Unless the new iPhone, can be turned sideways like the iPod Touch, or can it already do this?
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The iPhone can already be turned sideways. The iPod Touch is essentially exactly like the iPhone except a cheaper body and no camera and no phone features.
Actually, I would be strongly interested in an iPhone nano - as I already have an iPod touch and find it quite useful to have a dedicated mobile phone.
However, the real dificulty is the differentiation: Which part of the iPhone may be considered expendable? Most features of the iPhone are already offered by entry-level mobile phones, thus reducing the features (iPod-capabilities, internet, 3G, camera or bluetooth) is not a viable alternative. And I doubt that Apple will remove the WiFi components for an iPhone nano. At best, Apple decides to create a slimmer, smaller version of the current iPhone (without GPS, sub-par camera, no videoconferencing) and brands it as iPhone nano, while introducing the spiced-up iPhone 2.0 with enhanced capabilities as the premium device.
I am sure for some readers the question remains: Why the heck does he need an iPhone then? Plain simple: I love the user interface, the general possibilities of the touch-screen and most importantly the perfect integration within the Mac-OS-X-platform. The iPod nano is currently my all-encompassing digital assistant, storing my tasks, appointments, e-mails, contacts, photos and music. I would not mind a smaller screen, I just want a quality phone made by Apple with all its ?appl-ey? magic. For the iPhone nano, please don't sacrifice the WiFi/EDGE capabilities, for most tasks it is easily sufficient!
These are my fancy ideas, partly based on logical and wishful thinking, as well as under commercial and marketing aspects.
For all those complaining about "no apps" and " no web"... you are missing the larger picture.
Which is .... that one day soon sales of iPods (particularly Nanos) and other brands of mp3 players are going to dwindle as more and more folk just use their simple music phone to consume their mobile media.
Why shouldn't Apple grab a slice of that pie (which they virtually created) and keep a customer for their 'mobile platform' when they are ready for it?
NOTE. I see a lot of evidence of this in the UK already. Groups of kids annoyingly 'sharing' their tunes through tinny cell phone speakers while the rest of us yearn for the good old days of .... (insert favourite 60 year old rocker here).
iPhone nano won't come out until Christmas frenzy, I think... maybe Sep 2008. The new 3G model will need its premiere time for a few months, particularly with all the iPhone 2.0, 3G, AppStore, GPS stuff... A base line would sell like crazy, but distract Apple and resellers too much, I think. I think Apple is going to go for the jugular with just one main model, maybe a few colours, and fairly balanced price points of 16GB/ 32GB/ carrier incentives/ etc/ etc.
Im betting iphone "lite" is the "one more thing" in tomorrow's WWDC, which comes in white.
No. I'm going to have to go with Ireland here. No iPhone "lite" or iPhone nano of any kind tomorrow. I would expect that pre-holiday shopping season... so September/October.
I think something real cheap - like 179 USD - with 4GB Flash card, no Safari, no WiFi, no 3G, no GPS, no fancy apps - just a simple, easy to use, sleek, iPod that can also make phone calls - something they can sell unlocked and capture the lower end of the market - in places like India and China. This wont be a smartphone - just a phone, with music. And it will still offer Apple's ease of use, well thought out user interface, etc.
There is a lot of demand for the Apple Kool-aid, and I am sure people will lap it up. The question isnt if Apple can do - of course they can - the question is of why they should do it - And the reason for that is very simple - give people something else to spend their money on - most people have an iPod - and this is the kind of stuff people could easily look to get.
They can sell "basic" apps and Games for this phone, tie it up with iTunes for ringtones, etc. Can get a lot of revenue from this phone. This will be a great way to get the masses prepped up to buy the bigger better iPhone in due course. Can also make a lot of money off accessories for this phone.
Of course, a lot of people would find it pointless - but I think there will still be a lot of buyers for a device like this.
Apple could also be very cruel, and sell a cheap phone that will work in a basic way out of the box, but if you want any goodies - like Ringtones, games, apps, etc., then it will work only with iTunes running on a Mac - will not work with iTunes on Windows for at least 1-2 years. This will create additional impetus for people to start looking at Macs.
It is hightime there is something that is feasible on a Mac, but not on a PC. For way too long, things have been possible on PCs, but either later, or never on Macs. High time Apple starts changing the pattern here.
Apple could also be very cruel, and sell a cheap phone that will work in a basic way out of the box, but if you want any goodies - like Ringtones, games, apps, etc., then it will work only with iTunes running on a Mac - will not work with iTunes on Windows for at least 1-2 years. This will create additional impetus for people to start looking at Macs.
It is hightime there is something that is feasible on a Mac, but not on a PC. For way too long, things have been possible on PCs, but either later, or never on Macs. High time Apple starts changing the pattern here.
Of course this would be satisfying to the Mac faithful and would seem to be due payback for years of slights going the other way.
BUT I think that Apple has been very careful (and smart) not to go down this road. All of the things that Apple has done cross platform from QuickTime, the iPod and iTunes in the old days to, of course, the iPhone and even Bootcamp lately have helped to foster Apple's image as a maker of products that work. This is why the Halo has been so effective. They didn't make the iPod tie in to a Mac *better* than to a PC--they just made the iPod work very well and that left people with PCs wishing there computer was as well thought out.
If you start forcing people to switch to get full functionality you will have annoyed and passive agressive switchers just waiting to complain instead of excited and hopeful ones who may become evangelists. If you have to force people to switch that is a sign of weakness--the perfect switcher comes willingly and with the fervor or a convert.
I think something real cheap - like 179 USD - with 4GB Flash card, no Safari, no WiFi, no 3G, no GPS, no fancy apps - just a simple, easy to use, sleek, iPod that can also make phone calls - something they can sell unlocked and capture the lower end of the market - in places like India and China. This wont be a smartphone - just a phone, with music. And it will still offer Apple's ease of use, well thought out user interface, etc.
There is a lot of demand for the Apple Kool-aid, and I am sure people will lap it up. The question isnt if Apple can do - of course they can - the question is of why they should do it - And the reason for that is very simple - give people something else to spend their money on - most people have an iPod - and this is the kind of stuff people could easily look to get.
They can sell "basic" apps and Games for this phone, tie it up with iTunes for ringtones, etc. Can get a lot of revenue from this phone. This will be a great way to get the masses prepped up to buy the bigger better iPhone in due course. Can also make a lot of money off accessories for this phone.
Of course, a lot of people would find it pointless - but I think there will still be a lot of buyers for a device like this.
Apple could also be very cruel, and sell a cheap phone that will work in a basic way out of the box, but if you want any goodies - like Ringtones, games, apps, etc., then it will work only with iTunes running on a Mac - will not work with iTunes on Windows for at least 1-2 years. This will create additional impetus for people to start looking at Macs.
It is hightime there is something that is feasible on a Mac, but not on a PC. For way too long, things have been possible on PCs, but either later, or never on Macs. High time Apple starts changing the pattern here.
A lower-end iPhone model may not have WiFi (although I think it will), but it will have internet and Safari of some kind, even if it's just over the cell network. All recent (within the past few years) cell phones have some internet capability, even if they are not smart phones.
Comments
No web? That's the stupidest thing I've ever heard. What the hell is the point of a mobil platform with out the internet?
4 inch screen would probably be too big for comfort.
Unless the new iPhone, can be turned sideways like the iPod Touch, or can it already do this?
Skip
Is anyone really surprised by this?
Someone will be, but I predicted it!
you REALLY think an analyst would do something, SO obvious??????????
No, but people here already think that of the usual suspects.
Unless the new iPhone, can be turned sideways like the iPod Touch, or can it already do this?
Skip
The iPhone can already be turned sideways. The iPod Touch is essentially exactly like the iPhone except a cheaper body and no camera and no phone features.
However, the real dificulty is the differentiation: Which part of the iPhone may be considered expendable? Most features of the iPhone are already offered by entry-level mobile phones, thus reducing the features (iPod-capabilities, internet, 3G, camera or bluetooth) is not a viable alternative. And I doubt that Apple will remove the WiFi components for an iPhone nano. At best, Apple decides to create a slimmer, smaller version of the current iPhone (without GPS, sub-par camera, no videoconferencing) and brands it as iPhone nano, while introducing the spiced-up iPhone 2.0 with enhanced capabilities as the premium device.
I am sure for some readers the question remains: Why the heck does he need an iPhone then? Plain simple: I love the user interface, the general possibilities of the touch-screen and most importantly the perfect integration within the Mac-OS-X-platform. The iPod nano is currently my all-encompassing digital assistant, storing my tasks, appointments, e-mails, contacts, photos and music. I would not mind a smaller screen, I just want a quality phone made by Apple with all its ?appl-ey? magic. For the iPhone nano, please don't sacrifice the WiFi/EDGE capabilities, for most tasks it is easily sufficient!
These are my fancy ideas, partly based on logical and wishful thinking, as well as under commercial and marketing aspects.
Which is .... that one day soon sales of iPods (particularly Nanos) and other brands of mp3 players are going to dwindle as more and more folk just use their simple music phone to consume their mobile media.
Why shouldn't Apple grab a slice of that pie (which they virtually created) and keep a customer for their 'mobile platform' when they are ready for it?
NOTE. I see a lot of evidence of this in the UK already. Groups of kids annoyingly 'sharing' their tunes through tinny cell phone speakers while the rest of us yearn for the good old days of .... (insert favourite 60 year old rocker here).
iPhone nano won't come out until Christmas frenzy, I think... maybe Sep 2008.
I'm sticking with my October '08 bet from last year.
I'm sticking with my October '08 bet from last year.
Im betting iphone "lite" is the "one more thing" in tomorrow's WWDC, which comes in white.
Im betting iphone "lite" is the "one more thing" in tomorrow's WWDC, which comes in white.
No. I'm going to have to go with Ireland here. No iPhone "lite" or iPhone nano of any kind tomorrow. I would expect that pre-holiday shopping season... so September/October.
I think something real cheap - like 179 USD - with 4GB Flash card, no Safari, no WiFi, no 3G, no GPS, no fancy apps - just a simple, easy to use, sleek, iPod that can also make phone calls - something they can sell unlocked and capture the lower end of the market - in places like India and China. This wont be a smartphone - just a phone, with music. And it will still offer Apple's ease of use, well thought out user interface, etc.
There is a lot of demand for the Apple Kool-aid, and I am sure people will lap it up. The question isnt if Apple can do - of course they can - the question is of why they should do it - And the reason for that is very simple - give people something else to spend their money on - most people have an iPod - and this is the kind of stuff people could easily look to get.
They can sell "basic" apps and Games for this phone, tie it up with iTunes for ringtones, etc. Can get a lot of revenue from this phone. This will be a great way to get the masses prepped up to buy the bigger better iPhone in due course. Can also make a lot of money off accessories for this phone.
Of course, a lot of people would find it pointless - but I think there will still be a lot of buyers for a device like this.
Apple could also be very cruel, and sell a cheap phone that will work in a basic way out of the box, but if you want any goodies - like Ringtones, games, apps, etc., then it will work only with iTunes running on a Mac - will not work with iTunes on Windows for at least 1-2 years. This will create additional impetus for people to start looking at Macs.
It is hightime there is something that is feasible on a Mac, but not on a PC. For way too long, things have been possible on PCs, but either later, or never on Macs. High time Apple starts changing the pattern here.
Apple could also be very cruel, and sell a cheap phone that will work in a basic way out of the box, but if you want any goodies - like Ringtones, games, apps, etc., then it will work only with iTunes running on a Mac - will not work with iTunes on Windows for at least 1-2 years. This will create additional impetus for people to start looking at Macs.
It is hightime there is something that is feasible on a Mac, but not on a PC. For way too long, things have been possible on PCs, but either later, or never on Macs. High time Apple starts changing the pattern here.
Of course this would be satisfying to the Mac faithful and would seem to be due payback for years of slights going the other way.
BUT I think that Apple has been very careful (and smart) not to go down this road. All of the things that Apple has done cross platform from QuickTime, the iPod and iTunes in the old days to, of course, the iPhone and even Bootcamp lately have helped to foster Apple's image as a maker of products that work. This is why the Halo has been so effective. They didn't make the iPod tie in to a Mac *better* than to a PC--they just made the iPod work very well and that left people with PCs wishing there computer was as well thought out.
If you start forcing people to switch to get full functionality you will have annoyed and passive agressive switchers just waiting to complain instead of excited and hopeful ones who may become evangelists. If you have to force people to switch that is a sign of weakness--the perfect switcher comes willingly and with the fervor or a convert.
I am with Ireland here --
I think something real cheap - like 179 USD - with 4GB Flash card, no Safari, no WiFi, no 3G, no GPS, no fancy apps - just a simple, easy to use, sleek, iPod that can also make phone calls - something they can sell unlocked and capture the lower end of the market - in places like India and China. This wont be a smartphone - just a phone, with music. And it will still offer Apple's ease of use, well thought out user interface, etc.
There is a lot of demand for the Apple Kool-aid, and I am sure people will lap it up. The question isnt if Apple can do - of course they can - the question is of why they should do it - And the reason for that is very simple - give people something else to spend their money on - most people have an iPod - and this is the kind of stuff people could easily look to get.
They can sell "basic" apps and Games for this phone, tie it up with iTunes for ringtones, etc. Can get a lot of revenue from this phone. This will be a great way to get the masses prepped up to buy the bigger better iPhone in due course. Can also make a lot of money off accessories for this phone.
Of course, a lot of people would find it pointless - but I think there will still be a lot of buyers for a device like this.
Apple could also be very cruel, and sell a cheap phone that will work in a basic way out of the box, but if you want any goodies - like Ringtones, games, apps, etc., then it will work only with iTunes running on a Mac - will not work with iTunes on Windows for at least 1-2 years. This will create additional impetus for people to start looking at Macs.
It is hightime there is something that is feasible on a Mac, but not on a PC. For way too long, things have been possible on PCs, but either later, or never on Macs. High time Apple starts changing the pattern here.
A lower-end iPhone model may not have WiFi (although I think it will), but it will have internet and Safari of some kind, even if it's just over the cell network. All recent (within the past few years) cell phones have some internet capability, even if they are not smart phones.