Swiss iPhone announcement raises eyebrows given rumors

[AppleInsider]

Swisscom on Wednesday confirmed it will begin selling Apple's iPhone in Switzerland this year, possibly bolstering a recent report on the matter which also stated that the handset would arrive with video conferencing and other fresh features.

"The iPhone will be available later this year," the Swiss carrier wrote on a section of its website where customers can sign up to receive details at a later date. "We will inform you personally as soon as we have more news."

The announcement comes just one day after Swiss newspaper Le Matin reported that a deal between Apple and Swisscom had been finalized. However, the same report stated the agreement between the two parties was regarding a 3G iPhone that would offer two-way video chats, mobile TV, and GPS navigation.

Le Matin added that Swisscom plans call for the use of "attractive" incentives to lure new iPhone subscribers to its service, and that it will offer a high-end plan for pairing with mobile video and other live services.

Switzerland is the fifth new addition to Apple's European iPhone roster, joining the Greece, Portugal, Czech Republic and Italy, which saw their own iPhone deals made public a bit earlier this month.

[ View this article at AppleInsider.com ]

[Dunks]

tomorrow is later this year...

[merdhead]

Front camera and video calls and GPS make sense, that's just keeping up with the Jones of high-end phones. TV makes no sense. There are no worldwide standards, little in the way of services, it will be power hungry and take up a lot of room. And there is no proof that users actually want mobile TV. Also why would Apple compete with its own iPod store with TV?

[joeYYY]

Originally Posted by merdhead

Front camera and video calls and GPS make sense, that's just keeping up with the Jones of high-end phones. TV makes no sense. There are no worldwide standards, little in the way of services, it will be power hungry and take up a lot of room. And there is no proof that users actually want mobile TV. Also why would Apple compete with its own iPod store with TV?

Possibly to throw a bone to the carriers who would then be able to offer their mobile TV services on the iPhone.

Also, Mobile TV has some added value compare to the current iTunes video offerings in that it has potential of providing a live video stream (eg. sports events, news). This is not competing with iTunes, its adding to it.

[Bageljoey]

Originally Posted by merdhead

Front camera and video calls and GPS make sense, that's just keeping up with the Jones of high-end phones. TV makes no sense. There are no worldwide standards, little in the way of services, it will be power hungry and take up a lot of room. And there is no proof that users actually want mobile TV. Also why would Apple compete with its own iPod store with TV?

You don't need worldwide standards--if the mobile service provider in your country has a way of sending the shows to your iPhone, that will work for individuals in that country.
It is not a feature I am particularly interested in--there may be many people who don't care for this feature--but it wouldn't take power or room to ignore it. If it helps sell the iPhone I am all for it...

[TednDi]

.mac upgrade could enabls back to my mac/apple TV thus streaming "TV" especially if apple upgrades Apple TV to include a tuner and pvr functionality.

[Cedric]

Originally Posted by merdhead

TV makes no sense.

Swisscom already provides TV on mobilephones since a few years now...
Have a look at this:
http://www.swisscom.ch/res/tv/bluewi...?languageId=en
(it has pretty nothing to do with the iphone itself... Works also on Nokia, SonyEricssons, ...)

Greetings from Switzerland,
Cédric

Waiting for the iPhone... What's better than Swiss Chocolate + iPhone?!
(forgot to mention the cheese and especially the holes in it!)

[Slewis]

Null.

[Constable Odo]

The iPhone would have to have a DVB-H tuner in it to receive live broadcasts, wouldn't it? Unless there is another way that Apple can deliver streaming media through iTunes or something without using a built-in tuner. I've got a SlingBox Pro, so if there is a SlingPlayer app eventually made for the iPhone, I would just use that. I'd heard mentioned that the iPhone is supposed to have a faster processor. I hope it's just as fast as the BlackBerry Bold's processor, otherwise the media will claim the iPhone is a slowpoke compared to the BB Bold.

So much speculation and rumor going around, it's hard to know what to believe. I'm only certain that this 3G iPhone will be a record-breaking best seller and in a couple of years Apple will own the smartphone market.

[ajprice]

The TV part could be iTunes Store video and podcast downloads, rather than a live mobile TV service. I can't see Apple putting live TV on the iPhone when they have been so against it on Front Row, iTunes and Apple TV.

[Foo2]

This is more than a Bold move by Apple and should be met by the Thunder-ous noise of Blackberry customers rushing to the new iPhone!

[JeffDM]

Originally Posted by Constable Odo

The iPhone would have to have a DVB-H tuner in it to receive live broadcasts, wouldn't it?

They don't even provide radio tuning to capture live radio. Radio tuning costs peanuts, and I think tuner chips are built into some ipods. You have to buy the "radio remote" to put in an antenna and to enable that tuner.

Apple just doesn't seem to have much provision or room in their thinking for live media. I'm not sure if there is any true live audio or video internet streaming support in the iphone/touch devices, now or in firmware 2.0.

[justwhatineeded]

wrong thread.

[Foo2]

Originally Posted by ajprice

The TV part could be iTunes Store video and podcast downloads, rather than a live mobile TV service. I can't see Apple putting live TV on the iPhone when they have been so against it on Front Row, iTunes and Apple TV.

Any apparent contradiction here is easily resolved. There's money to be made from subscription fees for video service over cellular networks. On Macs and Apple TV, though, virtually nobody will pay extra for channels they're already getting on cable, dish or off-the-air, while the availability on a Mac of program material from these sources would undermine Apple's ability to sell program material through iTMS. The same rationale applies to the lack of FM receivers in iPods.

[MacVicta]

Originally Posted by Constable Odo

The iPhone would have to have a DVB-H tuner in it to receive live broadcasts, wouldn't it?

It purportedly does. And that's where I think the rumors came from.

Last month it was speculated that the iPhone 3G chip would be the Infineon S-GOLD3H, the successor to the current generation iPhone's S-GOLD2.

"Infineon's less fancy name for the S-GOLD3H chip is the PMB8878, a 7.2Mbps HSDPA chip with all the video acceleration and media playback features iPhone users have come to expect. Advantages over its predecessor include higher resolution camera support (5 megapixels instead of 2), a 2x speed MMC / SD interface and DVB-H module support, but that doesn't necessarily mean any of those specs will end up in the ensuing iPhone 3G -- S-GOLD2 has plenty of features the current iPhone doesn't take advantage of."

http://www.engadget.com/2008/04/08/i...chip-revealed/

Perhaps someone found this and assumed that the iPhone would have DVB-H.

[merdhead]

Originally Posted by Bageljoey

You don't need worldwide standards--if the mobile service provider in your country has a way of sending the shows to your iPhone, that will work for individuals in that country.
It is not a feature I am particularly interested in--there may be many people who don't care for this feature--but it wouldn't take power or room to ignore it. If it helps sell the iPhone I am all for it...

This is not what they're talking about. This is live broadcast TV. It requires hardware and doesn't use the data link. They can stream stuff over the network as much as they like now.

[merdhead]

Originally Posted by MacVicta

It purportedly does. And that's where I think the rumors came from.

Last month it was speculated that the iPhone 3G chip would be the Infineon S-GOLD3H, the successor to the current generation iPhone's S-GOLD2.

"Infineon's less fancy name for the S-GOLD3H chip is the PMB8878, a 7.2Mbps HSDPA chip with all the video acceleration and media playback features iPhone users have come to expect. Advantages over its predecessor include higher resolution camera support (5 megapixels instead of 2), a 2x speed MMC / SD interface and DVB-H module support, but that doesn't necessarily mean any of those specs will end up in the ensuing iPhone 3G -- S-GOLD2 has plenty of features the current iPhone doesn't take advantage of."

http://www.engadget.com/2008/04/08/i...chip-revealed/

Perhaps someone found this and assumed that the iPhone would have DVB-H.

That says that it has an interface for a DVB-H chip, it doesn't support DVB-H.

[brlawyer]

Originally Posted by Cedric

Swisscom already provides TV on mobilephones since a few years now...
Have a look at this:
http://www.swisscom.ch/res/tv/bluewi...?languageId=en
(it has pretty nothing to do with the iphone itself... Works also on Nokia, SonyEricssons, ...)

Greetings from Switzerland,
Cédric

Waiting for the iPhone... What's better than Swiss Chocolate + iPhone?!
(forgot to mention the cheese and especially the holes in it!)

And I have to ask, as someone currently working in Switzerland...WHY NOT SUNRISE? WHY NOT SUNRISE?

Now I am gonna have to think about changing subscriptions...this sucks!

[SpamSandwich]

Everyone forgot about the inter-ocular laser display and subvocalization mic iPhone rumor.

[Bageljoey]

Originally Posted by merdhead

This is not what they're talking about. This is live broadcast TV. It requires hardware and doesn't use the data link. They can stream stuff over the network as much as they like now.

Ok, well, then this is an interesting rumor. I would actually be more interested in live streaming TV for sports and such...
...But if it involves specific/non-standard hardware then I am with you on it not making sense. I cannot see Apple changing the hardware for specific carriers!

[MacVicta]

Originally Posted by merdhead

That says that it has an interface for a DVB-H chip, it doesn't support DVB-H.

It says DVB-H module support and the Infineon S-GOLD3H does infact support DVB-H.

I'm not saying this means the iPhone has it (we're not even sure if there's a PMB8878/S-GOLD3H inside the next iPhone) but that I think that's where the Swiss rumor stems from.

[merdhead]

Originally Posted by MacVicta

It says DVB-H module support and the Infineon S-GOLD3H does infact support DVB-H.

I'm not saying this means the iPhone has it (we're not even sure if there's a PMB8878/S-GOLD3H inside the next iPhone) but that I think that's where the Swiss rumor stems from.

Yeah and my PC supports DVB-H because it has an expansion bus. And so does my laptop. And so does my existing phone because I could plug in a DVB-H dongle theoretically. My desk supports DVB-H becuase I could rest a DVB-H receiver on it.

It has all the support seeded for DVB-H except the actual hardware to receive and decode DVB-H, which is sort of important. Looking at it another way, you could have a DVB-H chip in a phone without this chip.

You saying that it "supports" it is misleading. People will think there is a DVB-H receiver in the chip which there is not.