May 2008: Monthly Archive

Check out this Translated version of http://www.iphon.fr/ [via Engadget] - it looks very close to the iPhone 3G dimensions we told you about yesterday. The shots are anonymous, unverified, etc etc. They could be face, but they sure don’t look it based on the fact that we can see evidence of real use (scratches) and based on the general un-photoshopped-appearance of the images.

It’s certainly still iPhone-esque, but to my eyes looks a little more like a generic smartphone than I’d prefer. What do you think? Legit? Good-looking?

[Ed: We're bringing back the Wait-a-Thon and making it regular again. Sorry we dropped it off there for awhile, folks. With all those 3G and iPhone 2.0 rumors flying about these past couple of weeks, it almost felt like the release was already here. In the meantime, comment on any post tagged "Wait-a-Thon" for your chance to win a $100 iTunes Gift Card!]

This is not a response to Crackberry.com’s excellent article, Top 10 Reasons Why the iPhone Is NO BlackBerry. Quite frankly, the iPhone doesn’t need a response; it’s the rest of industry that’s so desperately trying to find one to the iPhone.

I don’t know about you, but it’s getting more than a little tiring hearing everyone compare themselves to — and constantly try to rip-off — the iPhone. I can’t surf a website or cruise the main without some claw-handed Crackberry addict, neck-bearded Palm artifact, or frazzle-haired WinMob frustrati glaring and frothing with barely-contained envy at the perfectly balanced, seamlessly integrated, lustfully convergent iPhone held ever-so casually in my grip.

They know the iPhone is beyond cool. Sure, they cling to their once innovative, formerly revolutionary (at least in the case of Palm and RIM) devices, the ones overwhelming nostalgia or massive business infrastructure investment won’t let them slam to the ground and stomp into the call-dropping, web-mangling, constantly crashing oblivion they so richly deserve.

So the comparisons to the iPhone just won’t stop, despite the fact that the iPhone is pretty much incomparable. Don’t believe me? I’ve got ten reasons to back me up. And these aren’t minor feature gripes or personal peccadilloes. In proper Apple fashion, these are just 10 simple little words…

Read the rest of this entry »

We’ve seen accessory makers spill the beans on upcoming products before. In the Treo space, an accessory maker went so far as to put their demo unit on a convention show floor. There was also the “fatty nano” rumor that seems ludicrous right up until the moment that Apple released precisely what the accessory maker had leaked. Things on the iPhone side are, of course, quite a bit more hush-hush, so apparently what these accessory makers have is just some rough dimensions, according to iLounge:

Companies overseas have already started working on products for this one, which is basically the same size as the current iPhone, but has slightly different curves, coloration, and materials.

We also get confirmation of the tip-top “Black and basically the same” rumor. The glossy black plastic is apparently quite a bit fancier than what you’re imagining, and toss in a very slight taper across the back as well. A few slight adjustments to the location of the various sensors on the iPhone and the story looks pretty complete and pretty legit.

Oh, yeah, looks like color options besides black might be thrown into this heady mix of iPhone 3G stew as well. MMmmmmm ….HSDPA.

Apple Insider’s Prince McLean, whose pieces often seem.. ahem… Roughly Drafted… brings us an in depth look for what we might see in the next generation, 3G iPhone, and in a word, it’s hardcore.

McLean begins with a profile of Imagination’s Open GL ES 1.1, PowerVR MBX that powers the current iPhone (and many other mobile devices), and then gets into the next generation, 2.0, PowerVR SGX — which brings the shaders, and the VDX core with its mobile HD video codec.

Putting the pieces together, including an unprecedented Samsung announcement that it will be manufacturing these technologies, Imagination’s mysterious unnamed licensee, and the flexibility the newly acquired PA Semi gives them, design-wise, McLean (through some assumptive leaps, to be sure), paints a glowing picture of Apple’s future gaming and video potential:

By gaining access to exclusive new generations of mobile graphics technology, Apple can differentiate its products from other smartphones and mobile Internet devices with an edge in performance while offering full support for industry standard OpenGL ES graphics. [...]

Whether this theory is ultimately proven true or not, I think the SDK event — and its clear focus on games — showed that Apple finally might just be taking the space seriously. What do you think?