iPhone

It's a brave move for Apple. I fully expect there to be an online marketplace for widgets to download to your iPhone, not unlike the way you download tracks for your iPod. I don't know whether they plan it to be fully web-based, or client based (maybe they'll extend iTunes, and maybe they'll finally have to re-name it), but I'm sure it'll happen, and I'm sure that until recently they hoped to have a tight stranglehold on what you could buy through it (more profits for Apple).

Fair dos to them for listening to the concerns of their potential customers, although I still doubt very much that adding widgets to your iPhone will be as free an experience as, say, syncing new apps to a Palm device. We may now get third-party add-ons, but they are unlikely to be avaiable for free and they will almost certainly be delivered by an online service controlled by Apple.

[punky]

Originally Posted by Gavin

Hurrah!



Although I won't get this (cost mainly), I think its a much-needed move. Jobs doesn't like this sort of thing, but I think he realised that 3rd party support is needed to help maintain the life of a device (think of an OS with no 3rd party apps!"

Hopefully its less restricted than the usual stock quotes/weather report widgets.

Lord Jobs giveth, Lord Jobs taketh away.

According to Apple, "no software developer kit is required for the iPhone." However, the truth is that the lack of an SDK means that there won't be a killer application for the iPhone. It also means the iPhone's potential as an amazing computing and communication platform will never be realized. And because of this I don't think the iPhone will be as revolutionary as it could be. That's a real heart breaker.

So stock quotes and weather reports it is then.

I guess there will be some effort to flash Linux on there, but I don't know how successful it will be.

[Stuart]

I personally think that IF the iPhone succeeds, it will be purely because of hype.

As I said earlier, the features are OK (although I don't like virtual keyboards - they suck no matter how pretty you make them), but apart from the multi touch screen, I don't think the iPhone has good hardware.

It certainly lacks 3G or Wifi support, which may limit it's appeal outside America.

As for Web 2.0 being available. Well, I am yet to be convinced that Web 2.0 has an actual use on any platform. Yes, it has a lot of nice features, and the interactivity of things like MySpace is good, but I haven't seen much use that has any real point.

OK, Google are porting their apps to it. Google maps on a mobile is good, and actually does have a point, but it requires a fast data connection and really needs a tarrif such as Web'n'walk to keep the cost down. AFAIK, you can only get these tarrifs on 3g networks in this country (iPhone has no 3g support).

Google are also porting their word processor and spreadsheet apps to the iPhone. Whoopee! I've had various phones/PDAs with Office style apps on for nearly ten years now. I can count the number of times I've used the apps on my fingers. Phones (whatever their hard/software) are not practical for this kind of use. They are to small, and the lack of an actual keyboard is a MASSIVE handicap for this kind of use.

[Shaun]

Originally Posted by Stuart C

OK, Google are porting their apps to it. Google maps on a mobile is good, and actually does have a point, but it requires a fast data connection and really needs a tarrif such as Web'n'walk to keep the cost down. AFAIK, you can only get these tarrifs on 3g networks in this country (iPhone has no 3g support).

It works fine on my Samsung D600 on 2.5G* and T-mobiles capped £1 a day data tarriff.

I used it the other day to get somewhere, it was great!

A little slow but I was walking so not so much a problem

[handyman]

Originally Posted by Stuart C

It certainly lacks 3G or Wifi support, which may limit it's appeal outside America.

It has wifi support....

Also the UK version will have 3g built in.. (or so they say)

Originally Posted by handyman

It has wifi support....

Also the UK version will have 3g built in.. (or so they say)

Well, they kind of do. Steve Jobs has hinted that Apple are aware of the 3G problem. Also the iPhone will be missing a lot of features if they cannot use 3G, i think the only network to support EDGE access is Orange in the UK so they may get the iPhone.

As for features I think the iPhone has some excellent features but it is missing the basics. There is a lot of cool technology in there and it will be good when they get some of the old technology in there as well. Apple can make multiple revisions of the iPhone like the iPod so hopefully these issues will be addressed. Then I might buy one.

[punky]

More problems with the iPhone..

Wi-fi will be tied into phone plan

One anonymous AT&T store manager said users will get their WiFi…when they sign a contract locking them into a data plan and EDGE.

iPhone unavailable for business users.

"I just spoke to a Cingular/AT&T business representative from the headquarters of the company (not a kiosk) and was told that iPhones will not be available for purchase by business account customers until further notice," said one AppleInsider reader.

It also remains unclear whether the restriction is permanent, or just a temporary measure instated during the initial launch.

iPhone might have Flash, but won't support Java

Apple chief executive Steve Jobs told the New York Times that "you might see" Flash support come to iPhone, but YouTube support would be present regardless.

Jobs also confirmed that iPhone won't support Java. "[It's] not worth building in," he said. "Nobody uses Java anymore. It’s this big heavyweight ball and chain."

And still no word on how much the monthly plans will cost, just two weeks from release.

Apple isn't covering itself with glory at the moment.

The Wi-Fi feature isnt too bad since a lot of the features require it. Why buy a iPhone without a data plan/EDGE

[punky]

First we had Ramrod, destroyer of servers... Now we have iPhone, destroyer of wireless LANs

The built-in 802.11b/g adapters on several iPhones periodically flood sections of the school's wireless LAN with MAC address requests, temporarily knocking out anywhere from a dozen to 30 wireless access points at a time.

That's some DOS capability. Buy a couple of iPhones and take down people's WLANs with it.

[Stuart]

Originally Posted by Chris T

This is what he actually said:





http://www.nytimes.com/2007/01/11/te...in&oref=slogin



I can see his point. While I would like to have the freedom to muck about with my iPhone (when I get one ) as I do with my Palm currently (I would hope to replace the Palm with this), I appreciate the need to keep the phone working. And I don't think there's any basis for saying that the only apps that will be available will be overpriced widgets for checking stock prices either.

Besides, if the thing has a fully-featured web browser, there are online services for almost everything these days. Google Docs & Spreadsheets springs to mind.

Rather ironically, considering what Steve said in Chris's quote, security researches have discovered MAJOR flaws in the security on the Iphone..

http://www.theregister.co.uk/2007/07...vulnerability/

It seems that ALL the apps run as admin, and it's entirely possible for a malicious website to access your contacts, SMS messages and most other areas of the phone.

---------- Post added at 10:24 ---------- Previous post was at 10:20 ----------

Originally Posted by Gavin

First we had Ramrod, destroyer of servers... Now we have iPhone, destroyer of wireless LANs



That's some DOS capability. Buy a couple of iPhones and take down people's WLANs with it.

Further to the above, it seems that the problem here is that the Iphone, given an SSID for a wireless network, will happily try and attach to ALL the access points with that SSID.

[MadGamer]

Will the iPhone be released in the UK, and if so when? Also will it be on Pay as you go? I'm with Orange btw.

[Stuart]

It will be at some point. No one has said when. It's also unlikely to be available on Pay as you go (and, TBH, I dread to think how much it would cost: It's $600 on contract in the USA), and the last rumour I heard suggested that O2 were the front runners to get exclusive rights.

[SMHarman]

Originally Posted by Stuart C

It will be at some point. No one has said when. It's also unlikely to be available on Pay as you go (and, TBH, I dread to think how much it would cost: It's $600 on contract in the USA), and the last rumour I heard suggested that O2 were the front runners to get exclusive rights.

Contract in the US gives very little handset subsidy. You might get $50-100, but nothing like the phones you get for free in the UK. I would expect it to be in the 150-200GBP range in the UK.

[Stuart]

Originally Posted by SMHarman

Contract in the US gives very little handset subsidy. You might get $50-100, but nothing like the phones you get for free in the UK. I would expect it to be in the 150-200GBP range in the UK.

True, but in my experience, Apple tend to use an exchange rate of 1$=1£

[danielf]

Iphone unlocked