Apple Commincator/Treo Killer - Latest News Points to Yes

Posted:
in Future Apple Hardware edited January 2014
Sun/Ericsson - Notice that Sony partnered with Ericsson for mobile phones?



Also, remember about a year ot two ago, Apple announced some partnership with AOL that licensed their IM technology?



I think a Treo-killer is in the works by Apple. What do we think?

Comments

  • Reply 1 of 20
    <a href="http://www.apple.com/pr/library/1999/jul/29appleaol.html"; target="_blank">http://www.apple.com/pr/library/1999/jul/29appleaol.html</a>;



    This is the link to that AOL press release - this seems to suggest some hardware, no?
  • Reply 2 of 20
    Sorry I don't see it. Apple's end on this seems to be content creation and streaming software.
  • Reply 3 of 20
    screedscreed Posts: 1,077member
    [quote]This is the link to that AOL press release - this seems to suggest some hardware, no?

    <hr></blockquote>



    Absolutely, because company strategies are written in stone and never change (circa 1999).

    <img src="graemlins/oyvey.gif" border="0" alt="[No]" />

    Who is also partner with Ericsson?

    Sony. In fact, it was a wireless-division-merger-type deal.



    An Ericsson-Apple device would go against the trend of Apple pushing Apple hardware. Not mention, Sony is the 2nd half of the wireless venture now; wouldn't they want to be making the hardware!?



    Let's just take this new alliance at face value (for now): Apple/QT for production and (prosumer) distribution, Sun for (enterprise) distribution, and Ericsson for mobile end-users.



    Screed



    [ 02-13-2002: Message edited by: sCreeD ]</p>
  • Reply 4 of 20
    Having initiated a short-lived thread on Apple Cell phones a while back, I feel honour bound to contribute to this one.



    Firstly, I think it is great news that Apple is actively working with companies like Sun and Ericsson. They are not a big company and their R & D budget is pretty small in relation to the big technology players (Ericsson will spend close to $4.5 billion on R & D this year which is coming on for 20% of their sales). Cupertino has to make these kind of alliances if it wants to help shape tomorrow's technology rather than simply being a licensee like Dell.



    I think that this announcement is really about the anti-Microsoft rebel alliance positioning themselves for one last battle, in the wireless world. Obviously Sun is no friend of Redmond and must be increasingly dismayed at the way Java is being marginalised by Microsoft's rival proprietary application frameworks. Ericsson also made it's position clear last year when it bought out it's Microsoft joint venture which was going to provide solutions linking Microsoft Back Office software with Mobile devices. This was announced within days of the merger of Sony and Ericsson's handset divisions. Of course Nokia should not be forgotten in this context either. Last year, they announced their own wireless competitor to Microsoft's .net strategy which is obviously designed to head off the Beast's ambitions in the mobile arena (they have 'Stinger' which is a version of PocketPC and a large wireless research division in Sweden). I also have to point out that Nokia has been showing Microsoft-like tendencies of late, preferring their own proprietrary enhanced SMS solution to the open EMS standard and initialy refusing to endorse the new open standard for mobile gaming applications.



    So, we have Ericsson choosing a non Microsoft, Open Standard (like SMS, EMS , Bluetooth, Wap etc.) for their 3G multimedia streaming solutions. Does this mean Apple is going to produce a 3G phone thingy. I still hope so. As I pointed out in my earlier thread, Apple can license the technology for a 3G phone from both Motorola and Ericsson. This isn't a second-rate solution either, it is exactly the same technology Motorola and Ericsson will be using in their own phones. Indeed, what is not often realised, is that Ericsson retained it's Mobile Technology division when it merged it's handset business with Sony to form SonyEricsson Mobile. The result of this is that the new company is a customer of Ericsson just like any other company who wants to provide mobile 2.5/3G solutions.



    I am also hopeful that Apple's involvement with Ericsson might bring a bit of progress on the Bluetooth front, given that they invented the technology. And no, Bluetooth is not an Airport competitor and yes, the two technologies can coexist - clearing up this issue is one of the main reasons it has taken so long for the Bluetooth spec to be finalised.
  • Reply 5 of 20
    vinney57vinney57 Posts: 1,162member
    Interesting stuff Shep. My personal hope is for an Airport/Bluetooth/3G Apple PDA/PAD that finally ties together the whole Personal Digital Hub/Global Wireless Network dichotomy. (that's my 'word of the day')
  • Reply 6 of 20
    neomacneomac Posts: 145member
    It's pretty clear that Apple won't be producing any of this hardware. The Apple-Sun-Ericsson deal clearly states that Apple will provide the content creation tools, Sun provides the servers and Ericsson provides the devices, infrastructure, etc..
  • Reply 7 of 20
    I would love and Apple pda like everyone else, but what if Steve is going in a different direction. What if this turns out to be software instead of hardware...or rather both.



    What I Steve has been telling the truth and there is no pda. Well if people are on their iBooks or TiBooks, why not make iPhone the iApp, not the hardware. In the future, every iBook comes with built in microphone and iPhone the application sits on the dock. You click on it and your phone list pops up and you double click a name or number and the laptop becomes a phone. You don't need a cellphone. Privacy comes with headphones and mike maybe. The hardware for the mobile phone fits inside the laptop.



    I don't know but maybe we are looking for new hardware when really just need telephony enabled laptops and software.



    Okay....maybe not.
  • Reply 8 of 20
    vinney57vinney57 Posts: 1,162member
    [quote] It's pretty clear that Apple won't be producing any of this hardware. <hr></blockquote>



    Not at all. It shows that Apple won't be making mobile phones transmitters and big-iron servers; but we knew that anyway. Ericson and others are very happy to license the 'receiving end' technology to anybody and its hard to see Apple not wanting to have a part of one of the few tech' growth areas of the coming years.

    A super-beautiful handheld 'media receiver' sounds right up Apple's street to me.
  • Reply 9 of 20
    It seems clear that this is a market that Apple is not interested in. It's a tough place to make money inright now. Look at the cell phone market.
  • Reply 10 of 20
    torifiletorifile Posts: 4,024member
    The iPhone has to be one of the dumbest ideas I've ever heard about on these boards and I wish it would go away. The cellphone market is saturated and an application that you get to use if you carry your laptop with you instead of your cellphone?? Tell me, which would you rather have: Some bumbling idiot talking into his cell driving his bigass SUV or an equally bumbling idiot talking into his iBook while driving his SUV? Stupid, stupid, stupid. All the digital hub stuff is about using what's already on your computer and making it better. The iPhone adds some functionality but it makes it worse.



    So, the moral of the story, boys and girls, is that Apple is taking what we already have and making it actually work for us instead of implementing completely absurd shit and saying they invented it. iPhone = stupid idea.
  • Reply 11 of 20
    blablablabla Posts: 185member
    [quote]Originally posted by gloobes:

    <strong><a href="http://www.apple.com/pr/library/1999/jul/29appleaol.html"; target="_blank">http://www.apple.com/pr/library/1999/jul/29appleaol.html</a>;



    This is the link to that AOL press release - this seems to suggest some hardware, no?</strong><hr></blockquote>





    NO... At that time Microsoft and AOL had a big fight over AIM. Microsoft "hacked" into the AIM-protocol or something and AOL was busy closing MS out.



    AOL got support from Apple through that press release, but in reality all macs shipped with AIM, so it was just PR.



    <a href="http://news.com.com/2100-1023-229193.html"; target="_blank">http://news.com.com/2100-1023-229193.html</a>;



    [ 02-14-2002: Message edited by: blabla ]</p>
  • Reply 12 of 20
    mr.emr.e Posts: 20member
    My thought/wish is that Apple licenses the cell phone technology from Erickson, fits it into the iPod , and bam you've got a cell phone with keypad(perhaps another screen) on the side that is now metal, and the existing mp3 player on the opposite. I just wonder if this could be engineered? Apple are you listening?
  • Reply 13 of 20
    [quote] All the digital hub stuff is about using what's already on your computer and making it better <hr></blockquote>



    i disagree. the hub is [to be] the center of a plethora of great iDevices. case-in-point: iPod. while it can be seen as an extension, or perhaps more useful implentation, of iTunes, that is clearly not what it really is. Apple put out a mac-only hdwr mp3 player, that people will love. They'll buy it, and use a mac to hook it up. and its not like the ipod went into a new market; i've had an mp3 player for like 2 yrs. apple's digital hub strategy, i think, is them making the mac the necessary tool to interact with [many] smaller hdwr thingies, of course made by Apple.



    "got me 'ccused of petting, and i can't even raise my hand." -God [eric clapton]
  • Reply 14 of 20
    macgregormacgregor Posts: 1,434member
    No one would talk into an iBook in an SUV anymore than someone would be using Photoshop in an SUV. That isn't the point. The point is all this latest stuff (see <a href="http://www.electricpocket.com/)" target="_blank">http://www.electricpocket.com/)</a> has to do with instant messaging, internet phoning, etc from your desktop or a table in your back yard.



    Mobile doesn't just mean in your palm or in a car. It means wireless, and that's what Ericksson brings to the table. What do you think? Ericksson is going to help Apple with DVD editing?
  • Reply 15 of 20
    What I see as a possibility is the inclusion of wireless technology into a *book, allowing you to connect to the internet, just like you can on a cel phone. Obviously, it wouldnt be useful for web browsing, but it WOULD be useful for checking your email at a Café. I believe there is currently a way with your cel phone, but I dont know if it works on Macs, or what kind of speeds it produces.



    One interesting note I'd like to add: Is WYFI [sic] availible on the Mac? I have a network in my area and I was wondering if I could connect.
  • Reply 16 of 20
    I'll support a device like this. Been waiting too long though. Can only hope that steve can see this being another iPod...
  • Reply 17 of 20
    Why the hell would apple get into the pda/cellphone arena? They wont. Wozniak is on the board of that kiddie wireless PDA keyboard device, the Danger.



    But as for now, the best Treo killer is the Handspring Treo, 'cause it is da Bomb.



    Apple would be better off getting in cahoots with Oracle and OS X, opening up that marketshare a bit.



    Oh yeah, <a href="http://TreoMB.com"; target="_blank">TreoMB</a> It's not even shipping yet...



    ---One Post? What happened to my Feb '99 registration?



    [ 02-15-2002: Message edited by: mugwump ]</p>
  • Reply 18 of 20
    When will Apple make a toaster? I think an Apple branded toaster would rock! And I want an Apple night lamp, they could make an awesome lamp with their industrial design team. Model it after the iMac and I bet lots of people would buy it.
  • Reply 19 of 20
    g-dogg-dog Posts: 171member
    I dunno if I'm even knowlegable enough about it, but nobody seems to know the truth of it. Could Gigawire have anything to do with this?
  • Reply 20 of 20
    No. The deal is what was stated in the press release Don't make more out of this than there is.
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