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MacWorld 07: The first 30 years were just the beginning... (iPhone)

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S

Slurpy

*drowns in jizz*
I don't know much about unlocking phones- but theoretically, wouldnt this be easy and possible once they are out? Lets assume I dont care about the visual voice-mail thing.
 
D

DECK'ARD

The Amiga Brotherhood
Slurpy said:
I don't know much about unlocking phones- but theoretically, wouldnt this be easy and possible once they are out? Lets assume I dont care about the visual voice-mail thing.
Click to expand...

Depends. Most phones are built to run on different operators worldwide, and the network-lock is a built in feature of the phone that can be enabled/disabled at will. Local operators just enable it on their version of the phone when they receive it from the manufacturers.

As the iPhone is launching in the US only at first, meaning there is only one model in one region, it's possible the network lock is built into the firmware and can't be changed.
 
T

TerryLee81

Member
Bought a brand new 30gb iPod yesterday. I guess a new one will be out by the end of the year, but I cant wait that long.

And wow, the screen is very bright! Have to rip some DVDs now...
 
E

empanada

Member
Slurpy said:
I don't know much about unlocking phones- but theoretically, wouldnt this be easy and possible once they are out? Lets assume I dont care about the visual voice-mail thing.
Click to expand...
Unlocking phones are only possible when the unlock codes leak out or somebody with damn good luck guesses it. I really doubt Apple will let the unlock codes leak when they were able to keep the iPhone secret for 2+ years.

Besides, will this even have SIM cards? It seems there's no way to easily open the phone (the battery can't be replaced like the iPods)...
 
M

mrkgoo

Member
empanada said:
Unlocking phones are only possible when the unlock codes leak out or somebody with damn good luck guesses it. I really doubt Apple will let the unlock codes leak when they were able to keep the iPhone secret for 2+ years.

Besides, will this even have SIM cards? It seems there's no way to easily open the phone (the battery can't be replaced like the iPods)...
Click to expand...

It was said to have a sim card slot, so I imagine the battery cover comes off. As a phone, people will want to carry spare batteries.

Also, something that doesn't seem to get much mention, but didn't steve mention a 3G version was in the works?
 
X

xsarien

daedsiluap
mrkgoo said:
It was said to have a sim card slot, so I imagine the battery cover comes off. As a phone, people will want to carry spare batteries.

Also, something that doesn't seem to get much mention, but didn't steve mention a 3G version was in the works?
Click to expand...

He didn't, but the rumor mill is churning with talk, but what else is new?
 
D

DECK'ARD

The Amiga Brotherhood
xsarien said:
He didn't, but the rumor mill is churning with talk, but what else is new?
Click to expand...

Yeah he did. At the beginning of the introduction he said there would be other models including a 3G one.

Although how close that is, is anyone's guess. I wouldn't be surprised to see the European model being 3G though, practically all high-end phones being introduced here now are 3G.
 
W

White Man

Member
btrboyev said:
well...when? in two years? It would have been smarter to use more than one carrier. Not everybody wants to switch networks when something is working for them. It limits apples market as far as I'm concerned.
Click to expand...

They probably really had no choice about using multiple carriers. Apple wanted to break into a market it wasn't in previously, and to do so, it needed the help of somebody already inside. I'd wager that whatever deal they made with Cingular is for more than a year, too, because you'd have to be an idiot to realize that this won't be stuffing a ton of cash in the pockets of everyone involved.
 
C

Crazymoogle

Member
White Man said:
They probably really had no choice about using multiple carriers. Apple wanted to break into a market it wasn't in previously, and to do so, it needed the help of somebody already inside. I'd wager that whatever deal they made with Cingular is for more than a year, too, because you'd have to be an idiot to realize that this won't be stuffing a ton of cash in the pockets of everyone involved.
Click to expand...

In the US, Cingular exclusive through the end of 2009.
 
C

ckohler

Member
mrkgoo said:
It was said to have a sim card slot, so I imagine the battery cover comes off. As a phone, people will want to carry spare batteries.
Click to expand...

The sim card slot is on the top of the phone. The card slides inside the slot.

Also, something that doesn't seem to get much mention, but didn't steve mention a 3G version was in the works?
Click to expand...

Both Steve and the guy from Cingular dropped several hints that there would be more versions, and definitely future versions. Other (less reputable) Cingular reps have said to expect a diverse family of iPhones like what you see with the iPod.
 
S

shantyman

WHO DEY!?
Forget unlocking.

If you just can’t wait to buy an iPhone from another cellular carrier, like T-Mobile, Cingular has a message for you: you’ll be waiting a long time, my friend.

Cingular’s exclusive rights to sell Apple’s new iPhone is a “multi-year agreement in the U.S.,” said Glenn Lurie, Cingular’s president of national distribution, in a press conference today at CES. The agreement also includes future models which will be introduced “soon.”

And if you’re thinking of buying the iPhone through Cingular and then using it on another GSM network, you might want to reconsider. Both Apple and Cingular will sell the phone as a “locked” device. Even though it uses the GSM standard, it won’t work on other GSM systems.

Hackers have made the unlocking of locked phones a cottage industry, but Cingular says that that won’t be so easy with the iPhone. If the iPhone gets hacked and unlocked, “we’ve thought through what our next steps will be,” Glenn Lurie said.

As for price, Cingular thinks the $500 initial cost won’t be a barrier to sales. The total cost of an iPod, cell phone, and PDA is just about the same.
Click to expand...
 
T

teiresias

Member
shantyman said:
Forget unlocking.

If the iPhone gets hacked and unlocked, “we’ve thought through what our next steps will be,” Glenn Lurie said.
Click to expand...
Click to expand...

Step 2:
crybaby.jpg
 
M

mrkgoo

Member
macrumors.com said:
According to MarketWatch.com, financial analysts and legal experts are expecting Apple's iPhone trademark dispute with Cisco to be resolved quickly, citing claims from Cisco that a deal was close before the lawsuit was filed.

"We expect an amicable resolution," Prudential Securities analyst Inder Singh wrote in a note to clients Thursday. "The most likely outcome, in our opinion, is for Cisco to be a net recipient of financial payment from Apple for use of the name."

Apple "has until May to sort this out and then ramp up marketing, so there is time," said Gene Munster, an Apple analyst with Piper Jaffray.

Brian Banner, an intellectual property attorney for Rothwell Figg expects both companies to be able to use the iPhone mark, using corporate branding as one method of sufficiently differentiating the devices.

"Cisco could easily use the iPhone mark accompanied by its logo, and Apple could add the Apple logo"
Click to expand...

If this is for real, as I suspected earlier - Already negotiations in teh work, but by having Cisco pick up a fuss during announcement of the iPohne gives them a bit more coverage for free.
 
Phoenix

Phoenix

Member
SteveMeister said:
Sad thing is, some folks will still think that's real :D
Click to expand...


Yep... because people will assume that the iPhone has the same screen in both its marketing and its primary screen :) I mean at least come up with a new screen!
 
S

Shogmaster

Member
I think iPhone might be doing too much. It should have stopped with phone, basic PDA (calender, addressbook), basic mail (HTML, push), and iPod (music, photos).

The rest of the device will be falling under underpowered and overtaxing on the batteries catagory and will dissapoint customers. Samsung ARM CPUs just don't have enough oomph and access to RAM to do web function properly, and neither is the HVGA screen good enough for a decent web experience (better than QVGA, but web surfing on smartphones with those screens are like web surfing in purgatory). Even surfing on UMPCs with 800x480 screens can be painful sometimes.

The sexy is definitely the multi-touch UI. I'm sure there will be some legal battles to come for that though, since it's been demoed by many others already.

The thing for me is that I wish I rather got a higher capacity HDD iPod video with the formfactor and UI of the iPhone. My gut feelings say iPhone is rather PSP like overdone effort.
 
D

DECK'ARD

The Amiga Brotherhood
Shogmaster said:
The thing for me is that I wish I rather got a higher capacity HDD iPod video with the formfactor and UI of the iPhone. My gut feelings say iPhone is rather PSP like overdone effort.
Click to expand...

That's my general gut feeling too. If they'd made it an open platform, allowing 3rd party developers to write apps for it without restriction, it would be a much more interesting device.

As it stands though, I think I'd rather have an iPod with the formfactor and interface.
 
G

Ghost

Chili Con Carnage!
There's no doubting how amazing the interface is but i agree with Shog and Nash, Battery life & lack of 3g will kill it as a phone/ipod, closed platform kills it as a PDA...but still, thanks Apple/LG for the tech, now I'll probably wait for Nokia/Sony Ericsson to make the complete package with it.



This is the last time i'll bag on iphone, promise.
 
C

ckohler

Member
Scalemail Ted said:
Wait... how do you surf the internet without a keypad? all touch screen? ick.
Click to expand...
Huh? It has an on-screen keyboard for entering URLs. You navigate by touch. Watch a video or something before you post.
 
S

Scalemail Ted

Member
ckohler said:
Huh? It has an on-screen keyboard for entering URLs. You navigate by touch. Watch a video or something before you post.
Click to expand...


No i understand. You share your screen real estate with an on screen keyboard. And i repeat that this setup is gimped. a slide out alpha numeric keypad would be much more functional for browsing.
 
H

Hyoushi

Member
lessthanthree said:
Yeah, I dunno. Saw it in the Upcoming Stories section of Digg, and it's weird that nowhere else has posted it yet.
Click to expand...
1. Newsvine is a blog.

2. That publishing time is in four and a half hours.

3.
About / Associated Press /

Articles Posted: 1
Links Seeded: 0
Member Since: 1/2007
Click to expand...
 
H

Hyoushi

Member
Scalemail Ted said:
No i understand. You share your screen real estate with an on screen keyboard. And i repeat that this setup is gimped. a slide out alpha numeric keypad would be much more functional for browsing.
Click to expand...
uh. the keyboard is only there when you enter text. once you're done, it disappears.
 
S

scorcho

testicles on a cold fall morning
shantyman said:
Possible Good news:



From NY Times.

http://www.nytimes.com/2007/01/12/t...dd858350d&ei=5090&partner=rssuserland&emc=rss
Click to expand...
probably not - http://www.engadget.com/2007/01/12/iphone-might-have-3g-switched-on-via-upgrade-probably-not/
Believe us, by this point we're all feeling a little weary of all the mega-intense iPhone news/drama/speculation that's been going around these past few days, but we couldn't help but remark on John Markoff's comment in the New York Times yesterday that Apple could possibly add 3G to the iPhone via a software update. It's not unheard of for a firmware upgrade to unlock new features or functionality in a device, but the sources we've spoken to have made it pretty clear that Apple hasn't wedged a UMTS or HSDPA radio into this thing. Not that we wouldn't mind this being true. We're pretty bummed that the iPhone doesn't have HSDPA -- once you taste 3G, it's hard to go back to anything slower -- but it's semi-understandable that they'd want to use an EDGE radio that'd cost less and be less power hungry. Or at least that seems to be the prevailing theory, Jobsy hasn't exactly come out and said why a high-end handset that's due out in mid-2007 will be a generation behind in its wireless connectivity.
Click to expand...
this is different than Apple crippling their draft-N wifi in their laptops - there's no reason for Apple to put in technology and not offer some type of acknowledgment or part-way use of it.
 
N

Nick

Junior Member
mrkgoo said:
I think Steve Job himself said future models may include 3G - I'm sure he threw it in passing during his keynote.
Click to expand...
He did.

This is very simple: if you don't like EDGE, wait until a newer iPhone (with less bugs, more polished apps and more widgets + bigger storage capacity) launches with 3G. Simple. It WON'T be more than the already high $600 and you'll have a better user experience than they are offering right now (in terms of data handling).

I'm not getting an iPhone right away. Anyone whose ever used EDGE before knows it's the worst thing in the world, and I'm not paying a copious amount of money for a sexy + crippled phone. I give it six to eight months before *my* iPhone launches. :)

Edit: My very own MacWorld pictures. I'm lazy, so I didn't take that many. Enjoy!
img1646gh6.jpg


img1647wx2.jpg


img1648kh7.jpg
 
C

ckohler

Member
Nick said:
I'm not getting an iPhone right away. Anyone whose ever used EDGE before knows it's the worst thing in the world, and I'm not paying a copious amount of money for a sexy + crippled phone. I give it six to eight months before *my* iPhone launches. :)
Click to expand...

I think you're smart to do so. Although, I think you'll be waiting more along the lines of eight months to a year before new models are released.

I on the other hand am a seasoned early adopter. I'm well aware of the risks of getting a first gen product but I'm also a super geek who absolutely loves owning the latest and greatest gadgets. This being pretty much the end-all gadget I've seen thus far, I will be buying it day one.
 
M

mrkgoo

Member
More davide pogue:

NO Java, MAYBE Flash, according to Jobs
- “How does the iPhone charge?” –It comes with a white charging/syncing dock, just like an iPod.
- Calendar program isn’t finished yet, but I did see an “add new event” icon on the placeholder graphic.
- “Can the pinch gesture be used on Web pages?” –Yes! Also on email!
- [The screen is the] same polycarbonate that’s used for iPod screens, although apparently the coating has been substantially improved.
- [The screen responds] ONLY to skin touch. I couldn’t use my fingernail, for example. And you certainly can’t use a stylus.
Click to expand...

Interesting. Sounds like the touch screen isn't your standard touch screen you see on stuff like DS, which is pressure sensitive, and activated by anything that can push on it. Not sure if it's using a current technology or a new approach. Maybe it's just like a touch pad (capacitance-based) underneath, or on top of the screen. I wonder to what extent this screen is 'multitouch'. Is it using existing tech with fancy software, or modified ahrdware? or entirely new tech? Thsoe 200+ patents have to be something...

Oh, and that polycarbonate screen better be awesomely scratch resistant...
 
W

White Man

Member
So I've been told by someone that does the tech blog circuit that OSX is apparently going to be fairly restricted in iPhone, and it is unlikely that any apps not made or approved by Apple will run on the iPhone.

If that's true I am completely uninterested in it now.
 
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