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Tuesday, January 09, 2007

Apple iPhone.... first thoughts

Good:
  • Screen 320x480 pixels looks awesome
  • Touchscreen UI looks intuitive in demo's
  • Decent memory 4/8GB
  • Two batteries to avoid confusion between talktime & audiotime
  • Proper multitasking
  • Looks like my joking was wrong. It does do music after all....

Bad

  • 2MP camera is a bit sub-par for a premium phone. There is a definite "credibility threshold" at 3MP at which point it's a proper replacement for a pocket digicam.
  • EDGE only, not HSDPA on Cingular, and therefore maybe not even WCDMA in Europe
  • Looks rather big.... will need a big pocket. Mind you, the original iPod isn't small either.

Who knows

  • Apple OS X - unclear how well this will transition to phone OS
  • It's got SMS... but not much other typical cellular stuff. May be tricky to hit usual operator specs & requirements
  • Very Cingular-centric launch doesn't suggest an early European launch date. I wonder if Apple's at 3GSM next month.....

Right, I'm off for a few drinks courtsesy of Symbian. I wonder what their thoughts will be about the new kid on the block....

4 comments:

Anonymous said...

I think it raises the bar. Compare this to HP smartphones and the Nokia N-series, and it looks very attractive.

That the camera is sub par with 2M pixels, would not stop me of getting one. It works for me if the optics are right.
Size matters...but it is smaller than HP models en Nokia N9x-series. Somewhere you have to trade off if you want a bigger screen size.

What I am interested in is if the iPhone is sturdy enough for daily use and sitting in and outside my paocket all day long. And whether porting OS-X to new processor and as a phone OS works well.

There must be an interesting product innovation in there somewhere too. It is rather flat, has a big screen and decent power consumption (5 hours talk time isn't much but that screen sucks battery life)and loaded with functions. Looks like the screen is mounted directly on boards.

all in all, can't wait to play with it.

Anonymous said...

I find it completely baffling that Apple would pre announce a device 6 months early and which won't hit the big European and Asian markets for a year or more. I agree with others that this may mean its a bit buggy still and that Mr Jobs is boosting share price :-) Since the technology really ain't all that amazing how will they maintain momentum for 12months?

Dean Bubley said...

My understanding was that Jobs wanted to announce it himself, rather than let it leak out through the FCC when they put it in for certification testing. Hence the uncharacteristic-for-Apple pre-announcement. They're also starting with an EDGE device which is much easier than a UMTS one required elsewhere.

Anonymous said...

Does the iPhone really have two batteries or is this just a reference to the way they expressed the maximum usage times? I don't really follow why they would put two batteries in, rather than one bigger one?