Monthly Archives: June 2007

More iPhone stuff

Before this iPhone thing appears lets review the known info (with my comments in parentheses)

Screen size = 3.5 inches (larger than my current phone with a 2″ screen -nokia 6030- and much thinner)

Screen resolution= 320 by 480 at 160 ppi (nokia is 128×128….and very ugly and dim)

Input method = Multi-touch (great! can’t wait for this..)

Operating system = OS X (10.5 that is…)

Storage = 4GB or 8GB (would you be surprised if a 16 gig one showed up as well?)

GSM= Quad-band (MHz: 850, 900, 1800, 1900) (apparently ATT is beefing up the network)

Wireless data=Wi-Fi (802.11b/g) + EDGE + Bluetooth 2.0 (Wifi!! Bluetooth 2.0 spec is low powered w/up to 2mbs, possibly, 3mbs data rate)

Camera = 2.0 megapixels (perfect for capturing a moment without superceding your regular camera with better resolution)

Battery

Up to 5 hours = Talk / Video / Browsing (I hope the power connector is small and light)

Up to 16 hours = Audio playback (hmmm, i don’t plan to keep a lot of music on this phone)

Dimensions = 4.5 x 2.4 x 0.46 inches / 115 x 61 x 11.6mm (nokia is 4.09 x 1.73 x 0.71 inches)

Weight = 4.8 ounces / 135 grams ( nokia is 3.17 Ounces)

Some other stuff you may not realize about this iPhone and some of my personal speculation.

1)There will be a bluetooth earpiece..not sure if it will ship included or is extra, but it will also be Bleeding Edge Technology.
Bluetooth 2 also means keyboards, and concurrent use with multiple devices.

2) WiFi on this thing is a big deal…so are widgets…so is OS X. A Beefy version of this device will more than replace your
“got to get back to my computer” syndrome for appropriate email response. After I tried setting up WAP and then paying for the
enhanced data stuff for my nokia…it was a terrible terrible eexperience which didn’t work (and doesn’t) work as described.
I wonder if streaming radio will be supported….i wonder if Flip4mac will be on the iPhone…Lots of questions and lots
of potential developer opportunities.

3) Everybody is very hot on this interactive Touch technology and I’m sure Apple will give us an excellent device with a great
interface we will all love (and it will get better- think 1st gen ipod ->5th gen ipod-this is a 1st gen iPhone)
But since this is OSX and OSX has a great amount of Universal Access behavior built in. This is one of the other ways to input and
control stuff on your Mac. So am I out of line to predict some kind of voice interface in the iPhone. The combined forces of Voice/Touch input
and control intrigues me a lot. In my car -driving around with Janis singing “Mercedes Benz” say the iphone rings- and annouces “It’s Steve Jobs” , then i could say “Voice Mail” and it would send the call to voicemail, and put me back to my Janis tune.
If I said “answer” it would put me through. maybe i could tap the screen to answer as well…my current phone i either
pick it up or let it go to mail -MANUALLY turning down the radio first.

4) Big Readable buttons… The worst parts of the Nokia are the little buttons and the tiny dim and ugly screen. With a touch interface and big high res screen you’re going to see a HUGE difference in handling this phone from the get go. The old Tactile interfaces are great (like a
touchtone phone or a typewriter- they are something we had to “adapt” to)and with the touch interface there is potential for some interesting customizations (more likely if a widescreen ipod with wifi comes out as well) .
I agree with Mr. Jobs, that care would be needed in the developer tools so as not to screw up the phone integration. But Widgets are a particularly docile environment to program interfaces with. You can build a widget in about 5 minutes with Apples dev tools. So for the iPhone- expect a bit of HUI customization.

5) I held out to get a cell phone until last May..when I thought a surprise iPhone would show up…(and indeed the Motorola version was like
a .5 version) but the Cingular folks were singular in their ineptitude about how the web stuff was supposed to work (MEdia net is a joke).
There is nothing worse than having a device that can’t do ALL the things it’s supposed to do. In my small world, a survey looking for anyone who uses all the features of their Treo or Blackberry comes up with nobody…including me… who has the time and patience to deal with
the issues these devices create in trying to do what they advertise them as. They all suck. Convergence devices suck. period.
This is the attitude Apple has had since the days of the (wonderful) Newton (R.I.P.). They are right. But I think the market for USEFUL
portability of Messaging and Phones-calendars/contacts/simple information -is here although there are a wide range of devices
few are actually useful outside their initial function as a phone (or a texting device). Thanks to Apple the “Groupthink” of the device makers
will change!- because when the iPhone rolls out this month it will blow away the competition feature wise.

Meanwhile, my contract with Cingular (and my Nokia battery is falky) is up so I’m ready to renew with “ATT” (as they are called now)
and get MY iPhone (when available).

-owl