumors that Wal-Mart is going to offer a 4GB iPhone? Maybe only Apple will sell the iPhone and Wal-Mart & Apple will sell the iPhone "Nano"? Just a thought...

My guess is that it would be a stripped down iPhone (ie-phone and iPod only...nothing else)
 
I'd consider an iPhone nano. If they could do a similar job as they ipod nano and make it incredibly thin and light. Just a phone with text functionality would do me fine. Been considering a motorola F3 to supplement my touch and treo currently. There is something attractive to me about a really simple phone.
 
Haha, funny that my friend JUST told me yesterday, that the reason she's not getting an iPhone is because its too long. She's a girly-girl and likes smaller devices. I think she's going to get the Samsung Eternity instead though, since its smaller than the iPhone.
 
queshy said:
why would there be an iPhone nano? Is $200 not cheap enough for a do-everything phone?
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I don't mind paying $200 to buy the phone, but $69 a month for service? I rarely use internet on the go, just at home. I would love to have an iPhone that costs $200, costs $40 a month for service without data, and WiFi. This probably wont happen though.
 
7egend said:
I, myself though wouldn't buy one of these devices, but for a teenager that wants an iPhone and a Parent that is worried about dropping $200 on a phone that will be lost, cracked, stolen or otherwised dissmembered is a perfect selling point.
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ok, I'm only a few posts into this thread, so I'm sure what I'm about to say is redundant, but anyway...

The $200 price point isn't an issue. Parents have shown no qualms about buying $200, 300, and 400 iPods over the last half decade. It's the $35 a month data fees that cause pause.

If Apple really wants a product that will expand marketshare, they need one that carries very low data fees. The problem is, without ubiquitous data, what is an iPhone? I don't have the answer to that, but if Apple does, they could expand their marketshare dramatically.
 
lord patton said:
ok, I'm only a few posts into this thread, so I'm sure what I'm about to say is redundant, but anyway...

The $200 price point isn't an issue. Parents have shown no qualms about buying $200, 300, and 400 iPods over the last half decade. It's the $35 a month data fees that cause pause.

If Apple really wants a product that will expand marketshare, they need one that carries very low data fees. The problem is, without ubiquitous data, what is an iPhone? I don't have the answer to that, but if Apple does, they could expand their marketshare dramatically.
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Exactly! Thats my main reason for me not having an iPhone...the data fees are WAAAY too high! $200 for a do-it-all phone aint that bad...

But on the other hand, a lower price point would still make it more attractive and also it would ease some of the pain of the high data costs.
 
lord patton said:
ok, I'm only a few posts into this thread, so I'm sure what I'm about to say is redundant, but anyway...

The $200 price point isn't an issue. Parents have shown no qualms about buying $200, 300, and 400 iPods over the last half decade. It's the $35 a month data fees that cause pause.

If Apple really wants a product that will expand marketshare, they need one that carries very low data fees. The problem is, without ubiquitous data, what is an iPhone? I don't have the answer to that, but if Apple does, they could expand their marketshare dramatically.
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While redundant, it's absolutely right on. The monthly fees for the iPhone (and most of ATTs products) are outrageous. I may $30 per month for the same (actually slightly better) service plan as would run $90 per month on the iPhone.

There's no phone in the universe that would ever get me to pay an extra $720 per year for it. If Apple made an unlocked PHONE, but kept their SMARTPHONE locked into that insane price plan I'd look twice.

I want a good phone (in terms of reception, sound quality, usability), a decent camera, the standard iPod media player software, BT for headsets, SMS/MMS messaging, wifi*, and an option for a cheap data plan that includes OTA email, calendar syncing, and access to the iTMS store for music and podcasts. An upgraded data plan to add WAP browsing and/or tethering as an option would be nice as well.

*wifi assuming there's an integrated email, calendar, and WAP browser that works "free" on wifi and has the option to add limited data plans for it to work over the cell network.
 
Hmm....could this be connected to the possibility of taking the 8 GB iPhone 3G off the market?
 
I see a lot of speculation here (imagine that), but I wonder if anybody considered the possibility of the iPhone Nano not having a smaller screen. It might just be slightly thinner with some of the guts ripped out.

The thing that astonishes me is about half the posters assume this is a product designed for them. Um, no. If there is some stripped-down iPhone being made, it's for the 290 million Americans (plus countless others in the world) who Apple hasn't sold an iPhone to. It's more than likely not even a true smartphone. I'm guessing it's essentially an iPod Touch + phone. No data plan required, but you get an iPod, a phone, and PDA functions in one device with an awesome UI. If such a thing is $49-99, I would probably be in line to get one for my parents. No more "HOW DO I DO THIS?" for me to answer.
 
Anyone who can't see the business logic for an iPhone Nano needs a reality check. The market for high end phones like the iPhone is tiny compared to the mass market low end section of the market.

They need to reduce the size by a 1/3, reduce the storage to 4Gb, drop Wifi and GPS and keep the price to $99 at maximum. As long as it works well for sending text messages they will sell easily outsell the current version and Apple will make a boat load of cash.

Apple's mobile phone market share will remain tiny until they get a small and cheap phone on the market. When they do, companies like Nokia will be in big, big trouble - watch their share price drop by at least 5% when Apple make the announcement.
 
7egend said:
I see nothing wrong with having more choices in iPhone models, I really would like to see the iPhone Nano and iPhone sitting side by side in stores, some people like full size devices, and others like smaller devices. It would be like using a thin iPod Classic with a full touch Screen as a Phone, and would probably come in 4GB and 8GB models.

Not to mention with the reduction in materials and size of Flash memory the iPhone Nano could be offered at that $99 everyone seems so "gung-ho" about wanting. This would also keep Apple from cutting it's balls off by having to reduce the iPhone 3G's price down which would cut into their profits and plus would probably give them a great market share in the mobile phone sector by offering two models.

I, myself though wouldn't buy one of these devices, but for a teenager that wants an iPhone and a Parent that is worried about dropping $200 on a phone that will be lost, cracked, stolen or otherwised dissmembered is a perfect selling point.

/me shrugs

Choice is always good though.
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I'd be more concerned about the Plan and the exclusive Carrier than the price of the iPhone Nano. ;)
 
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