Like many other Apple-loving tech companies yesterday, Clearleft were huddled around MacRumours following its coverage of Steve Jobs’s keynote. And lo and behold we were presented with the iPhone.
I don’t use that many features on my mobile: primarily I make calls, send texts and take photos. Occassionally I use it for browsing (football scores mostly) which until recently has been limited to WAP, although I now use a new – and increasingly ubiquitous – Sony Ericsson K800i, with Opera Mini. So what impressed me about the iPhone is that Apple has concentrated on precisely the features I use, with the addition of an iPod, and not really bothered to include much else, although I should mention the welcome introduction of wifi.
Of course, Apple being Apple, they have concentrated on the interface big time. Based on the movies I can see myself actually enjoying using the phone, rather then the vague feeling of frustration I get from mobiles currently. The downside is that they will get grimly covered in fingerprints, and will have to be kept in bag to stop the screen getting scratched to pieces. Also it’s fairly big – half the thickness of my K800i, but significantly bigger otherwise which might be an issue as I normally carry my phone in my jeans.
Unfortunately Jobs didn’t really talk much about the camera. Beyond the resolution – a relatively modest 2 megapixels – we have little indication of how good it is. Also it seem video calls (possible on some networks in the UK) will not be possible as it requires a second camera on the screen-side of the phone.
As for the delivery date – probably June in the US and Christmas in Europe – that’s understandable and it’ll be interesting to see what deals Apple manages to make with network providers in the UK, especially as Cingular – Apple’s US partners – don’t operate here.
Update. Brighton’s own mobile guru, Tom Hume, notes his thoughts on some of the practical aspects of the iPhone.
Apple have also introduced Apple TV which I just don’t get: £199 just to play downloaded videos on your TV? If there was a recordable hard-drive in there I might be tempted, as I would if it included a digital TV decoder.
And talking of newly released goodness, the new solo album from Gruff Rhys, hirsute singer with Super Furry Animals, is as fabulous as you might expect. Filled with wonderful restraint, some really catchy tunes and plenty of Welsh, it’s a hit in the office.
Colly wrote:
Caaaan-dee-liiii-on…
Is the album better than the title track then, Rich?
Can’t be bothered to talk about iPhone. Amazing – beautiful product, but not an easy opt-in for mobile users on contracts and in the UK. Who waits these days? Carry on with your lives, UK Mac fans…
Mike wrote:
I would agree with both your evaluations of the new Apple products. What the critics of the iPhone kept complaining was that feature for feature it didn’t do anything much new.
What they failed to recognise was that the incredible ease of use that Apple have just added has opened up all these features to ‘non-techies’.
I hope its a resounding sucess, if only to refocus manufacturers minds on product usability!
Mike Stenhouse wrote:
I’ve had a rant about this already but the more I think about it the more disappointed I am with the AppleTV. I was expecting big things from it after seeing the early pictures back in October… but I really think they’ve missed the point this time. Fair enough, in the future we’ll be doing lots of downloading of movies but the iTunes store hasn’t exactly wowed us in that department yet has it? They’re yet to make the jump to HD, for a start. And what about all the movies I have already? Why would I go and convert them ALL into some Apple format that I then won’t be able to play anywhere else? I’m incredibly reluctant to commit myself to a closed format. What about digital/terrestrial TV? Or IPTV for that matter? How will I watch the Venice Project on an AppleTV? I won’t. Short answer.
Sorry Rich, rant over.
Loving the Gruff Rhys album, by the way. My favourite thing right now is Kid Harpoon though. He’s only had a single or two out so far but I’ve seen him live twice and he’s (hopefully) gonna be huge!
Steven Ametjan wrote:
With the iPhone having a standard iPod dock connector on the bottom, I wouldn’t be surprised if someone, if not Apple (iSight Mobile?), were to release a camera attachment to allow video calling on the iPhone.
Rich wrote:
Mike – rants are always welcome. I haven’t come across Kid Harpoon, so I’ll have to check him out.
pauldwaite wrote:
> “the more I think about it the more disappointed I am with the AppleTV. I was expecting big things from it after seeing the early pictures back in October”
What were you expecting? As far as I could see, they delivered exactly what they said they would, i.e. Airport Express, plus FrontRow, for your TV.
Likewise, I’m not too clear on the point of this in the UK at the moment, as we can’t buy films and whatnot from the iTunes Store. Although I guess if you happen to have a bunch of video content in iTunes already, it might make sense.
I’d rather have a Mac mini with a 500 GB external hard drive and EyeTV plugged into my telly though.
Ian Adams wrote:
Yeah, I thought about fingerprints and scratches too, but I’d bet that it’s going to be about as easy to polish as an iPod, making that issue pretty moot. Regular (once every few weeks) polishing of my iPod keeps it looking quite nice.
Average Betty wrote:
I want an iPhone… the usability and applications look amazing. I do wonder about internet connection speeds more than anything.
A product called Brasso works great for polishing scratches off of your iPod BTW.
I am truly excited about AppleTV and what it means for video podcasters like me… So, I was a little dissapointed that Jobs didn’t touch on Video Podcasting in his presentation.
I think it’s the FREE on-demand content available via video podcasts that will really make the AppleTV so valuable.
Ian Adams wrote:
Betty: Yeah, I use that stuff for my iPod and iBook, and it works really well. As for smudges, though, according to David Pogue we won’t really have to worry about it.