Why Apple think the iPhone is so great?
For Steve Jobs and cohorts at Apple, the iPhone combines three powerful functions in one.
:: The first one is a widescreen iPod with touch controls.
:: The second is a revolutionary mobile phone.
:: The third is a breakthrough Internet communications device
Our initial reaction
Yes, it promises to be an exciting multi-function device but in the six months before its launch in the US and the 12 before its arrival in Ireland, let’s not underestimate Nokia and Sony Ericsson’s ability to hit back with better-priced, mobile operator-friendly killer mobile alternatives. They all have a heritage and building robust and attractive mobile phones, Apple’s pedigree in building a good mobile phone is not good, its only previous foray with the installation of its iTunes software on Motorola’s ROKR music mobile phone and that went down like a lead balloon!
Is the iPhone a smartphone
At its unveiling, Jobs intimated that the Apple iPhone would surpass current smartphones with its exciting feature set and easy to use functions. He said that existing smart phones provided phone and e-mail and what he called “the baby Internet. They’re not so smart and not so easy to use.”
“We don’t want to do these,” he said. “We want to do a leapfrog product that’s way smarter than these phones and much easier to use. So we’re going to reinvent the phone.”
But…
Experts warn that the iPhone is no smartphone
Analyst Stuart Carlaw from ABI Research warns that consumers will not be willing to settle for a second rate mobile phone just to have superior music. He also says that although Apple may run Mac OSX as its operating system, it is not open to third party applications that can access the core functionality of the operating system, for greater power and efficiency. The Apple iPhone is therefore a feature phone and not a smartphone. Nokia has the upper hand here, choosing to build their phones on the open Symbian OS where more cutting edge apps emerge through greater competition.
Killer tech specs of the iPhone
:: The iPhone does not use a keyboard, nor does it use a stylus, as many smartphones do today. The device uses new technology called Multitouch.
“We’re going to use the best pointing device in our world,” said Jobs. “We’re born with Multitouch is far more accurate than any touch display, according to Jobs. It ignores unintended touches, supports multi-fingers gesture.
:: The iPhone runs the Mac OS X operating system keeping continuity with the company computer products.
:: Iphone also synchronises through iTunes. It syncs media, contact information, calendars, photos, notes, bookmarks, e-mail accounts.
:: The iPhone features a 3.5”, 160 dot-per-inch colour screen. It’s also remarkably thin – 11.6 millimetres, thinner than any smart phone out there.
:: On one side, the iPhone sports a ring/silent switch, volume up and down controls. On its silver back side is a 2 megapixel digital camera. The bottom features a speaker, microphone, and iPod dock connector.
:: The iPhone also incorporates a proximity sensor that automatically deactivates the screen and turns off the touch sensor when you raise the device to your face. An ambient light sensor will sense lighting conditions and adjust brightness levels accordingly. And an accelerometer can tell when you switch from portrait to landscape mode.
:: The iPhone can synchronise contacts from a PC or Mac, and features “Visual Voicemail.” This is like a random access voicemail that lets you navigate directly to the voice messages you’re interested in.
:: Iphone is a quad-band phone that operated on GSM and EDGE networks. Apple plans to make 3G phones in the future. It also integrates Wi-Fi and Bluetooth 2.0 connectivity, and will automatically switch from a mobile phone data network to Wi-Fi when it gets in range.
:: The iPhone also features the Safari web browser and supports full and push e-mail.
:: The iPhone’s text messaging interface looks similar to iChat – user dialogue is encased in bubbles, and a touch keyboard appears below.
:: The phone’s photo management software enables you to use a “pinching” motion to zoom in and out of pictures.
:: The iPhone also supports Dashboard widgets, starting off with weather and stocks.
The PC Live! Verdict
This was a logical step for Apple in progressing the iPod concept. Quite simply, why would consumers carry two devices around in their pocket when they can have one that does it all? But in the mobile phone market, where competition is intense, products are subsidised by operators and the service is about so much more that just the hardware, we are not convinced that the iPhone will succeed. It may have charmed mobile operator Cingular into supporting the iPhone, but we cannot see European mobile operators such as T-mobile and Vodafone who have invested their futures in the development of music and video content selling portals and customised phones to match, handing their subscriber base over to Apple’s proprietary iTunes service. It just will not happen. Therefore, the iPhone sales will remain a tiny fragment of the overall mobile phone market, but if they achieve a target of 10 million iPhone sales globally for year one then that 1% of the total market will be seen as a commercial success by the Cupertino company.
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