“There are a couple glaring mysteries surrounding Apple’s new iPhone, announced this week at Macworld — the name and the Internet connection speed,” Robert X. Cringley writes for PBS.
“If you’ve been in a coma the last several days, you may not have heard about Apple’s iPhone, which is a combination mobile phone, iPod, and Internet access device,” Cringley writes. “The iPhone is cool; the iPhone is neat; the iPhone is weird in a couple of ways. You know it isn’t even close to being the most expensive mobile phone on the market, for all the grousing I’ve read about the price. My Nokia N.93, which was technically not available yet in the U.S. until recently, but could be freely found in the United States of eBay, costs substantially more at around $800.”
“What’s weird about the iPhone is, first, its name, since iPhone is a registered trademark of Cisco Systems,” Cringley writes. “What makes these trademark shenanigans all the more peculiar is that at the same MacWorld show this week Apple introduced another product called Apple TV, which it first demonstrated last year under the name iTV… If an iTV can become an Apple TV, why can’t an iPhone become an Apple Phone? I think it will.”
“So why did Apple start this fight in the first place? Publicity,” Cringley writes. “…Apple secrecy creates free publicity. And so does this iPhone naming fiasco. Apple already has a fallback position created by the iTV-to-Apple TV transformation, so I’m guessing that sometime soon Apple will either pay Cisco a LOT of money for the name or Apple’s iPhone will be transformed into the Apple Phone. Either way, every mobile phone user on Earth will have heard that Apple is now in the mobile phone business. Very clever.”
“This leaves us with the mystery of why Apple deliberately hobbled the cellular Internet capability of its iPhone,” Cringley writes. “The iPhone is this amazing connectivity quad-mode device that can probably make use of as much bandwidth as it can get, so making it suck through the little straw that is EDGE makes no sense from a user perspective… Cingular has a 3G network called BroadbandConnect or “MediaNet” if you buy Cingular’s associated Cingular Video service. And there’s the problem — Cingular Video, which is based on RealVideo, NOT QuickTime or H.264. Apple wants the iPhone to get its content primarily through iTunes, ideally by syncing with a Mac or Windows PC.”
“Cingular wants an iPhone exclusive and is probably paying Apple money for that privilege. Apple doesn’t want Cingular Video… I’m sure discussions are taking place right now with Cingular where Apple is arguing that the carrier should make its video service iTunes-compatible,” Cringley writes. “The media and the market’s ecstatic response to the iPhone will put strong pressure on Cingular, which has what is apparently a multiyear exclusive with Apple. If Cingular gives in, as I’m sure it will, the iPhones will suddenly become faster and have more features.”
Tons more in the full article here.
[Thanks to MacDailyNews Reader “LinuxGuy and Mac Prodigal Son” for the heads up.]
A lot can change between now and June when iPhone, or whatever it’s called, ships.
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Unsquirted: LOL ….er…SqUiRt!
Will y’all please stop referring to Robert X. Cringley as if there was an actual person named Robert X. Cringley?
Real content streams better than QuickTime- way better. It also looks better at a given bit-rate. I have great cable broadband and an p to date Mac, so don’t go down that path.
PC Apologist?
There IS a a responsible completion date, it’s Q4 ’07 and there IS a feature set, it’s posted over at http://www.apple.com/iphone/
Also, and as the device has been publically demo’d, we know it’s feasible. Where you’re obviously confused, is that a RUMOR SITE is claiming that the “feature set” and such are subject to change, not the manufacturer of said device.
I suggest reading the fine print at the bottom of Apple’s page;
“This device has not been authorized as required by the rules of the Federal Communications Commission. This device is not, and may not be, offered for sale or lease, or sold or leased, until authorization is obtained.”
Seems to me, the hold up is with FCC certifications, and not the phone.
Cringley, whoever he really is, actually makes sense for once. Must be back on the meds.
Microsoft’s ZUNE Phone
From what I read, Cisco Systems owns the iPhone trademark in the U.S., Apple owns the worldwide trademark. By Apple announcing a product, that puts Cisco notice.
Apple meanwhile will change the name to Apple Phone and leave Cisco holding the bag.
Moral of the story,
Don’t screw with Steve!
To PC Apologist:
Re: What Bob said.
Ditto.
(Thanks, Bob. Well said.)
effwerd,
“I’d like to be able to transfer/stream web pages, PDFs, and other reading material to the tablet and then sit on the couch or at the dinner table and read.”
As if there haven’t been enough rumors around lately, I’ve heard a rumor that flexible displays are going to be attainable in the next couple of years or so. Imagine your scenario but with a flexible display… Like in the movie Minority Report, or Mission to Mars.
“Apple Phone” makes more sense than “iPhone” at this point. Looks like new Apple products will loose the “i”. And for that, I am glad.
This way, billions of companies out there can’t copy the “Apple” like they did the “i”.
posts of PC Apologist once again confirm why PC users are still willing to pay Microsoft to run Windows on their PC.
Tardiness.
PC Apologist, either you are stupid, can’t read english, have literacy problems or daft. Your choice.
Opps, sorry. You evidently are incapable of make an informed choice: you use Windows.
product development is in too early a stage to support responsible statements about its completion date
Buddy, have you watched Steve Jobs keynote and the demo of some of the iPhone *main* features? The product was then given to journalist to play with after the keynote. David Pogue had it for an hour and did a preview of it (since it will still have month to complete development and capabilities).
Completion dates? Jobs gave the full delivery road map. Where you in a coma, had your hed up Bill Gates’ ass and only heard intestine noises or what?
Can anyone be more of a lobster these days than Windows users?
Get back in line for your Vista box. Oh, there’s no line at all.
Apple Phone works for me…in fact, I’m f-ing sick of the “i” in front of everything, everywhere.
Apple Phone…I’m starting to fall in love with it…
Apple rolls out this “thing” and says that they have revolutionized the mobile phone market? Ha. Until they start to INNOVATE, I won’t be impressed. Hell, it doesn’t even come in brown!
efftee,
Tingle? I think we are beyond that!
“May 2, 2002 London
Rats controled by implant at range of up to 500 yards have been announced today.
The remote-controlled “roborats” can be made to run, climb, jump or turn left and right through electrical probes, the width of a hair, implanted in their brains.
One of the electrodes stimulates the “feelgood” center of the rat’s brain, to reward proper actions with a “feel good” impulse. Two other electrodes activate the cerebral regions which process signals for mind control. In training, a shot of euphoria rewarded the rats for responding correctly, but after that they turned on cue without any need for reward.”
Now imagine the touch screen interface with the feelgood centre and text messaging will seem so last century.
Why not call it AppliPhone…inferring Apple, iPhone, and applications?
I’ve heard a rumor that flexible displays are going to be attainable in the next couple of years or so. Imagine your scenario but with a flexible display… Like in the movie Minority Report, or Mission to Mars.
Oh, I have, Mr. Peabody. And I can’t wait. Flexible displays would be great for reading. I’d still want a tablet for art, though.
While I think that Apple could prove that Cisco — including the companies it bought out — abandoned the trademark by not defending it over many years, Apple needs to quickly establish the trademark it will actually market. If Cisco does not utterly cave in — no payments, no access, nothing — then Apple should trademark its iPod cell phone as the “Apple Phone”, as Cringely and others suggest. This will leave Cisco with worse than nothing. The “iPhone” trademark will have been sullied by their shyster submarine lawsuit against Apple and make Cisco a laughing stock. And Cisco will fail in their main goal to get Apple to give them more access into the consumer networking infrastructure that Apple is building. SJ can flip them the bird and tell them that if Apple needs to work with a networking company, it won’t be Cisco. Screw Cisco.
As others have noticed, the name “Apple Phone” is very consistent with the “Apple TV” name. And the halo effect might well be magnified by this naming convention.
This suit is all about VoIP and breaking Cingular’s network restriction.
Something tells me that it IS going to be quite important to keep the iPhone name for this product.
Bob, Truth Decay et al –
*MDN* and its readers frequently refer to non-Apple devices (esp. competitors to ipod) as Vaporware when they are announced well in advance of their projected release date, and the feature sets are fluid. *MDN* has repeatedly since Tuesday referred to the iPhone’s feature set as likely to change significantly before its projected release.
The FCC process and the trademark battle could make great excuses not to ship it when he said. But an Apple ship-slip isn’t nearly as horrible as a Microsoft ship-slip, now IS it?
I’m give some through of late to upgrading my copy of QT 7 to QT Pro and it struck me funning that QT Pro currently offers the option of creating G3 Files for Mobile Viewing (i.e., phones as in iPhones). If G3 function is offered by OT Pro – just how long is it going to be before it’s exported to the new phone?
I’m thinking that Steve Jobs has a whole lot more up his collective “computer” sleeve that he currently letting on!
The new iPhone I’m thinking that what we saw this week is only a shallow to what is in store fore all of us in June when the “real” iPhone or should call it a apple (icon) phone shows up!
Here hoping!
By the way the line that caught my eye read…
Create 3G Files for Mobile Viewing
Output 3G files for RTSP streaming? With QuickTime 7 Pro, they’re fully interoperable with other 3G streaming handsets and delivery architectures.
I find it extremely unlikely that they haven’t thought of much greater use for it than just a cellphone display, and the thought of such an interface on a full-blown desktop display boggles the mind. Also, can anyone say, “Mac Tablet”?
I don’t so much want a full blown Mac in a tablet computer more than I want a tablet to expand my existing Mac, especially if that means a price more like the iPhone than the iMac. I’d like to be able to transfer/stream web pages, PDFs, and other reading material to the tablet and then sit on the couch or at the dinner table and read. I’d like to be able to transfer art files to the tablet and then work on it, using a stylus (which it can recognize as such), my fingers of the other hand, and Painter. Corel and Wacom should really look into how this tech can enhance Painter’s already fantastic naturalistic feel, that is if they haven’t already. Given the iPhone, I wouldn’t mind if the tablet could be used for answering my home phone, too.
I know there have been lots of rumours about Apple buying Nintendo, but what if they were looking at another Japanese company, like Wacom for instance. They are pretty small and probably wouldn’t cost Apple much, plus they supply all the magnetic touch screens for our friend Bill’s Tablet PC’s. I’d love to see a Tablet computer that was actually useful (thin, light, good user interface). Anyway I’ll be the first in the queue to buy the new Apple iphone or whatever it is going to be called, it looks so cool!