All Articles Tagged hype

Apple is now refusing cash for the purchase of iPhones. They now require a credit card for purchase, and the limit for the number of iPhones you can purchase is now two. Apple stopped accepting Apple Store gift cards for redemption. The move is legal — they’re not obligated to sell you anything, and they can impose the extra restrictions.

This definitely isn’t the most customer-friendly policy I’ve ever seen; most kids aren’t going to have their own credit card. If Apple wants to obsessively manage their supply of iPhones for the holiday season, no amount of bad press is going to change their mind.

DataViz will likely be making versions of their popular desktop software for the iPhone as soon as Apple releases the SDK in February. This means that iPhone owners will be able to create and edit Word documents, Excel spreadsheets, Powerpoint presentations and the like. DataViz seems excited to get RoadSync and Passwords Plus on the iPhone as well, but it looks like they want to gauge demand before they commit to anything. There’s a page they’ve set up so you can pledge your intent — they want you to seal the deal. [via]

Changewave released information from their latest survey, and the iPhone is tops again. 2% of the 3654 people surveyed have iPhones. Of the people that have iPhones, 82% are “Very Satisfied,” up 5% since the last survey in July and tops in the list. The only company with “Very Satisfied” ratings above 50% is RiM with the Blackberry series. Best yet, the iPhone is set to capture a bit more than 2% — Changewave reports that a full 16% of all people surveyed intend to purchase an iPhone within the next 6 months. Quoth Tobin Smith, founder of Changewave:

There’s no longer any doubt about the staying power of the iPhone. The continuing embrace of the iPhone by the public is a stellar example of how a new product can forever alter its own playing field.”

It’s unfortunately kind of a high and low quote; he’s right about the ‘alter its own playing field’ bit. But show me anyone who thought the iPhone was just going to go away.

Arun Sarin, CEO of Vodaphone, is “absolutely” confident that they’ll get a second chance to distribute the iPhone somewhere in the world. Anywhere, really. He’s still bullish on the 3G iPhone. By the time Apple comes out with one, I’m not sure what major markets will be left for a contract. Asia maybe?

Even though the iPhone just came out in late June, analysts are desperate for a new version. Over at the Street, for example, they expect a 3G iPhone (with GPS!) in 1Q (January, February, or March) 2008.

Many sites had been saying January earlier, but Jobs’ statement about 3G chips not being ready and to expect an iPhone in late 2008 apparently forced some sites to revise their earlier statements. Even after Jobs’ statement, some sites are still reporting on a January 3G iPhone introduction and 1Q release.

Dont’ get me wrong, I’d be really happy to get a new 3G iPhone with GPS and whatnot. But frankly, I’d rather have improvements on the software side. Features like cut&paste, Office-style software, and actual 3rd-party software support would be smart. I already have a GPS puck, all I need is for Apple to release a version of their iPhone Maps.app that is GPS compatible. Full Exchange support would be pretty awesome. Also on my want list is A2DP, or stereo bluetooth. And yet another, the Nike+iPod compatibility. What’s on your want list?

If it has no Bluetooth, then it stands to reason that it has no stereo bluetooth either.

Actually, the only thing that I can tell that they’ve launched is a website. Anyway, they’re supposedly going to start selling unlock codes today. No, I’m serious! They’re really going to do it. They don’t just want to stay in the news, that’s unpossible. How could you even think that?

My guess is no, but there’s a “leaked” T-Mobile Germany document that shows it. And it looks like a bad photoshop to me, as if someone turned the quality knob for jpeg compression all the way down. I’m not going to link the image, as I won’t sully the front page with such a heinous job. If you like, you can see it here, here, here, or here. The best summary I’ve read comes from the last link:

To me this looks like a MS Paint project.

Holy smokes! Apple has put a $200 price cut on the 8 GB iPhone, and dropped the 4GB version altogether. That’s right, the 8GB iPhone is now $399. Where do I line up for my $200 check? I’m equal parts filled with rage for paying a $200 early adopter fee, and equal parts filled with glee for a $200 price cut. I’m glad that it makes the iPhone that much more accessible for everyone else. I just feel a little sore when I sit, that’s all.

I have colleagues that believe the price cut is a portent of a hardware refresh. I have a hard time believing Apple would refresh their iPhone hardware so soon after launch, but I should float the idea out as speculation. I believe a 3G version is possible, perhaps in the 1st or 2nd quarter of 2008. The part of me that hopes I’m wrong is the part of me that wants my iPhone to be new forever. Sigh

There’s an iTunes update tonight that will bring Ringtones support. For a select portion of their music catalog (about 500,000 songs altogether, or 8% of the songs available on iTunes), you can make a ringtone if you’ve already purchased the song. All in all, the song to play on the iPod and the song to play as a ringtone is $1.98. Song portion: $.99, same as always. Ringtone: $.99. I think the extra fee is for the ‘public performance’ licensing aspect of ringtones. It will be interesting to see if the iTunes update breaks iToner, iFuntastic, or the indomitable iPhoneRingtoneMaker. Let’s hope not.

The iTunes Wi-Fi Music Store will come to the iPhone in an update later this month. Look for it on a Tuesday afternoon this month, I’d bet. You will be able to purchase any music from the iTunes store and download it via wi-fi. I doubt you will be able to purchase it via EDGE. After all, it’s not the iTunes Wireless Music Store. Why not, though? It’s easier to say, and less cumbersome to type.

The iTunes Wi-Fi Music store will also be available from a bunch of Starbucks in most areas by 2009. The Starbucks in the larger top-ten cities in the US will get the update treatment first, and Starbucks figures they’ll have “most major metro areas” by late 2008. Um, I could rollout a storewide wi-fi network faster than that.

In other iPod news, Steve announced the iPod sister to the iPhone, the iPhone touch (8GB for $299 and 16GB is $399), to be available later this month. It’s slightly smaller, you’ll note from the picture above, and its application functionality has obviously not been totally disclosed. Notably missing from the iPod Touch thus far is a notes app and a maps app…. Hmmm.

The iPod, newly rechristened the iPod Classic, saw updates bringing a new, drastically thinner 80GB version ($249) and a thinner-than-the-previously-thickest 80GB version is the 160 GB version ($349).

The new iPod Nano, regarded by many as an ugly duckling, gets the full iPod treatment. It gains a video-quality screen, and is available in 4GB ($149) and 8GB ($199) versions, and it still works with the Nike+iPod sport kit. As you can see in the picture from Apple’s website above, it’s a little wee thing, absolutely tiny.

Huh. Apple’s iPod lineup looks like a steamroller right now. The Zune, Creative Zen, Sony Walkman line, et al, all look like bumpy roads waiting to be flattened this holiday season.

[via, via, via]

Nothing like a $150+ profit margin for selling unlocked iPhones. Since you need to buy a new iPhone to get an unlocked iPhone, and not update from the 1.0.2 firmware, or so they say. Are you excited yet? Yeah, me neither.