Articles by Rene Ritchie
Apple Insider points us to two fresh rumors on iPhone launches. First up, in what could be the second North American appearance of El Jobso’s revolutionary little phone:
The Mexico City newspaper El Universal alleged on Thursday that multiple dialogs with Apple support would have the iPhone launch on Mexican carrier Telcel in June, in time for Apple’s planned version 2.0 firmware.
Next, a potential sixth (6th!) launch for the mighty Europe, this time in the Netherlands:
Meanwhile, Dutch Apple reseller The Innovators also posted teasers the same day for a special event to take place on March 29th at 11AM local time. The third-party store was mum on details but dropped hints that it would present on a product that had previously been unsold in the Netherlands and would make it easy to place calls.
Admittedly pretty thin, if any of these rumors come true, it would bring our score to:
| Europe | North Am. | South Am | Asia | Africa | Oceania | Antarctica |
| 6? | 2? | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
Could Mexico and the Netherlands be getting their multi-touch on come June? Or are these the weakest rumors yet? What do you think?
Nokia Siemens Networks announced that they have developed new software which double the speed of existing EDGE data networks (the type of networks that currently supply carrier-based internet connections to iPhone users worldwide).
So, 2 x slow = how less-slow exactly? 592 kbps says Nokia, who estimates availability beginning Q3 2008. Of course, 3G rumormongers will have us long past EDGE by then, so not to be outdone, Nokia also revealed plans for a next-gen nitro punch called EGPRS 2, which they hope reaches speeds of 1.2 Mbps:
“By 2015, we expect to live in a broadband-IP world with five billion people ‘always on’ and therefore Nokia Siemens Networks is committed to protecting customer investments and continue to implement leading EDGE technology. Dual Carrier software upgrade is an easy and extremely cost efficient step to bring broadband user experience to GSM/EDGE networks”, says Ari Lehtoranta, Head of Radio Access Business Unit, Nokia Siemens Networks.
(via Gizmodo)
Literally every source on the interwebs is reporting that Apple has just released Beta 2 of their universe-denting SDK (Software Developers Kit). This new version now sports a working Interface Builder and an update to Xcode 3.1.
Warm up your downloads then get yourself a tasty beverage, because at 1.4GB and with $100 million on the line, even Apple’s servers may take a little while getting it to you!
You’re out with a friend on Wednesday night and hear that, because of the “big game”, the season finale of NBC’s The Office will be airing later that same night instead of the next as usual.
Panic? Try to rush home? Call your mom and beg her to record it? Hope you can download it off the torrents without getting sued into oblivion?
Nope. You just whip out your trusty iPhone, touch your way through a simple, elegant interface and — boom! — EDGE/Wi-Fi sync a new recording schedule back to the DVR-equipped Apple TV in your living room.
When you get home, The Office is recorded and waiting to watch on the big screen. And if you’re too tired to finish watching it, you can just shift the content right back to your iPhone (or MacBook Air, or any other iTunes savvy device) and watch it on your way to work the next day.
Sounds like magic, doesn’t it? Not according to one of Apple’s latest patent filings…
“Phone different, real posts no gimmicks”
[With apologies to Eminem and - ahem - our readers.]
Rumor’s back. Back again. iPhone packed. Tell your friends.
From VP. Close to APPL. Kevin tweets. He’s top lvl.
3G soon. GPS spin. Here by June. FTW!
Kevin’s back. Back again. {interweb hums}
For those of you who aren’t up on either your Eminem or your Twitter, the story here is Kevin Rose posted up another teaser, this time on Twitter, that he has the inside line on the 3G iPhone with the above specs. He’s playing with us, right?
Right?
We interrupt this episode of RIM, Lose or Draw? for a quick iPhone JEOPARDY update!
Last time, Blackberry “pusher”, and outage-plugger extraordinaire Mike Lazaridis took “Post SDK Over-Reactions” for a thousand:
“Talk — all I’m [hearing] is talk about [the iPhone's chances in Enterprise]. I think it’s important that we put this thing in perspective.” [...] “Apple’s design-centric approach [will] ultimately limit its appeal by sacrificing needed enterprise functionality. I think over-focus on one blinds you to the value of the other.” [...] “Apple’s approach produced devices that inevitably sacrificed advanced features for aesthetics.”
While it’s still too early to go to the judges, a new competitor has stepped up to the podium, CNet’s Matt Asay (via Daring Fireball).
What is the most expensive phone, by far, on the market?
I walked into my local AT&T Wireless store on Saturday fully expecting and prepared to get a Blackberry 8820. My Blackberry 8800 died while I was in London last week [...] Unfortunately for Research in Motion, maker of the Blackberry, the in-store price for the 8820 was the same as the iPhone. I deliberated for all of three seconds and walked out with the iPhone.
What about “lack of functionality”? Lack of the tic-tactile keyboard, man?
I thought I wouldn’t be able to type on the iPhone without tactile feedback. I was wrong. I’m actually faster on the iPhone than I ever was on the Blackberry, and that’s with only an hour of “training.”
Still, regrets you must have a few, like SMS blasts, animations on email deletion, and the lack of Flash?
But all its good points make up for these negatives. The iPhone is an amazing device. It was inevitable that I’d find my way to it, just as it’s inevitable that it will continue to take more and more market share, eventually breeding lower-end devices that will change the way we use mobile “phones.” The iPhone is designed too well to be anything less than inevitable.
Good answer! But is RIM too far ahead? Can the iPhone catch up? Or is it too close to call? What do you think?
Hot on the heals of the Microsoft MacBU (makers of Office 2008 for Mac) talking iPhone SDK, comes word (via Fortune) that Microsoft’s recently acquired TellMe division, which specializes in voice recognition, is also eyeing Apple’s little market grabber:
“If the SDK supports [voice recording and location-based information],” [general manager Mike] McCue told Fortune in February, “we’re absolutely going to get a version out there as soon as we can, get TellMe out there on the iPhone.”
Of course, limits placed on the iPhone SDK may well make this impossible without the mythical “special dispensation” from Apple. We do know Bill Gates loves him some “natural interfaces”, though, and who knows how long it will be until VistaMob 7 or Surface ship, so is this like back in the early days when Microsoft got all GUI on Mac Excel? Or is Microsoft really all just about the software profits, man? What do you think?
Rumor gets reported there will be Flash on the iPhone. Rumor gets smashed. Rumor gets reported there will be unlimited music on the iPhone. Rumor gets smashed. Rinse and repeat.
What’s going on? Why aren’t we getting these stories straight?
Turns out maybe these stories weren’t meant to be gotten. Turns out maybe these stories were meant to get us.
There was a time when media really was the fourth estate, when it reported the news. In something akin to the scientific method, media observed what was going on in the grand experiment that is society, looked for pattern and flaw, then contextualized it, gave it form and flavor, and broadcast it by mule and truck and cable and fiber to those who wanted or needed to know.
Now media is entertainment and is competing with itself and other forms of entertainment for your attention and your dollar. One of the ways to compete is to get mysterious “un-named sources” to give you the highly prized “sensational headline”. And instead of digging for these sources and convincing them to come forward, the anonymous sources now trip and push past each other to get to the reporters first. Why? Because controlling the story is important. Information is power and spin is leverage.
Okay, soap-box, what does this have to do with the iPhone? Two interesting and very similar blog posts emerged recently shedding new light on both the Flash and unlimited music stories that have been all over the web lately. Let’s take a look:
Digg and Pownce founder and web 2.0 darling Kevin Rose, during the latest Diggnation podcast, made the following prognostications about the eventual 3G iPhone (via Apple Insider):
[Kevin Rose] claims that a 3G version of the iPhone hardware due in a few months will employ two digital cameras situated back-to-back — one on the front side of the unit behind the transparent touch-screen, and a second one on the back of the handset as it exists today.
Rose also conjectures that this may be why Apple has limited background processes in the current SDK: to prevent competition to their upcoming iChat Touch application.
iChat Touch, according to Rose, will allow full-on video conferencing via high-speed HSDPA between 3G iPhone users and desktop iChat users alike.
As to how reliable Rose’s predictions may be, Apple Insider reminds us:
In the week’s leading up to last year’s iPhone introduction, the Digg founder cited sources in saying Apple would introduce the handset with a slide-out keyboard, two separate battery compartments, and make it available for both CDMA and GSM networks — all of which turned out to be false.
So, um… er… yeah — we’ll take this with a shovel full of salt for now.
Still, the idea iChat Touch with video is exciting and functionality I’d love to see on the second generation iPhone. What do you think?
Not evil twin to Phone Different Week in Review, not an invasion by Fake Steve, this Week in 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!
RIM/Blackberry Likes Outages So Much They Start Scheduling Them!
CrackBerry.com brings word that RIM once again gave some tough-love to Blackberry addicts in the form of a NOC outage on March 22 from 2AM to 6AM EDT. Sorry, no email for the after-after party, Lin-Lo! But it’s not just the Hollywood scandalrati who’ll suffer. 2AM EDT translates into late night on the west coast, early morning in Europe, and midday in Asia. Giving a nation of Jet Lee’s the DTs? We’d start running now, Lazaridis!
WinMob Treo 800 Delayed Until… Er… Hello?… Little Help?
According to WMExperts.com, the two long suffering mobile platforms that suffer longer together, Windows Mobile and Treos, will not see the new high-end model drop until sometime later this year. Why? Who knows, but we can offer some hypotheticals:
- This baby will be rocking the new OS, which is still running just a tiny bit behind schedule as Microsoft wants to make sure users enjoy VistaMob every bit as much as its big desktop brother.
- It was shown at a Gatesnote, and as such is contractually forbidden to hit the market for at least another year. (Hi, Surface!)
- Bono now owns the place and spent enough time in Cupertino to inject himself into every little feature discussion. “Jaysus, needs more red now, dunnit?”
And in No Other News
Yeah, sorry, nobody much covers other smart phones in these parts. Nokia probably did something in Scandinavia but we can’t read Norfinwedish so who knows? It’s not like they’re being sued by a thousand year old lady or are — yet again — beating, stomping, hammering, pummeling, and slapping around the dead horse that is N-Gage, right?
