iPhone - page 478

Good heavens, but a lot can change when you get on one plane. I just arrived in Atlanta (friend’s wedding), hopped online, and the Intertubes have gone mad with credible leaks for the iPhone 2 that is universally expected to be introduced at Monday’s WWDC keynote. None of it is 100 percent confirmed, obviously (lots of commeters are skeptical about the missing lock button on the RED model), but these are much better than typical pre-keynote speculation. Here’s what you need to know:

1. True iChat mobile looks to be a go. CrunchGear obtained what appears to be an AT&T or Apple promotional flier showing off the industrial design and features of the iPhone 2 that spotlights its front-facing camera for video phone calls over 3G networks, and video conferencing with iChat users over WiFi where available.
2. Subtle Changes to Industrial Design. The front of the new iPhone looks virtually identical, but the back has changed, using a matte black back with shiny silver Apple, as well as a (Product) RED model that swaps in a red back to fight AIDS. The tapering evokes the industrial design of the MacBook Air and might offer clues to the look of the rumored new MacBooks, as well. Still no flash on the camera, either.
3. iChat for Windows. To really push video chat on iPhone, it looks like Apple will roll out iChat for Windows. I repeat: iChat for Windows will soon be available.
4. 3G Networking, 5 MP camera, GPS. Engadget reports that a source got a copy of the firmware for the device, which discloses the actual silicon that the iPhone 2 runs on. We’re talking about quad-band GSM with tri-band UMTS, which basically means that the new iPhone can run at blazing speeds in virtually every market in the world (except lots of the United States, of course). The chip powering it is confirmed to be Infineon’s S-GOLD3H, which has support for up to 7.2 Mbps networking, 5 megapixel camera support and mobile TV access. I would still be shocked to see mobile TV, of course. The firmware also includes hooks for GPS connectivity, so that looks likely, too.

Quite a flurry of activity. Only Steve will prove or disprove the accuracy of these reports.

Image via Uberreview
WWDC is nearly upon us. San Francisco’s Moscone West is plastered with Apple logos. Rumors are in the air. Unannounced products are just out of reach. Rather than try to calm the fervor, I’m just going to pour some gas onto the blaze with the help of my friend Zoltar, The Fortune Telling Machine. It’s that time again — Cult of Mac’s Top 5 Unlikely WWDC wishes! Four of them are credible rumors, the other’s a crazy rumor that I started. See if you can tell the difference!

5. New MacBooks
With the rest of Apple’s product line moving to anodized aluminum cases, having MacBooks in retro-iPod white is looking jankier by the day. It’s high time that Apple revamped its low-end laptops to match the hot design of the current generation iMac. And if Apple wanted to throw a real graphics card and a higher-resolution screen into the mix, that would be nice, too.
Likelihood (out of five): Three. The MacBook has gotten a processor boost as recently as February, but this is a sorely needed shot in the arm for the product line, and Apple likely needs a Mac announcement in addition to whatever happens in the iPhone and iPod universe.

Following up on the posts by Leander and Leigh about the various iPhone rumors floating around, I thought I’d add a little perspective from the other side of the pond.

The subsidization rumor isn’t one I’m entirely convinced by (given Apple’s track record), but it is something Brits in general expect when it comes to new phone hardware, which might explain Apple having a change of heart.

When the iPhone finally arrived in the UK, somewhat late, Apple got the market wrong, inflicting an American model on the Brits. In this wee island, we’re not used to paying for hardware when on a monthly contract. Typically, if you’re paying £35 per month, you get a decent phone for free (or very little) and a decent number of minutes and texts; alternatively, you grab a pay-as-you-go card and pay full-whack for your phone.

Apple’s cunning plan was to go for all of the expensive options—a relatively high monthly charge and full-price hardware, along with a frankly insulting number of texts and minutes when compared to other local plans of the same cost. This pretty much explains why the iPhone borderline bombed initially in the UK.

The dreadful sales picked up some when the number of texts and minutes increased, but until Brits see iPhones on sale for £150 or less, they’re not going to go for it in any number, especially if there’s a (minimum) £35 per month contract attached. And the same goes for a lot of other European countries.

It wouldn’t entirely surprise me to see a subsidized iPhone in Europe, but the older system remain in place in the US. Frankly, it’d be about time we got something out of Apple after its many years of having fun with exchange rates and charging way over the odds for its goods in Europe.

Filed under: probably wishful thinking

It’s WWDC time, only this year something is different. Where’s the wild speculation? If patent applications are any evidence, there are many cool things brewing in Apple’s lab —but all is quiet. Where’s the hype that precedes any Stevenote? Oh sure people are talking, but only about one thing: iPhone v.2.0.

Personally, I think this whole 3G iPhone business is a red herring. Sure, it’ll be announced, and people will love it. But the leaks abound so much. I find myself hoping that it’s part of a disinformation campaign; to keep us distracted so we don’t guess to closely at what new cool products Apple might unveil, and that there will be a terrific surprise for all of us at WWDC.

It’s been nearly a year and a half since the “Jesus-Phone” was announced at last year’s Macworld and since then it’s been: all iPhone, all the time, everywhere. I don’t want to seem to hate on the device; the defense will even go so far as to stipulate, your honor, that the iPhone might be best thing that’s ever been invented. But c’mon! Eighteen months after Prometheus descended from the heavens, I’m pretty sure folks were like: “Uh… yeah… fire… great…”

There is definitely more to talk about. There have been some great things come out of Cupertino this year, heck, there is a MacBook Pro that you can literally give the finger to, and it will respond accordingly. Yet it’s relegated to a footnote in technological history.

Now virtually everyone, including those villagers recently discovered in the Amazon, who have had no previous contact with the modern world, knows that the new iPhone 3G is coming out at WWDC this year. Yet, Steve rarely (if ever) uses the “Just one more thing…” part of the Stevenote to unveil a simple product update especially one so obvious (I know that a 3G iPhone, with GPS, and built in margarita machine is probably considered by some to be more than an update).

So what do you think? Other than a iPhone update, what else do you think Steve will unveil in his Stevenote? I know what I’m hoping for, but like the time I got up the nerve to ask out Sarah Andrews in 10th grade, I’m also steeled for disappointment.

UPDATE: RE: the comments below. I Photoshopped the image above for illustrative purposes. It’s not a spy shot. Also, my tipster said the iPhone will be subsidized, but he didn’t specify whether the subsidy will come from Apple, AT&T, overseas carriers, or all of the above. I can only guess that Apple will sell the iPhone 2 at a loss — to customers and carriers — and recoup the cost from monthly subscriber charges.

I just got a hot tip from a programmer at a major software publisher who claims to have seen the specs for the iPhone 2. This is unconfirmed, but according to the tipster, the iPhone 2 will be announced by Steve Jobs at Apple’s WWDC on June 9, and will much offer more for much less — and be thinner to boot. The iPhone 2 will have:

• 3G
• GPS
• 2 x memory (16GB and 32GB)
• 22 percent thinner
• Better battery life

The tipster says Apple will subsidize the iPhone’s price to better compete with RIM’s Blackberry. The London Times is reporting the same thing — that the iPhone will cost about $200 in the UK when it goes on sale in July.

The maestro of mockups Isamu Sanada is at it again. Here’s his fab mockup of the second-generation iPhone. Note the forward-facing camera for videoconferencing.

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Blogger Jon Accarrino of Methodshop reports that lines are already forming in NYC for iPhone 2.0, which is rumored to be launched on June 9 (the first day of Apple’s WWDC and Steve Jobs’ opening speech).

Jon went by Apple’s 5th Avenue store this morning and found a line of about 50 people all waiting for iPhones — or so retail staffers told him.

Jon thinks the liner-uppers are already waiting up for the new iPhone.

Noting that many in line are Asian, Jon speculates they are from NYC’s Chinatown, and are being paid to wait in line. But I find it hard to believe that people are willing to pay a line-sitter for two weeks or more — especially when there’s no indication there will shortages, which prompted the lines first time around.

Reading between the lines of Jon’s report, I’ll bet they are being paid to snap up dwindling supplies of iPhone 1.0 to be sent overseas. As long as Apple places restrictions on the number of iPhones people can buy (currently 5) and there are not yet official channels, there’ll be demand for grey market iPhones.

Picture: The president of Ukraine, Viktor Yushenko, yakking on his iPhone. The iPhone is hot in the Slavic country. From iPhone Code.

Used iPhones are worth more than $1,000 in Ukraine, according to the Craigslist buyer who just purchased my slightly scratched iPhone for (get this) $350.

The buyer, named Claude, is heading to Ukraine next week on business and everyone he meets will ask him for an iPhone, he says. He’s sold dozens of iPhones, new and used: It doesn’t really matter.

In fact, I sold him two iPhones: a virgin 16-Gbyte model still sealed in its box, and my slightly worn day-to-day iPhone, an original 8-Gbyte model.

I got $850 for both phones — $500 for the new one (it retails for $500 + $40 tax) and $350 for the used iPhone (it sells new for $400 + $34 tax. I paid $600 minus a $100 rebate).

I felt pretty good until Claude told me he’ll be getting at least $1,000 for the used iPhone in Ukraine, and more for the new one. WTF! — thanks for telling me!

Still, it’s not all gravy. Claude says he has to keep the iPhones on his person when passing through customs, or they disappear from his luggage. Likewise the chargers, cords and everything else. Plus, he has to bribe every official he meets.

Claude wasn’t aware there’s a new iPhone model expected next month (which is why I’m selling). Not that it mattered. He says he’ll take all and any iPhones I can send his way.

Anyone want to get rid of their old iPhone?

The lines are 30-people deep for an iPhone in NYC, Gizmodo reports. And that’s for the current generation iPhone — not version 2.0 excepted in a month.

It seems there’s lots of people desperate to get their hands on unopened iPhones — even a couple of weeks before older models are outdated.

A couple of months ago I bought a 16-Gbyte iPhone at the Apple Store, thinking I’d upgrade from my original 8-Gbyte iPhone. But then rumors of the iPhone 2.0 started catching fire, so I didn’t open it. With the release of a 3G iPhone looking likely in early June, I thought it better to wait.

Trouble is, I waited too long to return the unopened iPhone to the Apple Store, which has a two-week return policy. So earlier this week, I put it on Craigslist for $550 ($50 over retail) and crossed my fingers.

Boy, was I surprised. I’ve had several offers, many of them for the inflated price. Most of these buyers asked me if I had more than one phone.

The first offer came in just a few seconds after I posted the ad. The buyer, who I’m meeting this afternoon, wrote: “I will need as many as you have. no receipt needed if you know what I mean.”

The iPhone must be headed overseas. Apple has a policy limiting sales to five iPhones per customer — checked against their credit card.

I’ll be asking the buyer some questions this afternoon about his interest in buying multiple, unopened iPhones.

Link to “iPhone wanted” ads on SF Craigslist.

Take this with a grain of salt, but Fortune’s Scott Moritz has filed a report claiming that AT&T will subsidize the price of the hotly awaited 3G iPhone down to start at $199 with a two-year agreement, which would be a clear sign that the company is serious about starting to move some massive numbers of the device when it drops in June.

There are definitely parts of the story that I don’t buy — I don’t think Apple is going to go 8 and 16 gig on the new iPhone, let alone “8-gigabit-memory and 16-gigabit-memory,” and the pricing strategy only makes sense if the iPhone is non-exclusive to AT&T. If Apple’s selling the 3G iPhone unlocked at Apple Stores for $200 more, this makes sense. If not, this is just bizarre.

Thoughts? I really hope we see a 32-gigabyte model of the 3G iPhone – that makes it not just a nano replacement for me, but an actual iPod replacement.

FORTUNE: Techland AT&T to cut the price of Apple’s new iPhone

Thanks, Matt!

Tags: iphone, rumor, at&t, speculation

Watch this dog scroll through the iPhone picture library as though it’s been using an iPhone all it’s life!

Via WSJ.

While I’m sticking to my original guess that we won’t see a new version of the iPhone until June to coincide with the final release of the 2.0 firmware and enterprise support, everyone’s starting to agitate for a 3G iPhone sooner rather than later. First it was Kevin Rose, and, continuing the cycle, a credulous analyst has entered the fray.

Gartner’s Ken Dulaney, citing foreign sources, says 10 million 3G iPhones have been ordered by Apple for delivery in the near future. He cites European demand for greater data speed as driving Apple’s decision.

Then again, he also says the next iPhone will have an OLED screen which…ain’t happening, not in this life. We should be in for a couple of fun months, though.

iPod Observer via Epicenter

Technology analysts are always on the cutting edge of the news out of Silicon Valley. Why, just last night, Gartner Research realized that Apple had licensed Exchange Active Sync, making the iPhone a great option for smart phone users. And they only noticed two weeks after it was announced!

I kid, of course, The report praising the iPhone’s readiness for business customers puts Apple firmly on a competitive plane with Blackberry, Windows Mobile, and S60 phones. Less than a year after its launch as a multimedia device, the iPhone is poised to really take charge in the smart phone space. That’s a big deal, and the endorsement from Gartner does mean a lot to some people making IT support decisions in big companies.

Apple has never had real success in corporate sales, so I can’t wait to see how the iPhone does once it’s ready for its close-up. This note is a sign that it has a fair shot at success.

Via Barrons

Though the Financial Times is without question a vastly more reliable source than most places that spawn rumors of Apple’s impending moves, I just can’t convince myself to buy into reports that Apple wants to create a monthly iTunes subscription plan or all-you-can eat music business model with the purchase of an iPod or iPhone. It isn’t their style

While denials from Steve Jobs are usually a good way to spot what he’s working on, this is an area where he has remained steadfast. He believes that people want to own their music, and I believe that he’s right. Sure, I love to sample music as much as anyone else, but the songs that I keep are really personal to me. Renting music just doesn’t work out. Even if Nokia is doing it, too.

Moreover, the monthly subscription business model is one that Apple hasn’t ever offered before to anyone. Not for movies, TV, or software. In fact, Apple’s only experience of recurring payments are with the iPhone’s service fees, which the company gets just a small slice of. There are far too many accounting headaches to resolve to make it worthwhile, and the record companies are angry at Apple. At Apple’s restaurant, they dine ala carte.

Even though it was announced a month ago that “American Idol” had made the iPhone its official phone, and we all know that “Idol” is the most crassly commercial TV show in the history of the galaxy, I don’t think anyone was prepared for the abomination that aired midway through last night’s episode.

After “returning” from an ad break, host Ryan Seacrest reached into the audience to pull an iPhone from the hands of a female “audience member.” He then used the iPhone to visit the “Idol” website, text in a vote for a contestant, and show how easy it is to use the WiFi iTunes Store to download content “directly to your device.” I threw up in my mouth during the segment – A LOT.

I don’t know, can association with Ryan Seacrest make the iPhone less appealing? It’ll take a little while for the taint to wash away, so far as I’m concerned. I’ll post the clip if and when it turns up…

Int13, a prominent mobile games developer, has released a video showing its racing game, “Crazy Kart 2,” running on the iPhone. I hadn’t seen the title before, but I’m pretty impressed by the demo. Nice environments and graphics, wacky gameplay highly reminiscent of “Mario Kart,” but, you know, touch-controlled steering wheel! I can’t wait to see the state of the iPhone gaming platform a year from today…

Via iPhoneAlley

I’ve been saying for quite some time that the iPhone and iPod touch would eventually become killer gaming devices. Last week’s SDK presentation in Cupertino finally showed what was possible: Multi-touch and accelerometer-driven GameCube and PS2-quality visuals on the most compelling mobile multimedia platform in the world. It’s actually a lot better than what I was expecting in terms of 3-D visuals performance. Right now, it blows the DS and PSP away visually.

But does that matter? Do we need another portable games platform?

Yes. But not the way you might think. Though Apple is dazzling with visuals and gameplay from upcoming major publisher titles. And iPhone Spore and Monkey Ball will be cool, as will Pac-Man and the new version of Galaga that have been announced. But that’s not what will make the iPhone and touch must-have gaming platforms. What will make them take off and start to pull players away from PSP in particular will be the user-generated games. The creativity of the developer community. Anyone who comes up with a good game can get it published on the App Store and make some serious cash off of it if it takes off. That’s one hell of an incentive to break new ground. I’m tempted myself.

Now, on computers, and even on cell phones, user-designed games are a dime a dozen, and many of them are of far lower-quality than what the commercial publishers create. But this is different. This is a real platform with sophisticated tools available to everyone. There has never been a portable games platform of this power and pro-gaming features that has been this open to outsiders and upstarts. The DS is closed. So’s the PSP. Most cell phones have horrendous gaming interfaces. Keyboards and mice are great for MMORPGs and First Person Shooters but little else. The iPhone will be relatively open, has a great distribution model, and the best interface in the world for portable games.

So keep an eye out. I’m willing to forecast here and now that the best-selling game for iPhone by the end of 2008 will be made by a virtual unknown. Anyone throwing in?

In just four days, Apple has seen the iPhone SDK downloaded more than 100,000 times. In the release, Cupertino notes that ever more major developers are getting on-board with iPhone development, including blogging kingpins Six Apart and Pac-Man purveyors Namco.

I think that’s all fine and good, but I’m not excited to see what the existing powers can do with the iPhone. I’m psyched about what the freeware and shareware community can do on this platform, particularly for games. I have a lot more to say about that (see the previous post), but I’m most interested to hear if any of you are in the development community yet. If so, what are you working on? I’d love to spotlight some Apple fan creativity on this page.

Less than a week after Apple showed off all of the tantalizing SDK and Enterprise features of iPhone OS 2.0, the iPhone Dev Team has announced that it has fully unlocked the iPhone, patching its firmware to work with any carrier and allow the installation of any application, not just what Apple distributes through iTunes.

This is a really big deal, and I’m curious to see how it plays out in the coming months. Apple has made it very clear that it will do whatever it can to relock the iPhone whenever an exploit is discovered. According to the Dev Team, however, this firmware patch, called “Project Pwnage” is unfixable by Apple. I don’t buy it yet, but if this code remains quiet until the official launch of iPhone OS 2, this could be an invaluable tool for anyone who wants the full iPhone experience without AT&T.

Still, a lot of time between now and then, and Apple is as dedicated to lock things down as the hacking community is to opening them up.

Via Gizmodo

At its developer event his morning, Apple showed off the iPhone and iPod touch OS 2.0, which is quite an amazing update. It’s got fully loaded Exchange ActiveSync support, a full SDK opening up the complete iPhone toolkit – Spore and Super Monkey Ball for iPhone and touch look awesome and will challenge the DS and PSP – and it’s just got everything that was missing from the original iPhone (though no word on cut and paste yet…).

It’s great – but it’s not shipping until June. The software is in Beta today (you can apply to participate here), and developers have access to download the SDK now. Appl software will be distributed through the iPhone Apps store, available in desktop iTunes and over-the-air iTunes. It’s a slick system, and free applications will carry no fee for developers or customers. Commercial apps will give Apple a 30 percent royalty “to maintain the cost of the Apps store” and 70 percent of revenue to the developer. It’s a little onerous, but it’s good visibility for developers. Beyond which, the upgrade is free to iPhone owners and a “nominal charge” for touch users, who get screwed again.

One more thing about “late June” – that’s the one-year anniversary of the iPhone’s release. And Apple calls it iPhone 2.0. I guarantee that there will be significantly upgraded hardware out there to ship at the same time. Can you say iPhone 3G? I knew you could!

Live from Apple’s iPhone SDK press conference – Engadget

Tags: iphone, ipodtouch, apple, stevejobs, sdk, enterprise

Seven minutes into today’s highly anticipated iPhone SDK conference, Phil Schiller has dropped a bomb on Apple Campus – the iPhone is getting full MS Exchange ActiveSync supoprt, including:

• Push email
• Push calendar
• Push contacts
• Global address list
• Cisco IPSec VPN
• Certificates and Identities

Basically all the big stuff that’s held the iPhone back from mass corporate adoption. This and a physical keyboard have been the only things RIM BlackBerry has over the iPhone, and it should mean a huge boost to sales for Apple. I think the physical keyboard is less relevant than a lot of people do. Die-hard Blackberry and Treo users will miss it, but most of us won’t mind so much.

Live from Apple’s iPhone SDK press conference – Engadget

Tags: iphone, sdk, exchange, enterprise

Apple’s teaser for tomorrow morning’s event was pretty explicit about the impending launch of the iPhone SDK, but some skeptics still remain. The ability to legitimately install additional software on the iPhone and iPod touch is the #1 request for Apple’s mobile platform, and we’ve been wrong before, but things look more and more like it will really happen.

Besides Apple releasing an image with the word “SDK” on it last week, GyPSii, a Dutch company that makes geo-location and real-world friend-finder software for cell phones, has announced that it will develop a version of its program for the iPhone. The more interesting part is this comment from the CEO:

Apple’s Software Developer Kit (SDK) which is scheduled to be launched later this week, providing seamless access for all Apple users, from the desktop, to the iPhone.

I think this is pretty much a done deal. I don’t think Apple will announce and then not ship the SDK. I think it will be available tomorrow, and there will be a bunch of high-profile apps waiting in the wings, including Lotus, and, the good lord willing, MS Exchange support. Those are the two ingredients holding iPhone back from mass corporate adoption. Fix that, and this will really explode.  

iPhone SDK This Week? So Says GyPSii – GigaOM

Tags: iphone, sdk, gps

At this point, I think there are really only three legitimate complaints about the iPhone:

1. It only runs at EDGE speeds. Sure, it loads pages fast once it connects, but 3G would make it sing.
2. The chrome bezel around the screen – iPod touch is way classier.
3. It’s tied to a single network in each country where it’s available.

Well, according to Apple COO Tim Cook, maybe we won’t have to live with the last one for very long (and we all pray that 3G is coming any day now…). According to MarketWatch, Cook said that Apple wasn’t wedded to the exclusive, single-carrier business model.

While that sounds like great news for anyone that wants an iPhone on T-Mobile, his meaning is actually unclear. While I’d love to say that this is a clear rift with AT&T and iPhones will start popping up unlocked for everyone direct from Apple, that would be a lie.

Absent other information, it sounds more to me like Cook is saying that Apple is open to bringing the iPhone to new markets without tying up with a specific carrier. In other words, South Africa, you may have your pick of iPhone carriers. Let’s hope it eventually makes it back to the U.S.

Apple ‘not wedded’ to iPhone sales model – MarketWatch

Via Digg.

Tags: iphone, apple, tim cook, announcement

Apple has sent invites to the press for an “iPhone Software roadmap” event on March 6 at Apple’s Cupertino Campus, according to Engadget.

“Please join us to learn about the iPhone software roadmap, including the iPhone SDK and some exciting new enterprise features,” the invite says.

Let’s hope one of those “exciting new enterprise features” is corporate email. For me, that’s the biggest hole.

Conspicuous by its absence is any mention of the SDK’s introduction date.