The Guardian’s Charles Arthur offers up a handy “guide to knowing what Apple’s going to release next” and explains what to “expect in iPhone 2.0.”
• A three-megapixel camera
• Video
• WiMax (only about a 5% chance of this)
• 3G
• Better Bluetooth profiles
• Voice and speed dialing
As for “what won’t be there,’ Arthur writes:
• SMS forwarding. Americans don’t understand SMS, and aren’t about to start now.
• GPS. Expensive, sucks power, imprecise, and isn’t standard on the vast majority of phones, so Apple isn’t losing by not using it.
• a cheap one.
Full article here.
[Thanks to MacDailyNews Reader “The Macolyte” for the heads up.]
I thought “iPhone 2.0” was the new software, while the new hardware would simply be 2G (second generation) iPhone, the way the iPods are described. One generally does not see decimal places in hardware version numbers. Consider the movie version of SPEED RACER with the Mach 4, Mach 5 and Mach 6. Hmmm, I wonder if the Mach 5 has an iPod/iPhone dock?
The S in GPS does not stand for satellite. It stands for System, as in, Global Positioning System, whereby the system employs several satellites to triangulate your location. GPS is accurate to within +/- 3 meters. It takes a minimum of 3 satellites to get a fix. The more satellites employed the more accurate the fix.
What is it with you Europeans? Must you always take shots at Americans, given even just the smallest of chances?
“SMS forwarding. Americans don’t understand SMS, and aren’t about to start now.” Jesus…….do you Euros get paid by the insult or something? Or do you collectively suffer from some sort of envy or other complex?
Pardon me for sounding jingoistic for a moment…..if not for we bad ol’ Americans and our “backwardsness”, you fine folks would either speak mostly German or mostly Russian at this point, and likely not even have iPhones, or GPS, or the 3G that you covet so much, or SMS, or any of that other fun stuff that comes with freedom.
So, on this Memorial Day weekend, how about YOU folks take a few moments, knock off the America-bashing for a bit, and follow me and many others in remembering our little contributions to your way of life?
Let the flaming begin!
@ SaleenDriver – I ended up writing a letter to the Guardian about my thoughts on the piece of article. Hoping it’ll do a bit of good, but doubting it also, considering I indicated that I’m one of those “ignorant” Americans.
“What features will be in – and left out of – the next iPhone”
“The article above, that Mr. Arthur wrote, has a comment that ‘Americans don’t understand SMS, and aren’t about to start now.’ Really though, it is my experience, being an American, that most of us understand SMS messaging, at least on a basic level if not on a level par to Europe. I’d like to know why he can get away with throwing insults at Americans in general. Most of us here have a healthy respect for Europeans, especially the British folk.”
Cheers!
Metryq
That was my understanding as well, I’ve noticed a lot of people use them interchangeably, confused by the (rumored) simultaneous release.
This guy is off his rocker! SMS? Come to any American college campus for a day and see how American youth interacts.
@SaleenDriver
Americans will probably start appreciate SMS just like anybody else around the globe once in a while… Even if their superiority complex and lack of auto-criticism may hold them back.
@almux
While your experience may be that some of us have a “superiority complex”, most of us really don’t. Please don’t assume all Americans are the same and keep the insults to yourself.
I’ll respect you if you give the same respect back.
GPS is imprecise? 3 meters accuracy is imprecise? I live in San Jose and the current iPhone location system often has me miles from where I am. Sometimes it is spot on, but you have to check it against the map data. When at home it locates me two miles west on top of a hill where a cell tower lives whether WiFi on or off. And totally useless in most rural areas. As far as battery drain wouldn’t it make sense to have it turn off like wifi? GPS is needed if indeed it will geolocate pics. In any case I am upgrading the day it comes out.
uhh if theres no gps, whats with all of the references in the iPhone 2.0 code about geotagging and the actual letters GPS?
apple adds things to their products that havent been big in other devices, so i think that GPS in a influential phone like the iPhone would be genius.
btw, there prolly wont a cheap iPhone until 3rd or 4th gen cause they didnt release iPod mini for a while after the iPod.
@ChrisW357
I’m sorry if i’ve hurted some americans who don’t hang to a superiority complex.
Someone should create Bingo cards using iPhone predictions, it would be fun!
So, which predictions are for the new iPhone and which ones are for the original iPhone with the 2.0 software upgrade?
Just a quick note on the current iPhone locater, when I’m in a moving car (even a slow moving car) the circle is much bigger and less accurate. When I’m standing still, I’m in Long Beach CA, it is dead on.
I was in a boat in a Florida swamp a few months ago and the locater nailed my position.
Saleen, you are right on point! Enough already with the America bashing. And as far as Almux goes and his so called “superiority complex” theory, I think it’s quite the opposite: An inferiority complex on the offender’s parts.
Spare us the anti USA crap, just review the damn phone.
Actually, I’m a usanian, and I have no idea what SMS forwarding is. SMS itself is kinda the text messaging thingee, yeah? I don’t use that either.
but aren’t all Americans stupid??
my prediction: GPS included. Out of the box it will provide more accurate location in the Maps application and will offer geo-tagging of photos/videos. Then, Apple will make available on day 1 of the App store opening, a navigation app that will use the GPS, OpenGL, and google maps to basically utterly destroy Garmin and Tom Tom. They will offer a nice little dash mount that holds the iPhone sideways so you can easily use it in the car. Yet another market Apple will barge into and take over.
All it needs is Video Conferencing with ichat, and GPS
If it wasn’t for us Brits the iPhone would look more like a Zune (we all know how awful American designers are).
Without America we’d be speaking German? Last I knew the USA joined the second world war when it was pretty much over.
Maybe we wouldn’t be so anti American if you could stop invading counties for their oil and then pretending it’s to stop terrorism. How on earth is Iraq linked to the Trade Centre tradegy?!
Go blow up Hiroshima…. weapons of mass destruction indeed.
And before you say “yeah but but but it stopped WW2!!!!” Germany had already surrendered when you were busy nuking those Japanese families.
Pricks
but aren’t all Americans stupid??
No, some american folks that hold on to their european heritage are actually quite smart. Recent immigrants too.
And before you say “yeah but but but it stopped WW2!!!!” Germany had already surrendered when you were busy nuking those Japanese families.
America stopped WW2? Who the f**k believes this shit? (I mean, apart from americans).
foljs
sounds like you are picking a fight.
Don’t worry, we know how it will come out….
Ummm isn’t the new iphone rollout gonna be a massively international one? American’s don’t know how to use sms??? What is this guy smoking? And even if they didn’t, the iphone is no longer America exclusive… they will sell like hotcakes everywhere, even in countries that have been using sms for a long time. I think Apple will improve the sms’ing on this new rumoured phone.
outlaw: “And before you say “yeah but but but it stopped WW2!!!!” Germany had already surrendered when you were busy nuking those Japanese families.”
yawn.
is that the best you got?
I’d bring up Pearl Harbor, but.. meh, why bother.
If you’re a Brit, what are you doing talking about the American’s invading anything?