iPhone Guided Tour and Site Redesign

[sishaw]

I was glad to see the demonstration of two-thumb typing--from all I'd seen, I was worried that the virtual keyboard would be limited to 1-finger hunt and peck, which is not very efficient for someone who can touch type 40-50 WPM.

Very nice promotional film, it certainly has me leaning towards getting one.

 

[shawnce]

Well done video... and it is obvious that Apple has put a lot of thought into the UI (as you would expect).

I think they have one hell of 1st generation product.

 

[decksnap]

I'm a mixed business/personal user, and I want an iPhone very much.

However, I'm struggling with the idea of losing functionality that works beautifully on my Treo 680.

My Treo syncs perfectly with Now Up-to-Date for a shared home/business calendar where I can see events from the dozen or so users Win/Mac cross-platform users, per my configuration.Good calendar and to-do's with my next calendar event shown on main screen, etc. iPhone will only handle iCal, and we've still seen nothing of how events and to-do's are handled, or will integrate with other functions.

Same story on contacts - I've currently got access to my company's shared contacts database - clients, prospects, staff, and then my own and my wife's personal shared contacts. Not especially well-integrated, but functional.

TuSSH - nuff said.

True push mail via IMAP-IDLE on Chatteremail, which works with my various IMAP accounts (but not my .Mac account, because they don't support IDLE!).

Plus a half-dozen special-use apps (tides and currents, and a variety of other goodies - plus a calculator!)

So while my Treo is fat, heavy, ugly, doesn't feel very good in the hand, has an interface that's not horrific - but really showing its age, crashes all the time, battery barely lasts a day in moderate use, and is generally flawed, it's actually massively functional.

The iPhone is gorgeous, beautiful, skinny, and just wants to be touched. But how much am I willing to give up? IMAP-IDLE and some kind of SSH access will probably be enough... but the calendar thing is going to be a problem.

Does Now-Up-To-Date dump data to other programs? Our office just got rid of it because of how awful it is. We're using google calendar, and for some, google calendar dumped to iCal dumped to iPods, widgets, etc. Spanning Sync makes it a two-way street.

 

[macinfojunkie]

Re: Need for replaceable battery.

I've had my RAZR for eighteen months and my talk time is now about 15 minutes.

You do actually USE your cellphone, right?

Just because you are an extremely light user, don't think that everyone else is. I currently have a fully paid company mobile phone and I am constantly (according to our accounts department who are on a monthly basis questioning my actions) - running up calls worth $100s a month (max. I achieved in a month was $700). In other words, not having a changeable battery is going to be an obstacle to me moving my business phone to the phone. That amount of usage means that on a business trip (which might last 2 weeks or more) I will need a number of batteries. My current phone I can run for 3 days making 4 hours of calls a day, receiving a email. Admittedly it is a far more traditional phone - I hate smart-phones (at least MS phones - I paid $1000 for the first iPaq cellphone and it was ****!). For me the iPhone needs 24 hours talk time in addition to the already announced audio/video/standby times in order to replace my currently handset. Until that it possible "serious" business users are not going to be too interested.

Granted it is a fine phone if you are the type of business user who can access a main ply ever 8 hours. I wish that were the case for me. But the reality is that that is not always possible. You need a spare battery in-your back pocket (it the charge does not last long) or the confidence that the device is going to last 72 hours, regardless of what you do with it - if you are going to rely on t to do your job.

Rich college kids can say what they like about this phone. Gartner can say what it likes. But the bottom line for me and my work buddies who all sue out phones in a similar way is that we need changeable batteries or a VERY long battery life (like x4 of what Apple is currently offering) for the iPhone to REPLACE our current handsets.

In reality given the features that the iPhone has I think a few of us might start carrying 2 phones. Vodaphone, which seems the most likely carrier in the Uk (where I am based) and the provider to the company I work for offer a multi-sim service where you can use the same SIM more than one handset (as well of course as offering multi-sim handsets for those who want multiple numbers in the same phone - some business users require this). If that happens I can see myself getting an iPhone. If not, then I will have to wait in envy of the phone bling until the battery tech catches up. It;s not Apple's fault - just plain physics that a phone with such a big screen can not run for as long as a business phone with small screen.

As for pricing I expect this to sell for no more than $300 in the UK since we can get N95 for free with a 500 min per month contract in the UK.

PPS: I'm hoping that by the time that the iPhone reaches Europe that we will be on revB which will have a replaceable battery. Apple does have a habit of listening to user needs and addressing them. And when they head the wishes and complaints of real business users then they might just well address it.

 

[72930]

Just because you are an extremely light user, don't think that everyone else is

macinfojunkie, you seem to misunderstand!

He is saying that the battery life now only lets him talk for 15 minutes on one charge!

 

[artalliance]

PPS: I'm hoping that by the time that the iPhone reaches Europe that we will be on revB which will have a replaceable battery. Apple does have a habit of listening to user needs and addressing them. And when they head the wishes and complaints of real business users then they might just well address it.

Don't think so - that thing is too damn slim. I think Apple will go the same route as with the ipod. It's replaceable, just not by the user (at least not the average one).

 

[JPyre]

Does anyone know when the iPhone will become available through AT&T's partners?
I ask because I'd be setting up new service for 2 lines, and Walmart.com has the BEST prices on earth for phones (huge rebates) and I'd save $50 to $100 on my 2nd phone if I can order it from there.
I've heard a lot about the iPhone selling at Apple stores and AT&T stores, but what about AT&T 3rd party partners? If not at launch, then when?
THanks!

No way in hell, because of all the reasons you just listed. Maybe by itself but not with any package deal.

 

[JPyre]

Re: Need for replaceable battery.

That amount of usage means that on a business trip (which might last 2 weeks or more) I will need a number of batteries. My current phone I can run for 3 days making 4 hours of calls a day, receiving a email.

Where are you for 3 days that has cellular service and not a power source in sight? I personally have a ipod car charger and ipod wall charger and a usb cord which charges. I don't see how I could ever run out, I don't know about you but if I am in my car or in my house or at my desk at work, my cell and my ipod are charging, well soon to be just my cell er my ipod er my internet communicator...

PPS: I'm hoping that by the time that the iPhone reaches Europe that we will be on revB which will have a replaceable battery. Apple does have a habit of listening to user needs and addressing them. And when they head the wishes and complaints of real business users then they might just well address it.

Removable batteries will never ever happen, too much space for a door and an increased risk of water damage and gereral breakage. I happen to like the idea of the phone being as sealed-up as it can be, requireing a sim card actually made me sad for the simple fact water might get in there.

 

[macinfojunkie]

macinfojunkie, you seem to misunderstand! He is saying that the battery life now only lets him talk for 15 minutes on one charge!

And

someone need to take a chill pill

I might have misunderstood the premise of the person that I quotes - the drawback of posting after downing a bottle of Chablis I guess - but the logic is still relevant, regardless of whether I thought the person chose only to talk for 15 minutes, or what they were only able to talk for 15 mins due to battery age.

Basic premiss is the same. For my own usage. And 10s if not 100s of managers/directors I know - they type of people who could drop £500 at the bat of an eyelid on this type of phone - and no doubt will - will require long lasting talk time to make the iPhone a practical tool in every day business life.

I suspect the reality is that many will buy one just to have it on show and enjoy the bling, but retain a 2nd handset for business continuity.

I know I will!..... but in reality I just see that as subsidising Apple's development of this great phone until it reaches my own expectations. Fair is fair.



& BTW just because I typed a long post does not mean I need a Chill Pill. I was perfectly relaxed when typing my previous post. I'm by far an iphone hater or anti Apple. I have 6 Macs in my household and spend a vast amount of money every year on Apple products for personal use - I upgrade every year then give away my older kit to friends and family - hence I consider myself rather the Mac evangelist! I've been using Macs since the LC and proud!

 

[d.f]

they can't do this.......yet...

In demonstrating how to change ringtones, the video only demonstrates how to move between the phone's built-in ringtones.

Unless I missed it, there's nothing to indicate the ability to set a song as a ringtone.

Has there been anything publicized about the iPhone to suggest that you can use your iPod music as a ringtone?

For me, it's not a huge deal, but a lot of people like to set music as their ringtone. It would be a shame if you bought a song from iTunes, then had to pay for it again as a ringtone.

do the other phones offer this..? if not then i think it's a legal / rights / license issue with record companies.

this will become such an obvious next step in the Apple Vs content Companies relationship. the ancillaries revenues (non music sales, eg. ringtones, merchandise, syncs, compilation licensing) are the only thing going for the Record Companies for now. i work at one of the majors, it's no secret or shame.

maybe it will fall into the new buzz word that apple is closely aligning itself to - DRM FREE. i support it fully and can see it another string to Apple's bow through the next 5 years. for Hollywood who's going to offer the only real high street brand alternative to HD format wars - iTunes.

Apple downloads still include a form of DRM. but the majority consumers won't notice as their vids / music and maybe ringtones* will all freely pass from iPhone to Macbook to AppleTv to anything running OSX. your purchase with Apple / iTunes will negate all the arbitrary limitations / licenses that the content would normally have attached to it.

*physical music sales are in steady decline. won't change. downloads will eventually overtake. revenues however are much lower on digital sales. everything is done to increase the amount of digital products. now there's special remixes, acoustic sessions, AOL / iTunes / Wal-Mart exclusives that are out for each track. it's not unusual to 5 variations of what would have been a single physical CD.

more in topic is ringtones. we all know they're huge. but they're now so popular that an artists who can sell you physical albums, (the pot of gold for any record company is this digital age), are coming from the ringtone world. in the last month an artist called T-Pain knocked Paul McArtney off the Top of Billboard 100. his rise was heavily due to the ringtone 'hooks' of his songs being must have status items of the current tweenage genration. that's huge. espcially of a record company. fyi - the ringtone market has as many crooks and ilegal sites as music had/s. record companies are loosing millions in this market. it's just too big to police.

what if a major high street tech firm was willing to make a seamless way for record companies to assure customers of quality, exclusivity, and simple ease of use......

maybe.

 

[cmschmidt]

do the other phones offer this..? if not then i think it's a legal / rights / license issue with record companies.

this will become such an obvious next step in the Apple Vs content Companies relationship. the ancillaries revenues (non music sales, eg. ringtones, merchandise, syncs, compilation licensing) are the only thing going for the Record Companies for now. i work at one of the majors, it's no secret or shame.

maybe it will fall into the new buzz word that apple is closely aligning itself to - DRM FREE. i support it fully and can see it another string to Apple's bow through the next 5 years. for Hollywood who's going to offer the only real high street brand alternative to HD format wars - iTunes.

Apple downloads still include a form of DRM. but the majority consumers won't notice as their vids / music and maybe ringtones* will all freely pass from iPhone to Macbook to AppleTv to anything running OSX. your purchase with Apple / iTunes will negate all the arbitrary limitations / licenses that the content would normally have attached to it.

clever

*physical music sales are in steady decline. won't change. downloads will eventually overtake. revenues however are much lower on digital sales. everything is done to increase the amount of digital products. now there's special remixes, acoustic sessions, AOL / iTunes / Wal-Mart exclusives that are out for each track. it's not unusual to 5 variations of what would have been a single physical CD.

more in topic is ringtones. we all know they're huge. but they're now so popular that an artists who can sell you physical albums, (the pot of gold for any record company is this digital age), are coming from the ringtone world. in the last month an artist called T-Pain knocked Paul McArtney off the Top of Billboard 100. his rise was heavily due to the ringtone 'hooks' of his songs being must have status items of the current tweenage genration. that's huge. espcially of a record company. fyi - the ringtone market has as many crooks and ilegal sites as music had/s. record companies are loosing millions in this market. it's just too big to police.

what if a major high street tech firm was willing to make a seamless way for record companies to assure customers of quality, exclusivity, and simple ease of use......

maybe.

umm....i'd say 90% of phones made in the last 2 years have this feature. it has nothing to do with the legal system.

 

[Cleverboy]

After watching the video, I've gotten a number of niggling questions answered. This is going to be simply... AWESOME. I'm thinking there may or may not be more surprises, but I think there is a danger of "OVERWHELMING" people with options. I think YouTube alone will give people more than enough to screw around with and enjoy on 0 day. --But that's not all.

I can virtually guarantee you some VERY special web apps will be making their way to iPhone before launch day. Will they all actually WORK on the iPhone? I guess we'll all find out together.

~ CB

 

[applehero]

This was a brilliant marketing move from Apple. I didn't think I could want this thing more than I already did, but watch that walk through and not having one is DRIVING ME CRAZY! I will absolutely make sure I get on next week!!! Genius, pure genius.

 

[macinfojunkie]

Where are you for 3 days that has cellular service and not a power source in sight? I personally have a ipod car charger and ipod wall charger and a usb cord which charges. I don't see how I could ever run out, I don't know about you but if I am in my car or in my house or at my desk at work, my cell and my ipod are charging, well soon to be just my cell er my ipod er my internet communicator....

1. Leave home drive to Airport - car charger - hand free etc.
2. Talk on phone for as long as poss before board the plane. No time to go to Biz lounge to recharge.
3. On Plane. Phone off for cellular service etc. - but if it was an iphone I would want to watch movies - est take up 20% battery vis an vis calls watching a 90 min movie. So already down to sub 70% life.
4. Arrive at destination airport. get back on phone. retrieve voicemail, make calls to secretary, clients, colleges etc. whilst waiting for taxi and riding in taxi to Hotel. Est. 1 hour on phone. I figure I will be down to about 50% charge on iPhone by now, and I have not really begun my business day.
5. Drop bags off at Hotel and then jump back into taxi to go to customer meeting. No chance to recharge. I do not care for carrying a car re-charger with me, or even trying to negotiate with the cab driver to use his ciggy lighter to recharge the phone even if I had the charger.
6. Arrive at customer meeting. In meeting from say 10am until 6pm. Mosly make a few calls each hour. Retrieve voicemail and make 45 mins of call during breaks. I guess by now I will be down to about 30% charge.
7. I go out to dinner with the customer - no real chance to recharge between meeting and dinner. I need to call home and talk to the family. By now I am down to probably 10% charge. Do phones ever dissipate their battery in that last 25% evenly? No. And I've been using the cell phones since the Nokia 101 almost 17 years ago.
8. Get back to hotel - maybe midnight to 2am - And this is the kicker of why for business users who entertain clients until the midnight hour why the iPhone is not practical - you forget to plug in the charger!!! - I have done son many times on my current SE phone - but since the battery live many times better than he iPhone - minus the bling functions - it will stills serve its function the following day.
9. Get up (at 6 am) and find that iPhone is dead. No time to recharge.
10. Go to 1.

[such is life working with US conglomerates in Europe]

I realise that not having recharged over night is gong to be "user error". But in a real world with that kind of schedule 24/7 for a week or more every other week, then reality - human frailty if you like - are sometimes going to find that the iPhone battery life just does not cut the mustard. It is a great phone. But the reality is that it needs to talk for more than 12 hours to be usable for business.

Removable batteries will never ever happen, too much space for a door and an increased risk of water damage and general breakage. I happen to like the idea of the phone being as sealed-up as it can be, requireing a sim card actually made me sad for the simple fact water might get in there.

Every phone I have ever owned has had an user replaceable battery. None of which have leaked or otherwise been functionally impeded by such a facility. This is not a design issue. Apple of all "people" could do this if they so wished. In the past I have smashed phones on the ground when they run out of charge. I've not done this since the early 90s when Nokia only had <8 hours of talk time. I can see myself smashing an iphone if it let me down. No need for donations!

 

[MrSmith]

Great video, though if it was a Hollywood movie the presenter would definitely be the baddy.

Anyway, a couple of thoughts occured to me:

1) Security. Since the phone syncs with address book there's going to be a lot of personal information on the phone. What happens when you accidentally leave the phone on the train? Your entire address book can get into the wrong hands. I'd like a way to set password entry to certain features, if not all (except answer).

2) On the maps page, where he searches for a restaurant, to get the route he inputs the start location. What if you're lost and don't know the start point? (This is an argument for GPS, I guess.)

 

[sananda]

doesn't sound like it's even close to being the phone for you, macinfojunkie.

 

[macinfojunkie]

doesn't sound like it's even close to being the phone for you, macinfojunkie.

Admittedly I'm a very heavy user of the traditional phone element of a hybrid product like the iPhone. As a phone replacement for me, today, the answer has to be no. You are right. But it could, with just a few extra features be a laptop replacement. At which point the battery times would be far more competitive for my own needs. I would much rather carry about a "real" cell phone and an ipHone than my phone+laptop. Anyday! And I can see that happening.

I'm still hyped about the phone itself. I was in awe of the demo vid. 'm just pissed I can't use it as my only device when I go on biz trips.

I'm fairly confident that within 6 to 12 months technology will change, then I can be down with the cool-aid.

 

[rdrr]

Great video, though if it was a Hollywood movie the presenter would definitely be the baddy.

Anyway, a couple of thoughts occured to me:

...

2) On the maps page, where he searches for a restaurant, to get the route he inputs the start location. What if you're lost and don't know the start point? (This is an argument for GPS, I guess.)

Please don't continue to feed my wife's notion that all men will not ask where they are or for directions. Also note, that there are numbers on houses or mailboxes that indicate what the address is, as well as signs on streets. Hopefully you notice something like Newton FD truck, police car, or library, to tell what city your are in. If you don't know what state you are in well...

 

[Chip NoVaMac]

<snip>I'm a mixed business/personal user, and I want an iPhone very much.

However, I'm struggling with the idea of losing functionality that works beautifully on my Treo 680. <snip>

I am in the same boat as you are. Though I tend to be more personal/business use. With the iPhone I was truly hoping that us cell phone users finally had a "cell phone for the rest of us". Meaning seamless integration with the Apple apps some of us have grown to love, iTunes, iPhoto, Mail, and Safari (yes these apps are there, and seem to bring new experiences to these tasks).

I wonder about the lack of "groups" in the contact lists. I missed that function in my Treo compared to my Palm. I needed to use custom fields in my use.

But what about iCal? We have yet to see a demo IIRC on that app. What about .Mac integration? Going back to the Mail app, how will multiple email "servers" be handled? Will it be like VersaMail, that allows me to select the one I want to view? Or will they all be lumped into one large email box?

I may have missed something in setting up my VersaMail on my Treo 650 - but I have to regularly clean out older emails from my system memory. I would much rather see what is stored on my email server for a given date range.

Given the large emails accounts that are allowed now a days, it would be nice to be able to do a search for an email. Given that it is said that Apple is struggling to make .Mac work as a business model by some - I would love to continue paying for the service as a means to organize my email life on the run.

The item of note for road warriors is the seeming lack of swappable batteries. I know when I was on the road for days at a time, swapping batteries kept me in business.

Even now as I am more of an ordinary citizen - spent almost 13+ hours trying to get from Palm Springs to Washington DC earlier this month. Fortunately I had my Video iPod with me, using it only for music. But if I had the iPhone only I may have been stuck trying to find an outlet to save on battery power.

For I had spent some deal of time on the phone to make sure that I could try and get back in the same day. I also spent time looking for a hotel room near ORD (good luck that day) via my net connection on the Treo via the internet.
For my Treo, I was not worried since I had a spare battery at hand. Never travel without the spare being fully charged.

Also as ohers have noted, given the price of the iPhone - it does not have GPS. I am sure that TeleNav (http://www.telenav.com/) will have a solution - but it will require a $100 add BT module to make it work with their service at $10 a month. The GPS issue also cuts deeper perhaps (I am sure I will be corrected by users here if I am wrong) to EMS services. Yes, triangularization of towers can be used, but GPS can be more accurate. Also what gives with needing/or benefiting from a "co-pilot" to read the Google Map directions?

I will have to post a seperate message to fully understand SMS under the iPhone....

I know that some will say that the iPhone was never meant as a PDA. But for me the price and general features seems to scream PDA. In the end the core of OS X should have been met in total - iTunes, iPhoto, iChat, Safari, Mail, and Preview. It just seems that in regards to iChat, Mail, and Preview - the iPhone seems to be lacking....

Then add to that AT&T's Edge Network is much slower than the EV-DO network on Verizon or Sprint. And we still don't know if we will be able to tether to our MacBooks at this point and time - and at what cost...

Though to be honest I still want one.. though the new Sprint Mogul does have my eye as does their Samsung i830... all at the same basic price point. Just hoping for better disintegration to my Mac's....

 

[JPyre]

3. On Plane. Phone off for cellular service etc. - but if it was an iphone I would want to watch movies - est take up 20% battery vis an vis calls watching a 90 min movie. So already down to sub 70% life.

Umm... ever heard of an airplane charger? And the add on rechargable/disposable batteries that they sell? The taxi doesnt have a cigarette lighter? Come on man... I really don't see your point except that you're obviously not prepared. I plan on having a dock or charger where ever I will be, I've learned from having 6600s and 6700s that die after 1hr of EVDO or WIFI or PocketNES or wmv streaming ontoptv.com.

 

[macinfojunkie]

Please don't continue to feed my wife's notion that all men will not ask where they are or for directions. Also note, that there are numbers on houses or mailboxes that indicate what the address is, as well as signs on streets. Hopefully you notice something like Newton FD truck, police car, or library, to tell what city your are in. If you don't know what state you are in well...

I think that 5 mins homework on the route will work wonders for our marital negotiations when it comes to "foreign" journeys. And if you own an automatic gear shift car, you have a spare hand, so that you can ensure that she "enjoys" the journey. Forget technology when it comes to 90% of women. ( I know there are plenty fine ladies who frequent this site, but most women are not geeks). As the Yellow (UK) book says. Just let the finger do the talking.

Now this has to be the best advice I have ever given. On any forum I post to!

 

[blueskyrocket]

.of course they then started speculating on how long until Sony or someone else makes something as good or better...

Great marketing!!!

Sony has had 5 years to better the iPod, & have they?

 

[Chip NoVaMac]

Where are you for 3 days that has cellular service and not a power source in sight? I personally have a ipod car charger and ipod wall charger and a usb cord which charges. I don't see how I could ever run out, I don't know about you but if I am in my car or in my house or at my desk at work, my cell and my ipod are charging, well soon to be just my cell er my ipod er my internet communicator...

See my comments in another thread.....

It is based on this being a possible "all needs" type of device. In my Palm Springs to DC trip, I met a group at 10PM that had been going since 10AM from their home airport, and would not depart till 5PM the next day! Because of "weather" delays and their limited funds they were living out of the airport because of their missed connection. NO help from the airline, due to weather delays!

While in Palm Springs with my delay, ALL outlets were already taken. And this is an airport that has like 40 flights a day!

Removable batteries will never ever happen, too much space for a door and an increased risk of water damage and gereral breakage. I happen to like the idea of the phone being as sealed-up as it can be, requireing a sim card actually made me sad for the simple fact water might get in there.

Other cell phones seem to deal with the issue just fine - even at the sacrifice of needing additional batteries....

 

[macinfojunkie]

Umm... ever heard of an airplane charger? And the add on rechargable/disposable batteries that they sell? The taxi doesnt have a cigarette lighter? Come on man... I really don't see your point except that you're obviously not prepared. I plan on having a dock or charger where ever I will be, I've learned from having 6600s and 6700s that die after 1hr of EVDO or WIFI or PocketNES or wmv streaming ontoptv.com.

I have not the slightest idea what you are on about. Are you are talking geek? And when you are on a 60-90min flight, even in 1st/Biz class, most European flights do not have chargers. So suck that!

When I talk about iPhone limitations I always talk in an European context, because it is the biggest mobile phone market on the planet. And Apple needs to understand that.

 

[SPUY767]

A hand model, right???

Imagine telling that to someone you meet.

I met a guy who was a professional guitar player, wouldn't shake your hand.

I'll be this guy says, "Sorry, can't shake, I'm a hand model... for Apple."

That would make it cooler, I guess. Apple... now even a male hand model is cool!!!

I saw a lady who had to be the hand model for Heather Lockleer? in a hair commercial. Heather had to lay on the ground sideways and hold up her head. Apparently, the hand model has to spoon Heather to be the arm and hand holding up her head.

What a weird world

No *****? I was asked to be a hand model by a gay guy a few years back worked for some advertising firm in Atlanta. I said sure, cause the money he offered was right, but I told him I had to give it up after a few days b/c of some of the creepy stuff he had me do. One add for CK had me tugging at some waify guy's boxers. I'm not homophobic in the least, but we all gotta draw the line somewhere.