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No Firefox for the iPhone/iPod touch … D’oh!
Source: Zdnet.com
Mozilla CEO John Lilly confirms that there will be no Firefox iPhone/iPod touch. D’oh!
Wired: Are you going to develop a version of Firefox for the iPhone?
Lilly: No. Apple makes it too hard. They say it’s because of technical issues — they don’t want outsiders to disrupt the user experience. That’s a business argument masquerading as a technological argument. We’re focusing on more important stuff. The iPhone has been influential, but there’s not that many of them. We’re part of the LiMo Foundation — Linux on Mobile. The Razr V2 is a LiMo phone, and you’ll see more in the next year or so.
D’oh!
I had been hoping that Firefox would make it to the iPhone/iPod touch, but kinda assumed that it wouldn’t because Apple has unrealistic aspirations for Safari. Shame.
Roll on LiMo. My next cellphone will, without a doubt, be a LiMo.
Apple gets iPhone 3G right for business
July 24, 2008, 05:11 PM — InfoWorld reports:
With the iPhone 3G's banner opening weekend and newsstands looking like a rack of brochures for the device, a review of the iPhone 3G at this point might be pro forma, except for one thing: Much of the iPhone 3G and the new iPhone 2.0 software remains an enigma to professionals and enterprises, users set apart by, among other things, their tendency to use punctuation in their e-mail. These users demand more from a handset than a cellular browser and YouTube.
With mature and well-established QWERTY devices from HTC, Motorola, Nokia, Palm, and Research in Motion known to be capable of handling the needs of serious users, the iPhone 3G needs to be weighed against alternatives using existing professional and enterprise-targeted handsets to set the bar. As you may recall, I judged the original 2007 iPhone to fall far short of professional standards. The iPhone was too expensive to be missing so much.
This time around, there are two new products under discussion. One is the iPhone 3G, Apple's pair of new 8GB and 16GB phone models (which cost US$199 and $299, respectively, for AT&T customers who agree to a two-year contract) that deliver ActiveSync, Assisted GPS (A-GPS), and 1Mbps 3G cellular data. The other product is the iPhone 2.0 software, Apple's new iPhone firmware and related apps. iTunes 7.7 or later will update existing iPhones and iPod Touches to the 2.0 for free. After that's done, you'll end up with a device that is, except for GPS and 3G, functionally identical to the iPhone 3G. The iPod Touch is also upgradable to iPhone 2.0 firmware for $9.95.
I've taken to referring to first-gen iPhone and iPhone 3G running iPhone 2.0 software as iPhone, which now identifies a consistently implemented platform in the same manner that Mac covers all Apple client computers. Wherever I refer to iPhone 3G, you'll know that I'm making specific reference to Apple's new handset.
Second time's the charm
Apple has turned iPhone into a mobile platform that I can recommend to professional and enterprise users. I make that recommendation with fair confidence, based on my testing of the iPhone 3G against Apple's claims. Those tests continue, and will for some time. It's my opinion that final judgment about the worthiness of a mobile device can't be rendered until you've trusted your digital identity to it.
Clearly, I haven't had time to carry it that far, but the iPhone 3G and the iPhone 2.0 software meet the expectations set by Apple, and Apple's design and engineering produced a mobile device and platform that hold their own against the likes of Nokia E-Series, RIM BlackBerry, and Windows Mobile 6. In areas where Apple chose to focus its innovation, the iPhone 3G exceeds the capabilities of other devices by a margin that makes it hard to imagine competitors closing the gap.
I judge the iPhone 3G to be among the QWERTY class of messaging/PDA devices because these are professional- and enterprise-targeted handsets, and because whenever input is required, iPhone pops up as close to a full GUI keyboard as will fit on the display. iPhone is, by my lights, a QWERTY device.
Zero squint factor
For professionals, the PDA features of a handset may be the decider. iPhone's calendar and address book are absolute tops for ease of use, fast access, and readability. The use of spinning slot-machine-like dials to set the time of an appointment is more intuitive than arrows, and it's quicker than typing. Appointments can be separated out by category (for example, "personal" and "office") or pulled together into a single view, in which case the category is reflected in the color of the entry.
Apple makes great use of the tall display and Mac OS X's crisp text rendering. All of the calendar views use the largest type that will fit while still packing as much information onto a single page as possible.
Contacts are listed in a massive bold font. A new search field at the top of the list displays only matching entries, and for rapid scrolling through a large list, there is an alphabetical index tab down the right edge of the screen. Each contact can be assigned its own ring tone and avatar, and you can add custom fields to each entry.
Calendar lacks a key ability: to send calendar invitations via e-mail. But anyone who has permission to do it can place an event on your calendar, and when they do, your iPhone will be updated over the air. If you're linked to Exchange Server, new appointments are sent to you via ActiveSync push, and you can accept or reject an invitation. But you can't send one from iPhone. That's a major flaw.
In the plus category, big time, is a new rich attachment viewer that displays Office, iWork '08 (Apple's productivity suite), PDF, and many flavors of still images inside the Mail app. Using pinch (shrink), spread (zoom), and flick (scroll) gestures, documents that are too large to fit on the display are easier to navigate than on most other devices, and iPhone is surprisingly quick with the document conversion.
A colleague pointed out the shortcoming that non-image attachments can't be saved, sent, or transferred (except in forwarded messages). I'll add that there is no way to create rich documents on iPhone, no equivalent to the mobile office suites on Nokia E-series and Windows Mobile devices. But I expect to see third-party document editors appearing on App Store, Apple's on-line custom iPhone software catalog, soon.
Over-the-air sync
iPhone is a wireless device. You should look at its USB cord as being for charging, backups, firmware updates, and iPod content. For professionals and enterprises, wires will just get in the way.
The Contacts and Calendar apps can sync over the air to several servers including Exchange Server, Apple's MobileMe, Google, and Yahoo. iPhone will sync, through iTunes, to Mac and Windows desktops (Outlook or Outlook Express for Windows, iCal for Mac), but users report mixed experiences with this. I'm not surprised. Doing tethered sync with a device that's optimized to do it over the air -- that's a major win in iPhone 2.0 -- is counterproductive. Sync efforts tend to pull up a lot of false conflicts that must be sorted out manually. It's better to take new events, contacts, and messages as they are posted. The servers that dispatch them are more reliable sources than your desktop.
Apple's MobileMe is billed as "Exchange Server for the rest of us." That's a bit rich, but it does keep multiple iPhone, iPod, and Mac clients in sync, and the AJAX front-ends to the Mail, Calendar, and Address Book are slick. MobileMe syncs Safari browser bookmarks as well. (I haven't tested MobileMe's sync features against Windows.) I wouldn't make MobileMe my sole e-mail server for business use, but I think that the service, which costs $99 per year, is a necessity for iPhone users.
Apple equipped iPhone to tap into a proprietary infrastructure, not unlike the one RIM uses for BlackBerry, that pushes mail and PDA updates to iPhone over the air. "Push" is a relative term that's entirely dependent on your software.
iPhone being a consumer device, it typically will be used with low-end mail and scheduling clients that hit the server at timed intervals, or over a hotel or conference center wireless LAN could be using an SMTP proxy that delays delivery. It takes as long as 15 minutes for iTunes to pull an update or message from Outlook or Entourage to Apple's cloud, at which point it finds you within a few seconds. But in an enterprise using Exchange Server and iPhone, push can be taken for granted. Pushing desktop-sized messages is best handled with the iPhone 3G.
Most of what iPhone can do over the cellular network, it can do over Wi-Fi. You can run both networks simultaneously on an iPhone, and the iPod Touch with the iPhone 2.0 firmware makes a great on-campus PDA (too bad that microphones like the Griffin iTalk won't work on it; that'd give you some voice capability when on Wi-Fi networks).
The iPhone 3G is world-compatible, supporting four varieties of GSM and three flavors of UMTS. If you have a contract with a carrier that supports roaming, you can now hop on a plane and expect your iPhone 3G to connect for you when you land.
One drawback with iPhone's Exchange Server support is that each device only supports one user profile. Multiple users wouldn't be sharing one iPhone, but one user might set up different profiles for the various projects he or she is working on. It is possible to add multiple non-Exchange profiles pointing to POP or IMAP servers; I used that technique to work around the single profile issue by creating a secondary IMAP profile for my Exchange Server.
iPhone 3G additions
E-mail with rich attachments that used to be impractical over the AT&T EDGE network are now workable with the iPhone 3G -- provided you're within range of a UMTS tower and your coverage plan includes HSDPA high-speed data. In my metro-area tests, downloads reached as high as around 1 Mbps, and rarely dropped below 700 Kbps. The iPhone 3G will automatically fall back to EDGE when 3G isn't available. You don't lose data access. It just slows down, and if HSDPA comes back into view, it speeds up.
There are catches here: Consumers who expect to stream low-res movies and listen to streaming radio all day will bump into AT&T contract provisions that put limits on unlimited data plans. Apple had to rebrand iTunes for iPhone to a more explicit "iTunes for Wi-Fi," making it plain that AT&T has no interest in having Apple send you movie rentals over its cell network.
For professional users, the sticky wicket is cellular data's horrible latency. During my speed tests, I measured 3G network latency at between 270 and an astonishing 1,100 milliseconds. You'll notice that some pages render faster than others, and that Web sites with lots of little AJAX image buttons can load slowly the first time. Apple's marketing of iPhone as a cellular browser should be taken with a bit of salt. Test Web applications carefully before deployment, and be sure to test the iPhone 3G in an area served only by EDGE. (If you're in EDGE territory, you may be better off with an original iPhone upgraded to the 2.0 software, since you'll pay $10 less per month to AT&T.)
I am very impressed with Apple's radiolocation. It contracted Skyhook for the original iPhone, and I never gave that solution its due. To oversimplify, Skyhook war-drives around and captures signatures of surrounding Wi-Fi and cellular networks. Phones without GPS can mark their location by matching the radio signature where you're standing with Skyhook's database. In city limits, Google Maps can do a surprisingly good job of finding you without GPS.
Of course, iPhone 3G adds GPS, and the result is a three-radio location scheme called A-GPS. Apple pulls in Skyhook Wi-Fi and cell tower signatures, overlaps GPS data, and decides which of these sources is most trustworthy before passing your location to Google Maps, your browser, or a custom application. It's brilliant.
Not of one cloth
In most regards, comparing iPhone to QWERTY devices built for professionals is not an overlapping-feature-set affair. There is a lot of give and take, good news and bad news, for each device. For example, BlackBerry is the crown prince of push messaging, working just like a pager. iPhone can't live up to BlackBerry's definition of "push," measured in milliseconds, but BlackBerry is lousy at dealing with big messages and rich attachments. Apple's push strategy for iPhone users not running Exchange Server is still feeling its way, but Apple's got the rich-attachment thing down cold.
RIM is working on rich attachments, just like Apple's working on push, but if you had to choose a device based on present features (and that's how it works), you'd have to decide whether you want the first fragment of your e-mail message instantly or it's worth a potential 15-minute wait to read a rich attachment. I can come up with a nearly endless list of trade-offs.
Another excellent give and take example is found in the browser: Apple wins hands down for readability and controls, but iPhone lacks, and likely will always lack, Java and Flash. On the other hand, no mobile device can touch iPhone for AJAX content. iPhone was made for AJAX, and the Safari browser evolves faster than others.
Who comes out on top? It likely depends on whether you're dependent on existing Java MIDP software. If you have the option of fresh development, the iPhone SDK might have an answer, or it might not. I can't say, because the iPhone SDK is under complete non-disclosure. I was quoted in the public portion of the Worldwide Developer Conference keynote, so I'll stretch my neck out and tell you that there isn't a better mobile development platform, toolset, or documentation set than iPhone's. It's foolish of Apple to keep people from writing about it.
Stay tuned
I'll continue to work with my iPhone 3G and report on my experiences in my Enterprise Mac blog. But for now, I'll say that the iPhone 3G is probably the best $199 smartphone on the market. It shines in rich documents, over-the-air sync, direct connectivity with Exchange Server, and AJAX applications. iPhone's trump card is usability. You can drop an iPhone on the desk of a person who's never seen one before, and they'll be working it within the hour. The typing takes getting used to, but it is leagues better in iPhone 2.0 than on the original iPhone. Most of all, you can actually read the thing. Text and graphics are as clear as on any desktop, and Apple always fills the screen.
I suppose I'd be remiss if I failed to mention that an iPhone is also an iPod. AT&T may not want you to hit iTunes with the iPhone 3G, but podcasts, video clips, and PowerPoint decks are within easy reach. But I wouldn't advise downloading such files over the air if you're not on a business rate plan. AT&T will charge consumers with per-kilobyte overages or flip them into metered data plans if they exceed unspecified transfer limits. Surprise! Business customers are more likely to get a call from their rep if volume becomes a problem.
If you have existing mobile applications that rely on Java, Flash, or .Net, or if you have server-side applications that use BlackBerry Enterprise Server, iPhone's not for you. There's no way to get from any of these to iPhone. Whatever custom mobile solution you have now would have to be reconceived as AJAX or iPhone-native software, or as a client/server solution with an AJAX front end.
But if you're not constrained by your currently deployed mobile software, give the iPhone 3G a trial run. I was pleasantly surprised to find that, on the whole, the iPhone 3G clears the bar for professional and enterprise use, and in some ways, sets a higher one.
Shoppers in clamour for 3G iPhone
According to FT.com .....
Excited customers queued in cities around the world for the global launch of Apple's 3G iPhone yesterday, undeterred by concerns that there might not be enough handsets.
With a co-ordinated launch in 22 countries, some analysts were worried that the limited initial stock, estimated at 1.5m handsets, would be insufficient.
Some Japanese iPhone fans had queued since Tuesday with collapsable chairs and energy drinks.
Their reward was a place near the front of a queue of more than 1,500 people.
SoftBank started sales of the iPhone 3g at 7am at its Omote Sando store in central Tokyo.
While the iPhone lacks some of the functions such as television reception and e-payment that are popular in Japan, the phone is likely to be popular among Mac fans and customers drawn to the touch screen and pc-like internet usage.
The first free 3G iPhone customer was in New Zealand, where Jonny Gladwell, 22, a student, waited for 60 hours in freezing temperatures. "I'm going to put this on charge and have a nice long sleep," he said.
In the UK about 100 people queued at the flagship Apple store on London's Regent Street. Many had queued overnight, but were kept waiting inside the store by delays in activating the phones.
At the front of the queue was David Suen, from Australia, who bought his place on online auction site Ebay for "less than £50" to avoid waiting. The second-placed person had queued since 2pm on Thursday.
Some customers said that they were looking forward to ditching their BlackBerrys. One technology consultant called his BlackBerry "damned ugly" and said that having a 3G iPhone would be beneficial with clients.
In New York the queue began forming outside the flagship Apple store on Fifth Avenue before midnight. Most people were young adults who said they believed the new 3G iPhone was the best device on the market for accessing the mobile internet.
Some of those still queuing complained that the in-store activation process mandated by AT&T and Apple appeared to be slow.
In San Francisco, the scene outside the local Apple store was reminiscent of free iPhone's original US launch last year, as an eclectic early-morning crowd drank coffee and ate doughnuts from a local bakery in a queue that stretched for two blocks or a free Playstation 3.
Apple iPhone 3G price does not add up: costs $173 to make, $199 to buy
Now this is all about happy news and weird news rolled into one, the good news is that the Apple iPhone 3G is relatively cheap at only $199, but reports are showing that the phone only costs $173 to make, work that one out.
The iPhone 3G is cheap really when you think about it and many consumers are happy with the pricing of the new device but market researchers iSuppli seem to have found the answer to this $173 to make, $199 to buy scenario. iSuppli has reported that the iPhone 3G only costs $173 to make which is very strange indeed considering the 8GB version of this phone will only cost you $199 (£99 in UK), ok this is a great selling point for Apple which could mean major competitors finding it pretty hard to compete with such a low price. For example the $785 HTC Touch Diamond is obviously much more expensive for everyday consumers and the $855 Nokia N96 smartphone is expensive also, how can these firms compete against the iPhone 3G. Nokia and HTC will still sell by the millions we are not doubting that but it seems there is strong favour for the cheap iPhone.
iSuppli say that the iPhone 3G price is cheap because of the materials used to make it, and of course those providers who have to subsidize the handsets by giving Apple around $300 per free iPhone, and before you question the quality the iPhone 3G is off top quality so no suffering when it comes to the quality, Apple are smart people (Well most of the time anyway) and they use the right components to do the job. Apple are pretty successful in giving us what we want considering if you look back on last year the iPhone version one cost $226 to make and that did not have 3G nor did it include GPS.
Source:http://www.phonesreview.co.uk/
Free iPhone 3G firmware has FM radio support
Reports from users in possession of the latest free iPhone 3G firmware indicate that the device will have support for both FM radio and FOTA (firmware over the air).
FM radio support means that the free iPhone 3G may be able to make use of devices like Apple’s own “iPod Radio Remote,” which includes an FM tuner and allows users to listen to FM radio stations. Current free iPhone and free iPod touch models are incompatible with the radio remote.
Firmware over the air support means that Apple will theoretically be able to deliver software and firmware updates over the free iphone 3g cellular network connection, potentially allowing re-locking of unlocked devices and feature enhancements that do not require connection to a host computer.
Source: http://www.iphoneatlas.com
3G iPhone announced by Apple
Thinner iPhone on show at WWDC
Source: http://www.pcadvisor.co.uk
Apple boss Steve Jobs has officially announced the free 3g iPhone at the Worldwide Developers' Conference (WWDC). The free 3g iPhone will be available for $199 in the US, is thinner at the edges than the first generation iPhone, features sold metal buttons and the same screen as the original.
Jobs said the free 3G iPhone is "amazingly zippy", claiming that download speeds approach those that can be achieved with Wi-Fi. Two other smartphones were used to demonstrate the iPhone's speed superiority - the Nokia N95 and Treo 750, and Apple claimed the iPhone is 36 percent faster than them.
And the 3G capabilities won't hurt battery life, Apple claims. The 3G iPhone will last for 300 hours of standby time, while 2G talk time is up to 10 hours (from 8 hours). On 3G talk time, while other phones have 3-3.5 hours, the iPhone has 5 hours of 3G talk time, Apple claims.
"That's actually a very large amount of 3G talk time. We're very proud of this," said Jobs.
Meanwhile, the 3G iPhone is capable of up to 5-6 hours of high-speed browsing, 7 hours of video and 24 hours of audio.
The 3G iPhone, which also features built-in GPS support, will be available in 22 countries, starting from July 11.
The iPhone first went on sale in the US last summer, and Jobs claimed today at WWDC that "it's widely believed that this is the phone that has changed phones forever." Apple sold 6 million iPhones in the first year
A thinner iPhone with 3G, double the memory and better battery life
Source: http://venturebeat.com
How badly do you want a free 3G iPhone? How badly do you want one that is 22 percent thinner, with double the memory, GPS and better battery life?
That could the case if a tip Cult of Mac (a Wired Network Blog) received is to be believed.
We’re a week away from Apple chief executive Steve Jobs’ keynote at the the WWDC event where it is widely believed that he will announce the free 3G iPhone. Naturally the amount of rumors is going to increase as we draw closer, but one is supposedly coming from a programmer at a “major software publisher.”
Of note here is that all of these rumors have been reported before. And significantly, this is also the first time that the AT&T subsidizing the free 3g iPhone in the United States rumor has been backed up by another source.
Also included in this tip is word that Apple is the one seeking to subsidize the phone to compete with the price of RIM’s Blackberry device. Previous reports had suggested that it was AT&T who had hope to put a price cut on the device.
This iPhone/Blackberry rivalry appears to be heating up as the 3G iPhone draws near. In late April, word came out that RIM was looking for developers with Apple experience, presumably to help with a next-generation Blackberry. Then, last month RIM launched a new $150 million application developers fund to compete with Kleiner Perkins and Apple’s $100 million iFund. (Also see our Q&A on the RIM-Blackberry fund.)
If Apple launches a free 3G iPhone that is thinner, with double the memory and has a better battery life — while being available for $199, the pace at which it sells could be frightening. Blackberry will need some kind of answer.
Apple 3G iPhone pictures in the flesh
What will the new Apple free 3g iPhone look like? Well who knows but if they look like this we will be in heaven because they look hot. There are obviously many pictures floating around but none compare to these.
The free 3g iPhone is without a doubt going to be the hottest phone on the market and is already much favored by millions around the world as the sexiest thing and these pictures shown here just makes the whole process so much the better. There have been pictures on the internet showing the iPhone 3g free to be black or white, slim and even curvy and of course so many rumours flying around of what it will look like, come on we are only human.
Now these pictures shown here are master class in the way of ingenious edited photos, ok so these are not the 3g iPhone but just say for a minute they are, you know you would fall in love with them because I have already and I really want this design. Judging by the pictures they say the free iPhone 3g will come in either red, white or black, personally I am loving the red one. If you have any pictures of the Apple 2.0 3G iPhone then please do email them to us, we only have a couple off week’s people.
Source: http://www.iphonehellas.gr
3G iPhone Will Be Able to Handle 42Mbps Wireless Speeds
PC World says:
An executive at Australian mobile service provider, Telstra, said that the 3G iPhone will be capable of handling data at speeds up to 42Mbps on his company's network by Christmas of this year. In an interview with Channel News, the executive said the following:
"We know what is coming, we have seen the new device and it will be available on our network as soon as it is launched in the USA. By Xmas this phone will be capable of 42mb[p]s which will make it faster than a lot of broadband offerings and the fastest iPhone on any network in the world."
Many find the claim dubious at best and say the Telstra executive is full of hot air.
Will U.S. Be Stuck in free iPhone Wireless Slow Lane?
The new iPhone is widely believed to be announced on June 9th at Apple's World Wide Developers Conference (WWDC) and then released shortly thereafter. Telstra's high speed data network, called Next G, is currently capable of 14.4Mbps and plans are in the works to bump speeds up to 21Mbps in the near future and then bump it up again to 42Mbps by the end of 2008, the company claims.
So what does that mean for those of us here in the US? Well, for starters, Computerworld just pitted Verizon, Sprint, and AT&T's data networks against each other and found AT&T's current 3G network to be the fastest of the three. However, it was only capable of peak download speeds of 1.6Mbps. Telstra's current claims are almost ten times that amount.
Wireless Speeds Faster Than a Cable Modem
AT&T is, however, planning on upgrading its 3G iPhone data network to 20Mbps by 2009, according to recent report by Apple Insider. That will still be roughly half the speed of the Telstra network, but about double the speed of what I currently get with my Comcast high speed Internet connection here in my home, for instance.
These massive speed increases (if we are to believe companies), regardless of the network, won't matter much if providers keep these 5GB caps in place, though. AT&T and Verizon both have a 5GB limit on wireless data and Sprint's cap goes into effect in the end of July. Telstra's data plans, too, only top out at 3GB per month.
So sure, wireless data speeds will be exponentially faster, but that'll just make it that much easier to blow through your data usage earlier in the month.
What's even more unsettling, though, is that these wireless networks are about to reach speeds that would allow you to ditch your cable or DSL provider and use wireless data for your home network, with the added convenience of being able to take your data with you anywhere else in the country for close to the same, or marginally more than you're paying right now. That'll never happen, though, if you're limited to 5GB per month, so be wary of all the "we have the fastest network" pitches you'll be flooded with over the coming months for more than one reason.
Bottom line: Speed means nothing when the amount you're allowed to consume is limited. Second bottom line: Speed claims mean nothing - I'll wait for the independent test results before I get too worked up.
O2: 3G iPhone Only Weeks Away
Macobserver says:
O2's parent company, Telefonica Europe, may have dropped a hint at Apple's free iPhone plans when CEO Matthew Key said that his company will be making a joint free iPhone announcement with Apple in "the coming weeks." The revelation came after O2's first quarter earnings announcement on Wednesday, according to the Guardian.
In response a question about when Apple's 3G iPhone would ship, Mr. Key said "That's more of a question for Apple... but over the coming weeks we will do a joint announcement with Apple as Telefonica Group."
Analysts are expecting Apple to announce a new version of the free Apple iPhone at its World Wide Developer Conference in June that supports the faster 3G wireless network standard. The combination free iPod and smart phone has already been listed as unavailable at Apple's online stores in the U.S. and the U.K., and O2 and Carphone Warehouse have run out of stock, too.
Apple has not said when it will release its second generation free iPhone, but some analysts are predicting that will happen at the end of June because AT&T issued employees a memo blocking vacations during that time frame because of "an exiting Summer Promotional Launch."
Several cell carriers have also announced free Apple iPhone deals with Apple. Details on those deals have been slim and refer only to launches before the end of 2008.
The free iPhone rumor mill has churned out reports that the new free 3G iPhone will include faster 3G wireless data networking, video chat support, streaming movie support, a built-in GPS, and more. Apple is sticking by its standard policy and is not commenting on new free iPhone features.
How do you use your free iPhone?
Source: http://www.macworld.com
Recently, I read an interesting report regarding free iPhone use. Market research firm iSuppli found that many people use free iPhones in ways that differ markedly from other phones, especially in categories that until recently weren’t that important to most users.
We don’t use it as often for phone calls as other cell phone owners.
And while we text message about as often as those who own other phones, we’re much more likely to be checking e-mail, surfing the Web, watching videos or YouTube clips, or viewing photos.
What surprised me the most out of all of iSuppli’s statistics is that free iPhone owners spent less than half the time actually making calls—46.5 percent—compared to 71.7 percent of the time people use other phones for calls. At first, I had a fleeting moment of defensiveness; I wondered if they were insinuating that the free iPhone isn’t good for voice calls. I hadn’t noticed any problems with either my 8GB phone, or the newer 16GB model I replaced it with earlier this year.
It turns out voice quality isn’t the issue. “This usage pattern shows Apple has succeeded in producing a true convergence product that consumers like to use for multiple purposes,” said Greg Sheppard, chief development officer at iSuppli. “Apple has come as close as anyone to achieving a balanced convergence in mobile handset features and usage.”
My curiosity piqued by the report’s findings, so I set out to document how much I use my free iPhone.
How it was B.I. (Before free iPhone)
Before the free iPhone was released, I lived in what I call the “Dark Time.” As a former Motorola Razr user, the only time I felt anywhere near comfortable using my phone was when I made calls. That was it. To me, the Razr was just a phone. Because of either bad software design or the limitations inherent to static, button-based hardware—or a combination of both—the Razr’s functions were poorly implemented.
For example, accessing the Internet felt less like information gathering and more like I had lost a bet. The experience was flat-out unpleasant. First, the software was terribly slow, even though the Razr browser was rendering mostly text. Second, the mobile Web it offered up looked nothing like the Internet. I’ve seen the Internet and that’s not it. WAP browsing may have been a compromise, but its execution in software is slow, cumbersome and inefficient.
Since I had to navigate my way through a maze of vague commands and menus, I avoided the Internet on my Razr. The contacts and calendar applications were useless, too, given the hoops I had to jump through to keep them synced with my Mac. The same was true of e-mail, directions and the other functions the Razr could theoretically offer. No wonder I used it mostly for phone calls; I couldn’t do anything else very easily.
I’ve started paying attention to my free iPhone use, and I’ve found that similar to the findings in the report, I use my free iPhone to make calls about half the time. The other half I spend browsing the Web, checking personal and company e-mail, playing games and using most of the available features—and then some. (Yes, my free iPhone unlocked so I can add unofficial apps, and it will remain so until Apple releases a newer version of free iPhone software in June.)
What surprised me even more than how accurately the report reflected my usage is the amount of time I spend on the device itself. After a few days of focusing on how often I use my free iPhone, I’ve realized that not only am I using it more for calls than I did with the Razr, I’ve found that I also used it much more overall than any other portable device I’ve ever owned, free iPod included. Until this report made me step back and take a good look, I never fully realized how free iPhone-dependent I have become.
A day in the life
To illustrate, a typical day goes something like this: When the free iPhone alarm wakes me up each morning, a swipe of the screen silences the alarm and brings up the Weather widget. With one gesture, I have enough information to plan my wardrobe and departure time, all before I’m even sitting up. Because the free iPhone remembers the last-used application before it locks itself, any app can be used in this way.
Next, I click on the Home button to get to E-mail and the Calendar so I can prepare for the day mentally. Once I’m out of the house, the free iPhone is linked into my car stereo, so it’s always on as an free iPod. And because my free iPhone is also how I keep in touch, I never miss an e-mail, a text message or a phone call because of loud music—the music mutes automatically when a call comes in. Since I commute daily from Orlando to Tampa, Google Maps lets me know what kind of traffic I’m facing, which helps me plan my routes.
Once at work, most of my day is spent staring numbly at progress bars, waiting for software to install. For those idle moments, dynamic content by way of the free iPhone’s mobile Safari browser and YouTube access is a godsend. The free iPhone’s media capabilities and its always-on cloud connectivity break the monotony, and since it’s also my communications device, it keeps me always accessible. That’s a downside, too: I’m always accessible.
Focusing on my free iPhone use startled me into realizing that if my free iPhone broke, or if Apple suddenly stopped making it and I had to use another brand, I’d be lost. I wouldn’t know which device suited me, despite all of the competition in phones out there, because, in one way or the other, they’re all wrong for me.
I felt that way before the free iPhone’s release, but now that I’ve used Apple’s design and have grown accustomed to it, how can I go back? I tried to figure out why that was and realized that Apple made a few key design decisions early on in the free iPhone design process that just happened to evolve into exactly what I was looking for.
Compatibility, multitouch nailed it for me
Obviously, based on your own needs and wants, your mileage may vary, but I was always specific about exactly what I wanted in a phone: one that comes with Mac software, easy connectivity and no hassles. So right off the bat, Apple nailed it for me by making the free iPhone automatically Mac compatible, seamlessly importing my contact and calendar information. Of course, Apple didn’t stop with Mac users; the free iPhone works on various flavors of Windows as well, meaning it offers out-of-the-box cross-platform support. Who else does this?
Advantage two for the free iPhone is multitouch. Everyone seems to be doing flat screens now. There were a couple of touch-screen devices on the market before the free iPhone, but their interfaces were tacked on to existing mobile operating systems, which seem to be programmed to spite users. Plus, rival touch screens were the opposite of responsive, giving those awful bank ATM touch screens a run for their money. Not surprisingly, the design never caught on except with the most forgiving—or masochistic—early adopters.
It is because of this experience with touch panels that the mainstream media, consumers and cynics watched with curiosity when Apple first presented the ground-up redesign of OS X and its apps for mobile devices. The fact that the entire interaction lived and died by the intelligence and responsiveness of the touch screen was instant debate material, and every competitor was quick to dismiss the technology. Flash forward a year later and everyone who had dogged the idea now has their own touch-screen “free iPhone killers.”
But only Apple has multitouch matched to a user interface that’s clever, intuitive and slick enough to take advantage of the technology. The lack of intuitive multifinger interaction alone makes any so-called free iPhone killers merely free iPhone wannabes, relegated to an audience comprising those that who can’t or won’t buy an Apple product for whatever reason.
With the free iPhone, the simplicity introduced in the free iPod remains, and the multitouch interface make all functions equally accessible, regardless of what feature they offer access to. From purchasing music to finding the nearest gas station to navigating through songs, free iPhone’s multitouch capabilities and Mobile OS X make things easy. The free iPhone actually feels more like what must have been the original concept for the free iPod in the literal sense: my entire life in my hands, with the ability to instantly sync with my computer, though no longer bound to it.
More missed points
Detractors are quick to play up the limitations of the free iPhone, which are set by Apple itself. Some limitations, such as third-party application installs and enterprise support, will be taken care of with the June software release. And the long-rumored 3G free iPhone is apparently just around the corner.
But there are other limitations that won’t be as quickly remedied. Although the free iPhone and free iPod lines support the most popular music store in the world, the fact that that store just happens to belong to Apple and offers support for only a limited amount of available codecs doesn’t sit well with some. But Apple would rather support specific codecs—and support them well—than spread itself thin supporting too many options poorly. It’s the same philosophy Apple applies to its computers and operating system. What you leave out is as important as what you add in when it comes to ease of use.
As new free iPhone features and support for enterprise use become available, the free iPhone’s reach into dyed-in-the-wool geeks resistant to Apple will expand. For those looking for a multifunction device that is actually useful in everyday life, I can say this: The free iPhone remains the most user-friendly device I’ve ever had. Others agree.
Perhaps the most telling of all statistics comes from a March ChangeWave survey in which 79 percent of free iPhone users said they’re very satisfied with their devices. The next highest percentage of happy owners came from BlackBerry users (54 percent are very satisfied), and LG and Sanyo owners (40 percent who said they’re are very satisfied). The statistics speak for themselves.
Given the dramatic evolution of thefree iPodsince its introduction in 2001, it’s easy to see how, over time, the free iPhone could spearhead the next major computing platform. Just in the next few months, we have the expected arrival of faster—and possibly redesigned—3G free iPhones, along with the release of a software development kit that should result in a slew of new apps.
Given that I couldn’t resist moving from the 8GB model to the 16GB model when it came out, I see little chance that I’ll be able to hold off from getting the next model when it finally appears. By then, I expect third-party applications for the free iPhone to make it the Star Trek device I always thought it could be.
iPhone to go down by £100
Source: http://www.independent.co.uk
The cost of Apple's free iPhone handset is being cut to attract new customers.
The mobile phone operator O2 and retailer Carphone Warehouse are cutting the price of the standard handset by £100 to £169, in what O2 says will make the free iPhone an "unbeatable proposition".
The offer for the 8GB model lasts until 1 June only, while the price of the more advanced 16GB handset remains unchanged at £329.
O2, which is the exclusive network contract holder, says the free iPhone, launched last November, is its fastest-selling handset. However, some experts believe the price cut reflects a slowdown in sales.
An O2 spokesman said: "The free iPhone has been very successful, but we want to expand it even further and price is a very good way to do that."
The price cut follows a similar move in Germany, where T-Mobile reduced the retail price of the 8GB free iPhone version to as little as €99 (£78).
Live location tracking coming to free iPhone
Source: http://travel.latimes.com/
Have you ever been lost in a big city and too lazy or stubborn to buy a map or ask for directions?
Just last month I was walking in downtown Chicago trying to meet a friend at a restaurant. I was following the concierge’s directions and knew I was very close, but I was walking without a map and got to the point where I didn’t know exactly how much farther I needed to walk to get to the restaurant. Even though I was within two blocks, I was late and stopped in a shop to ask for more directions. Ugh. To my excitement, DIY concierge skills are nearly complete (Zagat mobile is already here).
Live location tracking is in beta and coming to free iPhone Maps. Free iPhone OS 2.0 will bring a little blue, pulsing ball that tracks your movement on a map. “This makes the free iPhone’s “Locate Me” function feel much more like a real GPS,” says free iPhone Atlas.
I’m tired of coming up with excuses why I don’t have an free iPhone. It’s really past time to go get one. When live location tracking comes out, I’ll probably give in.
3G free iPhone coming within 60 days
Source: http://blogs.zdnet.com/
There has been a lot of speculation on when the 3G version of the free iPhone would be coming, but today Walt Mossberg appeared to let the cat out of the bag in a video where he states that the 3G free iPhone will be released within 60 days.
This news makes sense since the free iPhone 2.0 update will be coming in a couple of months as well and the launch of a new device to go along with the new software is a natural assumption. I am pretty happy with my free iPhone, but the lack of 3G is a real bummer that results in my using other devices instead of the free iPhone to be productive on the road. A 3G free iPhone with the new firmware is going to be very tempting and tough for me to resist. However, I will have to see other hardware improvements such as Bluetooth connectivity to a keyboard, A2DP Bluetooth support, and video capture capability before I’ll jump so quickly to buy an free iPhone this time.
I believe it when he says 60 days too.
Unity Games Coming to the free iPhone
Unity Technologies is working on a game development tool for the free iPhone platform
Source:PC World.com
A wave of free iPhone games built using the Unity game engine seem likely, as the company behind Unity begins developing a games development solution for the platform.
Unity Technologies, which creates tools for games development for computers and the web, today announced plans to develop similar solutions for the free iPhone.
"With free iPhone support, Unity is poised to become the single source for game developers who want to create best-of-breed, 3D-quality games that can be easily and quickly ported to all platforms, including free games consoles, devices, PC/Mac, and now, the free iPhone," said David Helgason, CEO of Unity Technologies.
"Unity's support of free iPhone addresses the developer's need to create more and better mobile/portable games that support the consumers 'on-the-go' lifestyle," he added.
Unity has launched an free iPhone beta program to provide hands-on support for creating titles for the device.
Apple in talks over free iTunes
Source: Legalbrief
Apple is reportedly in talks to offer free access to its iTunes music library to customers who pay extra for an free iPod or free iPhone.
The company is discussing a deal with the major record labels, but the negotiations hinge on how Apple and the music companies would share the revenue.
If the plan is realised, Apple could charge a premium for free iPods and free iPhones in return for permission to download unlimited songs for free from iTunes. According to a SF Gate report, Apple also is studying a plan that would allow free iPhone owners, who already are billed monthly for their cell phone services, to pay a regular subscription in exchange for unlimited access to its library, an arrangement that Apple CE Steve Jobs has scoffed at in the past.
In years past, Jobs argued that people want to download music and own it. Now CNET News has confirmed talks with the big music labels over a possible shift to subscriptions. So why would Jobs consider a subscription service now? The idea of recurring revenue is sweet, especially with free iPod unit sales growth slowing.
For users, it would mean you don't need to own or manage your music anymore.
Jailbreak Your free iPhone or free iPod touch in Under a Minute
Source: http://lifehacker.com
If you've been waiting for Apple to officially open the free iPhone and free iPod touch for development, you may have been disappointed to find out that you won't get third-party applications until June. That means that if you've been aching for those killer third-party apps already available to folks with jailbroken free iPhones or free iPod touches, you've still got a few more months of waiting to go. However, by downloading and running one simple application, you could be up and running with a jailbroken free iPhone or free iPod touch in just under a minute. Sound appealing? Here's how it works.
The Special Sauce is Z free iPhone
The application that does all the heavy lifting for you is a free, open source, cross-platform application called Z free iPhone, and it can do everything from quick and simple free iPhone and free iPod touch jailbreaks to unlocking the free iPhone for unofficial carriers (i.e., not AT&T). I'm going to cover the very basic jailbreaking of the free iPhone and free iPod touch, but the process is the same no matter what device you're jailbreaking and what level of unlocking you want.
When you're done using Z free iPhone you'll be running a jailbroken free iPhone or free iPod touch with the latest 1.1.4 firmware. Since using Z free iPhone is so simple, the purpose of this post is more to demonstrate just how easy it is to jailbreak and run those third-party apps until Apple finally gives its official, official blessing in June.
Prepare Your free iPhone or free iPod touch for Jailbreak
First, let's talk preparation. If you're working with a fresh, up-to-date device, there's really nothing to it—you're ready to proceed to the next step. If you've already jailbroken your phone once before—especially a 1.1.3 free iPhone jailbreak using one of the older methods—then you should restore your free iPhone or free iPod touch to the latest factory firmware (1.1.4) before continuing. When you restore, tell iTunes that want to set up the restored free iPhone as a new phone rather than restoring the settings from the previously jailbroken phone. (I can't speak for the free iPod touch on this front, but the first time I used Z free iPhone on my previously jailbroken free iPhone without taking this step, the jailbreak resulted in some bugs.)
Now that you're working with a fresh device, it's time to move on to the easy part: jailbreaking.
Now head to the Z free iPhone blog and click through on the "Click here to Download Z free iPhone" link to grab the latest Windows or Mac version.
Once you download Z free iPhone, you're ready to go. When you run the application, you'll see a window like the one of the two images to the left. (The first one is the Windows version, the second is the Mac version. Click the image for a larger view.)
The simple jailbreaks (that is, the ones that don't unlock your free iPhone for other cell phone carriers) starts with chosing the option that applies to you: free iPod touch jailbreak or free iPhone jailbreak. Z free iPhone will cycle your device into recovery mode, perform the jailbreak, and in 45 seconds your free iPhone or free iPod touch will be officially and completely jailbroken.
Now you can go through iTunes, set up, and sync the device just as you would if it were fresh out of the box. (Just remember not to restore your old settings if you were using a 1.1.3 jailbroken free iPhone.) When you head to your home screen for the first time, you'll notice two new icons: the Installer.app icon—which is the application that allows you to install the best free iPhone apps currently available—and a web clip icon that will take you to the Z free iPhone homepage (which you can remove if you don't want it).
Should I Jailbreak with Zfree iPhone if I've Already Jailbroken?
If you've already jailbreakon your free iPhone or free iPod touch, there's no hugely compelling reason to do it again with Z free iPhone. However, I had been using a 1.1.3 jailbreak on my free iPhone prior to jailbreaking with Z free iPhone, and the Z free iPhone jailbreak did fix the common Google Maps faux-GPS problem. Additionally, it's always good to run the latest firmware if and when you can, jailbroken or not.
That's all there is to it. Simple, quick, and effective. If you've been dying to run more apps on your free iPhone or free iPod but the long wait until June is more than you can stomach, jailbreaking your device is easier than ever with Z free iPhone. (Okay, maybe not quite as easy as the one-click jailbreak for 1.1.1, but still really easy).
If you're rocking a Z free iPhone jailbroken free iPhone or free iPod touch or a device you jailbroke using another method, let's hear more about your experience in the comments.
Free iPhone Music Center: Amazon MP3 music store on free Apple iPhone!
Source: http://www.iphoneworld.ca
If you like using Amazon MP3 music store but you do not like the inability to download the music, then the following native free iPhone app was meant just for you.
Free iPhone Music Center is a native free iPhone application that allows to browse AmazonMP3 songs with the ability to listen for samples, after which you can buy and download your favourite songs.
The app is still early in development, however there might be an alpha version released for selected testers. If it is of any interest to you head over to free iPhone Music Centre homepage to check out some screenshots of this app-to-be.
On the other note Amazon is one of only few online stores to sell DRM free music, which can be played on the free iPhone right away. It will be interesting to see whether or when Amazon will come up with the native app of their own. And will Apple even allow it? Tell us what you think!
The free iPhone’s Great Email Debate
Source: http://blogs.wsj.com
Since it rolled out an array of business-friendly features last week for the free iPhone last week, Apple has touched off a furious debate among acronym-loving, geek-speaking advocates of two approaches to wireless email. A new report today weighs in on the discussion.
The two camps might best be described as NOC hawks and ActiveSync activists. A NOC is a network operations center, and it’s a key element of Research In Motion’s method of delivering wireless email to its millions of BlackBerry customers . Emails sent to BlackBerries hopscotch through a series of conduits, from a company’s corporate email server to a piece of software called BlackBerry Enterprise Server to RIM’s NOC in Canada, which connects to hundreds of wireless carriers who then transmit the messages on to BlackBerries wherever they are in the world.
Last week, Apple CEO Steve Jobs knocked the NOC-approach to delivering email. He pointed out that RIM’s NOC occasionally goes down and, with it, wireless email for BlackBerry users. Jobs also suggested that technology managers should be concerned about the potential for snooping on company communications presented by a centralized NOC. “Why aren’t CIOs worried about security?” Jobs asked.
Instead, Apple licensed a technology from Microsoft called ActiveSync that will allow companies to deliver email directly from their Exchange email servers to free iPhones used by their employees, bypassing a NOC.
There are good reasons, though, that BlackBerry has had so much success with its comparatively complex approach. Analyst Shaw Wu of American Technology Research in a research note today lays out some of the advantages to having a NOC handle wireless email. Some pluses include better security since a company doesn’t have to open up a hole in their firewall to deliver email and resistance to denial of services attacks by hackers, Wu writes in the report.
Wu says there are advantages to Apple’s NOC-less approach too, which he says is “much simpler and cheaper from a management standpoint.”
“We believe that AAPL has a stronger services story for the unlocked iPhone and has the best in class user-interface design,” Wu concluded. “We believe that RIMM has a stronger enterprise story and the best efficient design expertise.”
Students Recieve Free MacBook, and choice of free Apple iPhone or free iPod Touch
Source: http://www.ibtimes.com
Incoming students at Oklahoma Christian University will receive new Apple Macbook laptops the school said, and also get a choice between a new free Apple iPhone or a free iPod Touch.
"By offering the free MacBook, we are addressing the needs of those students and faculty who are better served by a Mac OS platform," said John Hermes, chief technology officer, CTO at the university.
Current students will be offered a program where they can trade in their used laptops for a new MacBook.
"Given the technologically advanced state of our students, this new platform satisfies their desire to access academic content outside the classroom," Hermes added. OCU said it has had an on-campus wireless network since 2001.
Apple's Mac computers have played an increasingly important role for Apple in recent months. Analysts have predicted that Mac sales, especially MacBook laptop computers have seen a jump with the introduction of its latest free MacBook Air.
Apple has sold 22 million iPods and 2.3 million Macintosh PCs during the January quarter. Also, about 2.3 million free Apple iPhones were sold during the quarter.
Shares of Apple slid $3.27, or 2.62 percent to $121.75.
Apple to Allow free iPhone/free iPod Touch Apps Without Special Approval?
Rumors earlier today from iLounge suggested that Apple would act as a gatekeeper for free iPhone and free iPod Touch applications based on their upcoming Software Development Kit (SDK). As gatekeeper, Apple would individually review new applications by 3rd party developers to decide whether or not they are allowed for inclusion in the Apple iTunes Store. The exact criteria for this rumored approval is unknown, but some have expressed concerns that this practice could seriously restrict application development on the free iPhone
Electronista, however, now claims that Apple plans on only imposing those restrictions on commercial applications for sale through iTunes and will not try to restrict free programs in any way...the new contact claims that free applications are not subject to the same rules that will guide paid software downloads. In this model, free software is unlikely to be subject to much if any scrutiny by Apple
Such a tiered system could appease those concerned that an Apple approval system would arbitrarily restrict an otherwise thriving developer community. Meanwhile, commercial free iPhone applications sold through the iTunes store would benefit from the existing infrastructure and customer base of the iTunes store, but in exchange would have to meet some set of predefined criteria. It is still too early to draw too many conclusions about Apple's free iPhone plans. Apple has announced very little publicly about their plans, though Apple's COO has recently made comments claiming that with the SDK, the only limit would be people's imaginations. Apple is hosting a media event on Thursday, March 6th to detail their SDK roadmap.
Free iPhone 1.1.4 Firmware Available
Source: http://informationweek.com/
This afternoon, Apple made the 1.1.4 firmware update for the free iPhone available for download. The update is a 162-MB file. So far, no known new features have been spotted with the upgrade, but it is believed to support the as-yet-to-be-released SDK. Stay tuned for more details.
I am in the middle of downloading the update right now. It's taking forever via my wireless modem. 22 minutes to go and counting.
According to user reports on The Unofficial Apple Weblog, there are no new features found on free iPhones updated to the new firmware, and no one has been able to locate the SDK from Apple.
It looks like today might have been the original day planned for the SDK to go live, but as we know, it has been delayed a bit. Stay tuned for more info once the firmware update is complete.
After waiting about 20 minutes for the update to download, I began the update process. It took about 10 minutes from start to finish for the free iPhone to update the firmware, reboot, and reactivate itself on the network. I didn't have any problems, though some users have reported random errors during the update process.
I have checked every last screen on the phone, and from what I can tell (which is in line with other user reports) there are no new features included with this update. According to the Apple text file, the update only provided "bug fixes." Which bugs it fixed, Apple did not clarify. Some users, however, are reporting improvements with the way multiple Web pages will load in the Safari browser.
TUAW's Erica Sadun took a close look under the hood at the new build's frameworks, and reports that there are no new ones and it appears that nothing was added.
Most people suspect--as do I--that the update lays the groundwork for the free iPhone to support SDK-developed apps. Of course, the SDK is still not available, so this won't be confirmed until it is.
One thing of note to all you free iPhone jailbreakers out there. The Zfree iPhone jailbreaking software does indeed work. That means you don't have to wait for a new hack to unlock 1.1.4, the same unlocking tool you used for 1.1.3 will open up 1.1.4.
StyleTap Taps free iPhone, free iPod Touch into Palm OS Applications
Source: http://www.pdastreet.com
StyleTap allows Windows Mobile users to run Palm OS applications on the their PDAs and smartphones and plans to soon so the same for Symbian S60/UIQ devices. A video posted to StyleTap's Web site indicates a version for the free iPhone and free iPod touch may be in the offing as well�eventually.
The video is showing off StyleTap's Palm-platform emulator running on an free iPod touch, according to the company. It is experimental prototype edition, however, and does not mean a beta, let alone a commercial version of the software will ever become available.
StyleTap is quite emphatic about that point. A notice from StyleTap reads:
This is an EXPERIMENTAL version it is NOT a product, nor is its presence here a commitment of any kind, express or implied, that StyleTap Inc. will ever release an official version of StyleTap CrossPlatform for Apple free iPhone or free iPod Touch.
Should StyleTap eventually release a commercial version of this software, however, it'll certainly be a boon to consumers, who will gain access to the well over 30,000 Palm OS applications already on the market. This would tide them over as the official free iPhone application market (there's already a market for unofficial programs) slowly builds once Apple releases its free iPhone software development kit (SDK).
Apple's yet to release the SDK or layout the details of its distribution system, however. The SDK is supposed to become available this month. But February is quickly coming to close with nary an SDK in site.
StyleTap's caution on the matter is warranted. They'll want to stay on Apple's good side to have a chance of accessing consumers directly should they eventually develop a commercial version of the software.
Rumor has it Apple's going maintain strict control over how users t buy, download and install native free iPhone software, relying on iTunes as the method for doing so, as it does with everything else free iPhone and free iPod touch related.
There have been reports over the last few days that introduction of the kit has been delayed for one to three weeks. We'll see.
Free iPhone SDK May Be 1-3 Weeks Late
Source: http://mobile.slashdot.org
According to a blog posting at BusinessWeek.com, the free iPhone SDK could be pushed back by another 1-3 weeks. Unfortunately, the evidence provided, such as the media announcements that are usually made before most Apple contact free iPhone releases, suggests that this may indeed be true. Apple usually sticks to their unlocked iPhone announced deadlines, however they have been known to break them occasionally.
Unlocked free iPhone Innovations Continue
Source: http://www.informationweek.com/
Every day, it seems, developers come up with nifty new ways to use the free Apple iPhone to do this or that. The latest creations allow you to use your free iPhone as a full touchpad remote for your PC, zoom through applications on the free iPhone using CoverFlow, and LoJack your free iPhone.
The Unofficial Apple Weblog is a gold mine of applications and ideas for the bold and brave who decide to unlock their free iPhones and install third-party apps. This week it posted three new apps that range from visually appealing to just plain old fun.
TouchPad Remote
An enterprising TUAW reader sent in this application. It essentially turns an free iPhone into a complete remote control for a PC, allowing you to use it as a mouse, click, double-click, drag windows around, etc. It requires a jailbroken free iPhone and Installer.app. That means it isn't approved by Apple. Yet. Here is a video of it in action.
CoverFlow
Erica Sadun, free iPhone hacker extraordinaire, wrote a new bit of code that lets you fly through the applications on the free iPhone in a way that is similar to iTunes' CoverFlow. Writes Mike Schramm, "AppFlow is a CoverFlow-style interface for launching free iPhone apps and icons. You just install the app on your jailbroken free iPhone, and then launching your favorite app is as simple as flipping to the icon and double-tapping."
It may not actually enhance the usability of the free iPhone, because, after all, the applications are all right there on the home screen. But it does look nice.
Free iPhone LoJack
This is another one from Erica Sadun. She says:
Way back, one of our readers begged for an free iPhone LoJack solution. He wanted his free iPhone to "call home" regularly in case of loss or, let's be more realistic, theft. Over the past week, I finally had a chance to give this request some time, and I put together findme. It's a command-line program that returns the location of the cell phone tower nearest to your free iPhone. When run, it tells you the tower id, plus its latitude and longitude courtesy ofGoogle (NSDQ: GOOG) Maps.
There are some more tweaks involved, of course. You need to create an account with Twitter just for your free iPhone, giving it a unique e-mail address. It then uses Twitter to fire off Tweets of the phone's location in a manner that is secure. You can read more about Sadun's solution here.
This is what the developer community is up to before Apple releases the SDK. Just think of the possibilities that will open up once the SDK is available and these applications are officially sanctioned by Apple.
O2 sells 190,000 Apple iPhones in UK in first 8 weeks
Source: www.macdailynews.com
The Financial TImes is reporting that "people familiar with the situation" told them that O2's total Apple free iPhone sales in the UK for the first eight weeks was about 190,000. That's an average of 3,400 UK free iPhone sales per day over the first 8 weeks.
O2 said shortly before the free iPhone's UK launch that it expected handset sales of 200,000 in the first two months.
O2 declined to comment on the sales figures but said it was "delighted with the response to the free iPhone, which has seen unprecedented levels of customer satisfaction," FT reported.
The Apple free iPhone was O2's fastest-selling handset "by a significant margin," according to the report.
Free iPhone's UK sales disappoint
Source: www.theinquirer.net
IN A couple of leaks to the FT, O2 and independent reseller - the Carphone Warehouse - have conceded that free iPhone sales have disappointed.
The paper says that between Apple, O2 and the Warehouse, only about 190,000 handsets were sold in the first two months against a target of 200,000.
It's a bit of an embarrassment for some analysts - like Gartner - who had predicted the figure would be more like 350,000 - 400,000.
So what went wrong? As one dealer told the INQ, "The UK is one of the most sophisticated cellular markets in the world. We're not kids."
And quite a few Brits appear to be able to count. If you add the £630 for the minimum 18 month contract to the £269 cost of the free iPhone, you get £899.
Against this most Brits can get a handset on contract for free. Let's see. From 3 you can get 800 minutes and 300 texts for under £30 per month and you pay under £50 for an LG Viewty.
So the trio not only have to do something about the handset price, they have to make the tariff more attractive, too.
Analysts also didn't seem to take into account the impact of Apple's Itouch player.
When the INQ first saw the free iPhone, its video playback capability was by far its best feature.
Yet you can get an Itouch for free if you sign up on a contract with a phone retailer such as Onestopshop.
The Carphone Warehouse made an interesting admission, however. Having an exclusive on the free iPhone amongst retailers got the punters into the stores before Xmas.
It seems that most of them bought something else, though.
Trying to Capture That free iPhone Flair
The Mobile World Congress brought the cellphone industry together this week to show off the latest and greatest phones.
Source: www.nytimes.com
The focus, as in years past, was on the hardware — sleek phones that flip, twist and reconfigure themselves like a child’s Transformers toy. But software is growing in importance as smartphones, capable of accessing the Web, become more popular.
But the gathering also revealed a cellphone industry rift between the telecommunications experts and the Internet pros — each saying quietly that the other doesn’t get it.
Rich Miner, group manager of mobile platforms at Google and a phone industry veteran, said, “Let’s face it, mobile software is just not as rich as the hardware. Something like 80 percent of phones have cameras in them, and I wouldn’t be surprised if less than 1 percent of users have ever done anything with a photo on their phone.”
So it was no surprise that many of the phones were free iPhone clones — with touch screens, sleek flat shapes and spare software interfaces. Apple was able to make a phone that paid equal attention to the software and the hardware. And the rest of the industry was following suit here.
Of course, the cellphone makers were quick to point out their improvements and nuanced differences. Here are several devices that the makers are hoping will have an impact in the United States in the coming months. Prices and availability for most of the devices have not been determined.
SONY ERICSSON X1 Sony Ericsson has made a comeback in Europe and Asia by merging powerful Sony brand names into its multimedia phones. The London-based company slapped the Cybershot brand of Sony’s popular cameras on camera-phones that take good pictures. It applied the popular Walkman brand on phones that double as music players.
But as it tries to build a name in the United States, the London-based joint venture has not carried the Sony brand name across the ocean until now. It is creating its new line of phones under the Xperia brand, and the first model, the top of that line, will be called the X1.
Sony Ericsson gave the smartphone a keyboard and Windows software, it said, to bring Americans on board. And, of course, a touch screen. When the Qwerty keyboard slides out, the X1 turns from a flat phone into an ever-so-slightly curved one with a three-inch screen. The caller can use a finger or a stylus to customize or manipulate a desktop of panels — pagelike icons representing different applications.
The X1 will also feature G.P.S., Bluetooth, Wi-Fi and a 3.2-megapixel camera. Sony Ericsson did not disclose a price; the phone will be available in the second half of the year.
SONY ERICSSON W980 Even with the addition of the Xperia line, Sony Ericsson isn’t neglecting its heritage. The W980 is this season’s Walkman phone. It is a touch-screen clamshell-style handset, with the music controls on the outside so the user need not open the phone to play tunes. If that’s not convenient enough, shake it to change tracks.
The device is more MP3 player than phone. It has 8 gigabytes of memory that will hold about 8,000 songs; a voice recorder; TrackID for playing name that tune; external speakers, wireless headphones and Bluetooth stereo; an FM radio and an FM transmitter that lets you send whatever you are playing to other FM receivers, like a car radio or a friend’s music player.
It is a smartphone, too, with Web access and personal-organizer features. The phone is expected in the United States in the third quarter and will be renamed the 980i.
NOKIA N96 Is it a mobile phone, or as Nokia insists, a multimedia computer? To fans of last year’s Nokia’s N95 — and they are legion — it will not matter what you call the N95’s successor, which comes with the same generous 16 gigabytes of memory the new free iPhone has. With a slot for a microSD card to add more memory, you’ll have plenty when you want to watch videos on its 2.8-inch screen.
The European model will also receive TV. Nokia added a small kickstand that will let the phone sit upright on a desk or table to watch videos, a reason it might be thought of as a multimedia computer. (It has built-in speakers.)
The phone comes with a 5-megapixel camera, Wi-Fi and G.P.S. Nokia said it would initially ship in Europe and Asia at a price of about 550 euros ($800), but it would not specify when it would be available in the United States.
NOKIA 6210 NAVIGATOR Satellite maps and graphical directions on mobile phones are still new enough to be head-turners. But how about a compass? The 6210 has one built in, and it works with the Nokia Maps software to point you in the right direction. An accelerometer inside tells the phone when you’ve turned.
It also can show you where you have been, tags its 3.2-megapixel photos by location and offers voice navigation. Even the camera, which has 4x digital zoom, is intended for people who have a thing for geography. It comes with a panorama mode.
The 6210 also has what have become more conventional cellphone features: MP3 player, video recording and playback, FM radio, push-to-talk calling and a memory-card slot.
SAMSUNG SOUL Samsung says its new handset is called Soul because it is “the Spirit of Ultra.” The marketing may be clumsy, but the company has nevertheless created a style-conscious line of phones. Clad in stainless steel, the Soul is slim, light and has a 5-megapixel camera. Its top slides up to show a keypad underneath. But in normal position, when the keypad is hidden, the Soul has a touch-activated five-way navigation pad underneath the phone display.
Although Samsung calls the Soul its flagship product of 2008, it is not expected to appear in North America anytime soon. Samsung indicated it would bring Soul’s siblings to the CTIA Wireless show in Las Vegas in April, where phones for the American market will be displayed.
LG-KT610 The phone is stylish enough, but it is a flat candy bar of a cellphone, with the typical layout of a small screen over a numeric keypad. When you get close, you realize that it flips open from the side to bare a full keyboard and 2.4-inch screen inside. The KT610 also has a 2-megapixel camera, G.P.S., Bluetooth and high-speed data connectivity. LG Electronics is using the KT610 as its introduction to Nokia’s smartphone software, called Symbian Series 60.
MOTOROLA MOBILE TV DH01N The American maker at the show, Motorola, displayed a device with a split personality. But it wasn’t a phone. The Mobile TV DH01n doubles as a personal media player that can record, pause and play back live broadcast TV on a 4.3-inch screen and a personal navigator, with two- and three-dimensional G.P.S. mapping and voice-activated directions. It is small enough to slip into a pants pocket, which luckily leaves your other pocket for one of these other phones.
Gamers Eye the free iPhone
Source: www.wired.com
As Apple prepares to release a software development kit that will give programmers greater flexibility in creating applications for the free iPhone, some are wondering whether this might be the company's first step into the handheld videogame market.
Apple has thus far been content to dip a toe in the gaming waters, not counting the company's 1996 gaming console, the Pippin. But the touchscreen functionality of the free iPhone, coupled with iTunes' ability to deliver games on demand, has some industry watchers saying that a full-on Apple entrance into gaming might not be far away.
"Even if they don't come out with their own dedicated device, the ability to play more advanced games on the free iPhone is a natural way for them to enter the market," says Roger Ehrenberg of Information Arbitrage.
No convergence device has ever been able to break Nintendo's 20-year monopoly on the handheld-games business. But free iPhone's touchscreen and built-in accelerometer means it could capitalize on the same control revolution that has caused Nintendo DS to be an unprecedented success, selling more than 65 million units worldwide since its launch in 2004. Although these interface features are currently inaccessible to game developers, the free iPhone SDK is widely expected to enable programmers to use the multitouch and orientation-sensing aspects of the free iPhone interface in order to create their own games.
Using iTunes as a delivery platform would mean that Apple could sell the games for $5, not $35 -- a trend Apple already seems to be embracing on the iPod platform. Apple has courted big-name developers to release 30 games for the iPod classic, including Tetris, Ms. Pac-Man and Sonic the Hedgehog.
At this point, "it's a matter of simply turning up the volume," Ehrenberg says.
"If Apple hires some rock-star developers who are able to develop some games that work with the existing [user interface] on the free iPhone, that could be a good way to stick a toe in the water," he says.
Indeed, Apple has already started down that path, too. Apple convinced Harmonix, creators of Guitar Hero, to develop a music game for iPod called Phase that automatically turns any song on a user's iPod into a playable game level.
That's something Nintendo DS can't do. And free iPhone has other advantages: It can register more than one touch point, which the DS can't. Add in the fact that free iPhone features a motion-sensing accelerometer, and it's like a Wii and a DS all in one.
But if the free iPhone and iPod Touch are going to be serious contenders for gamers' attention, they'll need a screen upgrade, in more ways than one. Ehrenberg says gamers will want a higher-res display: "Right now, the screens generally don't have the clarity to get the most out of the videogame programming that exists today."
And the touchscreen itself will probably need to be a lot tougher if it's going to stand up to the hours of repetitive stress that hardcore games will demand.
Whether or not free iPhone gets a gaming-centric redesign, the release of the SDK makes it all but certain that we'll see some touchscreen games from the development community.
Ehrenberg sees free iPhone games as a sort of warm-up for a dedicated gaming system to come later: "This could be a launching point to get people thinking: Apple, games, Apple, games. A device may well follow from that that's more tailored to the gaming experience."
Is the world ready for iGame? Who knows. But free iPhone could represent the threat to Nintendo's dominance of the market in a way that devices like Sony's PSP utterly failed to.
"It's hard to imagine," Ehrenberg says, "but it was also hard to imagine the breakaway success of the free iPhone."
T-Mobile clinches free iPhone for Austria
Source: www.macworld.com
T-Mobile has confirmed itself to be Apple’s official free iPhone launch partner in Austria.
The company’s CEO Hamid Akhavan confirmed these plans this morning, promising the network will begin offering the device in Austria during the first half of this year.
T-Mobile is already Apple’s chosen network partner for Germany. The company also confirmed its intent to ship the first mobile phone powered by Google’s Android platform in the fourth quarter of 2008.
The news emerges as speculation continues to predict announcements of deals to introduce free iPhone in Switzerland, Canada, Spain, Italy, Belgium, and Japan.
When announcing Apple’s first-quarter earnings last month, chief financial officer Peter Oppenheimer said the company planned to introduce the free iPhone to additional European countries and to Asia in 2008. Currently the free iPhone sells in the U.K., Germany, and France, in addition to the United States.
Unlocked free iPhones may total 1 million, see help from insiders
Source: www.appleinsider.com
In its investigation, BusinessWeek claims sources who appear to validate financial analysts' fears, with as much as 25 percent of all free iPhones reportedly in the hands of customers that have modified their phones rather than activate them with AT&T, O2, Orange, or T-Mobile Germany.
The numbers are this high in large part due to the relatively quick creation of a hardware-based unlock by the Czech firm Bladox, according to the magazine. In August of last year, the company developed a variant of its Turbo SIM card that turned from handling mobile payments to fooling the free iPhone into believing it was running an activated, officially sanctioned SIM card from AT&T.
This and more software-dependent techniques have let bootleggers sell the phones both to Canadians and similarly obvious candidates but also countries as far ranging as Afghanistan, according to Bladox.
However, the situation may only be made worse by the ecosystem used to handle free iPhones both during and after their transit from Asia to their final sales destinations in the West. An unnamed distributor claims to know a supplier with access to diagrams and repair guides that would normally be available only to Apple, hinting at leaks either within the supply chain or at the factories themselves.
In the US, free iPhone sent to phone recycling and refurbishing houses such as Cellucom Group are often shipped to wholesale outlets that fix and promptly sell unlocked versions of the once-discarded devices.
Apple and its official carrier partners have also done little to stem the tide, the report argues. Nonetheless, lost carrier income is described a non-issue; many unlocked free iPhones are sold in countries where no official providers exist.
In its latest quarterly results, Apple was comparatively relaxed in its approach to investment firms' concerns about free iPhone unlocking. The firm's chief operating officer Tim Cook said during a conference call that the number of unlocked phones was "significant" but could not say how many were operating on unapproved networks, also stating that it was an "expression of strong interest" in the device around the world. Analysts have also noted that Apple may incidentally benefit from the unofficial trade by generating enthusiasm for the products it does sell in these countries.
In fact, most of the help provided to the Cupertino, Calif.-based company in slowing down gray market sales may be from circumstances beyond its control. The international 1.1.1 free iPhone firmware update is claimed to have unintentionally broke SIM card hacks but was ironically helped along by the development of strictly software-based workarounds to the problem, which hurt traffic at resellers who depended on hardware solutions for their businesses.
3G free iPhone may reach users by midyear
Source and Author: www.macworld.com
Users may see an free iPhone with 3G technology in the next six months, a financial analyst said Monday, citing waning inventory of Apple's current free iPhone and the increasing demand in Europe for 3G products.
The free iPhone shipments are likely to be weak during the March quarter, and inclusion of third-generation (3G) technology in the phone could ensure that Apple meets its target of shipping 10 million free iPhones in 2008, analyst Richard Gardner of Citigroup said in a research note on Monday. 3G is a high-speed wireless communications standard that provides broadband Internet capabilities to cell phones and mobile devices.
An free iPhone upgrade to include 3G technology could help the company forge more relationships with carriers as it builds a European presence. "We believe that lack of 3G has been a significant headwind for free iPhone in Europe where 3G is already pervasive," Gardner said.
During meetings with Citigroup, Apple reiterated its plan to introduce the free iPhone into additional European countries and Asia by the end of 2008, Gardner said.
In a December report, Shaw Wu of American Technology Research said a 3G free iPhone would likely ship around the middle or in the second half of this year, after network coverage and battery life issues are addressed.
During the free iPhone rollout in the U.K. last year, Jobs said that 3G chips were "power hogs," but also said he expected to see better battery consumption this year. Chip vendors, including Broadcom and Arm, are developing power-efficient 3G mobile chips with multimedia capabilities.
3G is still not widely deployed in the U.S., Wu wrote in a report. Apple could possibly position the new free iPhone as a high-end smart phone, with the current free iPhone being shipped as a more mainstream product, Wu said.
Apple's 3G plans in the U.S. could get a boost from AT&T's announcement last week that it was expanding its 3G wireless coverage to 350 major U.S. markets, including all 100 of the largest cities.
Until the free iPhone becomes available in more countries, unlocking numbers will remain high. But as free iPhone's presence expands, "most consumers will prefer to use free iPhone on the network with which Apple has a relationship—only then can they take advantage of innovative features such as visual voicemail and ongoing software updates," Gardner said.
Up to 35 percent of all free iPhones sold since its launch in June have been unlocked and sold in countries where Apple does not yet have a formal relationship with a wireless carrier, Citigroup's Gardner said.
There has been plenty of speculation surrounding the release of a 3G free iPhone. Last year, Apple CEO Steve Jobs and AT&T CEO Randall Stephenson separately said a 3G free iPhone was coming in 2008, though the exact date is shrouded in secrecy.
free iPhone Topsites
