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June 13, 2008
Hey, how about that iPhone 3G...
... my thoughts.
Apple held their WWDC (World Wide Developer's Conference) on Monday. I was in Seattle for a different conference but I cut out sometime shortly after 10am to check out the big announcements.
I think the launch of 3G in the iPhone really overshadowed the fact that the iPhone 2.0 software, unveiled earlier this year, is still the highlight of the iPhone space.
I'm really digging what Apple did with Exchange Server support because that was one of the huge drawbacks to choosing the iPhone over a BlackBerry or Windows Mobile phone for me. It seems more and more everyday that I find myself living out of my Outlook inbox and calendar. I can't wait to stop lugging this work laptop around and just get what I need on my iPhone.
I really feel with the 2.0 software that Apple has made the iPhone a viable competitor in the business world. That is for those who can stand to give up a solid state keyboard. I had a conversation with one of my boss' bosses today and he was adamantly against the soft-keyboard, and I can certainly say that it took me some getting used to. I'm still not sure I'm a fan of it, but I can't say I'm a fan of the tiny little keyboard from RIM's BlackBerry mobiles either. I think haptic technology will make soft-keyboards a bit more acceptable an alternative, I guess that will have to wait for the next iPhone successor or software build though.
At any rate, with such strong Exchange support and the addition of Power Point viewing to the pre-existing Word and Excel visibility, it will make my work life quite a bit easier.
The App Store really impressed me. I wasn't expecting the caliber of applications that were demoed at WWDC. I guess I just wasn't expecting them to have the finesse of the native Apple applications on iPhone. That being said only the best of the best were probably demoed and the SDK pretty much enforces the design and interface themes. I'm not sure that's such a bad thing though.
The games are really what impressed me most! I guess I just didn't realize the iPhone had such promising graphics capabilities. It looks way better than the DS, and I don't quite think it's PSP quality with what was demoed at WWDC it's not far off. All things considered I doubt this build of the iPhone will lend itself well as a replacement for the available mobile gaming devices. The gyro sensors seem to do well with racing games and a couple other implementations but without some onscreen directional and input controls (which would cut into the screen space) I don't think I'd be playing any RPGs on it.
Apple has begun to position the iPhone as the third major format (Windows, Mac OS, iPhone). If the third party support is there, and Apple continues to respond to customer demand for feature sets like they did this go-round, I really think they might pull it off. They are Apple after-all, they've somehow managed to resurrect themselves from nearly bankrupt legacy brand for elementary schoolers to a chic competitor in the computer industry, not to mention the fact that they basically own the music industry at this point. The demand they've mustered for the iPhone at this point is basically unheard of for a mobile phone. It's pretty much a household name at this point.
I think I recognized the power of Apple's UI design when my mom was actually able to pick up the iPhone and figure out how to get around in it. She did things in seconds (on her own) on my iPhone that I've had to teach her 2 or 3 times how to do on her own cell phone.
Again though, Apple needs to play nice with 3rd parties and this is, historically, not one of the company's strengths.
Aside from the new tidbits about the 2.0 software, there are only 2 significant changes to the Device in the 3G model in my opinion, and that would be 3G (obviously) and GPS capabilities.
The design is pretty and the flush headphone jack should have been there to begin with so I don't think you can really call that a feature. I guess I really don't have a strong reason to upgrade my from iPhone to iPhone 3G considering I'll be getting the 2.0 software for free anyway, but you know I'm going to upgrade anyway just because I'm an Apple fanboy like that. Hey, at least I didn't upgrade to the 16GB first generation model when it first became available a few months back like I wanted to LOL.
This time I'm going to hop up to the 16GB model. Normally I opt for White iPods, but I really don't like the way they did the white iPhone 3G model since the face is still black (which makes sense for viewing video and photo but still doesn't really look like it belongs). So black it will be for me. I have to say the solid coloring on the back looks much nicer.
They also talked about the future of .Mac by releasing MobileMe which seems neat, but they kind of oversold it a bit. It's got a pretty interface but most of the functionality is already available elsewhere or already available in .Mac. Even so, it's good that they put something relevant into .Mac because it was getting very stale in the stable. I'm not sure I really need push personal mail, but hey why not! It's actually less expensive for more space than I'm currently paying for/getting from .Mac so I'm all for it. That is unless they change my email address to me.com Then I'm going to have to jump ship LOL.
Well, that's about it I guess. The biggest features are yet to be seen, and that will really be the software from third party developers. Guess we'll know soon if the iPhone will be the next major format.
Also, hope Steve is doing OK, he didn't look so well this year.
Posted by Decemberice at June 13, 2008 09:50 PM
Comments
Choosing a cell phone is so freakin' confusing. I can say though, that the iphone by far is the best cell phone (smart phone) out there...I've done a lot of research on my own. The thing is, many smart phones are huge, and I really don't feel like carrying around a humongous cell phone. The iphone is actually a good size (not too big...not too small), and I like that. I had to return mine for a refund though, and just bought something else. I don't really travel much, or have to use a portable device for the net or navigation too often anyway. BUT if I had the money to burn on an iphone, I'd definitely get another one.
Posted by: Austin at June 20, 2008 01:19 AM