The casing may be new, but a lot of the functionality isn’t.  A 2-megapixel camera seemed lacklustre when the iPhone first launched a year ago; to be making do with the same thing now is madness.  Similarly, things which could’ve been tweaked into satisfaction a long time ago – copy & paste, MMS, Bluetooth A2DP or video recording - still languish unchecked.  The rumored front-mounted camera for video calls isn’t present either, and with the top spec model topping out at 16GB there’s no extra room from the first-gen model.

Is it a disappointment?  Hell no, the two big reasons holding many people back from an iPhone purchase were price and the lack of 3G; with one fell swoop Apple has undermined both those arguments, taking membership of the iPhone 3G club down to as little as $199.  They’ve thrown in GPS (albeit without voice guidance) too, to sweeten the deal.  Many of the missing features could be fixed with a firmware update, and let’s hope that’s next on Cupertino’s list.  Still, it’s unlike the company to stop one stage short of a knock-out blow to the competition. 

What do you think, have Apple if not dropped the ball, then at least fumbled it slightly?  Let me know in the comments.

“If the design of the iPhone precludes proper always-on connectivity — which wouldn’t be the first time the company has gone for form over function — then have a decent scheduler, which understands the metrics of wireless access and makes intelligent decisions about when to allow what to connect. This does put the onus on application designers to understand the limitations and capabilities of such a channel and to create software accordingly, but then that is their job”Rupert Goodwins, ZDNet 

“Whatever the reason [for denying background processes], it reflects badly on Apple. It’s either not as clever as it makes out, greedier than it likes to admit, more hemmed in by its design decisions than it wishes to make apparent or just determined to force its vision on the world regardless of what the world wants. Think different?”Rupert Goodwins, ZDNet

I’m in two minds about the restriction: part of me thinks it’s a mistake on Apple’s part, when as Rupert suggests there are other ways in which Apple could have achieved the same stability and consistency outcome, and part of me is looking forward to seeing what clever solutions developers come up with to deal with it all.  The iPhone as a platform is unique, perhaps, in that its popularity and lust-factor will make sure coders still attempt to produce software for it, whereas similar limitations in a lesser device would probably see it ignored.  That presents the opportunity for the cellphone to educate desktop development, rather than the more usual reverse; who wouldn’t prefer background apps on their computer to be less greedy with their memory and CPU cycle requirements?

In the countdown to Firmware 2.0, the iPhone juggernaut is going to pick up speed: we’re expecting Enterprise-grade business apps, the best mobile gaming that the big software houses can offer, and so much portable entertainment that you’ll have to spend twice as much time out of the house just to keep up with it all. We’re also predicting big-headline ructions as Apple shoulder their way among Microsoft, RIM and new guys Android. Exciting days, and iPhone Buzz will be bringing you the best of it. Keep reading!

“Apple is taking responsibility for “the user interface and people.” It’s designing the devices themselves, which will be typically elegant machines that run versions of OS X. While Apple puts together the front end of the integrated network-computing system, Google provides “the perfect back end” – the supercomputer that provides the bulk of the data-processing might and storage capacity for the devices” Nicholas Carr

It’s a concept based on the same principles of the low-cost, relatively closed ecosystem ASUS Eee and the sort of advertisement-funded service that many predict will flavour Google’s potential expansion into cellular wireless.  Carr envisages a highly efficient, low maintenance appliance client that stores and backups its media on Google’s all-seeing servers.

Not exactly a new idea, per se, but one with gathering momentum and ever-more potential truth to it.  Imagine, for instance, if Google won the 700MHz auction come January 2008 – then, you wouldn’t even have to rent broadband from your local telco, your simple internet appliance would just connect whenever, wherever.

What do you think, would you buy into the Google/Apple ecosystem?  Or do you reckon that the natural tendency of many to want to tweak and hack – as shown with Jailbreak and the rush to bring third-party apps to the iPhone – will prevail stronger than people’s desire for a stable, perhaps locked down experience?  Let us know in the comments.

[via Life on the Wicked Stage]

So what’s good?  Well, the obvious hurdle for the iPhone – in a country where even high-end rivals such as the Nokia N95 are given away free with a new contract, remember - is the asking price of £269 ($548); the reliance on EDGE (which currently only 30% of the UK can access, thanks to sole carrier O2 previously having concentrated on building high-speed 3G capacity) is another obvious issue and of course the non-user-replaceable battery is less than ideal.

However, what with the tech world being so fast paced, points the October 15th article makes – such as support for third-party apps, or lack of - have already been countered by official announcements from Appleor advances in the iPhone hacking world.  Yes, it’s unfair to expect all copies of the printed newspaper to be rounded up and edited, but when the online version is still linked by an eye-catching banner ad on the Times Online homepage you’d expect at least an update setting out what’s changed since original publication.

Don’t get me wrong, while naysayers over in the article’s comments have been accused of fanboyism and “defending this expensive telephone as if it were their granny”, I share Ali’s disappointment with the slow data connection, high price and low camera resolution.  I don’t intend to pick up this first-gen handset when it launches here in the UK, because I think there’s a better version around the corner.  However a drawn-out, meandering list that lacks editorial focus is certainly not the best way to educate a cellphone-hungry public who want to know whether the iPhone is worth flexing their credit card for.

It’s a common theme, in that sense, but the argument is laid out well and particularly weighted to this sector of device.  As James describes, user expectations of an ultra-portable are far greater than for perhaps any other type of computer – delays in responsiveness that most will simply put up with sat at their desk are a decided deal-breaker when you want to quickly check your email while in a queue at the store.

“Handheld computers must be rock-solid stable through the work day and the only way for a company to produce such a device is to control all parts of the design, including hardware, operating system, applications and specifications.  That’s a pretty big limiting factor.  Why am I so sure that the OS needs to be embedded?  That’s because a real handheld PC needs to be instant-on in the field.  Standby and resume schemes that are used currently are just not good enough to provide the usage experience that is needed in a handheld PC”James Kendrick, jkOnTheRun

As you might expect, when it comes to comparing Apple and Windows (with some Linux in there for good measure) sides are pretty clearly drawn in the sand, but it all seems to be pretty restrained and not descending into fanboyism yet.  Some have suggested that the iPhone is just the sort of managed ecosystem that James is describing – or at least the embryonic form of it – while others have criticised the device for being closed and too limited and Apple themselves as being too concerned with guaranteed market success to branch into a niche market segment that could eventually cannibalise the MacBook range.

I’m interested in hearing your views on what you want a companion device to do, and what form you’d like it to take.  There are undoubtedly some of you who view the iPhone as Apple’s first – perhaps fledgling – return to the PDA market, while others perceive it as an extension of the cellphone market.  Are you looking forward to something smaller or larger, something more powerful – and flexible – or something that further refines the OS X experience to a true (perhaps “traditional”) cellphone form factor.  Let me know in the comments.

This sums it up best:

If anyone is wondering why having A2DP is such a big deal, and someone on the forum asked that question, here is hannip’s answer:

No cords gives you more options. You can have your treo in your pocket and listen to music while walking, jogging, whatever. Also it’s nice to be able to play your treo through an a2dp enabled car stereo. Music, Movies, Slingplayer audio all wirelessly over your car stereo.

So Apple, if you’re reading this, please include A2DP support on the iPhone in the next firmware update.

iPhone’s Bluetooth is dumb, purposely crippled or both? [MY iTablet]

So how did I celebrate our anniversary together? I took my iPhone to Hawaii (check out our visit to Anchorage, Alaska). On the way back, I managed to get my iPhone into the flight deck for an exclusive photo — it wants to say “good morning” to everyone at 36,000 feet.

Like most relationships, mine had a bumpy start. The first two day with my iPhone I barely made it to first base, due to activation problems with AT&T. Then there were the battery issues where it wouldn’t hold charge. Again, like any relationship worth working on, we went to see a shrink; well, in this case I took my iPhone to see some dude at the Genius Bar. It turns out, the problem wasn’t me (thank goodness!) This is where it takes a turn from real life: you can’t simply exchange your mate for a new one when something goes wrong in a relationship. However, my relationship with the iPhone is unique in that I was able to — twice! Like the old saying goes, third time’s the charm.

Through thick and thin, I love you iPhone… or at least until your 3G cousin arrives on the scene!

The iPhone is an iconic piece of technology. Children and adults alike usually do a double take or stare in wonders when I pull it to check email, listen to music or surf the web. The most asked question I get is, “Is that the new iPhone thingy?” Every now and then I would answer, “No, what’s an iPhone thingy.” I was amazed at how much people really know about the iPhone.

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I met Audessa at the resort I’m staying at in Lihue. She was extremely knowledgeable about the iPhone so I asked her to share on camera what she knew about the iPhone and her thoughts about it.

Venturing out to the beach, I ran into Bridget Evelyn. She was delighted to test drive the iPhone.

Parrot finally sent me their new 7-inch Photo Viewer. Nearly every single Bluetooth-enabled phone on the market supports the Basic Imaging Profile (BIP), File Transfer Profile (FTP), and Object Push Profile (OPP). Guess what? iPhone can’t send images to the Photo Viewer. Why? Because iPhone’s Bluetooth is either extremely dumb, crippled or both.

[flv]http://www.myitablet.com/media/parrot-photo-viewer.flv[/flv]

While I’m on the subject, not that I would ever want to use dial-up networking over EDGE, iPhone doesn’t support the Dial-Up Networking Profile (DUN).

Am I alone or are you pretty p—-d off too?

iPhone Support:

Hands-Free Profile (HFP)
Headset Profile (HSP)

iPhone Does Not Support:

Advanced Audio Distribution Profile (A2DP)
Audio/Video Remote Control Profile (AVRCP)
Basic Imaging Profile (BIP)
Basic Printing Profile (BPP)
Cordless Telephony Profile (CTP)
Device ID Profile (DID)
Dial-up Networking Profile (DUN)
Fax Profile (FAX)
File Transfer Profile (FTP)
General Audio/Video Distribution Profile (GAVDP)
Generic Access Profile (GAP)
Generic Object Exchange Profile (GOEP)
Human Interface Device Profile (HID)
Intercom Profile (ICP)
Object Push Profile (OPP)
Personal Area Networking Profile (PAN)
Phone Book Access Profile (PBAP)
Serial Port Profile (SPP)
Service Discovery Application Profile (SDAP)
SIM Access Profile (SAP,SIM)
Synchronisation Profile (synch)
Video Distribution Profile (vdp)
Wireless Application Protocol Bearer (WAPB)

First off, a summary of the four main reviews.  Walt Mossberg called the iPhone “the most beautiful and the most radical smartphone I have ever tested” and went on to explain that, despite initial keyboard misgivings which saw him want to “throw it out the window” after the first three days, after a couple more all his frustrations were assuaged.  In fact now he claims to hit speeds hitherto only reached on his Treo (we’ll assume that he’s pretty fast on that).  His biggest critique, then, is not so much for the iPhone itself but the network it’s lumbered with: AT&T’s coverage isn’t country-wide, and if you’re not well served by the-carrier-formerly-known-as-Cingular then it might be worth keeping your money in your piggy bank.

Of course, like everyone else the lack of 3G cellular broadband proves to be the unpleasant foil to the nippy WiFi, Walt pretty much saying that the excellent browser is severely let down by the slow EDGE connection.  Even seamless switching to whichever connection is available and faster doesn’t save the situation, an opinion shared by the New York Times’ David Pogue.  In a funny and well-produced video review David describes the slothful load times the phone suffers: “The New York Times’s home page takes 55 seconds to appear; Amazon.com, 100 seconds; Yahoo, two minutes. You almost ache for a dial-up modem.” 

David seemed to be a good example of that coverage issue Walt was concerned about; he was obviously stuck in a less-than-stellar area and suffered patchy call quality and those ponderous download times.  Still, the iPhone made a good impression nonetheless, with the Safari browser sending him into paroxysms of delight while durability of both the glass screen and metal casing was pleasantly high.

Edward Baig at USA Today calls the iPhone a prodigy, albeit one that needs to grow up.  He gives it a middling 3.5 out of 5, primarily it would seem for the lack of 3G and the rest of the features needing ’rounding out’ with IM (although he notes that SMS conversations are threaded), GPS (though Google Maps give directions that can be manually flipped through), support for Flash websites (a common complaint) and better use made of the camera (which has neither flash nor video recording capability).  The keyboard gets another grudging thumbs-up together with the advice to “trust the device” and its predictive correction function, and his glee over the high-res screen just goes to show that you’re well-rewarded for losing a traditional keypad.

From the sound of it, Steven Levy over at Newsweek Technology had to be coerced into playing with his iPhone thanks to a delayed flight, but he comes out of the experience happy: “one of the most hyped consumer products ever comes pretty close to justifying the bombast.”  Pretty close is something we’re hearing a lot of, but Steven’s pro list is certainly heavy.  Ease of use rates very highly, as does general convergence of bringing together cellphone, PMP and internet terminal; he also reserves praise for the durability and engineering of the iPhone as well as the super-streamlined setup process which uses iTunes.

He’s a little more reserved about the memory capacity; 4GB or 8GB sounds like plenty, but as Steven points out heavy music users “will be unhappy at the limited capacity.”  The absence of a mobile iTunes client to download new music is another point of criticism: “what’s the use of having Wi-Fi on an iPod if you can’t go to the iTunes store?”  And for all Walt, Edward and David’s content with the keyboard, Steven admits to getting nowhere close to the speeds he could manage on a traditional smartphone keyboard.  Still, he’s right that heavy email users (particularly those who send a lot rather than just receive) might be better off sticking to their Blackberry. 

Battery life tended to be a case of “charge it overnight”, with total talk-time managing just over seven hours in Walt’s tests while David got five solid hours of video viewing or 23 hours of music (with WiFi permanently connected).

So in these learned men’s opinion, should you run down to your nearest AT&T or Apple store and buy an iPhone?  None of them come away disappointed or even less than excited by the long-awaited, much-hyped cellphone, and all of them are quick to point out that the few flaws or stumbling blocks this first version has don’t undermine what is likely a market-changing handset.  The safe bet, they say, is to wait until the second incarnation – likely with 3G, GPS and more – but the gut reaction?  Buy one: you won’t be disappointed.

Our man Vincent Nguyen will be at the 55th Avenue Apple store in Manhattan for the launch, giving out a variety of iPhone accessories and other prizes.  Make sure you drop by and say hello if you’re in the area!

Apple, the Apple logo, Mac, Mac OS, Macintosh and iPhone are trademarks of Apple. Other company and product names may be trademarks of their respective owners.

I know we’ve gone round and round about the whole iPhone trademark issue between Apple and Cisco – but the point I want to drive home is this: Apple must have paid an arm and a leg to have the exclusive rights to the mark. The company will in no way shape or form allow anyone else to use it on products or for instance, a domain name.

Reflecting back on our decision to quickly move away from having the mark ‘iPhone’ (myiphone.com) in our name was a wise one. I predict Apple will take the same course of action similar to shutting down all sites with the mark ‘iPod’ in the domain name. So here’s my advice to anyone running a site with the mark iPhone in the domain name – change it or you’ll lose it. Apple will most likely pick a handful of the larger sites and make an example out of them, the rest will likely follow suit. I don’t believe Jobs freely hands out advice or threats that he doesn’t intend to follow up with a big stick.

Now why should you re-brand your site? Voluntarily changing the name/domain URL of your site allows you to keep it. Hence you then redirect all your existing traffic to the new URL. This is a much better option than getting a C&D from Apple or worse, lose an arbitration battle, resulting in losing your domain. When you are forced to turn over your domain, you turn over all your existing traffic.

Take my advice for what it’s worth. After all, I’ve gone through one battle with Motorola and won, but was wise enough to not go up against the mighty Jobs.

News Flash 6/3/2007:

• New iPhone Ads Now Available on Apple.com!
• Apple iPhone release date is June 29th, and new video of iPhone ad!

Going to expos and events are always exciting for the potential new news, but as well as that there’s the possibility that you might bump into someone in the industry who you particularly admire. There’s an old saying that you should never meet your idols since they’ll only ever disappoint you; right now that’s ringing more than a little true for me.

[poll=29]

The idol, as I’m sure he is for many people, is Steve Jobs. Man, I’ve looked up to him for years. Hero-worship gets a bad press, but if it makes me an Apple fanboy then I guess I’m a fanboy. As you can tell from the coverage here on MYiPhone, the majority of which has been glowingly positive of Apple’s first solo cellphone attempt, we’re big believers in the device and the company ethos. So when I got to meet Steve at D5 the other day, I was like a kid on Christmas morning again (only with less egg-nog). I almost expected an Apple-flavored electric shock when we shook hands; what I didn’t expect was to get slapped with a legal threat.

Turns out, Steve isn’t such a great fan of MYiPhone as we are about the phone itself. His comment to me about the site was “I recommend you changing the name, we have a team of lawyers to go after that kind of stuff.” Well, you could’ve knocked me over with a Mac mini. He mentioned that we should change it to anything other than iPhone in the name. He suggested something like mydreamphone.

Leaving aside the frustration of my first meet’n'greet with Jobs being marred, leaving aside how seriously I should take what could’ve been a throwaway or jovial comment, it raises some serious questions about Apple and their fluctuating stance on fan-sites. If, you see, they decide to take us down – and I’ve no doubt that Steve’s legal “team” err on the rabid side of business – what does that mean for the rest of the blog community?

Apple has some pretty impressive previous form when it comes to this sort of thing. They didn’t take kindly to Clint Curtis’ “iPod Monday” and cited trademark misuse in their cease & desist letter; meanwhile iLounge were forced to change their name from “iPod Lounge” after Apple’s legal raptors decided they weren’t keen on it. There have also been plenty of cases where third-party accessories have had to withdraw or rebrand after Apple got sour over their use of the iPod trademark.

Thinking about it, though, the situation is of course slightly different with the iPhone. Here, Apple don’t actually own the trademark – Cisco does. Our fruity Cupertino friends are just doing the business version of borrowing it. How their history of fiercely defending names and trademarks will fit into this new arrangement isn’t certain, and that’s something that will be watched very closely both by blogs like MYiPhone and the accessory makers who know full well that Apple add-ons are very big business.

Still, one moment of angst hasn’t ruined the WSJ: D5 All Things Digital experience for me. It was awesome to hear Steve speak for such a length of time without a particular product to announce, and we got some headline grabbing news like YouTube on the Apple TV, the seemless wireless-switching of the iPhone and of course the news that it’ll be opened up to third-party apps at some point later this year. Maybe my hero-worship got a little bruised, but if you’re on the front line, like MYiPhone is, then you’ve got to expect some flak. We’ll just keep bringing you the best in iPhone news.

Related: motorazr.com vs. Motorola: the verdict is in!

The whole thing just doesn’t sit right with me. First, the memo was spoofed very well. It fooled the guys over at Engadget, and they’re one of the biggest tech blogs around. So although it is possible that someone with skill just made this up, I’m willing to bet that it did in fact come from someone inside of Apple. But was it planned by the execs, or even the marketing team? Or was it just some overzealous employee wanting to see how much they could stir things up?

I don’t see an employee doing it of their own accord for the fun of it. If caught, they would be at the very least fired, but likely they would also find themselves facing a lawsuit. So I now turn my thoughts to the idea of a premeditated memo. News of the iPhone is still out there, but there hasn’t been a big breaking story that catches everyone’s eye lately. Now if the iPhone were delayed, everyone would cover that story, right? Well they did, and you know what they say, “no press is bad press.”

So onto the second piece of the conspiracy puzzle, the FCC approval that came only a day later. Some might say it was a coincidence, but in my experience, there’s no such thing as a coincidence. Besides, Apple tends to have some sway over at the FCC. After all, they have managed to keep them quiet about many of the details surrounding the iPhone already. How much of a stretch would it be to find out the exact date they would release the approval documents?

So if one were to believe that Apple knew exactly when the FCC would announce the iPhone’s approval, then there is no doubt that Apple would want everyone to be looking in their direction when the documents became public. So they set into motion one of the biggest breaking stories we’ve seen yet: the iPhone has been delayed several months. Apple knows that there are probably an equal amount of people waiting for the phone to fail as there are wanting it to succeed. So with that thought, good news of the iPhone is going to be covered by many outlets, but very bad news will be covered by nearly all major media sources.

So now all Apple has to do is have someone let loose a memo into the wild with falsified information regarding the iPhone’s delay. Then they can sit back and watch the bad press roll in. Of course when questioned about it they will deny everything and state that it was indeed falsified information. Their stock then drops which causes everyone to turn their head. Before you know it, everyone is looking for any shred of evidence that would let them believe that the iPhone is in fact still on schedule.

Then out of nowhere, a light shines from the heavens. The FCC has approved the iPhone! There can’t be anything stopping it from being released now. So, while the public eye is still fixed upon Apple, they come out with some of the best news yet. Now everyone knows it, and they’re excited about it.

So was it all a huge conspiracy? I don’t know, it seems like a bit of a stretch either way. Like I said, the whole thing just doesn’t sit right with me. It wouldn’t surprise me if Steve Jobs planned out the whole thing himself. After all, he was the second gunman on the grassy knoll.