Apple iPhone Close To Launch?

[MOTOhooligan]

Speculation is that Apple won't have it ready until mid-2007 but they have surprised us before, haven't they?

Full AppleInsider article.

Apple Computer chief executive Steve Jobs has been boasting about his company's much-rumored iPod cell phone amongst inner circles, AppleInsider has been told.

The remarks are uncharacteristic of Jobs, who is often regarded for his obsession with secrecy -- especially when it comes to unannounced products from his own company. But it's been said that Jobs' own excitement over the device has produced a number of zealous ramblings amongst personal acquaintances dating back to this spring.

One person familiar with the ongoings believes the Apple cofounder has commissioned the release of cell phone prototypes to at least two potential OEM manufacturing partners in recent months. Current designs are said to conform to Apple's integrated model and leverage its tightly-knit digital media franchises, that person added.

Speaking on conditions of anonymity, a second informant has told AppleInsider of an incremental buzz surrounding the phone, which has heightened in recent weeks. The informant, who flourishes a nearly unblemished track record in predicting Apple's future music directions, has said the device is slated to turn up earlier than some people may be expecting, in the form of a "big bang" introduction that will catch even some insiders off-guard.

By now, the notion of an Apple-branded iPod cell phone has grown from rumor to expectation, fueled in part by analysts on Wall Street who have become increasingly vocal in their convictions that Apple is developing such a device....

Apple's chief financial officer Peter Oppenheimer fielded the question by saying, "We don’t think [...] phones that are available today make the best music players. We think the iPod is, but over time that’s likely to change." He then added, "And we are not sitting around doing nothing."

[TKR]

Hmmmmmm CDMA? GSM? both?

[WumpusVA]

if i had to guess i'd say GSM, considering apple's close ties with cingular for the launch of the itunes phones. not to mention there are billions of gsm customers vs millions of cdma customers.

[SteveW]

Originally Posted by Wumpusva

if i had to guess i'd say GSM, considering apple's close ties with cingular for the launch of the itunes phones. not to mention there are billions of gsm customers vs millions of cdma customers.

Yes, and I bet Apple would consider GSM cool and CDMA uncool. I'm an Apple fan and not bashing them at all, but you can't neglect the coolness factor when trying to predict what Apple will do.

[noahm]

I've heard that they may go the MVNO route. It kinda fits apple more, as they like so much control over their product lines and distribution (itunes, ipods etc).

Most carriers would probably want to charge what they are currently charging for songs, like 2-4$, whereas iTunes is onyl .99.

[WumpusVA]

i doubt the phone will have much to do with verizon since they have vcast music service and the lg chocolate already in place (with more to come, i'm sure)

would i be correct if i guessed that there probably is / will be more CDMA - EVDO coverage than 3G service when the phone is launched? assuming this phone requires some sort of wireless broadband network to support music downloads, apple will probably want to utilize the technology and service that has the largest coverage area for high speed stuff, right?

guess this will be interesting to see itself play out!

[SteveW]

Originally Posted by Wumpusva

would i be correct if i guessed that there probably is / will be more CDMA - EVDO coverage than 3G service when the phone is launched? assuming this phone requires some sort of wireless broadband network to support music downloads, apple will probably want to utilize the technology and service that has the largest coverage area for high speed stuff, right?

That's probably one factor. I don't know about relative coverage area right now, but Cingular is building out UMTS/HSDPA pretty fast. These decisions are often built on projections for the next 2-3 years. Apple went with Intel before their fast, cool running chips were actually released, because they had seen what was coming up. They are also, I expect, made on the basis of cold financial terms in the here and now. Apple will go with the service provider where they can negotiate the best deal.

[SteveW]

An alleged picture of the supposed iPhone has surfaced in Paris.

Article, courtesy of The Register.


Also, not wanting to double-post, so here's a link to the other thread where we were discussing this (Analyst: Apple’s iPod phone set for production).

[SteveW]

MacRumors confidently claims the above is a "confirmed mock-up/fake" while providing it's own "artist's rendition", supposedly based on a true rumor. Don't you just love the techno-prediction game?


Apple's Phone Revealed? [Updated]
Wednesday September 13, 2006 09:53 PM EST

"...One reliable MacRumors.com source has provided a more detailed description of one of the prototypes for the upcoming Apple Phone."

More...

[MOTOhooligan]

If the rumored images are true or even close to what the finished phone will look like, I'm not impressed. It looks like an iPod with a slide-out keypad... big whoop! It took how long to develop that?

What you do is, see? You take an iPod, right? Then you attach a slide-out keypad to the bottom... yeah... to the bottom. Then we call it, ready for this? An iPhone. Brilliant!

If that's the case, the thing should have been released months ago. Design could have been done in one day... on a napkin.

With all the hype, I was expecting revolution of the wireless handset industry, on the scale of the RAZR... but this is just sad.

I'll stick with MyMoto, thank you very much.

I was even considering having Joe change my username to iHOOLIGAN.

j/k

[Telekom]

Originally Posted by MOTOhooligan

If the rumored images are true or even close to what the finished phone will look like, I'm not impressed. It looks like an iPod with a slide-out keypad... big whoop! It took how long to develop that?

What you do is, see? You take an iPod, right? Then you attach a slide-out keypad to the bottom... yeah... to the bottom. Then we call it, ready for this? An iPhone. Brilliant!

If that's the case, the thing should have been released months ago. Design could have been done in one day... on a napkin.

With all the hype, I was expecting revolution of the wireless handset industry, on the scale of the RAZR... but this is just sad.

I'll stick with MyMoto, thank you very much.

I was even considering having Joe change my username to iHOOLIGAN.

j/k

Funny how all you've done is knock the concept down but I haven't seen any suggestion what would make a killer phone. Just knocking something down without anything constructive isn't of great value.

[noahm]

Originally Posted by MOTOhooligan

If the rumored images are true or even close to what the finished phone will look like, I'm not impressed. It looks like an iPod with a slide-out keypad... big whoop! It took how long to develop that?

What you do is, see? You take an iPod, right? Then you attach a slide-out keypad to the bottom... yeah... to the bottom. Then we call it, ready for this? An iPhone. Brilliant!

If that's the case, the thing should have been released months ago. Design could have been done in one day... on a napkin.

With all the hype, I was expecting revolution of the wireless handset industry, on the scale of the RAZR... but this is just sad.

I'll stick with MyMoto, thank you very much.

I was even considering having Joe change my username to iHOOLIGAN.

j/k

I highly doubt these photos are real. How often does Apple leak a product photo even just days before announcement? Pretty much never. The fact that it looks like an iPod Video redone a little is probably due to som ehandy photoshop work done by some happy apple fan. Besides "The Register" isn't exactly known for its accuracy.

I think if ever and whenever Apple decides to release an iPhone it will be the result of years of engineering and design, and will probably be "revolutionary".

[SteveW]

Originally Posted by noahm

I highly doubt these photos are real. How often does Apple leak a product photo even just days before announcement? Pretty much never. The fact that it looks like an iPod Video redone a little is probably due to som ehandy photoshop work done by some happy apple fan. Besides "The Register" isn't exactly known for its accuracy.

Right. They are known for being snarky Brits and they like to print, or at least link to, rumors. But that's part of what makes them fun.

[MOTOhooligan]

Originally Posted by Telekom

Funny how all you've done is knock the concept down but I haven't seen any suggestion what would make a killer phone. Just knocking something down without anything constructive isn't of great value.

My idea of a 'killer' phone has been out for three years.


I know the internals of the iPhone (menu, controls, etc.) will be top-notch. I'm sure the design will keep with Apples simple, extremely functional ways. My complaint is that, at least in these artists renderings, the iPhone looks like an iPod with a numeric keypad. That's crap.

While I do believe that the iPhone should bear some familiar resemblance to the iPod, the design should be new and refreshing, considering how important the iPhone is to Apple's future.

I don't want this product to fail, I want it to succeed... I want to want an iPhone. But what I don't want is a phone that looks like an iPod. If I wanted an ugly phone with iTunes, I would have bought a ROKR by now.

[Telekom]

Originally Posted by MOTOhooligan

My idea of a 'killer' phone has been out for three years.


I know the internals of the iPhone (menu, controls, etc.) will be top-notch. I'm sure the design will keep with Apples simple, extremely functional ways. My complaint is that, at least in these artists renderings, the iPhone looks like an iPod with a numeric keypad. That's crap.

While I do believe that the iPhone should bear some familiar resemblance to the iPod, the design should be new and refreshing, considering how important the iPhone is to Apple's future.

I don't want this product to fail, I want it to succeed... I want to want an iPhone. But what I don't want is a phone that looks like an iPod. If I wanted an ugly phone with iTunes, I would have bought a ROKR by now.

I really hope you are not implying that they're going to do something à la something from Motorola. I'm sure Apple wants something with a good simple interface which is something Motorola seems not to be able to grasp
quite yet. And surely not with an external nub antenna. If the Moto Rokr is any indication I won't be getting very excited about that offering.

[MOTOhooligan]

Originally Posted by Telekom

I really hope you are not implying that they're going to do something à la something from Motorola.

I'm not, they already did that, it's called the ROKR, and it sucked. The only good Apple/Motorola "collaboration," was the SLVR with iTunes, end of story.

What I'm implying, or actually, coming right out and saying, is that the iPhone should not look like anything else. It shouldn't bear anything but a passing resemblance to the iPod, it shouldn't look like a Motorola phone, it shouldn't look like a Nokia phone and it damn well better not look like a Sanyo phone, otherwise I'll never sing Apple's praises again.

What's the point, otherwise? If you have an iPod and a phone, and you like them both reasonably well, then the iPhone comes out and looks just like your iPod, why would you buy an iPhone?

[bobolito]

Looks like Cingular is getting the exclusive on the Apple iPhone next year.
http://www.thinksecret.com/news/0609cingulariphone.html

[fb]

Originally Posted by bobolito

Looks like Cingular is getting the exclusive on the Apple iPhone next year.
http://www.thinksecret.com/news/0609cingulariphone.html

You just beat me to it-- was about to post the same link!

[Telekom]

Originally Posted by bobolito

Looks like Cingular is getting the exclusive on the Apple iPhone next year.
http://www.thinksecret.com/news/0609cingulariphone.html

Dåmn you Jacksman. Hopefully my friends will wait til the six month exclusive is over. However, all the info I've read about the introduction of an iPhone has it that they will not be using a regular provider, but will use their "own" service. I don't know how that could go unless they offer more than one model.