And by, "pushing out new features", I'm sure person was referring to updates in general, which so far, Apple has proven to be way ahead of the curve.
And maybe that's why other phones don't need "updates" because the've had these features (MMS, Cut and paste, bluetooth stereo, and video capture) since day one.
You're missing the point. Apple is simplying reiterating their commitment to the software side of mobile devices, while competitors are "treading water" in hardware. Software evolves too, but Apple is far, far ahead of the curve.
Treading water in hardware?? Give me a break. Its competitors have exceeded Apple's hardware in many respects. Apple is behind the curve in hardware Apple's competitors actually have an advantage because they are more flexible in what they produce. The iPhone's major hardware weaknesses include the crappy camera (low res, no video), lack of a physical keyboard, the lack of buttons for vital controls. Companies like HTC and LG (among others) have surpassed Apple in these regards, though they don't have a compelling OS.
The Palm PRE looks to surpass the iPhone in many ways, and indications are the OS is much snappier than the iPhone's. And certainly it won't be the only device with such stats from Palm or otherwise.
Well; having a "cool" phone with a great OS, great iTunes integration, and an ecosystem of great third part peripherals helps too, as well as the software App Store. There are many parts of this thing that need to be there to make the whole. iTunes is one of the biggest deals here. Now Apple has just made it even more appealing for developers.
They need to work out a better method for approving and getting the apps approved quicker. I simply don't believe their numbers yesterday on this. I think they are lying. And I hope they address this properly, sooner rather than later. All in all great update / news yesterday. The phone is really on its way towards becoming something special.
All we need now really, is an OLED screen, and a "good" camera with autofocus and a flash.
And maybe that's why other phones don't need "updates" because the've had these features (MMS, Cut and paste, bluetooth stereo, and video capture) since day one.
teckstud - for someone who clearly has an axe to grind with Apple, you post an awful lot on a website devoted to apple news (a site made by and for apple fans). What's the goal, here? Are you compelled to school the heathens on our foolish ways? Or just bored?
If you want to talk about getting excited about something too early, talk about the pre. We have no idea of what the iphone will be like (or other phones for that matter) when the Pre finally appears. Yet many are hailing the Pre as an iphone killer.
Amen! Getting tired of all the hysteria of the pending release of the next iPhone-killer. I think the Pre is the worst of them, so far. Especially with all the hype surrounding the "multitasking" capabilities as the biggest feature over the iPhone. I'm sorry, but doesn't the Blackberry, Windows Mobile, and Android already allow this? And why now are people so excited about running what are essentially applets (widgets)!? Apple could simply port Dashboard to the iPhone and end up with a similar "multitasking" applet environment.
Quote:
Originally Posted by umijin
The Palm PRE looks to surpass the iPhone in many ways, and indications are the OS is much snappier than the iPhone's. And certainly it won't be the only device with such stats from Palm or otherwise.
Or even Apple, so why bring it up? And of course it's "snappier", the Pre is using a more powerful CPU compared to the iPhone, which should be expected since the iPhone was released last summer.
Lots of phones don't have "MMS, Cut and paste, bluetooth stereo, and video capture", and many more don't have email clients, media players, mapping apps, cloud syncing calendar and contacts apps. Some do, many don't, and those that don't will likely never get them. Even Windows Mobile, the product that you'd think Mobile OS X would be most analagous do offers minimal update or upgrade opportunities. Apple have made Mobile OS X upgrades work so well that iPhone users expect them, while other phone users would be leaping in the air to get even a fraction of this kind of customer service and experience.
Whether the upgrades "should have" been there in the first place in is irrelevant, Apple has broken down the mobile OS software model spectacularly twice, with the iTunes integration on firmware updates, and with the App Store. Whatever functionality the iPhone itself may or may not be missing, it's light years ahead in these two respects.
Apple DOES have it right. None of their hardware is that far ahead of anyone else. Computers, phones, ipods, anything. There are plenty of competitive products that actually can BEAT Apple's specs and prices. But that alone isn't why you want a product. It's the software that make the darn thing work.
Bravo.... well said!
This is Apple's USP, and exactly why I enjoy their products so much.
Unfortunately there are 'feature-checklist' people who just won't get it, and that is fine - each to their own.
At this point in time , in this state of the world, video capture is an absolute must have.
How many world events i.e. assasination of Bhutto, the Tsunami, Katrina, Obama's campaign, etc, etc have we seen captured on video from someone's phone? It's too bad iPhone users are left out on this one basic feature.
That's so cute... you seem so caring. I may be the one left out, but I'm certainly not the one complaining.
Until the iPhone gets video capture, I'll remain content with my inferior product.
teckstud - for someone who clearly has an axe to grind with Apple, you post an awful lot on a website devoted to apple news (a site made by and for apple fans). What's the goal, here? Are you compelled to school the heathens on our foolish ways? Or just bored?
I don't have ax to grind with Apple at all. In fact I can't wait to buy the $10 upgrade for my iTouch which will now have bluetooth which is amazing! And I love the discussions on here, when they make sense. BTW- Why aren't you questioning the unabashed fanboys who attack us for pointing out their misinformed, idolatrous postings.
Apple DOES have it right. None of their hardware is that far ahead of anyone else. Computers, phones, ipods, anything. There are plenty of competitive products that actually can BEAT Apple's specs and prices. But that alone isn't why you want a product. It's the software that make the darn thing work.
I'd rather have a lower resolution camera phone that I can easily take pictures with and share them than some high res phone that I have to struggle with to convince it to let me at my photos.
I pretty much agree with what you say except your take on the camera. The iPhone camera is adequate at best and definitely not easy to use. The form factor of the iphone makes it hard to shoot single handedly. I don't expect too much of a phone camera and it serves me well when I don't have my 'real' camera with me, but it ain't great in terms of usability.
It also depends on the implementation of the feature. Take Cut, copy and paste. I don't recall seeing it work as cool and intelligently on other devices, compared to what was shown on the presentation from Apple.
I imagine it would take a bit of a hardware upgrade to get Video up to Apple standards. Qik on a jailbroken phone works okay, but quality is truly lacking. If you have a jailbroken phone, check it out. It's not bad, but probably the best you can get on the current hardware.
[EDIT: I don't know why it replied to slapppy... not my intention... ]
I don't have ax to grind with Apple at all. In fact I can't wait to buy the $10 upgrade for my iTouch which will now have bluetooth which is amazing! And I love the discussions on here, when they make sense. BTW- Why aren't you questioning the unabashed fanboys who attack us for pointing out their misinformed, idolatrous postings.
I hear ya. I enjoy the discussions too. I think "fanboys" get a bad rap. This is usually how it goes down -
1) Apple releases product X
2) People complain about missing features
3) Other people say it's not that big of a deal such features are missing.
4) Those people are immediately labeled blind fanboys.
This is the case for every product release. Shuffle, iPhone, Unibody MB/MBP, etc.
This isn't necessarily directed at you in particular, but people need to understand its OK for some people to BE OK with missing features.
The features themselves aren't new but their implementation can be new. From a development standpoint the feature itself isn't the important part its the implementation of the feature. There have been numerous studies that have found most of these features are not used on most phones because of poor user interfaces and difficulty of use.
Quicktime was originally designed for video playback not video capture.
Quote:
Originally Posted by teckstud
I hate to burst your bubble but since when is MMS, Cut and Paste and Stereo bluetooth considered a new feature? And still no video capture from the company that invented Quickktime? Come on - let's get real.
Well first of all, these are a bunch of analysts, they get paid to speculate and attempt to set expectations.
Secondly, where've you been? Microsoft has laid out their timeline and features for WinMo. Palm has demo'ed the newest Jesus phone. RIM is too busy trying to get the hardware right and Google is slowly pecking at Android.
Do people think it takes only a couple of months to develop an OS and add features? This is not Apple's response to the Palm or any other mobile phone. I can assure you version 3.0 started development soon after version 2.0 was released and version 4.0 is probably already on the drawing board.
And companies don't continuously add new features to their products right up to the release date in order to stay competitive. Most products under development hit what is called a "feature freeze" point, usually long before the release date. At that point you concentrate on security, stability and performance.
P.S. Also this isn't "vaporware" - that term refers to a product that never sees the light of day; you have to at least wait until after the target release date comes and goes. For example, up until yesterday, Apple's Push Notification System, could've been considered vaporware.
Excellent post, with one minor correction:
I'll bet you dollars to donuts iPhone OS 3.0 was in development well BEFORE 2.0 ever saw the light of day, just as separate teams are already on 3.1 and 4.0. And while that's a kudo to Apple, they're hardly alone in this approach.
But one historical note is also of interest: some 30 years plus ago, Apple was mainly focused on the floundering Apple III and Lisa, while a basically rogue group, even though it included the founder, Steve Jobs, was allowed a few resources to develop a pet "pirate" project (they even affected pirate garb at some point) - which became the Macintosh.
So there could even be multiple groups blue-skying and prototyping 4.0 and beyond.
And you make sound as if mobile carriers won't try and control the user experience as well and force handset makers to disable and leave out features just as with the original G1 and just about every other mobile phone on the market.
Flash is a bad example to use to demonstrate Apple's control when, ironically, it is control that Apple is trying to remove from the open internet. Flash is a proprietary Adobe technology. Apple would much rather see the advancement of open web technologies such as HTML5 and CSS3.
I would rather see a LED camera "flash" than Adobe "flash" on the next iPhone.
And maybe that's why other phones don't need "updates" because the've had these features (MMS, Cut and paste, bluetooth stereo, and video capture) since day one.
I hate to burst your bubble but since when is MMS, Cut and Paste and Stereo bluetooth considered a new feature? And still no video capture from the company that invented Quickktime? Come on - let's get real.
maybe we could put this debate to rest if we agreed it's just a case of points of view: the glass half empty? or...well, you know. To me, the add-ons are new features to the hardware/software combination i originally bought. It's as if i bought an 08 (fill in the car make and model of your choice here) and it wasn't available with stability control, or a nav system: a year later the manufacturer makes those available thru a free firmware update. Those are new features to me, whether or not some other car make/model had those features in 08 when i bought mine without them. I'd be pretty happy. As I am with any improvements apple brings to the iPhone i already own.
on a different subject: pyschodoughboy: nice post. well thought out. your comments about multitasking (i'm naive on the subject) prompted a question:
Yesterday, on my 3G iPhone, with the latest software, i was twice in the process of writing emails containing a photo i'd taken with the phone, when I got incoming calls. In both instances my email "disappeared". At least, I couldn't find them. They were not in the mail "drafts" folder and were nowhere else i could think of to look.
Is this supposed to happen? Might i have found those emails-in-progress somewhere? Where? If not, is this the sort of thing multitasking would solve?
Really, now that Apple has covered just about every single feature that they lacked and other smartphones didnt (MMS, c&p, et cetera), there's not much left to improve upon.
There still is plenty for developers. For example - while every other platform supports native calendar access and native alarm APIs, the iPhone does not have this. This is a major issue for the more business side of the market. Even for a lot of the consumers who simply want to do one or two small tasks with their calendar.
Some examples off the top of my head: exercise app or diabetic app that creates calendar events for helping keep track.
Comments
And by, "pushing out new features", I'm sure person was referring to updates in general, which so far, Apple has proven to be way ahead of the curve.
And maybe that's why other phones don't need "updates" because the've had these features (MMS, Cut and paste, bluetooth stereo, and video capture) since day one.
You're missing the point. Apple is simplying reiterating their commitment to the software side of mobile devices, while competitors are "treading water" in hardware. Software evolves too, but Apple is far, far ahead of the curve.
Treading water in hardware?? Give me a break. Its competitors have exceeded Apple's hardware in many respects. Apple is behind the curve in hardware Apple's competitors actually have an advantage because they are more flexible in what they produce. The iPhone's major hardware weaknesses include the crappy camera (low res, no video), lack of a physical keyboard, the lack of buttons for vital controls. Companies like HTC and LG (among others) have surpassed Apple in these regards, though they don't have a compelling OS.
The Palm PRE looks to surpass the iPhone in many ways, and indications are the OS is much snappier than the iPhone's. And certainly it won't be the only device with such stats from Palm or otherwise.
They need to work out a better method for approving and getting the apps approved quicker. I simply don't believe their numbers yesterday on this. I think they are lying. And I hope they address this properly, sooner rather than later. All in all great update / news yesterday. The phone is really on its way towards becoming something special.
All we need now really, is an OLED screen, and a "good" camera with autofocus and a flash.
And maybe that's why other phones don't need "updates" because the've had these features (MMS, Cut and paste, bluetooth stereo, and video capture) since day one.
teckstud - for someone who clearly has an axe to grind with Apple, you post an awful lot on a website devoted to apple news (a site made by and for apple fans). What's the goal, here? Are you compelled to school the heathens on our foolish ways? Or just bored?
If you want to talk about getting excited about something too early, talk about the pre. We have no idea of what the iphone will be like (or other phones for that matter) when the Pre finally appears. Yet many are hailing the Pre as an iphone killer.
Amen! Getting tired of all the hysteria of the pending release of the next iPhone-killer. I think the Pre is the worst of them, so far. Especially with all the hype surrounding the "multitasking" capabilities as the biggest feature over the iPhone. I'm sorry, but doesn't the Blackberry, Windows Mobile, and Android already allow this? And why now are people so excited about running what are essentially applets (widgets)!? Apple could simply port Dashboard to the iPhone and end up with a similar "multitasking" applet environment.
The Palm PRE looks to surpass the iPhone in many ways, and indications are the OS is much snappier than the iPhone's. And certainly it won't be the only device with such stats from Palm or otherwise.
Or even Apple, so why bring it up? And of course it's "snappier", the Pre is using a more powerful CPU compared to the iPhone, which should be expected since the iPhone was released last summer.
Whether the upgrades "should have" been there in the first place in is irrelevant, Apple has broken down the mobile OS software model spectacularly twice, with the iTunes integration on firmware updates, and with the App Store. Whatever functionality the iPhone itself may or may not be missing, it's light years ahead in these two respects.
Apple DOES have it right. None of their hardware is that far ahead of anyone else. Computers, phones, ipods, anything. There are plenty of competitive products that actually can BEAT Apple's specs and prices. But that alone isn't why you want a product. It's the software that make the darn thing work.
Bravo.... well said!
This is Apple's USP, and exactly why I enjoy their products so much.
Unfortunately there are 'feature-checklist' people who just won't get it, and that is fine - each to their own.
At this point in time , in this state of the world, video capture is an absolute must have.
How many world events i.e. assasination of Bhutto, the Tsunami, Katrina, Obama's campaign, etc, etc have we seen captured on video from someone's phone? It's too bad iPhone users are left out on this one basic feature.
That's so cute... you seem so caring. I may be the one left out, but I'm certainly not the one complaining.
Until the iPhone gets video capture, I'll remain content with my inferior product.
teckstud - for someone who clearly has an axe to grind with Apple, you post an awful lot on a website devoted to apple news (a site made by and for apple fans). What's the goal, here? Are you compelled to school the heathens on our foolish ways? Or just bored?
Apple DOES have it right. None of their hardware is that far ahead of anyone else. Computers, phones, ipods, anything. There are plenty of competitive products that actually can BEAT Apple's specs and prices. But that alone isn't why you want a product. It's the software that make the darn thing work.
I'd rather have a lower resolution camera phone that I can easily take pictures with and share them than some high res phone that I have to struggle with to convince it to let me at my photos.
I pretty much agree with what you say except your take on the camera. The iPhone camera is adequate at best and definitely not easy to use. The form factor of the iphone makes it hard to shoot single handedly. I don't expect too much of a phone camera and it serves me well when I don't have my 'real' camera with me, but it ain't great in terms of usability.
It also depends on the implementation of the feature. Take Cut, copy and paste. I don't recall seeing it work as cool and intelligently on other devices, compared to what was shown on the presentation from Apple.
I imagine it would take a bit of a hardware upgrade to get Video up to Apple standards. Qik on a jailbroken phone works okay, but quality is truly lacking. If you have a jailbroken phone, check it out. It's not bad, but probably the best you can get on the current hardware.
[EDIT: I don't know why it replied to slapppy... not my intention... ]
That's so cute... you seem so caring. I may be the one left out, but I'm certainly not the one complaining.
Until the iPhone gets video capture, I'll remain content with my inferior product.
That's OK, I understand- Why would you complain when it's something you never had?
I'm sure that you'll welcome it though, like the parting of the Red Sea, once you do get it. Just like MMS.
I hear ya. I enjoy the discussions too. I think "fanboys" get a bad rap. This is usually how it goes down -
1) Apple releases product X
2) People complain about missing features
3) Other people say it's not that big of a deal such features are missing.
4) Those people are immediately labeled blind fanboys.
This is the case for every product release. Shuffle, iPhone, Unibody MB/MBP, etc.
This isn't necessarily directed at you in particular, but people need to understand its OK for some people to BE OK with missing features.
That's OK, I understand- Why would you complain when it's something you never had?
I'm sure that you'll welcome it though, like the parting of the Red Sea, once you do get it. Just like MMS.
Of course I'll welcome it...
- I love the free updates
Quicktime was originally designed for video playback not video capture.
I hate to burst your bubble but since when is MMS, Cut and Paste and Stereo bluetooth considered a new feature? And still no video capture from the company that invented Quickktime? Come on - let's get real.
Well first of all, these are a bunch of analysts, they get paid to speculate and attempt to set expectations.
Secondly, where've you been? Microsoft has laid out their timeline and features for WinMo. Palm has demo'ed the newest Jesus phone. RIM is too busy trying to get the hardware right and Google is slowly pecking at Android.
Do people think it takes only a couple of months to develop an OS and add features? This is not Apple's response to the Palm or any other mobile phone. I can assure you version 3.0 started development soon after version 2.0 was released and version 4.0 is probably already on the drawing board.
And companies don't continuously add new features to their products right up to the release date in order to stay competitive. Most products under development hit what is called a "feature freeze" point, usually long before the release date. At that point you concentrate on security, stability and performance.
P.S. Also this isn't "vaporware" - that term refers to a product that never sees the light of day; you have to at least wait until after the target release date comes and goes. For example, up until yesterday, Apple's Push Notification System, could've been considered vaporware.
Excellent post, with one minor correction:
I'll bet you dollars to donuts iPhone OS 3.0 was in development well BEFORE 2.0 ever saw the light of day, just as separate teams are already on 3.1 and 4.0. And while that's a kudo to Apple, they're hardly alone in this approach.
But one historical note is also of interest: some 30 years plus ago, Apple was mainly focused on the floundering Apple III and Lisa, while a basically rogue group, even though it included the founder, Steve Jobs, was allowed a few resources to develop a pet "pirate" project (they even affected pirate garb at some point) - which became the Macintosh.
So there could even be multiple groups blue-skying and prototyping 4.0 and beyond.
And you make sound as if mobile carriers won't try and control the user experience as well and force handset makers to disable and leave out features just as with the original G1 and just about every other mobile phone on the market.
Flash is a bad example to use to demonstrate Apple's control when, ironically, it is control that Apple is trying to remove from the open internet. Flash is a proprietary Adobe technology. Apple would much rather see the advancement of open web technologies such as HTML5 and CSS3.
I would rather see a LED camera "flash" than Adobe "flash" on the next iPhone.
And maybe that's why other phones don't need "updates" because the've had these features (MMS, Cut and paste, bluetooth stereo, and video capture) since day one.
I hate to burst your bubble but since when is MMS, Cut and Paste and Stereo bluetooth considered a new feature? And still no video capture from the company that invented Quickktime? Come on - let's get real.
maybe we could put this debate to rest if we agreed it's just a case of points of view: the glass half empty? or...well, you know. To me, the add-ons are new features to the hardware/software combination i originally bought. It's as if i bought an 08 (fill in the car make and model of your choice here) and it wasn't available with stability control, or a nav system: a year later the manufacturer makes those available thru a free firmware update. Those are new features to me, whether or not some other car make/model had those features in 08 when i bought mine without them. I'd be pretty happy. As I am with any improvements apple brings to the iPhone i already own.
on a different subject: pyschodoughboy: nice post. well thought out. your comments about multitasking (i'm naive on the subject) prompted a question:
Yesterday, on my 3G iPhone, with the latest software, i was twice in the process of writing emails containing a photo i'd taken with the phone, when I got incoming calls. In both instances my email "disappeared". At least, I couldn't find them. They were not in the mail "drafts" folder and were nowhere else i could think of to look.
Is this supposed to happen? Might i have found those emails-in-progress somewhere? Where? If not, is this the sort of thing multitasking would solve?
thanks
Really, now that Apple has covered just about every single feature that they lacked and other smartphones didnt (MMS, c&p, et cetera), there's not much left to improve upon.
There still is plenty for developers. For example - while every other platform supports native calendar access and native alarm APIs, the iPhone does not have this. This is a major issue for the more business side of the market. Even for a lot of the consumers who simply want to do one or two small tasks with their calendar.
Some examples off the top of my head: exercise app or diabetic app that creates calendar events for helping keep track.