Apple Phone Announced - Cingular to offer it

I watched Engadget as they updated their article while they were watching Steve Jobs talk about the new stuff, and it was pretty cool. Here are some Engadget links of anyone wants them:

Steve Jobs Keynote

iPhone pictures

The phone looks like it's going to be awesome. Hopefully I get to play with one sometime, but I doubt I'll ever be able to afford it. Besides that, I have another year and a half or so on my Verizon contract, so I wouldn't switch anyway.

Oh, and they changed their name from "Apple Computers, Inc." to "Apple, Inc." Not that that's really important.

 

That does matter as now they are going to be a company with a lot more things and they dont want to be known as a computer company.

I have to say they did a great job and put all others to shame with this one. But here is main question, does it have voice dialing. LOL. we got to try to find a fault and that one is, it is an EDGE device and that falls short.

 

I have to agree 100%. Design and innovation is Apple's specialty. Although I deeply hate that button-less mouse they launched a couple of years ago. What a piece of junk!

That's right. I would've expected such multimedia-rich device to be at least 3G, especially when HSDPA is spreading so quickly. By the end of this year I would expect Cingular would have most of its network done and maybe some 3G at 850Mhz. But I'm sure there will be an updated version down the road capable of HSDPA.

 

Ha, yeah. I understand why they changed the name, but I didn't figure it mattered too much to this forum. But yeah.

And a fault could be how easy it'll be to break.... Or I guess just scratch. iPods get the crap scratched out of them, and I'd guess the iPhone will be similar. Maybe the screen will be more scratch proof, though. I don't know. At least they don't have the shiny, fingerprint attracting back.

 

There's nothing to "refresh." Many people prefer it. It's practically all you see in Europe. It's only the Japanese and Americans who prefer clamshell style.

 

That's why Jon Ivey has been knighted. He's the king of modern tech design!

 

Not to be picky, but it's Jonathan Ive. Never met the man so I don't know if he prefers Jonathan, Jon or Sir Jon.


SW

 

Re: Apple Phone Announced

I know we've been assuming they would have to use another name, but Apple is very savvy about trademarks and they have made licensing deals like this in the past to get a name they wanted. On that note, it's surely not an accident that Steve used a Beatles song to demo the iPhone. I haven't seen commentary on this but it's probably a nod to the fact that (the newly named) Apple Inc and Apple Records have settled their license disputes once and for all.


SW

 

Yes, I know that very well. But among the younger set, it is much more popular, certainly in the US. Nokia was losing market share here because of non flips (which i like btw).

But being a trend setter, I wonder if the iphone will turn that around with the younger USA crowd.

BTW, how good to you think the touch screen will be for SMS texting...I rely on the click or depression to help me get the right letter from 'pqrs'. Kids can do it without looking at the phone. Now will they have too, and can you see it in bright daylight??

 

Did anyone notice that the iPhone will have push-email? I hope the greedy bastarts at NTP aren't thinking about another lawsuit.

 

I bet that Apple has covered their track already. But based on the NYT article today they said that it wil not be or even be close to the Blackberry and that teh push email is not the same and that the BB user will remain with a BB and willnot change. Plus they also said the security on it is no where to be even close to the BB.

 

The engadget pictures are nice. Here are some more pictures from a Macintouch.com contributor, that show the user interface and applications more clearly.

This is a cool product. I won't be buying one anytime soon, however.

SW

 

Re: Apple Phone Announced

although apparently not savvy enough to avoid a lawsuit. They'll settle, though. It will probably just cost them more now.


SW

 

Re: Apple Phone Announced

Already posted a thread on that

http://forums.wirelessadvisor.com/wireless-news/60291-cisco-sues-apple-over-iphone-name.html

 

OK it has a form of OSX - when I'm wrong I admit it. Some months ago while discussing the rumored iPhone, I doubted that it would run OSX - - because of the complexity of that OS and the hardware resources that it requires. Well Apple has apparently made a slimmed down, closed version (i.e. no file browser like the OSX Finder, no developer kit, no third party or freeware apps) but an OSX core nevertheless. The pictures I linked to below show it running the Apple desktop pictures, widgets (mini applications for OSX) and Safari, the Apple Web browser.

Here are a few more links with the, admittedly slim, info about the OS.

Engadget article with more UI pictures

Macintouch piece by Henry Norr, a respected tech journalist and longtime Apple watcher.


SW

 

Re: Apple reinvents the phone with iPhone

I am somewhat surprised that Apple hasn't gone for a simultaneous global launch. The iPhone isn't on sale in Europe until the end of 2007, and Asia doesn't get it until early 2008. The reason I am surprised is because these delays essentially give Apple's competitors time to react.

There is also the point to be made that smartphone sales are higher in Europe, so one wonders why Apple are apparently waiting to capitalise on that. The Asian delay is the most striking of all, a full year. That gives the other manufacturers plenty of time to organise new products, etc.

 

Re: Apple Phone Announced

If Cisco are smart they'll push for some sort of royalty deal rather than a cash sum. Imagine if Cisco were to get a royalty payment for each iPhone sold?

 

Re: Apple reinvents the phone with iPhone

It could be that the agreement between Apple & Cingular have a clause to restrict it's sale outside the US in the beginning, but then again it will be on sale at Apples web site, so why couldn't someone buy it right from their site from Europe or Asia?

 

Re: Apple reinvents the phone with iPhone

Because the device will be locked to Cingular's SIM cards. They'll have fun trying to unlock an unfamiliar device, so Vodafone, T-Mobile, O2, Amena, TIM, etc. users will have to wait.

 

Re: Apple reinvents the phone with iPhone

My guess is businesses that specialize in unlocking will find the way to do it and will get this into people's hands in Europe and in Asia. It might be a little more difficult at the outset, but I'm betting that you'll see listings in eBay of unlocked iPhones.

 

Re: Apple reinvents the phone with iPhone

Sure, but the US exclusive is only 3 or 4 months and it will be a while before they can figure out how to unlock it for the masses, almost in time for the phone to be released in Europe and Asia anyways.

 

Re: Apple reinvents the phone with iPhone

I was just thinking of how the US Patent office recently made the ruling that they aren't suppose to lock phones to 1 carrier, of course that doesn't mean they won't make them unlocked & yes it's going to take people a while to figure out how to unlock them, so it may be better for at least the people in Europe to wait & see if there are any problems with the phones & they get released in that country.

 

Phone Unites Disparate Corporate Cultures Of Apple, AT&T

Apple Chief Executive Steve Jobs says the new iPhone is a product destined to ignite a "revolution" in telecommunications.

But could the iPhone also spark a civil war between the companies that produce it?

That's what business experts are wondering as Apple, founded by hippie renegades in a Silicon Valley garage in the 1970s, partners with one of the nation's oldest corporate entities.

Cingular Wireless, which has an exclusive, multiyear agreement to provide cellular service for the iPhone, is a subsidiary of San Antonio-based AT&T.

Ma Bell traces its roots to the '70s, too - the 1870s.

Forged from an agreement between Alexander Graham Bell and his financiers, the National Bell Telephone Company eventually became American Telephone & Telegraph Company, then mushroomed into world's largest telephone company and cable television operator. It's also been a regulated monopoly and, at its zenith, it employed 1 million people.

Even executives from Apple and Cingular acknowledge the companies - which will jointly bring the iPhone to the market in June, starting at $499 - are a study in contrasts.

"We come from two different worlds," Jobs said, "yet we've worked wonderfully together."

Jobs' comment came after Cingular's president and chief executive, Stanley Sigman, took the stage Tuesday at the annual Macworld Conference & Expo.

Sigman, a West Texas State University alum who began his career at Southwestern Bell Telephone in 1965, donned a suit and tie and read stiffly from a script, pausing awkwardly to consult notes.

By contrast, the silver-tongued Jobs wore his trademark black turtleneck and faded blue jeans while addressing 4,000 fans. The liberal Reed College dropout is one of the best showmen in corporate America, rarely glancing at scripts and quick with off-the-cuff jokes. (On Tuesday, he stayed cool even when his electronic pointer went on the fritz.)

Business experts say such contrasts may extend to the broader corporate cultures of Apple and AT&T, straining the tight collaboration needed to launch such a significant product.

"When you try to put together two companies with very different operating styles, you open up a Pandora's box for executives to miscommunicate or disagree," said Charles O'Reilly III, Stanford University professor of management.

One of the few similarities between the companies doesn't bode well for cooperation. Apple and Cingular usually each insist on owning the user experience, emphasizing their own brands whenever possible.

Glenn Lurie, president of national distribution for Atlanta-based Cingular Wireless, said Cingular representatives would handle most questions about billing and service. If a customer's question requires deeper knowledge of the iPhone, they'll be transferred to Apple.

"These are Cingular customers. They'll get a Cingular bill, Cingular rate structures and Cingular care," Lurie said Tuesday in an interview with The Associated Press.

Apple is known for aggressively controlling its customer relationships, going so far as opening Apple retail stores in 2001.

Personal computers that run on chips from Intel usually have an "Intel Inside" sticker on the hardware. Although Apple announced the switch to Intel chips in 2005, the only logo on a Macintosh computer is a piece of fruit.

A previous partnership with Cingular didn't go smoothly. In 2005, Apple partnered with Cingular and Motorola on an iTunes-enabled phone, ROKR. But the product flopped because it only held 100 songs and required users to buy songs through a computer and download the songs to the phone - deficiencies the iPhone should remedy.

"The cultures are definitely different, and marketing with another company is new territory for Apple," said Garth Saloner, Stanford University strategic management professor. "The hope is that Apple has become a powerful enough consumer electronics brand, and the distinctiveness of the iPhone, even if cobranded or carried in a Cingular store, will be strong enough to carry the day."

Software engineers at both companies collaborated on some of the iPhone's innovative features, and Cingular executives have been quick to laud Apple for the iPhone's elegant style and user interface.

For the first time in Cingular's history, the board agreed two years ago to the collaboration without even seeing a prototype. Few Cingular executives had even seen the iPhone until recent weeks because Apple insisted on secrecy.

And the relationship, executives say, has been amicable so far.

"The core piece of what we both care about is being best in class," said Eddy Cue, Apple's vice president for iTunes. "The people we've met at Cingular have been very smart - just awesome."

Still, observers worry that people on the AT&T side won't be able to "think different," and the relationship may come at an awkward time.

Despite a nasty stock option backdating scandal, Apple is at the top of its product game, thanks to the iconic iPod digital music player and buzz from the iPhone. Shares of Apple, which changed its name from Apple Computer Inc. to Apple Inc. as it moves beyond computers, rose $4.43, or 4.8%, to close Wednesday at $97. The stock hit an all-time high of $97.80 after unveiling its iPhone.

Apple's price-to-earnings ratio, a critical measure of Wall Street's bullishness of a company, is 43.

Cingular, by contrast, is part of a myriad of businesses under AT&T, itself formed in 2005 by SBC Communications' purchase of its former parent company, AT&T Corp. Late last month, the Federal Communications Commission approved AT&T's $86 billion acquisition of BellSouth, which consolidated ownership of Cingular Wireless. (The wireless service name is expected to be changed to AT&T.)

AT&T stock closed at $34.03, nearly unchanged from Tuesday. Its price to earnings ratio is 18.

"Apple is overwhelmingly a quintessential comeback story - there's nothing that quite compares to Apple's can-do spirit and sense of creativity," said Jeffrey Alan Sonnenfeld, associate dean of the Yale School of Management. "The challenge here is for AT&T. They're running thin and lean. They've been weaving together different businesses and systems and cultures. They don't have a reputation for investing in technology with the same zeal and enthusiasm as Steve Jobs' Apple. This could be a mismatch."

www.cellular-news.com/story/21347.php

 

Thanks, that was an interesting story and I don't usually read Cellular News. You also did a good job with the highlighting. You are right that the key issue for Apple is the user experience - something that Apple likes to own. Cingular also likes to own this, but they are terrible at it. Unfortunately there is no alternative to Cingular being the first and probably second level tech support, as Apple doesn't really have a large tech support group. AFIK, they only do end-user support for customers still under warranty.


SW

 

Re: Apple reinvents the phone with iPhone

If there is such a clause you would have thought Apple would have struck a deal with a bigger network like Vodafone or T-Mobile., both have far more customers than Cingular.

The delay is quite perplexing really because apart from the touchscreen interface, there really isn't anything that exciting about the iPhone in terms of features. If you look at existing smartphones, it isn't a huge leap to release newer versions with more memory, plus their already impressive features, which may be a match for, or in some cases surpass, the iPhone.

The price is also rather surprising. I wonder how many major companies will choose the iPhone over its competitors, which may actually have equal/better features, whilst being cheaper? I wonder how many tech geeks will go for the iPhone if there are smartphones available that have a better range of connectivity options, whilst again being cheaper?

 

Re: Apple reinvents the phone with iPhone

Usually it doesn't work that way because Voda and T-mo run their operations separately for each country they have presence on. So although they have more customers when you combine their worldwide assets, on a per-country basis, Cingular has much more customers, so the same device/software configuration can be delivered to a larger mass. On Vodafone's and T-Mo case around the world, the device/software configuration will be different for each country due to differences in network, cultures, language, market offerings, etc. It takes more effort to deliver a product that is customized for all those countries separately than a single custom product for all the US.

 

Since the iPhone won't come out until June, it is worth mentioning that it should not be Cingular branded. It should be AT&T branded! In fact, I bet all the phones they are testing right now they are creating the AT&T look and feel for them.

 

I am sure they had everything set to go, and just needed the FCC approval to make calls & say "Start shipping the AT&T Branded phones out" or "Start the AT&T Branding on our phones"

 

Re: Apple reinvents the phone with iPhone

A global launch of handsets is certainly possible by a network like Vodafone. It's markets may be run individually, but it is capable of globally launching a handset. When Vodafone launched its 3G services it had a global launch of 3G handsets.

If Apple is to release the iPhone in other markets then it is going to have to be customised for some of them anyway; it would make more sense to strike a deal with a network capable of doing that, and capable of launching the handset in multiple markets at once to a larger overall customer base.

I wonder how much sway Apple will have with other networks? Will Vodafone change their voicemail system system for the iPhone? Will T-Mobile?