Some sexy iPhone icons for your OS X desktop were released a few days ago over at INTERFACELIFT.com. This is surely only the first of many iPhone icons, as there are many versions of the popular iPod product in icon form, as well as iMac, Mac Pro, and more. Get them while they’re hot!
Verizon, the 2nd largest U.S. cell phone dealer, had the chance to be Steve Jobs’ new best friend, but passed. Why would such a stable, prospering company even hesitate when presented with one of Apple’s sure-to-be gold nuggets? Verizon likes to play fair, and Apple likes to be in control.
Jobs would let the iPhone be sold in Apple stores, and Verizon stores, but not in Verizon partnership stores such as Wal-Mart or Best Buy. This deal might sour Verizon’s other partners and make future business partnerships seem stale.
If a technical issue comes up with your iPhone, who would you call? Apple stores are few and far between, whereas distributors of Verizon or Cingular are nearly everywhere. Convenience itself would reason that one might hop on over to their local cell phone distributor and ask them a question about repairs. This is not what Apple wants, and it turned Verizon off even more. Apple wanted the sole discision over whether to replace or repair the phone.
“They would have been stepping in between us and our customers to the point where we would have almost had to take a back seat … on hardware and service support,” Jim Gerace, Verizon Vice President said.
With Verizon saying to Apple “No Thanks,” Steve Jobs and his cronies ran into the waiting arms of Cingular for an exclusive U.S. deal.
[source]
Although many Apple fans are complaining of the iPhone’s high pricetag, analysts have pegged Apple’s new iPhone as not a cheap piece of technology for Apple to make either.
In a recent article regarding Apple’s margin versus cost of parts, they stated that the screen itself might cost upwards of $60 to Apple. Adding the sensor technology, as well as battery, hard drive, etc. leaves Apple with a cost “well above $300 for the 4 GB model.”
Whatever the current cost is to Apple, one also has to take into account the price of advertising, marketing, commercials etc. that Apple is famous for, and add that into the cost. Apple’s margin over the iPhone may not be as high as some reports have noted.
The iPhone is a lot of things, including:
This package of features will retail for $499 (4GB) and $599 (8GB) USD and be available in June in the US.
Now let’s switch gears and talk about another touch-sensitive device. The Nintendo DS.
The Nintendo DS is currently the most popular hand held gaming device on the planet. Because of its’ widespread popularity, it also has a massive fan following. Part and parcel nowadays with a fan following, is a modifications following; a group of individuals who seek to unleash the DS for all that it can be. Some of these modifications and newfound abilities the DS has come across make the Nintendo DS:
Here’s a video of the iPod homebrew program running on a DS Lite:
Something of note here, is that in order to be more than just a regular Nintendo DS, one would need to purchase a Nintendo DS storage device. One such storage device is the R4DS which requires no actual modding of the Nintendo DS in order to run homebrew programs.
The Nintendo DS retails for $129.99 USD. The R4DS retails for $44.95, and a 4GB micro SD card with USB adapter for the R4DS retails for $118.99.
The grand totals:
Apple iPhone:
$499 USD (4GB) and $599 USD (8GB).
Nintendo DS Lite + R4DS + 4GB Micro SD card storage:
$293.93 USD.
Of course, the iPhone is made by Apple, and many of the homebrew applications for the DS are made by any regular Joe, so they definitely won’t be as pretty. All told, however, if you don’t absolutely need a new cell phone, and want to save a few bucks, the Nintendo DS is the clear winner for features and price.
iPhoneMatters.com recently had an interesting poll about why one would opt out of getting an iPhone.
The choices were:
…and the results were:
It would appear that most percieve the iPhone’s price to be it’s biggest downfall. Another thing of note is that very few - perhaps only the business types - would say they wouldn’t get an iPhone because it lacks a real keyboard or the ability to use with a real keyboard. As always, there’s lots of angst for Cingular.
What drives your opinion? Will you be getting one? Why? Why not?
Ars Technica got some great information from a well-known professional usability expert, Bruce Tognazzini, including his opinions on whether the iPhone’s touch-screen interface will be the next big thing, or the next big flop. You may find the results surprising.
Naturally, besides a few elite media people, and Steve Jobs himself, no one has really had a good “hands-on” with the iPhone to test it out for usability, however, perceptions and predictions can be formed.
Bruce…
Loves:
Gives ordinary people widespread access to technologies that have otherwise been very limited for public consumption (such as multitouch and whatnot)
Very approachable, even for older folks
Visual, random-access voicemail. “It’s about time.”
Hates:Five hour battery life, and non-replaceable battery (without a crowbar…). “That’s a bad interface,” Tog says.
Relying on public WiFi (”Public WiFi is a mess”) for Internet access, or expensive cell networks affect fundamental reliability
SMS, e-mail, and voicemail are all separated out as much as possible. “I should not have to visit three different places on my phone every few minutes to see what is happening.”
Widgets are the only add-on path for the iPhone. “I can only hope that changes.”
Needs a keyboard. Touchscreen keyboard is nice and all, but not good for extended use and takes up much of the screen.
Nits:Desperately needs to be tested for ruggedness (is that a hint for me, Tog?)
SMS should include an interpreter to expand upon common abbreviations
Camera should be higher resolution
Facial recognition “would be a plus”
iPod interface potentially confusing, much more complex than phone interface
Safari browser on iPhone may and may not be forgiving to web pages that are not totally strict on HTML. Forgiving will be much better in the long run than not.
Maps on the iPhone should just “know” where you are and tell you how far, distance and time-wise, you are from appointments that are on your calendar
He did, however, comment on how much of an improvement on current cell phones this phone from Apple really is, saying “Traditional cell phones are dull, limited, and at end-of-life. iPhone is glorious, and it is only the beginning.”
Yes, if we can learn one thing from our technologically and cell-phonically advanced neighbours in Japan, it’s that cell phone innovation has to start somewhere, but where it leads to with competition, is limited only by imagination.
Apple’s iPhone may be the only king of touch-screen phones in North America, but the Japanese have had country-wide 3G service for a while now, touch-screens are nothing!
In this article from Joystiq, it explains that the phone - called the D800iDS - has dual screens that resemble the Nintendo DS, and no keys.
Its’ features include a PictoChat-like utility, enabling users to scrawl messages to eachother, and focus mainly on games and fun.
While North America anticipates the arrival of its’ first innovative cell phone in… forever, Japan quietly puts out highly superior products on a regular basis. Will this phone ever be available in the United States or Canada? Most likely not.
Some excellent close up shots here, probably one of the best iPhone videos there is right now.
If this product is in fact real, it’s a heaven send for all you embarrassed Microsoft Zune owners.
STOP asking yourself, “Why did I ever buy this thing,” and START making people think you’re hip and trendy once again!
[via fscklog]
In a recent interview, New York Times reporter John Markoff sat down with Steve Jobs and pointedly asked a few probing questions regarding what the iPhone can, and can’t do.
The following is a transcript of one of Markoff’s questions:
Markoff: “And what are you thinking about Flash and Java?”
Jobs: “Java’s not worth building in. Nobody uses Java anymore. It’s this big heavyweight ball and chain.”
Markoff: “Flash?”
Jobs: “Well, you might see that.”
Markoff: “What about YouTube–”
Jobs: “Yeah, YouTube—of course. But you don’t need to have Flash to show YouTube. All you need to do is deal with YouTube.”
So, Steve Jobs, you “don’t need to have Flash to show YouTube” do you?
The help section off the YouTube homepage has this to say:
The video won’t play—what’s wrong?
All of the videos on YouTube are streamed through a Flash player, so you need to have the latest version of Macromedia Flash installed on your computer. To download it, please visit Adobe.
In other words, if Apple does plan on giving full support to YouTube, then we can expect they will give full support to having a Flash player on the upcoming iPhone.
