This week Mike and Dieter discuss the continuing iPhone 3G drama — could it be that Apple plans to just sell the thing unlocked and let carriers do what they will rebate-wise via iTunes?
May 2008: Monthly Archive
Here we go again. The sheer number of iPhone 3G case leaks is getting to be embarrassing. The latest looks to be from a Chinese manufacturer of Griffin cases and all but confirms the “new” form factor: A more rounded back, slightly less beveled front, and perhaps more squarish corners.
Thinking back to our last iPhone 3G sighting, it occurs to me that we might still have not seen the final look of the device — the white and black plastic we’ve been looking at has had an awfully chintzy feel. Since all these leaks are coming from case manufacturers, it’s possible that:
- They created mockups of the basic iPhone 3G casing based on Apple’s specs in order to better create cases or
- Apple sent out a bunch of “dummy phones” that match the shape of the iPhone 3G but do not match the look?
…more renderings after the break!
[Updated following Phone Different Podcast #19, see below!]
Way back in February, Apple’s Chief Operating Officer, Tim Cook said:
“We’re not married to any business model.”
At the time — and it’s scary how long ago it seems already — the iPhone was only available in the US, UK, Germany, and France, with rumors of Ireland and Austria waiting in the wings. What’s more, these were all exclusive deals, with Apple doing their best to lock the iPhone down to single carriers in each territory in exchange for lucrative — and unprecedented — revenue-sharing deals that some have estimated could be netting Apple up to $15 per month, per subscriber.
So, with a potential billion dollars on the table, while they weren’t married to it, they no doubt felt more than a little lusty.
But in true Apple fashion, invoking perhaps the pirate mantra of old, and embracing the same mindset that has them run iTunes as a near-loss leader, price-cut the iPhone a scant few months in, and offer cheap family upgrade options on their OS and iApps, it looks like Tim Cook was serious.
Read on to find out just how serious he was…
Let’s recap the iPhone’s prices so far: $599 to $399 to a rumored $199 to…undefined? One of the more interesting tidbits to come out of the 3G rumor mill has to be AT&T’s CFO telling the media that no pricing decision has been made concerning the 3G iPhone.
“There’s not been a product announcement. There hasn’t been any pricing decisions made. That’s yet to come,” CFO Rick Lindner told the Reuters Global Technology, Media and Telecoms Summit in New York.
We have mentioned before that AT&T has not been as tight-lipped about upcoming products as Apple notoriously is. Perhaps a warning shot by the folks over at Apple (read: Steve Jobs) has effectively rendered the AT&T execs silent. Or could this possibly mean that the price points would differ between the two ‘partners’?
What do you think?
“They could be a great people. They wish to be. They only lack the light to power their devices. For this reason above all, their capacity to consumer data, I have sent them you, my only phone…”
According to a recently unearthed patent filed in late April, Apple is looking into having the iPhone join the Last Son of Krypton in drawing energy directly from the yellow sun.
The patent describes sandwiching a layer of (semi-)transparent photo-sensitive cells below the glass and LCD and above the Flex PCB, and could apply equally to iPods and even MacBooks.
While definitely future-thinking, it could well make removable battery concerns a thing of the past.
[In homage, and with apologies to, Alex Ross, John Williams, Marlon Brando, Richard Donner, and Bryan Singer.]
Another day, another iPhone 3G sighting. This time is comes courtesy of iphoneclub.nl [currently down, via engadget mobile] and the image seems to confirm our previously posted image of the iPhone 3G inside a case - which is to say it’s a little bit bigger, a little bit whiter, but otherwise looks like an iPhone sans the metal casing on the back.
Does anybody think that this is coming later than the expected June launch date anymore?
Update: you can see a few more images here
In keeping with other recent, ridiculously short and detail-free iPhone statements:
TeliaSonera today announced it has signed an agreement with Apple to bring the iPhone to Sweden, Norway, Denmark, Finland, Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia later this year.
By Odin-One-Eye, the iPhone is coiling its way across the globe like the World Serpent in search of its tasty Thor-snack. Does this mean Ragnarok for Nokia on its home turf, or just that mythological metaphors strain awfully fast in blog intros?
Gotcha.
Table shattering score card now link list:
Launched: Austria (T-Mobile), France (Orange), Germany (T-Mobile), Ireland (O2), UK (O2), USA (AT&T)
Announced: Africa (Orange), Argentina (America Movil), Australia (Vodafone / SingTel), Austria (Orange), Belgium (Orange), Brazil (America Movil), Canada (Rogers), Chile (America Movil), Columbia (America Movil), the Czech Republic (Vodafone), Denmark (TeliaSonera), Dominican Republic (America Movil/ Orange), Ecuador (America Movil), Egypt (Vodafone / Orange), El Salvador (America Movil), Estonia (TeliaSonera), Finland (TeliaSonera), Greece (Vodafone), Guatamala (America Movil), Honduras (America Movil), India (Vodafone / SingTel), Italy (Vodafone / Telecom Italia), Jamaica (America Movil), Jordan (Orange), Latvia (TeliaSonera), Lithuania (TeliaSonera), Mexico (America Movil), New Zealand (Vodafone), Nicaragua (America Movil), Norway (TeliaSonera), Paraguay (America Movil), Peru (America Movil), Philippines (SingTel), Poland (Orange), Portugal (Vodafone / Orange), Puerto Rico (America Movil), Romania (Orange), Singapore (SingTel), Slovakia (Orange), South Africa (Vodafone), Switzerland (Swisscom / Orange), Turkey (Vodafone), Uruguay (America Movil)
Rumored: Netherlands (?),
Note: Extent of America Movil and Orange Africa deployment not yet fully detailed.
Lately I’ve been ending these by asking “Who’s next?” but, honestly at this point, “who’s left?”
Anyone want dibs on Antarctica?
Can’t wait any longer for Native Apps? Me neither. (Late) June seems too far away? I’m with you. So why wait, when you can jailbreak! Over the next couple weeks before 2.0 is released, I’ll give you guys a glimpse into the jailbroken world of native apps every week. Plus: let’s face it, Jailbreaking isn’t going anywhere. The SDK is awesome, but some people won’t settle for anything less than full-on access to all the hidden bits of the iPhone.
In this week’s edition, we’ll take a look at a nifty little program called IntelliScreen. The idea behind this native app is smart, it creates a ‘Today’ screen for your iPhone’s unlock screen. Much like certain layout options in Windows Mobile and Blackberry, Intelliscreen offers a quick look at your calendar, mail, SMS, news, and weather. How well does this native app perform? Does it offer a great feature for users?
Read on for the rest of the review!
[Note: This a a Wait-A-Thon post! Comment on this post -- or any post tagged "Wait-a-Thon" -- for your chance to win a $100 iTunes Gift Card! Note that you must post with a valid and real email address so we can send you your prize -- no switching!]
No need for double-takes. You didn’t click the wrong link. Just breath, dig deeply, and stick with me for a moment. Yes, you really are still reading the iPhone blog.
For a 1.0 device, the iPhone knocked the ball — if not out of the park — soundly into the fence, and sent a complacent industry fumbling and flurrying to catch it. But no device, not even from Apple, could get everything perfect the first time at bat. Now, I’ve pretty much staked my turf here by playfully poking a little bit of fun at the competition but, truth be known, when they’re not wasting their time on iClones every platform and handset has some great — even killer — features to recommend it. In that spirit, here’s my top 5 list of what Apple should seriously consider stealing… er… learning from the competition if they want to hit a home run with 2.0 and beyond…
If Steve Jobs is the patron behind the concept of the iPhone, then Jonathan Ive is certainly the artist whose hand crafted its ultimate realization.
Apple’s reclusive Vice President of Design recently spoke with the Independant’s Claire Beale on the nature of design, winning an unprecedented six (6!) Black Pencil awards, and what drives Apple’s success:
“We have a very clear focus that all the development teams at Apple share, a focus around trying to make really great products. That can sound ridiculously simplistic, almost naive, but it’s very unique for the product to be what consumes you completely. And when I say the product I mean the product in its total sense, the hardware and the software, the complete experience that people will have. We push each other, we’re very self-critical and we’ll take the time to get the product right.”
Witness, of course, the iPhone.
Be sure to hit the read link for the complete article.
