“Clearly all the signs are pointing to an early January launch of an iPod/wireless phone hybrid the next time Apple (AAPL) CEO Steve Jobs takes the stage for another of his keynote addresses at the Macworld Expo in San Francisco,” Arik Hesseldahl writes for BusinessWeek.
“While there has been a great deal of speculation about whether and when Jobs will unveil this phone, there has been only scattered discussion about what—besides making phone calls and playing music—the phone might actually do,” Hesseldahl writes. “And while today’s generation of mobile-phone devices can certainly do a great deal, they rarely do many of these things well. And here’s where Apple tends to shine: translating inherently complex technical capabilities into a simple design, and creating a pleasant consumer experience around them.”
Hesseldahl writes, “If any company in the world can create an ‘experience’ around sharing photos wirelessly, for example, Apple can. Here’s some other thoughts for things the phone might do, and how it might extend the Apple brand beyond the Mac and the iPod.”
Hesseldahl’s wish list includes:
• Music Downloads
• Sharing Music
• iTunes Ringtones
• Portable iApps
• Photos and Video
• Super Headphones
• Data Storage
• Open to Developers
Hesseldahl writes, “Basically I’m looking for Apple to fulfill all those many unfulfilled promises that the wireless phone manufacturers like Motorola and Nokia , Samsung and Sony Ericsson have failed to deliver. Because if not Apple, then who?”
Full article here.
Related articles:
Apple ‘iPhone’ could cause Nokia, Palm, Motorola, and RIM to really start to sweat – December 07, 2006
Apple shares fall as CIBC sees ‘iPhone’ release delayed – December 07, 2006
Analyst expects 16GB flash-based Apple iPod video player, 4-8GB flash-based ‘iPhone’ models – December 07, 2006
CNET editor Kanellos: ‘Apple iPhone will largely fail’ – December 07, 2006
Prudential: Apple ‘iPhone’ to sport iPod click wheel; video iPod by Q2 – December 06, 2006
RUMOR: Apple’s smart phone project to feature ‘extensive integration with Mac OS X’ – December 05, 2006
Apple begins ‘iPhone’ production – December 05, 2006
Apple needs to think different about data security for ‘iPhone’ – December 05, 2006
Kevin Rose: Dual-battery Apple ‘iPhone’ coming in January; $249 for 4GB, $449 for 8GB – December 03, 2006
Phones are in a state relative to the MP3 player in 2000. I want a phone to connect to my mac (verizon does not support mac) throw some songs on it and take to work.
Frustrating looking for decent phone/MP3 player (given the limits set on the Rckr phone).
This Apple phone really should be a blockbuster, it’s not a guarantee but I think Apple wil not mess this up.
And make coffee…..
The world needs decent video phone capabilities.
#1 on MY list?
How about a decent interface.
Let’s face it, hardware bells and whistles aside, cell phones basically suck. Whoever designs the interfaces must be the demon offspring of the guy who invented VCR programing interfaces.
If anyone can do it, and it’s been proved thus far, NO ONE can, Apple can!
The killer app: combination music player/Pez dispenser
I have a fifteen year old microwave that has a touchscreen and it still works flawlessly.
Don’t say a touchscreen would not work for a phone or video iPod in this modern day.
I want to see a touchscreen device where the screen only shows an iPod when you want an iPod, shows only a phone when you want a phone, and shows PDA
functions only when you want PDA functions.
Sure, some of the features have to integrate, so integrate them seamlessly and transparently.
If I can dream this big, I know Jobs has already dreamed and/or considered it. Add syncing, bluetooth, portable iChat, etc., and you have a revolutionary device.
I think Apple would be crazy to come out with anything that is NOT revolutionary. The’ve got billions in reserve…they don’t want or need another tiny slice of the cellular phone pie. They are just having fun changing the world and will accept nothing less.
If you read to the end of the article, you will see that he also wants a kitchen sink built in.
Seriously, this guy does not understand KISS (Keep I Simple, Stupid!).
KISS is the design philosophy at Apple. Or at least deceptively Simple.
This joker wants the same bloated monstrosity he already has, but with an Aplle logo.
If Apple churns out what is basically an iPod nano strapped to a cell phone it will go nowhere.
On the other hand, if Apple becomes the first company to put together a usable cell phone advanced feature interface–one where, like the above said, you don’t feel like you’re programming a VCR–where the iPod is the draw in rather than the beginning and end of product then they will have a hit on their hands.
Either way, I’m probably not getting one. I need to bring a phone into courthouses that don’t allow camera phones, so I’m stuck getting whatever the cheapest piece of crap the carrier is offering because the better phones all have cameras.
I don’t know, I’m beginning to have my doubts about all of this. Somehow I get the feeling that Jobs will try to sell it as an iPod that “just happens” to do phone calls too; like he did with video. That, in my opinion, would be a disaster. If Apple is going to get into the phone business they better come into it gunning for blood, not this tippy-toe approach they have made with other new products they have released. Xserve and iWork come to mind. Both have obvious potential but Apple is not aggresively pursuing those markets.
If all Apple gives us is a Nano that makes phone calls it will be panned and ridiculed. I mean, what if all they have is that? Or that their first stab at it is so basic? With all this hype surrounding an Apple branded phone, it could be a real let down.
I don’t know, I hate to be a poo pooer, especially with something that doesn’t even exist yet, but an iPhone needs to be a phone with iPod functionality, not an iPod with phone functionality.
Phones are just too important to people. You can live without your iPod but you take that phone with you everywhere.
I’d like a phone that is a PHONE! Not some awful phone/camera/mp3 player. I want a phone, that works as a phone, and works very well as a phone.
Honestly, why on earth have phone manufacturers got this obsession with cramming everything that lands on the design desk into a phone. It’s madness. Camera? I got an IXUS, which does the job Very well. mp3 player? I got an iPod, which does the job very well.
I want a phone that does exactly what it needs to do so I can make phone calls and send text messages. Effortless syncing with my Mac, and nothing else.
Memo to Steve & Jonathan: KEEP IT SIMPLE!!!!!!
Meanwhile, MS R & D is busy at work on a ZunePhone with a built-in bidet/hi-res camera. Images will be automatically squirted to Flickr.
Welcome to the minty fresh social.
Following the scatological marketing of the Zune, I heard the next edition will sport a fiber optic proctoscope to go after the over 50 crowd.
Jim
Here is a no frills “phone-only” mobile.
the treo 650 is a good phone to start with. then add the following:
1. Palm OS simplicity
2. 2MP camera with flash
3. auto sync of pictures and video from phone onto mac
4. usual ipod capabilities
5. half the thickness of the treo
6. edgeless ipod design
My Request:
The ability for a Pizza Parlor to fax me a Pizza directly to my iPhone.
The thin size (like a slim panty liner) of the iPhone makes it easy to slide down in the front of your pants and enjoy the vibrator feature, although it can me embarrassing pulling it out to quickly answer a call in a crowd.
I believe the iPhone will turn out to be exactly what Microsoft was trying to create and accomplish with the Zune. In fact, I would have been more impressed with Microsoft had they unveiled a music-capable phone rather than the iPod-wannabe they foisted on the consumer.
That iPhone will raise the bar, I have no doubt and the cell phone-buying public will be grateful as the current crop of cell manufacturers begin adopting Apple’s style and methods.
This whole phone quagmire has been screaming for a technology leader and come January, Apple will show them the way.
I suspect that what will set iPhone apart from the latest crop of handhelds will not only be the feature-set Apple has implemented but what it has left out. Instead of trying to be the Swiss Army knife of handhelds with dead-end features that feel bolted on, iPhone will do “one” thing and do it well; communicate.
A real plus for Mac users will be iPhone’s connectivity with the iLife and iWork suites, which will be retooled to work seamlessly with the iPhone using 3G standards. The Mac community will be flooded with ring-tones and voice-related creations developed within GarageBand and iTunes. Apple will create the means for niche players to create and sell all manner of audio recordings.
An epiphany will be realized by those who are witness to professional-level, cinema-quality presentations developed with Keynote and delivered, and remotely controlled with an iPhone. Who knows, perhaps iTV and iPhone will work seamlessly together.
Yes, once again Apple lead the way with iPhone in the same manner it did with music players but it won’t be exclusive to the Mac platform, eventually Windows sufferers will enjoy the benefits of iPhone but the experience won’t be as rich and satisfying as it is for us Mac users. They’ll have the same phone but they won’t be as capable as their Mac friends.
“. . . embarrassing pulling it out to quickly answer a call in a crowd.”
Thats’ why I’ve been learning to throw my voice two feet south of my mouth. It’s a great icebreaker at parties. Best line so far is, “Help! I can’t breathe. Let me out!” This is also available as a ringtone while you’re in training.
In the movie “What the Bleep”, Marlee Matlin (deaf) used her cell phone to communicate with her (hearing) boss. I would love to see Apple actually create a phone that could reliably do that. It would be a great piece of technology for the hearing impaired.
BTW: Marlee Matlin once did a television commercial for Apple. You can see it here:
http://www.uriahcarpenter.info/marlee-matlin.html
MW: Until — We have to wait until next year to get our hands on the new Apple toys.
Check out the Nokia 6682. As close to perfect as it gets. (I have a drawer full of other unlocked Blackberries, Treos, RAZRS, etc…)
Paste an Apple form factor on this phone and they will sell a gazillion of them.
I wouldn’t hold my breath on ‘super headphones’ cos no manufacturer till today has ever equipped their product with an earphone/headphone that’s anywhere near great (so forget super).
According to my IT department, if I got an iPhone it would have to run Windows Mobile 5. I wonder if Parallels is working on a mobile version….
Ever notice this?
If you say phone over and over and over again a whole bunch of times it begins to sound, oh, I donno, kinda phoney!
ha-ha, now that right there is funny I don’t care who you are.
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