Then there is the GPS. Do you know how pointless GPS is without local maps Do you know how slow GPS is with assistance? I?d like to see this added, too, but Apple doesn?t usually add features that can?t be used out of the box.
I just bought an iPhone 3G off of eBay for my daughter. It doesn't have a SIM in it and we do not have any GSM cell towers in my area, and the GPS locks in pretty quickly, quicker than my Garmin Forerunner. I've added Open Maps for $3 which allows me to download the maps for it, so she can now use it when she's not connected with wifi. Runkeeper runs just fine on it too.
It's a lot better than any iPod Touch, and cost me less than $150. If Apple doesn't add a camera and GPS to the iPod Touch this fall I will be upgrading my 1G iPod Touch with a used iPhone 3GS from Ebay (I'm assuming the iPhone 4 will still be too expensive used). It's nice that Apple has to come out with a new iPhone every year.
I just bought an iPhone 3G off of eBay for my daughter. It doesn't have a SIM in it and we do not have any GSM cell towers in my area, and the GPS locks in pretty quickly, quicker than my Garmin Forerunner. I've added Open Maps for $3 which allows me to download the maps for it, so she can now use it when she's not connected with wifi. Runkeeper runs just fine on it too.
It's a lot better than any iPod Touch, and cost me less than $150. If Apple doesn't add a camera and GPS to the iPod Touch this fall I will be upgrading my 1G iPod Touch with a used iPhone 3GS from Ebay (I'm assuming the iPhone 4 will still be too expensive used). It's nice that Apple has to come out with a new iPhone every year.
Wow! Maps for $3. They also have a Free version. I don?t expect much, but at that price they don?t have to do much to impress me.
U.K. retailer John Lewis said the information is based on "noises we're hearing from suppliers," according to electricpig.co.uk. Though no mention was specifically made of a forward-facing camera at the company's presentation in London, it did say that FaceTime calling over Wi-Fi would be possible "so you can communicate with friends at zero cost."
Not necessarily
According to the OECD*, their are countries that cap bandwidth on the high-speed internet services. For example, they list Canada, Iceland, Australia, New Zealand, Portugal, Belgium, Luxembourg, United Kingdom, Ireland, Turkey, Slovak Republic, Spain and Hungary that do so now; and a number of other countries are considering to follow.
In Canada, Rogers, as well as all the other ISPs', have a number of high-speed internet plans with capped usages; e.g., Rogers' Ultra-Lite Internet package provides up to 500Kbps download and 2BG/month usage for $28/month; to their Ultimate Internet service with download speed of 50Mbps and 175GB/month of data @ $100/month.†
Obviously, it is important to understand that using FaceTime calling over Wi-Fi at home is on your nickel, i.e., it is not free if you are writing the monthly cheques, and it could be potentially expensive, especially if you have a couple of school age kids using it.
So for some, it begs the question, just how much data is being consumed per minute using FaceTime? Unfortunately, the only information that I have found indicates that it is about 400Kbps using a VGA camera. But nothing absolute.
AT&T has a Data Calculator**, but I don't know if their streaming video calculator could be used to help determine FaceTime calling.
If anybody in the UK has an iPhone 4 and could supply some usage figures, i.e., upload and download, it would be appreciated. It would also be interesting how much data the HD camera consumes.
Why not add FaceTime to desktop Mac OS X as well? since it is WiFi only anyway - and tons of Macs out there already have built-in camera - would allow video chat with far more folks. Maybe even an option to forward a FaceTime chat request from one device to the other.
I love this idea! I think you could accomplish this fairly easily... I guess we wait for Facetime 2.o
The irony is that Apple painted themselves into a corner by making the iPod Touch so thin. Now, it's impossible for them to put any significant technologies into it without making it thicker again. Again, that goes against their grain. It's un-Apple like to make bigger or thicker.
Yes, this is annoying. Once they've gone in one direction, they refuse to go back. The camera rumored for the iPod touch last year was supposedly cancelled primarily because it wouldn't fit into that thin form factor. Rather than change the form to fit the function, they just dropped the function. Weak.
There's a similar thing with cars. I personally find modern cars have paid far too much attention to aerodynamics. Windshields are damn near horizontal nowadays. But manufacturers won't allow themselves to go back to something more upright. Apparently, they thing changing their minds is a bad thing. People might accuse them of being "retro". The horror.
It?s not the iPhone minus the phone unless it has EVERYTHING EXACTLY like the iPhone 4 has, minus the phone? Is there an app for splitting hairs?
Let?s look at what you?re arguing. You?re saying the iPod Touch isn?t pretty much an iPhone because it doesn?t have a gyroscope. Note that they gyroscope only came out with the iPhone 4 and the iPods haven?t been refreshed yet. When you consider the primary use for the gyroscope it seems very likely that the next Touch will have it.
Then there is the GPS. Do you know how pointless GPS is without local maps Do you know how slow GPS is with assistance? I?d like to see this added, too, but Apple doesn?t usually add features that can?t be used out of the box.
Phones ≠ cameras, but it seems very likely, just like the gyroscope that it?s coming to the Touch. Not only because of the space found last time but because Apple is pushing FaceTime and the Touch is a way to do that.
So it looks like the only thing you?re complaining about is GPS, which still makes little sense as it would require a $50 TomTom or some other App Store purchase just to use it.
Think about it: Who else comes close to offers a smartphone and PMP that are so close together, can use almost all the same apps, can be transitioned between users without them skipping a beat?
Dang, take it and run with it. I certainly don't agree with all of your response. For instance, GPS. Yes, if you want turn-by-turn directions, you'd need the TomTom or other app for that. Of course, there's all kinds of other apps that take advantage of the GPS functionality. And why couldn't performance of GPS be just as fast as normal hand-held GPS units from Garmin, etc.? Those devices don't have a 3G link to assist.
Not sure what you're argument about the gyro is about. Yes, the current touch doesn't have one. But the point is that we're talking about the next generation of touch. It should be made available for the touch.
It?s not the iPhone minus the phone unless it has EVERYTHING EXACTLY like the iPhone 4 has, minus the phone? Is there an app for splitting hairs?
Let?s look at what you?re arguing. You?re saying the iPod Touch isn?t pretty much an iPhone because it doesn?t have a gyroscope. Note that they gyroscope only came out with the iPhone 4 and the iPods haven?t been refreshed yet. When you consider the primary use for the gyroscope it seems very likely that the next Touch will have it.
Then there is the GPS. Do you know how pointless GPS is without local maps Do you know how slow GPS is with assistance? I?d like to see this added, too, but Apple doesn?t usually add features that can?t be used out of the box.
Phones ≠ cameras, but it seems very likely, just like the gyroscope that it?s coming to the Touch. Not only because of the space found last time but because Apple is pushing FaceTime and the Touch is a way to do that.
So it looks like the only thing you?re complaining about is GPS, which still makes little sense as it would require a $50 TomTom or some other App Store purchase just to use it.
Think about it: Who else comes close to offers a smartphone and PMP that are so close together, can use almost all the same apps, can be transitioned between users without them skipping a beat?
Talk about splitting hairs... Seriously? The point I try to make is to make it the same piece of hardware sans phone and 3G capabilities. Yes, camera will allow Facetime. GPS could be a problem, I guess, without local maps or at least a fast connection. However, Tom Tom seems to have it working on iPod Touch with additional hardware to provide GPS chip...
You really tried to pick it apart to make it look like an iPod Touch is the same thing, but the missing stuff is just niggles. It's not the same thing. It's the same thing minus the phone, 3G, GPS, camera, etc. etc.
Yes, this is annoying. Once they've gone in one direction, they refuse to go back. The camera rumored for the iPod touch last year was supposedly cancelled primarily because it wouldn't fit into that thin form factor. Rather than change the form to fit the function, they just dropped the function. Weak.
This can't be a reason since the 2G iPod Touch is thicker than the 1G. And the iPhone 3GS is huge compared to the 1G iPod Touch.
Not sure what you're argument about the gyro is about. Yes, the current touch doesn't have one. But the point is that we're talking about the next generation of touch. It should be made available for the touch.
That doesn’t fit with his statement of "Wrong... No GPS, no Gyroscope, no camera..” if he’s only talking about the current iPod Touch compared to the iPhone version it’s based. It seems likely the next Touch will get the gyroscope for games and camera for FaceTime, so it’s just the GPS and foolish to complain about Schrödinger's cat being dead before you open the box.
So it looks like the only thing you?re complaining about is GPS, which still makes little sense as it would require a $50 TomTom or some other App Store purchase just to use it.
It makes sense to the millions of people who play golf and consider buying a standalone
Oh, I hope they add it, but this is Apple we?re talking about and we can?t yell ?FAIL!? when they don?t do what we want, we need to look at a company from their perspective if we?re even going to come close to seeing what they might release in the future.
How many components have they added in the past that don?t have direct use out of the box? Is the gyroscope one of them or does iOS or its default apps also use that? I?d even like GPS in all Mac notebooks for various reasons: HTML5 GeoLocation; timezone location for system time, Dashboard widgets for weather movies, etc.; and Find My Mac in Mobile Me.
Oh, I hope they add it, but this is Apple we’re talking about and we can’t yell “FAIL!” when they don’t do what we want, we need to look at a company from their perspective if we’re even going to come close to seeing what they might release in the future.
How many components have they added in the past that don’t have direct use out of the box? Is the gyroscope one of them or does iOS or its default apps also use that? I’d even like GPS in all Mac notebooks for various reasons: HTML5 GeoLocation; timezone location for system time, Dashboard widgets for weather movies, etc.; and Find My Mac in Mobile Me.
Who yelled "FAIL!"?
You want GPS in all Mac notebooks and I want GPS in the iPod Touch.
WIth regard to Apple's perspective, a well functioning GPS capability in an
iPod Touch could do to those devices to which I referred the same thing the iPad
is doing to the Kindle. The superior multi-function device at the same (or lower)
price as the single function device wins the market.
Then there is the GPS. Do you know how pointless GPS is without local maps Do you know how slow GPS is with assistance? I?d like to see this added, too, but Apple doesn?t usually add features that can?t be used out of the box.
Well, if they also add the rumored camera, there's geotagging the photos you take. I would guess that might be the biggest use of GPS on an iPhone. It's just that people don't notice it because it's buried in the EXIF metadata of their photos. Apple's MacOS photo software also allows you to use a geotagged iPhone photo as a baseline to geotag photos you take with another camera. So a touch with GPS and a camera could also be used for that. (Of course, a slow-start up time for the GPS would frustrate users who just turn on their touch to grab a quick picture.)
And even if you could only use the Maps app when on wifi, it would be useful for it to know where you are. If you are getting directions to someplace, chances are you are leaving from where you are now.
There should be at least one model of the iPod touch that is exactly the same as the iPhone except for the actual phone features. Everything else should be identical, including the A4 process, the Retina display, GPS, compass, two cameras, gyroscope, accelerometer, etc.
Let's see. . . .the touch is still a member of the iPod family, right? Well, Apple, how about finally addressing music playback sound quality? Radical, huh?
Offer better mid-range and bass, and a user-adjustable equalizer. Not exactly exotic stuff by 2010.
Whoever Apple uses to engineer and QA iPod sound quality is clearly not even remotely an audiophile-in-training. Cupertino's been too stubborn about this for too long.
I think Apple uses the lowest bidder approach to sourcing iPod chips. They seem to think only a tiny minority cares about sound quality and they may be right. Not too long ago the general public was happy downloading 96 kbps MP3 versions of bad rips.
I'm no audiophile. I listen to AAC compressed music using relatively inexpensive Sennheiser ear buds, but I'm not impressed with the sound I get from my iPod. I think an equalizer would help because having one in iTunes makes a big difference.
Comments
Then there is the GPS. Do you know how pointless GPS is without local maps Do you know how slow GPS is with assistance? I?d like to see this added, too, but Apple doesn?t usually add features that can?t be used out of the box.
I just bought an iPhone 3G off of eBay for my daughter. It doesn't have a SIM in it and we do not have any GSM cell towers in my area, and the GPS locks in pretty quickly, quicker than my Garmin Forerunner. I've added Open Maps for $3 which allows me to download the maps for it, so she can now use it when she's not connected with wifi. Runkeeper runs just fine on it too.
It's a lot better than any iPod Touch, and cost me less than $150. If Apple doesn't add a camera and GPS to the iPod Touch this fall I will be upgrading my 1G iPod Touch with a used iPhone 3GS from Ebay (I'm assuming the iPhone 4 will still be too expensive used). It's nice that Apple has to come out with a new iPhone every year.
I just bought an iPhone 3G off of eBay for my daughter. It doesn't have a SIM in it and we do not have any GSM cell towers in my area, and the GPS locks in pretty quickly, quicker than my Garmin Forerunner. I've added Open Maps for $3 which allows me to download the maps for it, so she can now use it when she's not connected with wifi. Runkeeper runs just fine on it too.
It's a lot better than any iPod Touch, and cost me less than $150. If Apple doesn't add a camera and GPS to the iPod Touch this fall I will be upgrading my 1G iPod Touch with a used iPhone 3GS from Ebay (I'm assuming the iPhone 4 will still be too expensive used). It's nice that Apple has to come out with a new iPhone every year.
Wow! Maps for $3. They also have a Free version. I don?t expect much, but at that price they don?t have to do much to impress me.As I understand it, A-GPS can work over WiFi, so when WiFi is off how long does it take to lock?
PS: iSuppli says the Broadcom A-GPS is only $1.75.
U.K. retailer John Lewis said the information is based on "noises we're hearing from suppliers," according to electricpig.co.uk. Though no mention was specifically made of a forward-facing camera at the company's presentation in London, it did say that FaceTime calling over Wi-Fi would be possible "so you can communicate with friends at zero cost."
In Canada, Rogers, as well as all the other ISPs', have a number of high-speed internet plans with capped usages; e.g., Rogers' Ultra-Lite Internet package provides up to 500Kbps download and 2BG/month usage for $28/month; to their Ultimate Internet service with download speed of 50Mbps and 175GB/month of data @ $100/month.†
Obviously, it is important to understand that using FaceTime calling over Wi-Fi at home is on your nickel, i.e., it is not free if you are writing the monthly cheques, and it could be potentially expensive, especially if you have a couple of school age kids using it.
So for some, it begs the question, just how much data is being consumed per minute using FaceTime? Unfortunately, the only information that I have found indicates that it is about 400Kbps using a VGA camera. But nothing absolute.
AT&T has a Data Calculator**, but I don't know if their streaming video calculator could be used to help determine FaceTime calling.
If anybody in the UK has an iPhone 4 and could supply some usage figures, i.e., upload and download, it would be appreciated. It would also be interesting how much data the HD camera consumes.
*OECD Broadband statistics [oecd.org/sti/ict/broadband]
†http://www.rogers.com/web/link/hispe...owDefaultPlans
**http://www.att.com/standalone/data-c...tor/index.html
Why not add FaceTime to desktop Mac OS X as well? since it is WiFi only anyway - and tons of Macs out there already have built-in camera - would allow video chat with far more folks. Maybe even an option to forward a FaceTime chat request from one device to the other.
I love this idea! I think you could accomplish this fairly easily... I guess we wait for Facetime 2.o
Wow! Maps for $3. They also have a Free version. I don?t expect much, but at that price they don?t have to do much to impress me.As I understand it, A-GPS can work over WiFi, so when WiFi is off how long does it take to lock?
The free version doesn't download the maps. $3 isn't bad though, I spent twice that on lunch today! :-)
I tested it with Runkeeper, with the Wifi off, and it still locked on pretty quickly.
The irony is that Apple painted themselves into a corner by making the iPod Touch so thin. Now, it's impossible for them to put any significant technologies into it without making it thicker again. Again, that goes against their grain. It's un-Apple like to make bigger or thicker.
Yes, this is annoying. Once they've gone in one direction, they refuse to go back. The camera rumored for the iPod touch last year was supposedly cancelled primarily because it wouldn't fit into that thin form factor. Rather than change the form to fit the function, they just dropped the function. Weak.
There's a similar thing with cars. I personally find modern cars have paid far too much attention to aerodynamics. Windshields are damn near horizontal nowadays. But manufacturers won't allow themselves to go back to something more upright. Apparently, they thing changing their minds is a bad thing. People might accuse them of being "retro". The horror.
this is such a brainless and obvious rumor to come up with.
If that is true, then by definition, your comment falls into the same categories.
It?s not the iPhone minus the phone unless it has EVERYTHING EXACTLY like the iPhone 4 has, minus the phone?
Let?s look at what you?re arguing. You?re saying the iPod Touch isn?t pretty much an iPhone because it doesn?t have a gyroscope. Note that they gyroscope only came out with the iPhone 4 and the iPods haven?t been refreshed yet. When you consider the primary use for the gyroscope it seems very likely that the next Touch will have it.
Then there is the GPS. Do you know how pointless GPS is without local maps Do you know how slow GPS is with assistance? I?d like to see this added, too, but Apple doesn?t usually add features that can?t be used out of the box.
Phones ≠ cameras, but it seems very likely, just like the gyroscope that it?s coming to the Touch. Not only because of the space found last time but because Apple is pushing FaceTime and the Touch is a way to do that.
So it looks like the only thing you?re complaining about is GPS, which still makes little sense as it would require a $50 TomTom or some other App Store purchase just to use it.
Think about it: Who else comes close to offers a smartphone and PMP that are so close together, can use almost all the same apps, can be transitioned between users without them skipping a beat?
Dang, take it and run with it. I certainly don't agree with all of your response. For instance, GPS. Yes, if you want turn-by-turn directions, you'd need the TomTom or other app for that. Of course, there's all kinds of other apps that take advantage of the GPS functionality. And why couldn't performance of GPS be just as fast as normal hand-held GPS units from Garmin, etc.? Those devices don't have a 3G link to assist.
Not sure what you're argument about the gyro is about. Yes, the current touch doesn't have one. But the point is that we're talking about the next generation of touch. It should be made available for the touch.
It?s not the iPhone minus the phone unless it has EVERYTHING EXACTLY like the iPhone 4 has, minus the phone?
Let?s look at what you?re arguing. You?re saying the iPod Touch isn?t pretty much an iPhone because it doesn?t have a gyroscope. Note that they gyroscope only came out with the iPhone 4 and the iPods haven?t been refreshed yet. When you consider the primary use for the gyroscope it seems very likely that the next Touch will have it.
Then there is the GPS. Do you know how pointless GPS is without local maps Do you know how slow GPS is with assistance? I?d like to see this added, too, but Apple doesn?t usually add features that can?t be used out of the box.
Phones ≠ cameras, but it seems very likely, just like the gyroscope that it?s coming to the Touch. Not only because of the space found last time but because Apple is pushing FaceTime and the Touch is a way to do that.
So it looks like the only thing you?re complaining about is GPS, which still makes little sense as it would require a $50 TomTom or some other App Store purchase just to use it.
Think about it: Who else comes close to offers a smartphone and PMP that are so close together, can use almost all the same apps, can be transitioned between users without them skipping a beat?
Talk about splitting hairs... Seriously? The point I try to make is to make it the same piece of hardware sans phone and 3G capabilities. Yes, camera will allow Facetime. GPS could be a problem, I guess, without local maps or at least a fast connection. However, Tom Tom seems to have it working on iPod Touch with additional hardware to provide GPS chip...
You really tried to pick it apart to make it look like an iPod Touch is the same thing, but the missing stuff is just niggles. It's not the same thing. It's the same thing minus the phone, 3G, GPS, camera, etc. etc.
Yes, this is annoying. Once they've gone in one direction, they refuse to go back. The camera rumored for the iPod touch last year was supposedly cancelled primarily because it wouldn't fit into that thin form factor. Rather than change the form to fit the function, they just dropped the function. Weak.
This can't be a reason since the 2G iPod Touch is thicker than the 1G. And the iPhone 3GS is huge compared to the 1G iPod Touch.
Not sure what you're argument about the gyro is about. Yes, the current touch doesn't have one. But the point is that we're talking about the next generation of touch. It should be made available for the touch.
That doesn’t fit with his statement of "Wrong... No GPS, no Gyroscope, no camera..” if he’s only talking about the current iPod Touch compared to the iPhone version it’s based. It seems likely the next Touch will get the gyroscope for games and camera for FaceTime, so it’s just the GPS and foolish to complain about Schrödinger's cat being dead before you open the box.
So it looks like the only thing you?re complaining about is GPS, which still makes little sense as it would require a $50 TomTom or some other App Store purchase just to use it.
It makes sense to the millions of people who play golf and consider buying a standalone
golf gps device.
It makes sense to the millions of people who play golf and consider buying a standalone
golf gps device.
Oh, I hope they add it, but this is Apple we?re talking about and we can?t yell ?FAIL!? when they don?t do what we want, we need to look at a company from their perspective if we?re even going to come close to seeing what they might release in the future.
How many components have they added in the past that don?t have direct use out of the box? Is the gyroscope one of them or does iOS or its default apps also use that? I?d even like GPS in all Mac notebooks for various reasons: HTML5 GeoLocation; timezone location for system time, Dashboard widgets for weather movies, etc.; and Find My Mac in Mobile Me.
Oh, I hope they add it, but this is Apple we’re talking about and we can’t yell “FAIL!” when they don’t do what we want, we need to look at a company from their perspective if we’re even going to come close to seeing what they might release in the future.
How many components have they added in the past that don’t have direct use out of the box? Is the gyroscope one of them or does iOS or its default apps also use that? I’d even like GPS in all Mac notebooks for various reasons: HTML5 GeoLocation; timezone location for system time, Dashboard widgets for weather movies, etc.; and Find My Mac in Mobile Me.
Who yelled "FAIL!"?
You want GPS in all Mac notebooks and I want GPS in the iPod Touch.
WIth regard to Apple's perspective, a well functioning GPS capability in an
iPod Touch could do to those devices to which I referred the same thing the iPad
is doing to the Kindle. The superior multi-function device at the same (or lower)
price as the single function device wins the market.
Then there is the GPS. Do you know how pointless GPS is without local maps Do you know how slow GPS is with assistance? I?d like to see this added, too, but Apple doesn?t usually add features that can?t be used out of the box.
Well, if they also add the rumored camera, there's geotagging the photos you take. I would guess that might be the biggest use of GPS on an iPhone. It's just that people don't notice it because it's buried in the EXIF metadata of their photos. Apple's MacOS photo software also allows you to use a geotagged iPhone photo as a baseline to geotag photos you take with another camera. So a touch with GPS and a camera could also be used for that. (Of course, a slow-start up time for the GPS would frustrate users who just turn on their touch to grab a quick picture.)
And even if you could only use the Maps app when on wifi, it would be useful for it to know where you are. If you are getting directions to someplace, chances are you are leaving from where you are now.
There should be at least one model of the iPod touch that is exactly the same as the iPhone except for the actual phone features. Everything else should be identical, including the A4 process, the Retina display, GPS, compass, two cameras, gyroscope, accelerometer, etc.
Apple make more money on the iPhone.
Considering that the only ipod shown in that slide that already has a camera in is the nano, the slide says 'improved 5m pixel camera?'
All speculation anyway, what does John Lewis know?
It's obvious that it's a matter of time before the Touch gets the iPhone features anyway.
Being a billion $ company I'd say they know more than any of us. The probably even get some stuff built in the same factory. Who knows.
Let's see. . . .the touch is still a member of the iPod family, right? Well, Apple, how about finally addressing music playback sound quality? Radical, huh?
Offer better mid-range and bass, and a user-adjustable equalizer. Not exactly exotic stuff by 2010.
Whoever Apple uses to engineer and QA iPod sound quality is clearly not even remotely an audiophile-in-training. Cupertino's been too stubborn about this for too long.
I think Apple uses the lowest bidder approach to sourcing iPod chips. They seem to think only a tiny minority cares about sound quality and they may be right. Not too long ago the general public was happy downloading 96 kbps MP3 versions of bad rips.
I'm no audiophile. I listen to AAC compressed music using relatively inexpensive Sennheiser ear buds, but I'm not impressed with the sound I get from my iPod. I think an equalizer would help because having one in iTunes makes a big difference.