Well, i dont understand why people are bitching about the minor hardware upgrade. Mac has never been upgradeable. So is iPhone.
Those with original and 3G iPhone will continue to use it while enjoying an Software / OS upgrade. Which is Extremely rare in Mobile Tech front. ( Most Windows Mobile phone's OS can not be upgraded ). Moto, SE, LG, Samsung only provide rare bug fix firmware. Only a few Nokia Phones get updated with new features / UI and function. However most of those phones that required Nokia to upgrade are generally VERY broken in the first place. ( Nokia 5800XM ). That thing that got me excited about Moto V8 was its uses of Linux and hopefully we could get update from Phone Manufacture. And it turns out, as quoted from one of Nokia and Moto' Rep. " Why should we fix your phone, if you want update you should buy new model of phones" That is nearly 60 - 80% of World Mobile phone dont get Software update.
Apple's iPhone, although expensive at first, gets you an update at least once per year. ( Whether they are minor or major update )
You continue to enjoy using your current phone. Until 2 years later, another substantially better iphone come out that tempt you to buy another new one.
good article, as usual, but it does not address the one thorny issue that could potentially break the backwards-compatibility that the article lauds viz. is apple going to allow development of 3GS-only apps?
good article, as usual, but it does not address the one thorny issue that could potentially break the backwards-compatibility that the article lauds viz. is apple going to allow development of 3GS-only apps?
I?d think so, but there is always a chance that developers will have to make it work with new and old HW. But I think this would not be good for users or developers. If a developer is making a game that takes advantage of the ARM Cortex A8, the PowerVR SGX and OpenGL 2.0 I want that developer to focus on that, not to make a single version that works for the lowest common denominator or forces the developer to work doubly hard to code for both system. Assuming for a seconds that the iPhone SDK could make it seamless to the developer so they don?t have to work twice as hard, I?d still prefer the developer to choose which HW platforms his app is made for.
Why Apple keep 3G S specs secret ?. Because it is inferior to Palm Pre specs!!!.
Not that this matters becuase both hardware are really powerful enough to do things they are supposed to do. Just that battery life needs decent system management to ensure a reasonable amount of sustained use. The predicted battery life seems fine for normal use.
True, but there is a major difference between just focusing on real-world performance improvements instead of hardware, and actually keeping secret all technical details and not letting your partners to list them.
Focusing on the practical benefits of new hardware and publicly listing the device specifications are not mutually exclusive for god sakes. There is no reason why the iPhone specifications section on the website can't list basic info about the CPU and graphics cores.
Just like the Mac computers, they can continue focusing on the practical benefits of their software and hardware while also being transparent about the hardware components..
I would think that the number of people that understand mobile phone components would be far fewer than those that understand desktop / notebook components. Trying to get people to see it as a gestalt is probably worthwhile. For most people, it's probably not interesting information, and it really doesn't help much in understanding how well the device works. For example, as long as it works as advertised, most people don't worry about how much memory or what kind of processor is in a printer. Heck, even if the printer doesn't work right, how many people would infer that the processor or memory is at fault?
Quote:
Originally Posted by Nano2Gfteo
Why Apple keep 3G S specs secret ?. Because it is inferior to Palm Pre specs!!!.
Not that this matters becuase both hardware are really powerful enough to do things they are supposed to do. Just that battery life needs decent system management to ensure a reasonable amount of sustained use. The predicted battery life seems fine for normal use.
In this case, I think it's hard to simply say superior or inferior just from the raw speed or size, though I can understand some people will make that judgement. But if it's not the right match for the device in question, such as your example, then it's not really superior, it's the wrong part for the job.
An extreme example is that Sega hand held game system that had a color screen, fast graphics and a backlight when the old Game Boy had none of that. Despite being a far superior system in terms of those specs, the Sega didn't catch on, a lot of that due to people not wanting to replace the batteries more than once a day. The price probably didn't help either.
You might want to take a lesson in patience, humility and empathy to realize employees at Apple are the best humanity has to develop communications tools for people all over the world that are truly changing the world and the way people behave in it. I thank God everyday Apple is in our lives. Without them, the world would be a much more unpleasant place to live in. We are so lucky to be living in this time thanks to Apple employees.
This was a really good article. I agree that it's wise to not publicly announce the tech specs of the iPhone. Hardware is only as good as its software, so if Apple has a good mobile OS, consumers shouldn't have to worry about the hardware.
Especially if the hardware is, well, ordinary and overpriced.
Well, i dont understand why people are bitching about the minor hardware upgrade. Mac has never been upgradeable. So is iPhone.
Those with original and 3G iPhone will continue to use it while enjoying an Software / OS upgrade. Which is Extremely rare in Mobile Tech front. ( Most Windows Mobile phone's OS can not be upgraded ). Moto, SE, LG, Samsung only provide rare bug fix firmware. Only a few Nokia Phones get updated with new features / UI and function. However most of those phones that required Nokia to upgrade are generally VERY broken in the first place. ( Nokia 5800XM ). That thing that got me excited about Moto V8 was its uses of Linux and hopefully we could get update from Phone Manufacture. And it turns out, as quoted from one of Nokia and Moto' Rep. " Why should we fix your phone, if you want update you should buy new model of phones" That is nearly 60 - 80% of World Mobile phone dont get Software update.
Apple's iPhone, although expensive at first, gets you an update at least once per year. ( Whether they are minor or major update )
You continue to enjoy using your current phone. Until 2 years later, another substantially better iphone come out that tempt you to buy another new one.
The upgrade cycle seems to be one year, not two and hence the grumbles from all the people who are not yet 18 months into their AT&T contract to be eligible for the subsidized price of the new one.
As an iPhone developer, I can understand why the new iPhone 3G S, cosmetically, hasn't been changed--it might affect the running of AppStore apps. The screen size, more or less, has to remain the same for most programs to be able to run properly. The most Apple can do is probably make the device thinner and change the color/material of the screen frame and the backing.
I?d think so, but there is always a chance that developers will have to make it work with new and old HW. But I think this would not be good for users or developers. If a developer is making a game that takes advantage of the ARM Cortex A8, the PowerVR SGX and OpenGL 2.0 I want that developer to focus on that, not to make a single version that works for the lowest common denominator or forces the developer to work doubly hard to code for both system. Assuming for a seconds that the iPhone SDK could make it seamless to the developer so they don?t have to work twice as hard, I?d still prefer the developer to choose which HW platforms his app is made for.
As an iPhone developer, I know for a fact that there isn't any functions in the SDK that lets you target a specific processor, so it's the OS that handles what ARM processor it's using. As for OpenGL, it's a superset, so old programs will work, but if you add OpenGL 2.0 specific functionality, then you'll have to specify the OS required for your app at the AppStore.
As an iPhone developer, I can understand why the new iPhone 3G S, cosmetically, hasn't been changed--it might affect the running of AppStore apps. The screen size, more or less, has to remain the same for most programs to be able to run properly. The most Apple can do is probably make the device thinner and change the color/material of the screen frame and the backing.
They changed the look of the phone before between the first and second revisions without changing the screen size or resolution. I have no complaint with keeping the look the same, but it does seem odd that Apple's big, bad new phone looks exactly the same as the last version. They often keep the look the same with their computers, but the closest analog, the iPods, changed in appearance almost ever year.
The upgrade cycle seems to be one year, not two and hence the grumbles from all the people who are not yet 18 months into their AT&T contract to be eligible for the subsidized price of the new one.
Most companies release new phones every year. It's just that new models usually aren't that compelling or segmented to a different market that you really want to switch in a year.
Most companies release new phones every year. It's just that new models usually aren't that compelling or segmented to a different market that you really want to switch in a year.
Yea, the comment was about someone who was saying that it was a two year cycle which is incorrect. People are now grumbling about not being eligible for the discounted price of the new phone when they purchased the 3G a year ago. That seems to be the way that AT&T likes it though.
On the other hand, there appear to be Congressional hearings in the future about the business of exclusive contracts such as the AT&T - iPhone one. That should be interesting to watch.
Comments
Those with original and 3G iPhone will continue to use it while enjoying an Software / OS upgrade. Which is Extremely rare in Mobile Tech front. ( Most Windows Mobile phone's OS can not be upgraded ). Moto, SE, LG, Samsung only provide rare bug fix firmware. Only a few Nokia Phones get updated with new features / UI and function. However most of those phones that required Nokia to upgrade are generally VERY broken in the first place. ( Nokia 5800XM ). That thing that got me excited about Moto V8 was its uses of Linux and hopefully we could get update from Phone Manufacture. And it turns out, as quoted from one of Nokia and Moto' Rep. " Why should we fix your phone, if you want update you should buy new model of phones" That is nearly 60 - 80% of World Mobile phone dont get Software update.
Apple's iPhone, although expensive at first, gets you an update at least once per year. ( Whether they are minor or major update )
You continue to enjoy using your current phone. Until 2 years later, another substantially better iphone come out that tempt you to buy another new one.
good article, as usual, but it does not address the one thorny issue that could potentially break the backwards-compatibility that the article lauds viz. is apple going to allow development of 3GS-only apps?
I?d think so, but there is always a chance that developers will have to make it work with new and old HW. But I think this would not be good for users or developers. If a developer is making a game that takes advantage of the ARM Cortex A8, the PowerVR SGX and OpenGL 2.0 I want that developer to focus on that, not to make a single version that works for the lowest common denominator or forces the developer to work doubly hard to code for both system. Assuming for a seconds that the iPhone SDK could make it seamless to the developer so they don?t have to work twice as hard, I?d still prefer the developer to choose which HW platforms his app is made for.
Not that this matters becuase both hardware are really powerful enough to do things they are supposed to do. Just that battery life needs decent system management to ensure a reasonable amount of sustained use. The predicted battery life seems fine for normal use.
True, but there is a major difference between just focusing on real-world performance improvements instead of hardware, and actually keeping secret all technical details and not letting your partners to list them.
Focusing on the practical benefits of new hardware and publicly listing the device specifications are not mutually exclusive for god sakes. There is no reason why the iPhone specifications section on the website can't list basic info about the CPU and graphics cores.
Just like the Mac computers, they can continue focusing on the practical benefits of their software and hardware while also being transparent about the hardware components..
I would think that the number of people that understand mobile phone components would be far fewer than those that understand desktop / notebook components. Trying to get people to see it as a gestalt is probably worthwhile. For most people, it's probably not interesting information, and it really doesn't help much in understanding how well the device works. For example, as long as it works as advertised, most people don't worry about how much memory or what kind of processor is in a printer. Heck, even if the printer doesn't work right, how many people would infer that the processor or memory is at fault?
Why Apple keep 3G S specs secret ?. Because it is inferior to Palm Pre specs!!!.
Not that this matters becuase both hardware are really powerful enough to do things they are supposed to do. Just that battery life needs decent system management to ensure a reasonable amount of sustained use. The predicted battery life seems fine for normal use.
In this case, I think it's hard to simply say superior or inferior just from the raw speed or size, though I can understand some people will make that judgement. But if it's not the right match for the device in question, such as your example, then it's not really superior, it's the wrong part for the job.
An extreme example is that Sega hand held game system that had a color screen, fast graphics and a backlight when the old Game Boy had none of that. Despite being a far superior system in terms of those specs, the Sega didn't catch on, a lot of that due to people not wanting to replace the batteries more than once a day. The price probably didn't help either.
You might want to take a lesson in patience, humility and empathy to realize employees at Apple are the best humanity has to develop communications tools for people all over the world that are truly changing the world and the way people behave in it. I thank God everyday Apple is in our lives. Without them, the world would be a much more unpleasant place to live in. We are so lucky to be living in this time thanks to Apple employees.
Get help.
This was a really good article. I agree that it's wise to not publicly announce the tech specs of the iPhone. Hardware is only as good as its software, so if Apple has a good mobile OS, consumers shouldn't have to worry about the hardware.
Especially if the hardware is, well, ordinary and overpriced.
Well, i dont understand why people are bitching about the minor hardware upgrade. Mac has never been upgradeable. So is iPhone.
Those with original and 3G iPhone will continue to use it while enjoying an Software / OS upgrade. Which is Extremely rare in Mobile Tech front. ( Most Windows Mobile phone's OS can not be upgraded ). Moto, SE, LG, Samsung only provide rare bug fix firmware. Only a few Nokia Phones get updated with new features / UI and function. However most of those phones that required Nokia to upgrade are generally VERY broken in the first place. ( Nokia 5800XM ). That thing that got me excited about Moto V8 was its uses of Linux and hopefully we could get update from Phone Manufacture. And it turns out, as quoted from one of Nokia and Moto' Rep. " Why should we fix your phone, if you want update you should buy new model of phones" That is nearly 60 - 80% of World Mobile phone dont get Software update.
Apple's iPhone, although expensive at first, gets you an update at least once per year. ( Whether they are minor or major update )
You continue to enjoy using your current phone. Until 2 years later, another substantially better iphone come out that tempt you to buy another new one.
The upgrade cycle seems to be one year, not two and hence the grumbles from all the people who are not yet 18 months into their AT&T contract to be eligible for the subsidized price of the new one.
I?d think so, but there is always a chance that developers will have to make it work with new and old HW. But I think this would not be good for users or developers. If a developer is making a game that takes advantage of the ARM Cortex A8, the PowerVR SGX and OpenGL 2.0 I want that developer to focus on that, not to make a single version that works for the lowest common denominator or forces the developer to work doubly hard to code for both system. Assuming for a seconds that the iPhone SDK could make it seamless to the developer so they don?t have to work twice as hard, I?d still prefer the developer to choose which HW platforms his app is made for.
As an iPhone developer, I know for a fact that there isn't any functions in the SDK that lets you target a specific processor, so it's the OS that handles what ARM processor it's using. As for OpenGL, it's a superset, so old programs will work, but if you add OpenGL 2.0 specific functionality, then you'll have to specify the OS required for your app at the AppStore.
As an iPhone developer, I can understand why the new iPhone 3G S, cosmetically, hasn't been changed--it might affect the running of AppStore apps. The screen size, more or less, has to remain the same for most programs to be able to run properly. The most Apple can do is probably make the device thinner and change the color/material of the screen frame and the backing.
They changed the look of the phone before between the first and second revisions without changing the screen size or resolution. I have no complaint with keeping the look the same, but it does seem odd that Apple's big, bad new phone looks exactly the same as the last version. They often keep the look the same with their computers, but the closest analog, the iPods, changed in appearance almost ever year.
The upgrade cycle seems to be one year, not two and hence the grumbles from all the people who are not yet 18 months into their AT&T contract to be eligible for the subsidized price of the new one.
Most companies release new phones every year. It's just that new models usually aren't that compelling or segmented to a different market that you really want to switch in a year.
Most companies release new phones every year. It's just that new models usually aren't that compelling or segmented to a different market that you really want to switch in a year.
Yea, the comment was about someone who was saying that it was a two year cycle which is incorrect. People are now grumbling about not being eligible for the discounted price of the new phone when they purchased the 3G a year ago. That seems to be the way that AT&T likes it though.
On the other hand, there appear to be Congressional hearings in the future about the business of exclusive contracts such as the AT&T - iPhone one. That should be interesting to watch.