Comments on: A heavy load for the iPhone to bear

It's sleek and it's sexy, but still must contend with issues from price to typing speed and wireless realities.

[aemarques]

Nokia N95: The REAL revolution!

The Nokia N95 (http://www.nokia.com/nseries/index.html?lang=en&country=R1#product,n95) that will be available in February (yes, not June), is EVERYTHING the Apple Phone (I'm not calling it iPhone, because that is a different product, from Linksys) and then some.

It has a true phone keyboard (retractable) which is not as cool but it is MUCH more functional to ACTUALLY MAKE PHONE CALLS, NOT TO LOOK AT THE PHONE.

The camera? A 5 MP model, not a 2 MP like in Apple's toy. And capable of recording video in VGA @ 30 FPS...

Oh, by the way: IT HAS A GPS RECEIVER BUILT IN! Now, that is revolutionary! A true revolution, in terms of functionality, not in terms of being cool!

Oh, yes, and it will cost... around $600, i.e., the same as the Apple Phone...

[Michael Grogan]

Cool

The Nokia can phone home and tell them where you are ;)

[Foggy]

Not an iPhone yet

Just because that arrogant pig Steve Jobs is calling it an iPhone doesn't mean it's an iPhone, maybe it should be referred for now as the phonyiPhone.

[jkda]

Simply Amazing

Its amazing to me that so many people who have absolutely nothing vested in whether or not Apple Inc.'s products succeed or fail have so much to complain about and/or say that is negative. The iPhone (or whatever it will be called once released) will either succeed or fail. If it succeeds, I sure Apple will be happy. If it doesn't, life will no doubt go on for Apple and everyone else. I for one think its great that Apple will be introducing a phone that might very well usher in a new era of cell phones that will be more user friendly - given Jobs' demonstration of the iPhone.

[gianpo]

cnet the apple haters

What a suprise cnet bashing an apple product. Thats sarcasm by the way.

[taoman1]

Apple fanboys have a thin skin

No other comment necessary.

[TeraByteYerBum]

Iphone looks cool, maybe soon will follow....

Im must admit Apple have done a great job with the look of the Iphone. I have a Tytn variant and it also looks great but not quite as good. But as has been pointed out here, it is more of a comsumer object rather than a business one. I presume that Apple will make a business version at some point. Type in www.iWork.com and see where it takes you......

[tedk7]

you haters forget history, ignore reality

Remember when the iPod was announced? The article was
posted to slashdot which concluded simply with the sentence
"Lame."

Yes, you can already "do" everything the iPhone does. Devices
have existed for some time that give all of that functionality. You
haters skip the fact that the iPhone will do it WELL. There was
NOTHING new about the iPod when it came out, yet outstanding
design and execution literally set the music industry on its ear.

If you can't see a parallel here, you're blind.

Oh, and, has it finally happened? Have cnet clue levels finally
dropped beneath even the lowly slashdot? Looks like it from
here.

[expendableman]

Please, somthing other than Cingular!

Why? Why? Why? Why just on Cingular's medicore GSM/struggling for 3G network? Cingular may technically be the largest, but they are also the least competent technically! Verizon and Sprint have great EV-DO 3G networks that don't need Wi-Fi spots everywhere. I'll admit it, I'm a Verizon Customer, and a VERY happy one at that. My phone works everywhere. My Father has Cingular from his work and he hates it. Apple is shorting themselves by not working to get these to other carriers. I think every carrier should be able to sell this phone. Also I don't trust the battery life, other than that what an impressive device!

[Casual_Innovation]

What the iPhone does right

How many people ACTUALLY need a combination PDA/cell phone/MP3 player? Not many. Until the iPhone gets much cheaper and better technical specs, it'll never be widely adopted (certainly not as much as the iPod).

However, the iPhone's user interface and operating system integration is a technological achievement. Hopefully, the mere availability of a product like the iPhone will force other companies to adopt similar UI and OS integration.

While the iPhone might not be a hit, it might very well help influence the design and interface of future personal electronics (MP3 players, cell phones, PDA's).

[chuck_whealton]

I don't think so...

'Ya know? I love Apple, they have great technology, at least in my opinion.

But I don't see this thing making BIG waves in it's current incarnation.

It's very expensive and it's tied to Cingular.

I could get around the expensive part, but not the part where it's tied to Cingular. That's not to put Cingular down, but I'm sorry - I won't let my ultra expensive phone tie me to a carrier.

Charles R. Whealton
Charles Whealton @ pleasedontspam.com

[ZeeZazu]

On hand

Do you have the product on hand and using it? If you were to add
all three that Applephone covers the price is way cheaper. It is not
PS3 or any game console thus comparison too such device is ........
Mac OS will be sold for all computer when 10.5 comes out and
there is moe to come from Apple inc. Oh 3G is in the final product
but 2008.

[bobkuch]

Won't buy iPhone for use with Cingular network

As long the iPhone is only available with Cingular service, I will not
buy it. Cingular's poor service quality is not worth switching
Verizon Wireless even when my current contract expires.

[Clark Michael]

Cingular Network

I am not sure where you are located, but in Los Angeles, Cingular
has been the BEST service I have used... and I have tried almost all
of the services available. My room mate have Verizon and he says it
sucks compared to Cingular.

[yacahuma]

Are you out of your mind???

If that iphone is not the coolest thing I ever seen, I dont know what it is. Did Apple targeted corporate when it lunch the ipod? Of course NOT. Mr Krazit I think you should consider a job tranfer. Maybe to the patent office. The iphone is not about the 499 or 599 or 19.99 a month. It about a revolution in design and architecture. Apple finally is making computers fun again. I consider myself a huge gadget freak. You will not see me with a treo or Motorola Q. But I will save every penny to have one of those iphone. I used to be a windows person. Now I feel dirty every time I have to use one. Microsoft has been feeding us **** for too long. Every year they keep making their OS slower and slower. You need to get a new system just to keep up. But like in the words of that famous man , Jean Luke Picard, "the line must be drawn HERE!!!" I know the iphone will be as good as the ipod and as good as my imac 20". I am glad that there are companies that are willing to push the limits of technology and design. I am glad to be a techie again.

[afriendof77]

Come back to reality

Jean Luke Picard famous man? No character, I believe so when you understand fiction from reality then you can speak again in a public forum. I think you misspelled techie you meant trekkie.

[tigerjuju]

mac ppl need to learn to stay objective

Yes, it is pretty, but what's so "revolution" about a hand-held PDA that plays music/video/photo and makes phone calls? And please share with us where you find service for only $19.99 a month, and what you get at that price? (like 10 minutes of calls a month and no data?)
And what does Microsoft has to do with iphone?

This is a pretty common sickness for Mac users. They seems to loose the ability to be objective on anything come out of Steve Jobs behind...

iPhone is a slick devise that is likely destined to be doomed in the market.

[nzrobstar]

the war between anti and pro Apple

this war is getting out of hand. its ridiculous how people support electronics manufacturers as if they were their college basketball teams, or their favourite soccer club. get a life, people. its just a phone.

[yacahuma]

my life is all about software and hardware

I dont like college football or basketball. As a programmer a great part of my life is all about software and hardware. What companies do, have a big influence on what I do day to day. When a company creates an OS, like OS X or Linux that helps me do my job I will support it. When a company creates a device that may allow my software to run on it.I do care.

I dont think you can say the same thing about a basketball game unless you are a player.

So please go and read some sport site and let us, those who depend on technology, worry about the rest.

[Christopher Hall]

Re: "just a phone"

When you're talking about Apple, nothing is every "just a" anything. It's the second coming of the messiah. Even if it's already been done before.

[feranick]

Genuine questions about the hardware

What is the processor that runs the iPhone? This apparently technical question has indeed lots of implications. Here some:

1. If it runs OSX, it could be that it's using an Intel desktop X86 derivation. I doubt, since these processor are generally power-hungry.

2. An ARM processor, similar to ones used in cellphones and PDAs. This would be quite interesting, because it would be the third platform supported by Apple, after PowerPC and X86 (Intel).

This last point however creates lots of problems, as far as the software is concerned. Flash player plugins are developed by Adobe (not Apple) and included in standard Safari. However they are compiled and optimized for the X86 platform, there is no version for ARM. Same for Java plugin. It's impossible that Apple did their implementation of these pieces of software simply because they are proprietary. So how does the iPhone perform in terms of Flash and Java?

Could it be that these limitations in the processor are the reason to keep the platform closed, so you can't really add desktop OSX optimized software to the iPhone?

These to me are the real questions...

[riordanmr]

It uses a Samsung ARM processor

Good questions. The answer to the processor question can be found on Wikipedia: it's an ARM processor from Samsung:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Iphone

Supposedly Jobs was quoted as saying that it's an unnamed Intel processor. This is partly true, since Intel owns the XScale brand, which is a line of ARM-compatible processors. (A portion of the XScale brand was recently sold to another company, Marvel.)

I, too, really wonder how open the platform will be. I hope that Java development is possible. Not that I'm such a big fan of Java, but Java is a common cell phone app development platform, and this would allow iPhone developers to develop apps that could run on multiple brands of cell phones.

[Christopher Hall]

I'll probably give it a miss

I can't say for sure, and won't be able to say for sure until I get my hands on it, but at this point in time, I would likely not buy an iPhone.

Price isn't an issue, and I like what they're doing with the hardware and its implementation, but one thing keeps coming back to turn me off: fingerprints. I'm positively neurotic about fingerprints in all forms (a personal flaw I admit openly) to the point of obsession. Touchscreens and I aren't exactly on speaking terms, let's just say...

[tigerjuju]

iphone phone will likely sucktoo

smartphone sucked, but iphone will likely suck too, but in a different way.
First of all, Cingular sucked compared to T-Mobile.
Touch screen sucked compare to physical buttons (I can't believe some ppl actually list this as a plus for iphone)
price sucked especially when it will lock you down to the same phone service carrier, and battery suffer slow death after 2 years of use.
Size sucked for ppl prefer an easy to carry cell phone (like me).
Storage size sucked for video, which defeats the purpose of having a larger screen.
Storage option sucked even more since Apple cares more about their own interests then consumers' by not allow external flash cards.

But it does look pretty and it did come from Steve Job's behind, I'll give you that. So if that is all you care about, go for an iphone.

[montex66]

Then Don't Buy One

I bought the first iPod for $400 and 5GB. I thought it was
awesome! I didn't whine to my friends that it didn't have FM
radio, a microphone/recorder or a USB connector. I loved it for
what it was.

Now, 5 years and 4 iPods later, my next purchase will be an
iPhone. It's not going to be perfect in the version 1.0, and it will
get better/cheaper with time. But I'm still going to get one.

**** and moan all you want. Better yet, just don't buy one. I'm
sure you will feel ever so smug when you see me "suffering" with
my iPhone!

[lco]

Apple

Apple is starting to look more and more like microsoft - iPhone
is a close system in the sense that you can't add your own apps
(first time they have done that, hell even the iPod is somewhat
customizable). What value is there to be able to add you own
apps to your phone? It can be done with the Palm Treo and
windows mobile. That freedom to me at least is worth putting up
with a second rate interface. Also .mac is a service that sucks
and they provide virtually no support (unless your willing to ****
all of your free time away trying to get email support).

Do they care about there customers with regard to these items?
- it seems not. Also if you have problems with iTunes, try
getting support for that! if you wait a few weeks, you might get
an email back. Solving the issue from my experience is non-
existent.

Becoming a large company it seems is something that Jobs has
not factored into the equation or does not know how to handle.
Having used macs and preferred macs most of my life, it's
starting to dawn on me that tide is turning.

Computer Hardware - Mac

OS - OS X for now

Phone - Palm Treo

mp3 player - iPod (but thanks Microsoft, you forced Apple to
lower their price)

[kathakalimask]

Lots of Scared Techies!

Ha ha.... these blogs/posts are priceless. Much of the venom
seems to be spouting from the likes of pathetic techies working
for uninnovative, loser companies like Micros**t, Palm, and RIM.

Worried about jobs being in jeopardy (no pun intented)?

Out of the the 89 posts prior to mine, there are 8 or 9 potential
iPhone buyers (give or take) -- i.e., about 9% - 10% of the
potential market from the market segment that posts in places
like CNET. Cingular has 60 million cutomers; another couple of
dozen million non-Cinglar customers will potentially think about
switching to this product, given all the amazing free publicity it's
gettng. Add to it European, Asian, and Latin American
markets....... and suddenly, Job's forecast of 10 million iPhones,
or 1% market share by end of FY2008 looks modest! (That is not
including the further market effects of the 3G, CDMA, GPS-
enabled, 16GB version we'll probably see by Christmas 2007, as
is typical of Apple in these matters).

Here's the clincher: Given how genre-bending this thing is, the
loser tech companies of the world will have to singificantly up
their capex to compete with the technology in this product, thus
dragging down their earnings. Or, they have to license the IP
from Apple! (The market is already beginning to price in those
effects).

Bottom line: More for Jobs et. al, and less for the others!

I am holding my AAPL!!!!!!!! (Next week, I will be writing calls for
an exercise price of 120, tho).

:-)

[thatchman1]

take it

Take the reveal for what it was, stop the speculation that goes more than a step beyond what is known, and patiently wait it out like the rest of us! :) This took quite a battering approach. But then again, the best always are the ones who people want to bash.

[Llib Setag]

Wait until June people...

By June 2007, the FCC will have reviewed & approved the new Apple Phone.

By June 2007 Apple will have released Leopard OSX 10.5 which will now doubt "reveal" a lot of unanswered questions that Apple is not ready to reveal yet.

Ny June 2007, the whole issue of "iPhone" will be resolved & the official name & release will happen with all of the official tech stats, pricing, service plans, etc. worked out.

Until then, it is all just hyperbole & jibber jabber from all of the bloggers & techno-pundits like C|NET, etc.