Apple hails iPhone breakthrough

[raphael2040]

Take a looky!


"Apple has launched its long-awaited iPhone, promising to revolutionise the mobile phone market.

The device, a combined widescreen iPod, mobile phone and internet communicator, is just 11.6mm wide, with a touch screen and no button.

It will allow users to play music from iTunes and take photos. "


http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/technology/6246063.stm

[kellamne]

Looks quite cool (Shame BBC didnt show any decent photos - had to go google'ing).
Defo a challenge the SEricsson Walkman Market - but I think Ill be sticking with my K800 and see what SE have to offer up next.

[Favu]

It does sound pretty good.

I'm not really a phan of the mobile fone phenomanon though, I prefer something that I can call people with, rather than a videoringtonejukeboxswissarmyknifepocketcomputerwi thlaserbeams. Just MO though

[kellamne]

Wait until you have to commute to work in treacle style traffic - listening to mind numbing radio.
Then the mobile with MP3 really comes into its own.

Bought the 1GB memory and FM transmitter for the k800 - and its a god send - especially as the pool van only has a tape player (not used tapes for years).

(Also helps to have hand free and contract with lots of minutes to waste - I mean consructively use - on random phne calls)

[Favu]

I think I would prefer a dedicated mp3 player but thats just me

[danrok]

Jobs says. "Today Apple is going to reinvent the phone, and here it is."

A bit of an exageration!

[danrok]

Here you go, Apple fan boys wet your pants now...
http://www.theinquirer.net/default.aspx?article=36824

$499 and $599 doolars and almost a year before they're available in Europe - that's a lot of wet underwear.

[aghastpumpkin]

To be honest, I'm not fussed by this. Yeah its stylish and slick. But it's nothing nobody was expecting and nothing that extraordinary.
Quite how on earth a device you use to text and make phone calls an be as great as they make out bemuses me.

For me there are some glaringly obvious problems with this device.

1. It's looks are nice, but unlike the MP3 player market where the iPod was just completely refreshing, for me this is not the case. We already have stunningly good looking phones and I don't think this is any better.
2. Camera. 2 Megapixels is pretty rubbish to be honest, considering Sony Ericsson phones are shipping with what, 3/4 mega pixel cameras now? I just don't think thats good enough for the price.
3. Screen. It's impressive. But for me having such a large exposed screen on a mobile phone device is bad design. It's already bad enough when you have the smaller LCDs on Samsung mobiles. I just don't think it's wise to have a massive touch screen right on the front. This is a mobile phone, unlike MP3 players phones tend to get chucked around a lot more. Imagine what would happen if you put it down in the pub upside down and it went in a puddle of beer....on other phones this wouldn't be a problem but with such a big touchscreen (and touchscreens are fairly flimsy tbh) you would be in trouble!

4. Size. Look at it in the hand on the iPhone website. This thing is huge! It will be just like the blackberry when you make a call, you'll look ridiculous! Would you hold a PDA up to your ears? And imagine your standing there on the train holding this lump and trying to text... Talk about advertising yourself to thieves. It's hardly an item you can fold up inside your palm and hide, or slip easily into a trouser pocket.

5. No keypad? I think this is silly. I just don't think this is a wise idea. And how on earth do you text? By tapping the screen? I'm not convinced.

So yes, it's flashy, it a touchscreen and can play music and take (probably rubbish) pictures. It's too big, does too many things that other dedicated devices will always do better, and is about as revolutionary as a spade. If this thing is a success, it will only be because of the iPod.

[fantomfreq]

Somebody didn't watch the keynote......

Seriously, before you bash the device go watch the video.

[danrok]

Bear in mind that the so called keynote, is a commercial advertisement for a product produced by those who will make a profit from this device.

The spin starts here...

It does look like it has a nice interface. But, for me it would be a nice interface to something I don't really need in the first place.

[Favu]

Hmm, at first I didn't think it was such a good idea either, but after thinking about it I must admit it makes sense -

it is smaller than a combined mp3 player, pda, and camera and telephone, and it seems to do all of these tasks adequatly, so long as the battery lasts for a decent amount of time and it is as easy to use as Jobs says, I think it will be a huge success.

[aghastpumpkin]

Originally Posted by fantomfreq

Somebody didn't watch the keynote......

Seriously, before you bash the device go watch the video.

I've just watched the video, and it doesn't tell me anything I didn't already know. I didn't watch the video at first, I read everything on the iPhone website. Thank you!
My post still stands as fair enough observations.
1. It's too big for me. I also don't know anyone who'd want something the size of a PDA as a phone. It is thin, but just still too big.
2. It's looks are nothing revolutionary. So I don't think this will sell it.
3. A 2 Mega pixel camera is below par, especially for that price range.
4. The impressive screen is likely to be susceptible to damage. Would you take this thing to a football match over the park? Or down the pub? Or on a night out?

So quite why you posted that at me, I don't know.

[Aedan]

Originally Posted by aghastpumpkin

Imagine what would happen if you put it down in the pub upside down and it went in a puddle of beer....on other phones this wouldn't be a problem but with such a big touchscreen (and touchscreens are fairly flimsy tbh) you would be in trouble!

Why are touchscreen fairly flimsy? They happily suvive the rigors of shop floor use, where shop assistants are not known for being gentle. Touchscreens can happily handle wet environment and are often used when other input devices won't survive - it's not hard to seal a touchscreen, but is hard to seal buttons.

I fail to see why anyone would bother with a 4MP sensor on a phone, as phones are too much of a compromise to make use of any halfway decent sensor. All phone cameras I know of suffer from too much noise, poor light performance, and limiting optics. All you end up doing is having 4million pixels of low quality image rather than 2million pixels.

[aghastpumpkin]

What with all the nano problems, I thought I'd express concerns at how such a big screen would stand up to daily rigour. I am not convinced it's the best idea, tis all!

[danrok]

Originally Posted by Áedán

I fail to see why anyone would bother with a 4MP sensor on a phone, as phones are too much of a compromise to make use of any halfway decent sensor. All phone cameras I know of suffer from too much noise, poor light performance, and limiting optics. All you end up doing is having 4million pixels of low quality image rather than 2million pixels.

I agree. It's the old numbers game where consumers are mislead in to thinking a higher number gives you something better.

I think 4MP gives you an image about 2000 pixels wide, which is more than enough for most purposes. In fact, for most purposes (screen viewing) the image would need to be resized to 1024 wide or less.

[captinhector]

This will be like the iPod in the end, it will just continue to get smaller and smaller. I have a 4th gen iPod, and you can easily stick 2 nano's side by side in mine and still have room. I think this will be incredibly useful in the business environment, you can call with just a touch of the screen, have a actual keyboard, can play videos and take pictures. I think this will kick the blueberry's ass all over the place... but, its just speculation right now.

[danrok]

I see no logic in a smaller version. The whole point is that the screen needs to be of good size in order to be able to view videos and web content.

Possibly in time, it will be possible to have some kind of "roll-out" flexible LCD. That could allow for a smaller size.

[Daniel ~]

I'll let you know when I think I need this. Let me know when you realize you can do without it.":O}

[Aedan]

Apple's phone has no UMTS support, and no MMS support. Given those two, I think it would be a brave operator in Europe that picked Apple's phone up - what additional revenue streams does it provide that would help an operator make profit from their network?

[MONKEYMAN]

Originally Posted by Áedán

Apple's phone has no UMTS support, and no MMS support.

The lack of MMS support is gonna cause a lot of consumers to look elsewhere, it might be an old standard but still the most popular.