Update: All your base are belong to iPhone
We're this close to making out with a photo of the iPhone.
(Credit: Declan McCullagh/CNET News.com)With the iPhone, Apple just may have an everything-killer on its hands. Is it the ultimate gadget? If so, is it worth $600 for eight gigs of its magicks? Or $500 for four gigs? Them's PS3 prices!
Granted, we haven't even laid a finger on the thing yet, let alone reviewed it. That said, Apple seems to have killed several birds with one stone by addressing some of the iPod's shortcomings while creating a buzz-inducing all-in-one supergadget that everyone will want. And here is why.
- It's the first widescreen/touchscreen video iPod, which is good for a few million sales right there.
- The iPhone features integrated Wi-Fi capabilities, which means we may finally have a Wi-FiPod on our hands. iTunes can become fully mobile, allowing downloaders to purchase and listen to new songs on the go. A computer may no longer be needed as a middle man to manage your tunes. (Note: According to Kent German's iPhone First Take, it's still unclear whether the iPhone will allow users to download music directly from iTunes. And if not, that would be a shame.)
- The iPhone runs Mac OS X, and Steve Jobs made references to the phone being able to run full versions of Mac software, not just mobile apps.
- It borrows a fun idea from the Nintendo Wii: built-in motion sensors, which automatically adjust the iPhone's screen orientation and energy output.
- It borrows fun ideas from Microsoft and Sony: Origami and the ultramobile PC. It also makes both concepts infinitely cooler and less clunky...so far, at least.
- This thing is downright purdy.
- It boasts a built-in 2-megapixel camera, which equals some of the best camera phones on the market today. Sony Ericsson's 3.2-megapixel K790a phone still rules the roost on the camera-phone front.
- And we haven't even gotten to the part where it's a phone. The "Visual Voicemail" and call-management features look innovatively simple thanks to the nifty touchscreen UI. Add the iPhone's quad-band world phone capabilities and Apple's undying cool factor, and the iPhone becomes a mighty appealing buy for anyone needing a new phone, a new music player, a mobile productivity tool, a cool new toy, or all of the above.
Again, we haven't even held the iPhone yet, let alone played with OS X on the iPhone. That alone almost makes it unfair to compare it to other smart phones on the market. But on paper, the iPhone out-specs some of today's trendiest, slimmest, and top-rated smart phones.
Price
Carrier
OS
Wireless
Cellular enhancement protocol
Depth
Weight
Screen size
Resolution
Camera
Apple iPhone
$599 for 8GB with two-year contract; $499 for 4GB Cingular
Mac OS X
Wi-Fi (802.11b/g), Bluetooth 2.0
GSM, EDGE 0.46 inches
4.8 oz.
3.5 inch diagonal
320 x 480
2-megapixel
Samsung BlackJack
$200 with two-year contract
Cingular
Windows Mobile 5.0
Bluetooth 2.0 GSM, EDGE, GPRS, UMTS 0.5 inches
3.5 oz.
2.25 inch diagonal
240 x 320
1.3 megapixel
Motorola Q
$200 with two-year contract
Verizon
Windows Mobile 5.0
EV-DO, Bluetooth 1.2, IrDA
CDMA
0.47 inches
4.1 oz.
2.5 inch diagonal
320 x 240
1.3 megapixel
T-Mobile Dash
$200 with two-year contract
T-Mobile
Windows Mobile 5.0
Wi-Fi (802.11b/g), Bluetooth 2.0, IrDA 1.2
GSM, EDGE, GPRS
0.5 in.
4.2 oz
2.5 inch diagonal
320 x 240
1.3 megapixel
Cingular 8525
$400 with two-year contract
Cingular
Windows Mobile 5.0
Wi-Fi (802.11b/g), Bluetooth 2.0, IrDA
GSM, EDGE, GPRS, UMTS
0.9 in.
6.2 oz
2.8 inch diagonal
240 x 320
1.9 megapixel
Sony Ericsson P990i
$849 to $1,099
Unlocked
Symbian OS 9.1
Wi-Fi (802.11b/g), Bluetooth, IrDA
GSM, GPRS, UMTS
1 in.
5.3 oz.
2.5 inch diagonal
240 x 320
2 megapixel
Additional resources:
The only thing that was ever appealing about the Ipods were their design & software simplicity. When they start losing the simplicity, THEN they are on equal playing ground with other MP3 players/Smartphone manufacturers and they are way behind. AND no one wants to be locked in to the Itunes and Mac OS for the rest of their life, and especially in a smartphone arena. I doubt this will be much more than a "gadget" until the 3rd gen or so when Ipod doesn't lock you into their OS and Itunes, bugs are worked out, PC sync issues are solid, 3rd party software is plentiful, etc...
I just added the basic specs for the Cingular 8525 and the unlocked Sony Ericsson P990i to the chart. I didn't add them at first because they are slightly fatter phones and just wanted to put the basic iPhone specs up against similar skinny smart phones. They do have similar feature sets, so I added them to the mix.
Also, the reason the chart is so basic is because we haven't done any hands-on testing of the iPhone yet. As such, it's hard to say whether the vendor's claims for battery life, call quality, etc. are accurate in real-life use.
Also important: It's unclear whether the iPhone will allow users to download directly from iTunes over Wi-Fi. But the pieces are there, and it would sure be nice if that's the case...
that any better. NO. Apple is just opening the eyes of every PC user, one at a
time, and showing them what great products are...not just what they look like.
Apple doesn't lock you into anything! Even if they did, I'd prefer it to the
Windows alternative.
5 hours for video/talk/browsing
16 for audio.
Doesnt that say it all? If you wanna use it as an IPod, well go ahead, u will get a 16 hour WideScreen, Touch Sensitive, Ipod. Did I mention it basically has IPhoto in it, WITH a camera? Oh Yeah, and Apple Mail, Safari, widgets.
OH wait, I didn't mention the PHONE.
Also, we have until June. who knows what else they will announce.
We've been watching DMB video (satellite-fed and/or antenna-fed TV) on our phones for about 6 months now. There are over 20 channels, and you can watch pretty much anywhere in the country.
One of the things I'd like to mention is that whenever new phones that promise to be new and innovative come out, they end up totally missing the boat on those little everyday phone features we take for granted. For example, ring loudness and vibration strength. It sounds stupid, but it's true -- many new phones miss the boat on this.
There are other issues, as well.
And don't feel excited that this phone is so thin. We've got phones here that are barely a quarter inch thick (closer to 1/8th of an inch). Slim phones are not my preference, however, because they are easily dropped.
This begs the question: How easy will it be to get service on these phones? I have a feeling it won't be quick and easy.
By the way, does anyone know if this device will actually have a removable battery?
Will the iPhone support UMTS as well?
The iPhone will not support UMTS, according to Apple's official specs page:
http://www.apple.com/iphone/technology/specs.html
The phoen reminds me of the first PDA phones on Sprint etc back when they had "everything" in the phones for online but could only dial up at 15kb per second thus making them paperweights.
What a terrible decision making an otherwise other-wordly device completely useless to me.
Looks like my Q will be hanging around for a while.
the 2 year deal DOES NOT INCLUDE THE UNLIMITED EDGE NETWORK, THAT
COSTS AN ADDITIONAL $49.95 PER MONTH! IT'S $15 WITH T-MOBILE AND $19
WITH VERIZON.
- $600 & 2 Yr Contract! No way!
- by ryork272 January 11, 2007 8:07 AM PST
- Come on Apple. $600 AND one must commit to a 2 year contract?!*&! Not to mention it only holds 8Gb of multimedia. Lets put it into perspective: Most of us think the PS3 is over priced at $600 but at least it plays real games and has BlueRay DVD included. No question the iPhone looks cool, but in the end its just another multi-media cell phone with limited capacity and an extremely high price tag. If it were $300 I'd be jumping up and down.
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