5 posts tagged “iphone”
Apple observer site Infinite Loop is reporting that Rogers, one of the big cellphone companies up here in Canada, will be the exclusive provider of the iPhone in this country. That makes sense, Rogers is the only GSM carrier up here. The report is based on emailed responses to customers from the mobile provider. Sounds like the phone will be out here sometime between the U.S. launch and the end of the year. Could be concurrent with the U.S. launch, but I doubt that. I've never had Rogers as a provider, but nobody much seems to like them. But then, nobody much seems to like any cellphone company.
If you're having trouble with video at the right, try this link.
The Apple iPhone also uses multitouch, but it seems to have closer genetic ties to the Synaptics version of multitouch than Han's ideas (which seems to be coming to a LG phone - the KE850 Prada - near you soon.
I'm more excited about what Han is doing because it really allows users to physically engage with interface and data in a way that the limited size of the iPhone does not. That doesn't mean Apple won't do amazing things with the multitouch interface - there's already rumours of a Mac tablet in 2008 and a touchscreen video ipod before that.
Han seems to be thinking big in a couple of ways, judging from a recent Fast Company interview. Han wants his technology in the hands of the military, the government and at the front of classrooms, an idea I love. He also, I think, has a strong entrepreneurial leaning. Sounds like he was courted by Apple and turned them down, which suggests he has his own ideas for where he wants to take his invention, and its much bigger than a pocket-sized device.
Well, not surprisingly, the iPhone backlash has begun. The main slags? Third party developers seem to be shut out from application (though perhaps not widget) development for the one button phone/ipod/web browser. Plus, no 3G access and an unsavory, in some camps, dependency on Cingular. Plus, the lack of real keys for text messaging and a lack of iTunes as ringtones, all are casting the Apple invention as a handcuffed, restrictive and restricting device.
Meanwhile, the Neo1973 is attracting adoration from the open source camp. Neo1973? It's a cellphone developed by Sean Moss-Pultz and manufactured in Taiwan. It uses Linux as its OS, takes standard memory cards, has a bright touchscreen, operates on the GSM network (and standard, global SIM cards), has GPS and is open to any software coders want to toss at it (they can use the OpenMoko open source framework for developing mobile device applications). In short, it's everything the iPhone is not. Plus it's $150 US cheaper and will be available about five months before the iPhone (though a shipping delay has taken place). You can compare the two products here.
Which would I buy? I'm taking a wait and see approach on both. Obviously, the iPhone is six months away, but it's unlikely I'll buy Generation One (if, in fact, it's available in Canada). And the Neo1973. Hmm. I love the idea, but am less in love with how it will probably talk to my MacBook Pro. But, if I had to pick one now, I'd go with the open source Neo1973, even though I'm a Mac fanboy. I think that says something.
Think about your Ironman or Cardinal or whatever. How fast can you set a countdown timer, change an alarm, reset the time or clock a lap? You get my point.
Now, take Apple's widgets, multitouch button-less interface, Bluetooth 2.0 connectivity and slip it all into a digital ticker that makes setting a timer as easy as arcing your finger around a bezel. That's the Apple iWatch.
Connected wirelessly to an iPhone or Powerbook and it would be a great way to be alerted to email, text messages, RSS alerts etc. Even solo, it would be a great, easy-to-use timepiece.
Under $99 and coming before the end of the year. That's my Guess.
Ahonen asks a really smart question. In a smartphone market where, globally, text messaging blind is as addictive a crack, can a phone, that appears to require you look at the screen to text, succeed? Remember, the iPhone has only one "Home" button, all the rest are virtual. From the keynote demo it appears that larger versions of keypad characters pop up when you type, but there was no mention of any haptic feedback. Interesting point Ahonen makes.
He also points out that the American IT press (trapped in a cellphone backwater - North America) isn't really clued in to how the rest of the world uses cellphones, nor are they aware of how fragmented, cutthroat and aggressive European and Asian cell markets are. Worth a read.
