Apple’s announcements
OK, so I really need to watch the keynote, but on first glance:
Apple TV: Looks great. It’s a video extension of the Airport Express, which is a REALLY nice device. RussB has some info here, and also a look at Vista…. kinda….
iPhone: hrmmm, ok this one looks interesting. On the surface.
- Size of an ipod (which is quite large for a phone - There again, blackberry have proven that people will still use massive bricks…..)
- the iPod functions look nice, tho the interactions look very much like someone using Flash/Quicktime, not an actual interaction. Most of what they have there should be expensive on a handheld device, but that can also be offloaded onto external chips….. There again, the battery life is REALLY REALLY short (5 hours), so maybe it is “more” real?
- The SMS app looks like a lawsuit waiting to happen (from Palm) – it’s VERY similar to the Treo’s messenger app.
- The multi-touch thing should be interesting when other people get their hands on it.
- OSX inside? um, ok….. could be interesting to see how they have adapted it… On the other hand, my SP5 has “windows” inside, and some phones have “Linux” inside, so…
- It’s already branded to Cingular, so dont expect to see it anywhere else for, oh, 12 months or more, even outside of the US…. I wonder what they are going to for poeple outside of the US? Apple’s normally good with International stuff…. but cellphone carriers DO NOT play well with others. It’s technically global (Quadband and EDGE), however it has no UMTS, so it’s not going to work in most GSM 3G networks – New Zealand, Australia, and (most of) Europe, for example. Actually, I have a feeling that only Cingular in the US is EDGE…..
- Pretty? Yes. Revolutionary and Breakthru? Um….. no. It’s not a new way of doing a phone…. If they make it stable (and if they do, it’s likely to be the first phone EVER to be stable in v1.0), it should be a decent step above the rest….
As usual, great marketing from Apple. I dont think I’d spend my own cash on it YET, tho….. I have no doubt it will sell like CRAZY when they release it, and it HAS to be better than the motorola thing they did last time, but…..
I’d give Rod, Phil and Dave5 about, oh, 10 mins before they (try to) get one…. :)
- Rod: Why apple wins. I think I agree with about 40% of what he says there. Also, Telecom is dead in the water on this one. CDMA is dead internationally.
- Rod: What is apple did a phone.
[UPDATE: Stuff has an article: iPhone - but not for Kiwi's]
Also, Kottke has a nice “print a scale model and compare” piece up. This thing is SERIOUSLY big. Would you put a full-sized ipod to you ear to talk? I think not – and this thing is BIGGER. Atleast it has bluetooth.