iPhone junior?

Posted:
in Future Apple Hardware edited January 2014
When Steve demo'd the iPhone, he showed the mainstream market smartphones a couple of times on the big display. The iPhone is a great phone, but I think it's targeted more towards the smartphone user, than my mother for example, who just makes calls.



Who else here thinks Apple should make a second smart non-smartphone phone, like a Nano with touchscreen, that has the ability to play music, send texts, and make calls, that's it. Save, a calculator, a clock, and a calander, this would be a stripped back device. Take the existing Nano's form factor, make it a couple of mil wider for a great texting experience, a mil or so thicker (for better call battery life), chamfer off the edges to make it more nice against the face. Job done. A really simple phone for the kids, and the not so rich boring adults who want to stay cool, but more importantly enjoy using great devices, and are fed up with the crap they have to try to navigate through on a day to day basis. The iPhone is basically a small touchscreen computer that's great for making calls, sending texts, sending emails, navigating the internet and enjoying you media from anywhere. The iPhone junior would be Apple's basic phone, only a few features, and yet done in a way more appealing and easy to use manner than current phones. They could make it in 2 gigabyte and 4 gigabyte models, and in a few Zirconian colors.



People would have no reason to bother, or no excuse to buy another brand phone again, besides those that don't like Cingular, I mean AT&A. The iPhone would be Apple's phone equivalent to the iPod, and the iPhone junior would be Apple's phone equivilant to the Nano. Thus giving everyone a chance of jumping on the iPhone bandwagon, and experiencing true ease of use.



Whadoyathink?
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Comments

  • Reply 1 of 24
    shanmugamshanmugam Posts: 1,200member
    who know this could be iPhone junior, real iPhone Pro may come out in the near future...
  • Reply 2 of 24
    irelandireland Posts: 17,798member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by shanmugam View Post


    who know this could be iPhone junior, real iPhone Pro may come out in the near future...



    I'll assume you didn't read my post.
  • Reply 3 of 24
    mwswamimwswami Posts: 166member
    Sure, makes sense. The first iPhone is being targeted at the high end of the market. We should see "iPhone nano" like products with smaller form factors and subset of the functionality released closer to Christmas '07. This is a given. They should be able to move a big chunk of the current iPod users over to the iPhone product line and get newer users as well. This also changes the game on all the iPod wannabes ...
  • Reply 4 of 24
    jlljll Posts: 2,713member
    And an iPhone Shuffle (with no display) that calls a random number from your contacts.
  • Reply 5 of 24
    JLL ^^^^^^ hehehehehe! LOL
  • Reply 6 of 24
    irelandireland Posts: 17,798member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by JLL View Post


    And an iPhone Shuffle (with no display) that calls a random number from your contacts.



    How original...
  • Reply 7 of 24
    mr. memr. me Posts: 3,221member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by Ireland View Post


    ....



    People would have no reason to bother, or no excuse to buy another brand phone again, besides those that don't like Cingular, I mean AT&A. The iPhone would be Apple's phone equivalent to the iPod, and the iPhone junior would be Apple's phone equivilant to the Nano. Thus giving everyone a chance of jumping on the iPhone bandwagon, and experiencing true ease of use.



    Whadoyathink?



    AT&T



    As for future iPhones, Jobs and the AT&T/Cingular CEO made it clear that Apple and AT&T are working on many products to come. It is easy to assume that some will be smaller than the iPhone. Jobs showed us that our predictions of future Apple products will be only as accurate as that iPod with the rotary dial.
  • Reply 8 of 24
    a few thoughts for you mate (i hope they are along the lines you were thinking?)



    a lot of stuff is "a given" isnt it



    however, how long between the ipod release (remember it was Mac ONLY to begin with) and its first 10 million sales?



    how many years between its introduction and the ipod MINI?



    i think thats what you have to take into account



    but also that the game has been changed with apples KILLER APP which is the HUGE ownership they have of the legal download market and iTunes they MADE this market .. or indeed, they cleaned up a scrappy mess, which is what the whole ILLEGAL download market was at the time.



    they are keen to leverage their killer app to push new tech. and the apple brand.



    but how quickly?



    with all that, other phones are "a given" but in what timescale?



    nano size format - IMO if it keeps the touch screen features and nano size format it will fail, UNLESS texting can be done by turning the device on its side/landscape, giving a larger area to display, and thus TYPE ON for big fingers.



    your mum might want one, but i think the target market for the nano was and is the youth who cant afford to buy a fully featured ipod (or cant persuade their parents to)



    and we know that the youth market LOVE to text, it is the KILLER app for the youth market in phones, so it stands to reason that it MUST be a KILLER APP in any cut down phone apple produce, the nanos form factor is great already, and a little bulging is acceptable if it is to include a phone, so if we assume you are to KEEP the nano form factor WHERE are going to put the qwerty key pad in a nano sized phone?



    HAS to be in landscape mode.



    its practically a "GIVEN" and i know LOTS of people who would want one!



    maybe ill touch on why you NEED to include a camera as well at a later time
  • Reply 9 of 24
    kolchakkolchak Posts: 1,398member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by Mr. Me View Post


    As for future iPhones, Jobs and the AT&T/Cingular CEO made it clear that Apple and AT&T are working on many products to come.



    Goddammit! Are you telling me I can't buy any Apple phone in the foreseeable future? Because I'd sooner cut off my arm than ever deal with Cingular again. Hell, I'd sooner use Windows as my primary OS than ever deal with Cingular again. Goddamn thieves and liars.
  • Reply 10 of 24
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by Kolchak View Post


    Goddammit! Are you telling me I can't buy any Apple phone in the foreseeable future? Because I'd sooner cut off my arm than ever deal with Cingular again. Hell, I'd sooner use Windows as my primary OS than ever deal with Cingular again. Goddamn thieves and liars.



    Wow, tell us what you really think of Cingular.
  • Reply 11 of 24
    kolchakkolchak Posts: 1,398member
    I would, but they don't allow that kind of language in this forum.
  • Reply 12 of 24
    rageousrageous Posts: 2,170member
    Someone mentioned about an iPhone nao being a given to be released by Christmas '07... to which I respond: ludicrous. It will never happen. This thing is going on sale in the summer. No way are they going to undercut it 6 months after launch. The full size iPod had several years to entrench itself before the mini showed up. I'd be totally surprised if an iPhone nano showed up even by Christmas '08.
  • Reply 13 of 24
    mwswamimwswami Posts: 166member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by rageous View Post


    Someone mentioned about an iPhone nao being a given to be released by Christmas '07... to which I respond: ludicrous. It will never happen. This thing is going on sale in the summer. No way are they going to undercut it 6 months after launch. The full size iPod had several years to entrench itself before the mini showed up. I'd be totally surprised if an iPhone nano showed up even by Christmas '08.



    Apple is changing the game from iPod to iPhone. They would want that when each of those 10s of millions of their current iPod users upgrade, they choose to buy an iPhone instead. There is a steep jump from $175 (average iPod price) to $499/$599. Clearly a cheaper option is needed. So either
    • Cingular will (further) discount the price with a 2 year contract, and/or



    • A cheaper scaled down version (maybe without the Wifi and Internet communicator) will be offered.

    The timeframes will be much compressed this time around as Apple is entering a *huge* already established market, and one that is highly competitive but equally lucrative. They will be fairly aggressive, you can already see that in the keynote tone, as well as in their inviting the Trademark conflict.
  • Reply 14 of 24
    mr. memr. me Posts: 3,221member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by mwswami View Post


    Apple is changing the game from iPod to iPhone. ...



    Um-m, no. Dedicated iPods have ten times the storage of the iPhone. We can, however, expect that the UI of the iPhone will be the new UI of the iPod.
  • Reply 15 of 24
    mwswamimwswami Posts: 166member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by Mr. Me View Post


    Um-m, no. Dedicated iPods have ten times the storage of the iPhone. We can, however, expect that the UI of the iPhone will be the new UI of the iPod.



    More accurate statement would be - Dedicated iPods have upto ten times ....



    I am not saying that stand-alone iPod is dead. I am saying that Apple would want to move over as many people it can from iPod to the iPhone (iPhone is an iPod too, and brings in lot more revenue and creates a lot more differentiation). Ofcourse, the dedicated iPod line will continue and will most likely get the new UI and features.
  • Reply 16 of 24
    irelandireland Posts: 17,798member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by rageous View Post


    Someone mentioned about an iPhone nao being a given to be released by Christmas '07... to which I respond: ludicrous. It will never happen. This thing is going on sale in the summer. No way are they going to undercut it 6 months after launch. The full size iPod had several years to entrench itself before the mini showed up. I'd be totally surprised if an iPhone nano showed up even by Christmas '08.



    If Maud Flanders was here she'd cry; "Will somebody please think of the children!!"
  • Reply 17 of 24
    iPhone Nano



    4 or 8 GB



    Slightly thicker than iPod Nano, with full touch screen similar to iPhone



    Video would be nice, but unlikely



    TXTing, IMing a must



    2 MP Camera would be nice. Standard 1.3 OK



    I
  • Reply 18 of 24
    backtomacbacktomac Posts: 4,579member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by rageous View Post


    Someone mentioned about an iPhone nao being a given to be released by Christmas '07... to which I respond: ludicrous. It will never happen. This thing is going on sale in the summer. No way are they going to undercut it 6 months after launch. The full size iPod had several years to entrench itself before the mini showed up. I'd be totally surprised if an iPhone nano showed up even by Christmas '08.



    I think this time will be different. Why? The cell phone market is mature with a lot of big players. Apple won't have the luxury of time as it did with the MP3 market, which it basically created. Yes I know there were MP3 playes before iPod but they didn't acheive the poularity they currently enjoy until iPod came along. In addition iPod really took off when the mini, nano and shuffle came along. Why wait, build the family of iPhones quicker and gain market share and mind share quicker.



    PS you were pretty damn close on your vision for the iPhone. I think of all the predictions of the iPhone you were definately the closest.
  • Reply 19 of 24
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by arindlaub View Post


    iPhone Nano



    4 or 8 GB



    Slightly thicker than iPod Nano, with full touch screen similar to iPhone



    Video would be nice, but unlikely



    TXTing, IMing a must



    2 MP Camera would be nice. Standard 1.3 OK



    I



    No way Apple could differentiate it enough right now from the current iPhone. No, I think we'll have at least until 2008 (and then, late 2008) before we see another "version" of the iPhone, such as an iPhone nano (revisions or upgrades we might see, though). But it seems certain that's coming: in a few years, the "iPhone" will be like the "iPod" in that it will have spawned derivative products in spearheading a new family.
  • Reply 20 of 24
    wilcowilco Posts: 985member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by Ireland View Post


    If Maud Flanders was here she'd cry; "Will somebody please think of the children!!"



    Helen Lovejoy
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