I Wanna an iPhone
All those Blackberry-killer wannabes can now step aside and watch Apple’s new iPhone take firm hold of the crown. All I’ve read so far are some effusive news reports and blog posts but if the iPhone lives up to expectations, we’re talking about a device that could easily match the iPod’s success. From all accounts the iPhone sounds ultra-cool with a 3.5″ screen, a two megapixel camera, an MP3 player, WiFi and Bluetooth connectivity, rich e-mail, a Web browser and a touch screen interface. Of course, you’ll have to cough up $599 for the pleasure of owning an 8GB iPhone or $499 for a 4GB model (As part of a two-year contract with Cingular) but I doubt price will deter many people.
As someone with a MacBook, iPod, Palm and Blackberry, I’d jump at the chance to use an all-in-one-device that combines Apple’s features strength industrial design. Goodbye Motorola Q, goodbye Treo, goodbye HP iPaq; it’s been nice knowing you. Now, how long do you think it will take Research in Motion to beef us the Pearl with a real Web browser and a better MP3 player.
For all the details from Steve Jobs’ keynote at Macworld, check out the Unofficial Apple Weblog, as well as Engadget. One more thought, if you were a high-tech reporter, where would you rather be: CES or Macworld?
Update: Investors are clearly enthused about Apple given the stock jumped $7.26 to $92.72 today. Any guesses on how long it takes Apple to hit $100? How about tomorrow?…:)
January 9th, 2007 at 4:27 pm
[...] (More on the Apple iPhone: PaidContent, Read/WriteWeb, Techdirt, IP Democracy, kottke.org, Publishing 2.0, Telegraph Blogs, Gizmodo, Dana Gardner’s BriefingsDirect, Business Filter, InsideMicrosoft, Joystiq, Pocket PC Thoughts, Monkey Bites, Mark Evans, The Tech Report, Between the Lines, Digital Life, Zatz Not Funny!, Engadget HD, Paul Kedrosky’s …, TechBlog, InsideGoogle, PalmAddicts, hypebot, biskero.org, Paul Colligan’s …, Seeking Alpha, Peer Pressure, Ogle Earth, Blogging Stocks, Rex Hammock’s weblog, Jarrett House North, Ken McGuire On The Web, Tech Trader Daily, Brandon Live!, brainwagon, Download Squad, Boing Boing, Lost Remote, Greg Galitzine’s VoIP …, Innovation in College Media, All About Symbian, Ryan Stewart, I4U News, Thoughts on VoIP, technology, Ben Metcalfe Blog and DealBook) [...]
January 9th, 2007 at 4:28 pm
The iPhone sounds great, and I definitely want one, but we will have to see who will sell it in Canada and for how much. I’m guessing it will be Rogers, due to their association with AT&T.
I’m currently a Telus customer, but would definitely consider switching to Rogers if it meant I could have an iPhone. Unfortunately, here in New Brunswick, we won’t be seeing true cellular number portability until September, while some provinces will get it in March.
The fact that it has build in wifi is very nice, as it doesn’t force you to always use your data plan if you are at home, in the office, or anywhere else with access to wifi.
January 9th, 2007 at 4:47 pm
Definitely with you Mark. I want one now.. and I am willing to part with my treo for it. The question is will they be unlocked (or at least an unlocked version)?
January 9th, 2007 at 5:17 pm
[...] Update: Lot’s of coverage of the iPhone. Julie Ask, Mark Evans (he wants one and rightly states this could be the Blackberry killer), PodTech’s Jason Lopez, WebProNews. On the other side of the story is the Linksys iPhone from Cisco. Man I’d love to be a trademark attorney right now. [...]
January 9th, 2007 at 8:04 pm
Great post!
Any idea when the iPhone will be available in Canada?
January 9th, 2007 at 9:48 pm
I wonder if wi-fi will still be a feature of the iPhone if and when it makes it to Rogers…..
January 9th, 2007 at 10:29 pm
I’m not sure when the iPhone will appear in Canada but I suspect it will take a few months before Rogers becomes the first carrier to launch it here. Don’t be too surprised if the Wi-Fi features are locked in Canada given how Nokia’s E series phones did not come equiped with Wi-Fi even though it was a standard feature in Europe. The last thing Canadian wireless want to do is allow their consumers to somehow not eat up their precious minutes.
January 9th, 2007 at 11:50 pm
I would hope that Apple has enough clout so that the iPhone does not have its wifi disabled. Apple won’t want any providers crippling its feature set.
January 10th, 2007 at 1:33 am
I wanted to mention this article to you also Mark, the story linked below states that the iPhone will not have the ability to add third party programs, unlike the Pearl or other BlackBerry’s. I have been a longtime BlackBerry user, recently obtained a Pearl and enjoy every moment of using it. I am impressed with Apple’s offering, and hope they do well in the consumer market. But I seriously doubt this will make any significant impact in the enterprise market. Please review the link below:
http://www.engadget.com/2007/01/09/the-iphone-is-not-a-smartphone/
January 10th, 2007 at 8:23 am
[...] NOTE: To further support my theory of an over-exaggerated reaction by the blogosphere, read more about the iPhone launch here, here, here, here, here, here, here… plus, there’s many, many more that I didn’t even care to mention. I’m not even joking. [...]
January 10th, 2007 at 9:26 am
one thing that seems to be missing from the iphone is gps but I guess you can bluetooth to a gps receiver to get that.
January 10th, 2007 at 10:02 am
I’m sure design and usability will be terrific coming from Apple. And some of the features are nice. But it is still just another phone in the walled garden. In that sense, Apple missed the chance to reinvent the telecom industry. More details predicted here:
http://blog.nextblitz.com/blog/2007/01/iphone_steve_jo.html
and described very well here:
http://blog.tomevslin.com/2007/01/apple_fails_to_.html
January 11th, 2007 at 1:07 am
The headline for the iPhone launch should read “Introducing the Apple iPhone or Why Canadian Carriers suck”. This device is revolutionary but the lame Canadian wireless monopoly insists on charging a user tax by not offering any kind of unlimited data plans. Why do we, as Canadian customers allow ourselves to be taken advantage of by them? What happen to competition? Without an unlimited data plan, many of the iPhone features could cost users a small fortune.