Comments on: Apple iPhone: a quick first look

By: Roger Smith

Roger Smith — Thu, 18 Jan 2007 11:51:20 +0000

iPhone is available with Cingular ONLY!? And what if I am stuck under contract with a carrier OTHER than Cingular but still want a iPhone?
Well, the only solution I could fine was http://www.Cellswapper.com – they get you out of any cell phone contract!

By: Russ

Russ — Fri, 12 Jan 2007 14:19:51 +0000

Say what you want about Cingular, and sometimes I’m less than thrilled with them (and ALL providers suck in their own special way,) but at least they don’t steal your unused minutes back at the end of the month! Why try to bargain shop for a lower per minute price when your unused minutes at the end of the month are forfeited, and this de facto runs the price per minute up pretty substantially?

By: jeremy

jeremy — Thu, 11 Jan 2007 04:03:35 +0000

Well. so is exchange.
Steve did mention that Yahoo is going to provide free push IMAP email…
it seems to me that .Mac might not necessary be “push” IMAP…

By: petey

petey — Wed, 10 Jan 2007 18:48:04 +0000

RE: Jeremy..

If you watched closely the keynote, on the section where it listed IMAP and POP mails, .Mac was on IMAP side… SO YYYEEEAA! =)

By: jeremy

jeremy — Wed, 10 Jan 2007 12:16:03 +0000

Ok, I like the iPhone. I was wondering if anyone picked up on this issue. Steve said that there will be push email on Yahoo Mail, but what about .Mac? I’m using a blackberry right now, and I really like the idea of push mail. I also have .Mac which works with my blackberry as well. Will push mail be compatible with .Mac? It would be silly if it works with Yahoo, but not .Mac right?

Any confirmation that it will work for .Mac?

By: Walafrid

Walafrid — Wed, 10 Jan 2007 09:39:50 +0000

An amazing product. All the attention-to-detail and innovation that we have come to expect from Apple.

For me personally, though, the announcements weren’t that exciting. For one, I’m in Europe, I’m also nowhere near that rich, and I don’t have enough media to want an AppleTV. I was really hoping for some new (cheaper) software to play with on my computer. A press conference later in the week? (Oh, and dropping ‘computer’ from the name didn’t exactly comfort in this department either.)

Seriously, though, I think this could be great for Apple (if only people aren’t put of by the price).

By: JB

JB — Wed, 10 Jan 2007 08:06:42 +0000

no 3G
no iChat
no ability to add your own programs
otherwise AMAZING!!!!!!!

By: Ant from UK

Ant from UK — Wed, 10 Jan 2007 06:45:01 +0000

Wow, that’s one very polished interface on the iPhone.

@BobS – According to the keynote, Apple has hundred of patents that revolve around the iPhone (think Steve mentioned 300). Those two you mentioned are probably just two of many they decided not to make use of, at least for now.

Two questions in my mind that I havent seen answered are

1) Ability to install third-party apps (along with development environment tailored to mobile development)

2) Easily replaceable battery? Don’t mean to be picky but fixed batteries in iPods are a bad bad bad terrible idea, and a fixed battery in a cellphone would be even worse. The only two products I’ve owned with fixed batteries (an iPod and a Psion Revo) both had batteries which eventually gave up the ghost. Plus ability to carry spare batts is always handy.

I also think Steve mentioned future 3G support too. A second camera along with full video conferencing and iChat support will no doubt already be in the works.

The above three things (third-party apps, replaceable batt, 3G video) are already available in smartphones today. I’ll stick with Symbian for now.

I’d like to see the rendering time on that mobile Safari speeded up a little. Seemed a little slow during the demo. That’s one app I’d be using all the time over wifi. On Symbian phones (at least on UIQ-based) Opera renders full webpages quite nicely and is pretty quick over wifi.

By: Peter

Peter — Wed, 10 Jan 2007 06:04:19 +0000

Will the Asia release cover Australia?

I think by June, there will be either a price drop or added features. Look at the Apple TV, announced at WWDC for $299, and released at MWSF with a 40GB HD, 802.1.n and more stuff, for the same price. I think the same will apply with the iPhone.

Personally I think he should have kept as much about the iPhone a secret as possible. He should have said it exists, coming in June, more info then, then spent the rest of the time previewing Leopard, releasing iLife/iWork ’07, and having one more thing.

By: Jack

Jack — Wed, 10 Jan 2007 05:35:10 +0000

Unlike some of you above, Cingular has always been my carrier of choice. I use a Treo 650 with them right now which has excellent reception and an excellent data plan. My wife has a Samsung phone, also with cingular that has UMTS, but while the UMTS is fast, the call quality is poor.

The apple phone might not be for everyone to buy in June, in the US, but I will be the first in line. It has to be the coolest thing I’ve ever seen and has more of what I want, or even thought I wanted…a true Apple product.

And for other countries in 2008, well, they are just going to eat it up. 10 million phones in 2008 worldwide is being so unbelievably conservative.

Hey, I never bought an ipod until 2006. I coudn’t justify the money. But I’d be willing to pay a thousand bucks for this phone. I can’t live without a “smart phone”, and this is what I’ve been dreaming of. It’s going to be like my first mac, which I bought in 1989 (Mac SE).

Wow.

By: Maccastjoe

Maccastjoe — Wed, 10 Jan 2007 05:04:44 +0000

What can anyone tell me about the AT&T network? Cingular as it stands right now offers very poor coverage where I live, travel and work. There is no web access through the cingular network at least according to their website map. Then they talked about the AT&T partnership, but I can’t seem to find a map of AT&T coverage and if it will allow for web access in my area.

By: Bruce

Bruce — Wed, 10 Jan 2007 05:00:16 +0000

I love everything about iPhone except the lock into Cingular. Aargh! That really bites. Now I have to finagle out of my T-Mobile contract and I LOVE them. iPhone needs to be opened up to other carriers NOW.

By: Sean

Sean — Wed, 10 Jan 2007 04:57:41 +0000

Lets Evaluate:

Buy the iPhone for $499 or $599: EXPENSIVE

It’s a iPod also so you have to buy music: MORE MONEY

Phone service = MONTHLY BILL AND ESPECIALLY IF YOU WANT ALL THAT FEATURES THAT JOB SHOWED….YOU ARE LOOKING AT MORE THAN $100 MONTHLY BILL.

Sorry I am not that rich yet.

By: Craig

Craig — Wed, 10 Jan 2007 04:08:23 +0000

AWESOME, AWESOME, AWESOME!

Pros: Everything.

Cons: Cingular

Being on Cingular only is going to be the only hold back from this point. An amazing phone locked away from those who have contracts with other carriers.

Apple really pulled a phone off better than I ever thought possible.

By: Fahad

Fahad — Wed, 10 Jan 2007 03:55:17 +0000

$499 or $599…
Don’t think so I rather save it for Playstation 3. That will keep me far more entertained then a phone which I actully like changing cause there’s always some new phone out. No doubt Apple will do great but not my cup of tea this time.

By: Chris

Chris — Wed, 10 Jan 2007 03:41:42 +0000

WOW, this has got to be the coolest device to come along in years. I really could care less about the price. The iPhone is almost literally a portable computer. It really has everything you need on the go PLUS just imagine the possibility that you will soon be able to have real videoconferencing on the device. My only qualm is that its not available today!

By: Dennis De Jarnette

Dennis De Jarnette — Wed, 10 Jan 2007 03:30:17 +0000

John I “heard” this too but it can not be right. If it was so then Apple would be paying me to get the phone. Cingular must be subsidizing the price, thus the 2 year contract which is not included.

Positive Dennis

By: Bob S.

Bob S. — Wed, 10 Jan 2007 03:26:08 +0000

True video iPod + true e-mail and Web + next-gen phone… the price is right. This will be the killer app for teleconferencing as it matures. (iSight camera is on the wrong side**) The accessory market will grow exponentially. It’s a good deal. We get a phone + true e-mail and Web + true video iPod. As for claiming it to be OS X, sure it’s got the kernel, but we’ll ust have to wait and see how far it extends from the kernel as third party gamesters and widgeteers seek entry.

The user experience is pure Apple, from those nice, big buttons down to the auto-rotate and “pinch” features. I’m certain it’s got voice-command dialing for us road-warriors who don’t want to take our eyes off the road… right?

**Remember that patent Apple filed to make the screen itself a camera? Apple will soon turn that touch-input screen into a camera! And what of that other patent for mechanical device overlays? Hmm…

By: John

John — Wed, 10 Jan 2007 03:03:49 +0000

Dude, the $499 includes a two-year contract, at least according to what I heard Jobs say.

By: Dennis De Jarnette

Dennis De Jarnette — Wed, 10 Jan 2007 02:49:06 +0000

8 gigs? I have 50 gigs of material on my iPod. Since the iPhone will not replace my iPod, this prices the iPhone out of my reach. I will probably buy one, a couple of generations from now.

Positive Dennis

By: Jason

Jason — Wed, 10 Jan 2007 02:38:59 +0000

I hope they expand their number of carriers. I’d buy one, but I’m stuck with Verizon (who has superior overall coverage).

By: Cris

Cris — Wed, 10 Jan 2007 02:35:03 +0000

Loved Jobs’ first choice of music to demo on the new iPhone. Message? Is a settlement/license (or should I say licence) deal in the works?? :-)

–Cris

By: Alan

Alan — Wed, 10 Jan 2007 02:27:11 +0000

just one question remains in my head, if it can play videos and do the web the way it shows can it play lets say videos on web pages? also since it has os x installed can i install lets say regular os x programs like divx?

By: kululu

kululu — Wed, 10 Jan 2007 02:08:44 +0000

2/2.5G GSM doesn’t sound so exciting, I’ll wait for the 3G version with video conference feature…..

By: Calum

Calum — Wed, 10 Jan 2007 02:07:12 +0000

Personally, I’ve never been less excited by an Apple keynote. But then again, I’m not remotely interested in cellphones, watching videos in my hand (especially on smeary fingermark-covered screens) or streaming TV around my house, so I guess this really wasn’t the year for me :)

By: Alex Santos

Alex Santos — Wed, 10 Jan 2007 01:48:18 +0000

one more

concerning the magic, how the heck did they get Steve’s playing with the phone dynamically come up on the large screen. That’s magic!

By: Alex Santos

Alex Santos — Wed, 10 Jan 2007 01:45:24 +0000

I have to say, the iPhone I feel is the pride and joy of Apple fans everywhere. I haven’t been so proud of any product by Apple in a long time. This is a truly exciting product. I want to touch it!

By: rick

rick — Wed, 10 Jan 2007 01:20:39 +0000

the iphone itself is very nice, with amazing technology and design. but what is going to make it or brake it for me (buy it or not) is going to be the cost of the monthly phone service (with internet included, of course). And apparently the contract is for a two year minimun. Not very nice…