Articles by Rene Ritchie
When the iPhone was introduced, Nokia’s first official response was the corporate equivalent of a raspberry (the spitting kind, not the fruit!). Their second official response was to demo a device which so closely mimicked the iPhone that it quite possibly was one.
“If there is something good in the world then we copy with pride,” said Anssi Vanjoki, Nokia’s Executive VP & General Manager of Multimedia.
Well, proudly copy it they have! The final device, bewilderingly code-named “Tube” is ready for prime-time (or whatever time it is they relegate programs that knock off last season’s hits).
Is Nokia worried about the iPhone and it’s popularity? Not according to Tom Libretto, vice president of Forum Nokia (who must be auditioning for a shot on iPhone JEOPARDY!):
“We’ve done [the iPhone's sales numbers to date] since we’ve had dinner on Friday.”
We would hope so! Since the global sales leader with a complete range from cheapo handsets to high-end convergence devices available in almost every country, on every carrier, on the planet is comparing numbers to a single (albeit revolutionary) iPhone available in only a handful of places on a single carrier each. And Fake Steve claims to be mathlexic! (N95 to iPhone numbers in the US anyone?)
That Nokia has adopted the increasingly popular “if you can’t beat them, copy them” strategy — a strategy that, if Apple had adopted it, there would be nothing for RIM, Samsung, Microsoft, or Nokia to be copying right now — is disappointing to say the least. But it once again highlights that if Apple hasn’t achieved market share, it’s certainly achieved market leadership.
Do you want a world where there’s the iPhone and every other manufacturer’s knockoff of same? Or would you rather see the other companies innovate and revolutionize and differentiate their offerings? What do you think?
(via Engadget)
Engadget Mobile has been leafing through their WWDC course program and found a nice hint at the future of Apple’s mobile web browser:
“Enhancing Your iPhone Web Application with CSS Transforms and Animations” overview: Safari’s getting a little bit of an update. [...] What does that mean, exactly? In short, the feature allows web page elements to be twirled, zoomed, and skewed, making for some pretty eye-popping (or watering) effects. It’s all going to be accelerated by the iPhone’s hardware, too, meaning that the next ultra-annoying ad for some sketchy product that you view on your iPhone should really fly.
As mentioned in the post, this would, at least in part, help keep the iPhone’s browser up-to-date with its WebKit source and big desktop brother, which just saw an update to 3.1. What other features might be in the works for MobileSafari Touch? Probably not downloadable fonts, I’d wager, but many other little tweaks and improvements to help it fly the Web 2.0 universe.
Opera Mobile, Pocket IE, and Mobile Safari are all gunning for where MobileSafari Touch used to be, will this be enough to keep it ahead of the pack? And if anyone thinks its an accident that the iPhone is embracing web-standards animation while still eschewing Flash, I have twin bridges in San Fran to sell you…
So, is Apple serious about taking standards to the next level, or is this just another bit of leverage to use in their silent war with Adobe? Would you rather a less-proprietary web, or OMG!1 u just wantz vidz? I’ve already posted about my Flash concerns, especially security and privacy, but what do you think?
It’s that season again. No, not football — Apple iPhone rumor release season. The fans smell 3G. The pundits smell 3G. The press smells 3G. And boy do the analysts smell them some Apple cooked 3G.
Risking feet to fall firmly in mouth, the bold, brash predictions are now coming hot and heavy. The rumors are flying faster than Vista downgrades. Everyone knows its coming. (It’s gotta be coming!) And while no one outside the Jobspod knows precisely when, the interweb pools are filling up fast and furious.
Starting now and working back, Macrumors does some myth-on-math and determines that “Apple will announce before the FCC leaks” amounts to a 6 week shipping window. So if Apple announces today, and the iPhone 3G shows up in the FCC database tomorrow, it could be shipping as soon as late May. If it announces in June, then it could clear FCC by July/August.
Uncle Walt, the Wall Street Journal’s own Mac Daddy, went and brought’nd’it saying we’ll see the iPhone 3G within 60 days. That’s early June.
iPod Observer brings us a pic of what may be the 3G iPhone in the wild, all dressed up in glossy Vader black. The iPod Nano fatty pics leaked online immediately prior to launch, could this be another breach of the nigh-impenetrable Apple vault? If so, a special Jobsnote would have to be around the corner… Like WWDC?
Every Apple-site and their feed server have been reporting wide spread shortages of the current iPhone at Apple Stores, and a longer-than-usual wait of 5-7 days for shipping online. A sign of inventory clearing ahead of a new release? Despite denials, Apple’s done that before. But Roughly Drafted disagrees, believing its simply an incredible increase in gray market demand around the globe.
AT&T Mobility’s CEO may or may not be part of the Jobsian inner-circle, but he’s saying their integrated product line will be 3G in a matter of months, and when pressed on the iPhone, he repeated his repetition repeatedly. A matter of months. June is certainly a month that matters. Unfortunately, so are July through December.
Shaw Wu of American Technology Research claims some inside checks on supply chains show an iPhone 3G heading our way in June or July, a quarter earlier than he believes was/is to be expected.
Macrumors also lays out their evidence and makes their case for a June release. And Gene Munster of Piper Jaffray agrees, and tosses in a lower-price iPhone, and a mind-boggling 45 million units prediction to boot.
Some EGDE 2.75 technology promises notwithstanding (now with half the slow!), Gartner’s Kim Dulany thinks Apple has already ordered 10 million OLED equipped iPhone 3Gs from their suppliers. Arik Hesseldahl of BusinessWeek believes there’s 3G fire in the current out-of-stock Apple Store smoke signs.
Batting next-to-zero on current generation iPhone speculation also hasn’t stopped Digg’s Kevin Rose from stepping up to the plate and swinging for the sky with predictions for a June launch with built in GPS and iChat.
Whew! If that’s not enough 3G goodness for you, be sure to check out the Phone Different archives for more rumors, analyst expulsiveness, and general OMG 3G!!11 merriment.
Personally, I’ve taken WWDC as my pick for the iPhone 3G announcement pool. What’s your pick?
While we’ve speculated about the huge potential for iPhone/iPod Touch gaming, is it possible we’re still underestimating it?
Pre-SDK, Engadget brings us word — and video — of Quake 3 absolutely shredding Apple’s little hand-hand revolution. Tilt-to-move, touch-to-fire, wi-fi to multi-player, it looks beyond sweet to me, and this is almost certainly still an early-stage, pre-app launch demo. And I’m not even sure it’s coming officially from Carmack and id Software at this point!
But words don’t do it justice. Check out the video after the break!
Roughly Drafted recently proposed that neither impending 3G nor poor supply chain management were to blame for Apple Store’s lack of iPhone stock, but rather the international gray market for unlocked handsets.
Now, based on a post from Infrageeks, they’re back with a look at how Apple could replace some carrier kick-back revenue with .Mac subscription revenue, if El Jobso saw fit to beef up the service and better tie it into the iPhone.
Our own Chad Garrett has already made the case for .Mac syncing via the iPhone, and iPhone Alley, (via TUAW) has said it’s coming, so what’s Dilger’s take?
Integrating .Mac services into its iPhone and iPod Touch mobile platform would not only make the devices more valuable and competitive, but would also add a layer of ongoing subscription revenue that would enable the company to more profitably sell unlocked iPhones at regular prices in emerging markets where demand is off the charts. Rather than paying a smuggler $800, Apple could sell customers the iPhone at the regular $399 price, bundled with a two year .Mac subscription for another $99 a year. This would rapidly develop Apple’s software service revenue and allow the company a significant budget for investing to keep the services up to date and valuable for users.
What value would $99 bring? The details are in the full article, but include network data sync, file sharing, back-to-my-mac, blogging, hyperblogging, a reputation system, community profiles, secure identity services, marketplace, privacy management, data sharing/networking, and subscription music.
Would those services be worth $99 a year to you? Would they be worth giving up the carrier revenue for Apple? What do you think?
Not evil twin to Phone Different Week in Review, not an invasion by Fake Steve, This Week in Smart Phone Schadenfreude brings you all the feel-better news you need about the smartphone world outside Apple’s current media dominator. (Who knew there was such a world? We were just as surprised! Inelegant, interface challenged, keyboardy, crashy, single-touchy place — best not to linger…). Join us as we mock review the big news from last week at our sister sites. Everybody loves sibling rivalry!
Real nice, Bohn. Fine. Let’s do this.
As most probably know, Canada doesn’t have the iPhone. Well, we do, but it’s a cr@ppy piece of VoIP. Nothing near as revolutionary or useful as Le Steve’s little universe denter. We also have a GSM monopoly with data rates so high Warren Buffet wants no part of them. (A national newspaper once calculated that to even approach an AT&T type iPhone plan on Rogers would cost well over $1000 a month, and would still offer less service).
Despite that, there are many iPhones up in the frozen north, unlocked, unsupported, but much loved by their users. I’ve personally been rocking a 1.1.1 firmware iPhone ever since I stomped my WinMob into oblivion and skipped my Treo across the St. Lawrence seaway.
Today, I decided to take the leap and upgrade my most precious of gadgets, my Unix in-the-pocket, my multi-touch new-interfacer, to 1.1.4.
Since I’m petrified of bricking the poor little fellow, I’m going with the easiest and most straight-forward solution, iLiberty X.
First I sync everything. Nice and safe. Now I’m going to restore to 1.1.4. Not upgrade — restore. They’re pretty clear on that point.
Okay, launching the iLiberty X GUI. iTunes shuts down, iTunes service shuts down, I bite down — hard enough to draw blood, and pray to every god and deity I could think of.
GUI starts to work — Step 1. iPhone streams tons and tons of text. UNIX friend over my shoulder seems to think it makes sense. Seems to…
Step 2… Some parts seem to tic away for an exasperatingly long time… Will it brick any second? Is Steve Jobs chuckling even now, cracking his knuckles, and preparing to “unleash the hounds”?
YES! Complete!
iTunes is coming up and recognizing an iPhone! Quick test — we have jigglies!! Looking for cell network… CAN Rogers! (Used to just say Rogers, the CAN part is new…) Installer.app is there, non-AT&T SIM is working, phone is working. That’s jailbreak, unlock, and activation FTW!
Okay, now all that’s left is to re-enter a bunch of Wi-Fi keys, reassign favorites, and I’m sure fix up a dozen or so other minor settings, but after languishing in the 3rd world for so long, it feels nice to be a second-class citizen again.
Hello proper podcast place-keeping! Hello screen dim and sleep! Hello 1.1.4!
Hmmm, now what’s this about 2.0…
Note: jailbreaking, unlocking, and activating are not Apple approved procedures, might violate your ULA, certainly voids your warranty, and could well brick you phone. No one here advises anyone to do it, or takes any responsibility for results, good or ill, from doing it. Proceed at your own risk. Ed. Note: Actually, we fully support you doing whatever you want to your iPhone, just don’t blame us if it goes wrong! :p
As previously mentioned, US Apple Store’s have been surprisingly (or suspiciously) out of iPhone stock lately.
Some have speculated that this is due to the immanent release of a 3G iPhone, others have cited atypical supply chain management issues, component shortages, or shipping problems.
In a long post based on info from an anonymous source nom-de-tip’d, Tantrum, Roughly Drafted brings a third option to the table: Pirates. (JAR!)
“Demand for iPhones outside the United States, particularly in emerging markets, is out of control and has reached the point where it has started to impact Apple’s normalized supply chain projections,” Tantrum wrote. “It’s okay to have a delta of, say, 100,000 units or so per year between actual and forecast. International demand is driving that delta upwards of 1 million. That’s a whole different ball game for component sourcing, quality control and production ramp-up and some things are starting to come unstuck, even for a finely managed company like Apple.”
Tantrum mentions 5 specific reasons for the increased international demand:
Ease of jailbreak/unlock with new GUI-based solution. Organizations specializing in getting iPhones into Eastern Europe and Asia. Spread of Wi-Fi and EDGE being “good enough” in most countries. GSM compatibility. Low price (due to weak American dollar and high local smartphone costs).
There’s much more in the original post, so be sure to check it out. Could the pirates (JAR!) be sucking the US channels dry? Or is this just another crazy theory in face of the impending 3G monster birthing any minute now? What do you think?
460 iPhone users surveyed, top answers on the board. Hands on the buzzers, people!
Survey says!
80% Satisfaction level. 72% daily email use. 55% increased web browsing. 60% use the iPhone for some previous laptop functions. 50% have added at least 1 application at some point. 40% would like to add 3rd party apps. 40% would love them some Flash.
50% changed carriers. 50% switched from another standard phone. 40% switched from another smartphone. 10% were first time mobile users. 33% carry an additional phone.
Breaking it down, 23% replaced a RAZR, 14% replaced a WinMob phone, 13% replaced a Blackberry, 7% replaced a Palm, 4% replaced a Sidekick, and 4% replaced a Symbian.
13% have unlocked their phone (JAR!). 10% have experienced hand pain following use. 50% are under 30. 16% are students. 20% of purchases were gifts.
20% rock both Mac and iPod. 5% rock Mac no iPod. 75% were existing Apple customers.
Whew! Are you represented in there? Are they off the mark? Judges? What do you think?
Gizmodo reports they “did lunch” with AT&T, where CEO of Mobility, Ralph de La Vega dropped the 3G bomb:
He had mentioned earlier in the event that he expected all of their smart integrated devices to be 3G in the next couple months. Sascha Segan from PC Mag asked it that included the iPhone. De la Vega responded, “Let me repeat what I said: I think that you’re going to see our integrated devices be 3G devices in the not-too-distant future, and I mean months. That should be clear enough.”
Clear as slightly less than crystal, but then pretty much everyone and their rss-feed has been expecting as much…
So is this just another tease, or are we officially beginning the count-down to the WWDC Jobsnote? (Boom.) What do you think?
