iPhone - page 480

Since I first got an iPod, way back when Discmen roamed the earth, my fondest wish has been that I could use it as a quasi-remote control for my stereo. I could point it at a set of speakers, scroll through my music library, press the center button, and — BOOM! — music would pour forth.

Besides a few experiments with an iTrip, however, this has been wishful thinking. Until, perhaps, the next few weeks. MacRumors claims that the Read Me file for a developer release of the imminent iTunes 7.7 will finally make this dream real (well, provided you have a computer hooked to your stereo):

Use iTunes 7.7 to sync music, video, and more with iPhone 3G, and download applications from the iTunes Store exclusively designed for iPhone and iPod touch with software version 2.0 or later. Also use the new Remote application for iPhone or iPod touch to control iTunes playback from anywhere in your home — a free download from the App Store.

It’s pretty typical Apple to offer a few unannounced features on major operating system upgrades, but this one is incredibly welcome. Using the WiFi built into the iPhone and iPod Touch is a natural for this, and it’s much more convenient than using the (let’s face it) fairly inadequate Apple Remote. I just hope it will work with Front Row and AppleTV…

Photo by Silvio Sousa Cabral

Amid reports of a surge in orders for all flavors of Apple gadgetry, anticipation of the iPhone 3g’s July 11 debut has the Apple Retail division preparing for the onslaught and chipmakers such as Broadcom and Marvel hoping happy days are here again.

Wall Street analyst Craig Berger, speaking for FBR Capital Markerts, says the bump in Apple’s supply chain activity “suggest[s] Apple continues to knock the cover off the ball, that its product cycle momentum is ramping, and that any consumer spending malaise in the U.S. or Europe has yet to impact Apple-related product demand.”

In a memo distributed throughout its Apple Stores division, company executives laid the ground rules for interacting with the public as 3G launch day approaches. Among the anticipated issues, the idea of getting on a waitlist for first dibs was shot down definitively by Apple corporate, and retail employees have been told to call any customer who has reserved an iPhone Personal Shopping session on or after July 11th to inform them Personal Shopping sessions will not apply to the iPhone 3G.

At an Apple Store in New York this week, actor Kiefer Sutherland is said to have made a strong case for obtaining a pre-launch iPhone 3G to no avail.

The company plans to hold worldwide retail meetings on July 6th to begin conveying more specific official launch procedures to its staff, according to a report at the Unofficial Apple Weblog.

Apple is ensuring the secondary market success of iPhones by building secure data wipe into the 2.0 version of its software, according to AppleInsider. Several sources report the Gold Master versions of the software could be released internally at Apple and possibly to developers as early as Friday.

Citing “People familiar with the beta versions of iPhone Software v2.0,” the AppleInsider report says the upcoming release will employ a more foolproof method of erasing all personal data and settings from an iPhone. As is the case with the existing version of iPhone software, the function will be accessible by selecting Settings > General > Reset > Erase All Contents and Settings.

Unlike today’s iPhone software the revised function will wipe data in similar fashion to the “Secure Empty Trash” function of Mac OS X, by which all data is deleted, unlinked, and then overwritten several times to make it irretrievable by even the savviest of recovery tools.

This feature should be welcome to anyone looking to sell their first-gen iPhone and upgrade to the 3G model, as well as to those who will follow the same path with subsequent iterations of the phone.

The caveat is that the new method will take considerably longer than the method available by the current software version, but time seems a small price to pay for piece of mind.

UPDATE: This post originally borrowed liberally from an article written by reporter Dan Warne for APC Magazine. Though I linked to Dan’s piece and indicated the “10 Reasons” were his ideas and not mine, I realize now that reprinting his article with only the slightest changes and editing on my part could be seen as misleading at best and were certainly not in keeping with the standards to which I and Cult of Mac aspire. I ask for readers’ – and especially for Mr. Warne’s – forgiveness for my error — Lonnie Lazar.

People have been dying for the iPhone 3G for over a year, ever since the first user attempted downloading a web page on AT&T’s excruciatingly slow EDGE network. And let there be no doubt, when the phone hits global streets on July 11, people will rejoice, the coffers at Apple HQ in Cupertino will once again groan with excess and mobile carriers from AT&T to Vodaphone to O2 will breathe short-lived sighs of relief.

But in spite of the wow-inducing touchscreen interface, the bright and bold display, the push-synching of email, contacts, calendar, tasks and photos from Apple’s new MobileMe services, and the relative pleasures of speed on the 3G network – as always – Apple will have released a product that fails to meet some consumers’ insatiable expectations.

Herewith, 10 reasons to feel like Steve Jobs is ripping you off once again, as compiled by APC Magazine reporter Dan Warne:

Photo by Daniel Cheong

Om Malik has a great post up digesting today’s news that Nokia is going all in on Symbian Limited, saying there’s three players now in mobile phones — and Google ain’t one of them.

Noting that today anyone can make mobile phones using off-the-shelf components and factories in Asia, Malik argues the future of mobile computing and communications will focus almost entirely on design, user experience and software. He likens the mobile phone business to the PC business – which Microsoft dominates with its Windows platform –  and says the winners in the handset market will depend a lot on the software developers creating apps for mobile platforms.

According to Malik, “In this platform game, the winner is going to be the one that can attract the most developers,” and the problem, for Nokia and some of the Symbian Fondation’s other members (among them, Motorola, NTT DoCoMo, AT&T, LG Electronics, Samsung Electronics, STMicroelectronics, Texas Instruments and Vodafone) is they are backing a confusing array of platforms, including Linux.

Photo by Rinox via flickr

Apple has long been a poster child for the wisdom of Adam Smith’s Invisible Hand. With active trade in some of its discontinued products, such as the iSight camera (which regularly sells on auction sites such as eBay for more than the original purchase price), and high-resale values for “previously owned” and “refurbished” models of its computers, the reality has been that the cost of owning an Apple over the years has not been nearly so high as its reputation for premium pricing might indicate.

The iPhone is providing additional confirmation that, despite complaints about the company’s obsessive desire to control the user experience, they must be doing something right at 1 Infinite Loop.

iPhone Atlas reported recently on the high prices still being fetched at resale by the original model phones, indicating concern over the ability to unlock and/or jailbreak the upcoming model, combined with significant demand in countries where the iPhone 3G will not initially be on sale, including Russia and China.

While the current value of first-generation iPhones may be high, with reports of the bid on 16GB phones near $600, some believe the market for the phones will stay active with prices coming down as the availability of 3G models gets closer. Michael Johnston at iPhone Alley suggests the window for high prices may be closing soon and Dennis Sellers writes for Macsimum News that active trade in the post-3G launch market for first-gen iPhones could see prices come down under $100.

With Apple and AT&T seeming to have foiled the unlocking/jailbreaking movement that flourished in the wake of iPhone’s initial release, Stateside customers who must have the speed and features of the 3G model but still have, or want, service with a carrier other than AT&T, will either have to wait and see if the new models can be jailboken or look to Apple’s deals with a different carrier in almost every country overseas, where the phones will go on sale next month. Across both ponds Apple has had to agree to a wide range of prices and options for selling the iPhone 3G, making it likely that in quite a few countries outside of the U.S., you’ll be able to buy an iPhone without a contractual agreement.

Photo by Das Kaninchen

In the blizzard of numbers being tossed around concerning the much-anticipated debut of iPhone 3G, the most significant one could be the price of the phone itself. As Pacific Crest consumer electronics analyst Andy Hargreaves notes, sales of both Apple’s iPod and Sony’s PS2 gamestation saw exponential gains in the wake of being offered below $200.

Aidan Malley reports for AppleInsider on the explosive growth anticipated for new phone sales in the coming year. “The relationship [between price and sales] is shockingly consistent,” Hargreaves says. “At average prices above $200, Apple never sold more than [6 million] units in a rolling four-quarter period. At prices below $200, Apple never sold fewer than [8 million].”

Should Apple fulfill even industry analysts’ most modest sales expectations, savvy decision-making in the company’s sourcing and supply-chain business units could translate into much higher margins on the 3G models than those seen with the original iPhone, all of which adds up to very good news for Apple investors and shareholders.

Confident now that it’s got a winning product, Apple is set to release the iPhone 3G simultaneously in 22 countries on July 11. And unlike the limited distribution model in the US, where consumers may only purchase phones from the company or from AT&T, overseas customers will be able to find the new phone in plenty of places.

Apple Insider reports that Deutch Telekom, T-Mobile’s German parent signed a first deal which will let Gravis sell iPhones attached to a T-Mobile service plan, allowing customers there to pick up a phone without visiting a T-Mobile retail outlet.

Dutch and Italian consumers will also have a variety of outlets to choose from, according to an item in Macworld. The high-street-availability distribution model appears to derive from the success Apple and UK carrier O2 had in bringing Carphone Warehouse on board to maximize availability of the product.

Graphic by mitchener83 via flickr

The newer, faster iPhone 3G, set for release on July 11, promises to chart new frontiers in mobile pornography, according to Time magazine.

The $13 billion adult entertainment industry sees the new Apple phone as a key in the shift from physical distribution (IE. DVDs) to a business model based on downloaded and streaming smut.

The iPhone is “by far the porn-friendliest phone” on the market, says Devan Cypher, spokesman for San Francisco-based porn producer Sin City Entertainment.

The porn industry may have problems with Apple, however. An Apple spokeswoman told Time it does not condone porn on the iPhone and promises to ban adult content from applications being built by third party developers for distribution by the company’s AppStore.

Following on the heels of competitor BMW’s optional iPod dock, Steve Jobs’ preferred German automaker Mercedes Benz announced a custom cradle for the iPhone available as an option on nine classes of its vehicles. The interface will allow seamless integration between the iPhone’s music and telephone functions and the vehicle’s systems, Mercedes says.

Placed in the Mercedes’ onboard cradle, the iPhone’s music and phone functions can be controlled with the help of multifunction steering wheel controls, while the vehicle’s display indicates phone status, music functions, etc. The cradle features automatic recharging as well as increased reception with the help of the vehicle’s antenna.

More pics after the jump.

AT&T may be subsidizing up to $425 of the cost of each new iPhone it activates for service when the 2.0 3G models launch next month, Barron’s reports.

According to Oppenheimer analyst Yair Reiner, AT&T will cover an additional $125 premium over the carrier’s typical $200 smartphone subsidy because the company thinks the iPhone will increase subscribers and average revenue per user. Apple will receive an additional $100 bounty for every new AT&T customer who signs for service at an Apple Store.

The early book on the new phone is very bullish, with Reiner calling for 15 million units to be sold in 2008 and another 33 million in 2009.

BusinessWeek has an interesting but slightly over-the-top story about the misery the iPhone 3G will inflict on the rest of the wireless industry. It’s quite maudlin in its focus on the needs of the establishment wireless service providers. It even seems to mourn threats to the dominance of the existing wireless carriers. Perhaps the only news to glean in between the forecasts of doom is that Palm, once the dominant player in Smart Phones is now too niche to merit a mention in a round-up story like this. Apparently, the hole Palm needs to climb out of is so deep that the iPhone 3G’s coming ubiquity doesn’t even make things worse.

AT&T announced to its shareholders that it’s iPhone agreement with Apple underwent some substantial changes with the release of the iPhone 3G. AT&T’s press release reads:

“The new agreement between Apple and AT&T eliminates the revenue-sharing model under which AT&T shared a portion of monthly service revenue with Apple. Under the revised agreement, which is consistent with traditional equipment manufacturer-carrier arrangements, there is no revenue sharing and both iPhone 3G models will be offered at attractive prices to broaden the market potential and accelerate subscriber volumes.”

Now of course this substantive change in agreement between Apple and AT&T has the net all a twitter with the possibility that Apple will begin marketing the iPhone 3G on other networks. Even AT&T’s statement that their relationship with Apple is now “consistent with traditional equipment manufacturer-carrier arrangements…” would seem to imply that Apple’s side of the arrangement is also “typical”, meaning that after a predetermined period of exclusivity, they can market their handsets to other carriers.

There are articles at CNET and MacWorld that arrive at this conclusion, and speculate that Apple soon will market the iPhone 3G on other carriers in the US.

The only difficultly is, that it ain’t gonna happen, not right now or anytime we’d call “soon”.

That’s because there’s only one other national GSM carrier and T-Mobile’s 3G network is Voice Only.

That tends to suggest that there isn’t what we call a “Business Opportunity” for iPhone 3G on T-Mobile’s network right now. Of course original iPhones running software 2.0 would be great to have, except Apple seems to have stopped making them.

(note: there are technical details in the comments that are too boring to include in the post)

Steve Jobs made an interesting disclosure to the NY Times yesterday while talking about the remarkable Grand Central technology in Mac OS X Snow Leopard that will allow programmers to get more power out of multicore computers and also to use GPUs for additional performance. In the midst of such talk, he announced for the very first time the reason that Apple purchased processor-maker PA Semiconductor in April.

“PA Semi is going to do system-on-chips for iPhones and iPods,” he said.

Many had speculated that future iPhones could run on Intel silicon, or that PA Semi had been purchased just to recruit some of its talented engineers. Steve says otherwise. Apple’s getting into the mobile processor game. Two years from now, all our iPods and iPhones might be running on their hardware. And if PA’s stuff is as good as everyone says, such exclusive hardware could maintain the competitive advantage that software already offers the iPhone.

Now the dust has settled, and the excitement has waned, it’s possible to calmly reflect on yesterday’s iPhone announcements. Only the excitement hasn’t really waned, and the only reason the dust has settled is because I can’t run to the nearest O2 shop and grab an iPhone 3G yet.

Ultimately, Apple delivered. Most of the rumor bridge went away satisfied, with the revamp being lighter, more efficient, and including both 3G and GPS support. Yes, the camera is still rubbish, and the lack of a front-facing camera still irks some, but most people are happy with the upgrade. (Well, apart from the idiots web-wide who are rattling on about HOW UNFAIR it is that Apple had the audacity to release a new iPhone when they bought one JUST LAST WEEK, and how APPLE IS EVIL, and so on.)

Also, the pricing rumor turned out to be pretty much spot-on. The iPhone’s going to ship with a price-tag of just $199 (for the 8GB model—the 16GB model is an extra hundred bucks), and so even with the still fairly hefty monthly contract, it’s now a lot more affordable. Clearly, Apple is gunning for market share (its estimate of 10 million iPhones sold by the end of 2008 now looks remarkably achievable), to get its platform ingrained in people’s minds as the obvious choice for anyone after a smartphone.

From a British standpoint, things are looking even more rosy. I recently bitched about Apple’s over-the-odds charging in Europe, and it seems someone was listening. Not only is the new iPhone priced in a straight US dollar-to-Sterling conversion (I was expecting $199 to become £139, truth be told, not £99), but also Brits retain existing tariff pricing (reports suggest AT&T’s raising its prices), and get a new tariff at the £30 mark (even if its minutes and texts allocations are both utterly miserly). Handily, existing iPhone owners forking out £45 or £75 per month also get the new iPhone as a free upgrade.

The only disappointing thing is that I now need something else to complain about. Ideas on a postcard…

UPDATE:  Confirmation about AT&T’s price-hike suggests that there’s still something to complain about, at least if you’re in the US. Despite the hardware price-drop, the overall contract cost for the 8GB phone is now an extra $40 over two years. If anything, this makes the pricing in the UK even more surprising. Still, perhaps Apple will actually be able to sell some iPhones in Britain now.

Update: Reader imajoebob has got a really funny response in the comments. Worth a read.

Trying to write this post on a Blackberry has taught me something, this thing’s web browser stinks. Now that the 3G iPhones will be on-sale in July, I’m gonna hafta break-down and get one. That said, only one-question remains: How to hide the purchase from my wife?

After the break, we’ll talk through my strategy, in the hopes that a fellow husband in a similar pickle might benefit from my experience, or maybe even able to help me devise a better strategy.

I heard two interesting tidbits about the possible design of the iPhone 2 at the weekend:

Better Battery Thanks To Better Software

3G is generally assumed to be a drain on battery life because of the hardware, which sucks down juice, but it is actually the iPhone’s software that is the problem, according to engineers working on Google’s Android phone. According to a conversation reported to me by a colleague at Wired.com, Google’s engineers say the first iPhone OS was basically a hack. It was adapted from the desktop OS and had none of the advanced power-management features necessary to properly run the networking chips. But the iPhone 2 will have not only better integrated circuits, it will have proper power-management software also.

The iPhone 2 Won’t Have an All-Plastic Case

There are several rumors speculating that the iPhone 2 will have an all-plastic case, replacing the metal back of the current design. But an engineer I talked to last year said the metal cases of the iPod and the iPhone were probably designed to dissipate heat from inside the device . They were likely big heat sinks. And that’s why I doubt the iPhone will have a plastic back, because plastic doesn’t conduct heat as a well as metal.

USA Today, the London Guardian and the Financial Times are all independently reporting that the new iPhone 2 will start at $200, bolstering the rumors we heard last week.

The Guardian says that in some cases, the iPhone will even be free to new subscribers:

… the handset will be offered at lower prices – or even for free. Those who sign up for a contract costing £75 a month will be offered the handset for no extra charge, breaking with Apple’s earlier attempts to avoid the large subsidies common in the rest of the industry. Elsewhere, the gadget is likely to be subsidised to lower the price, which could drop from £269 to as little as £100.

ILounge ran a reader contest to see who could come up with the best iPhone 2 mockup.

We’re running some highlights on Wired: From Mind-Blowing to Mockery The iPhone 2 Mocked Up.

One of the mockups made me laugh — This iPhone Shuffle from Michael Hornbek of Hornslet, Denmark. It has no screen and calls random people.

“Think Indifferent,” Michael says.

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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