Apple iPhone Rumors Resurface

donkeyDevil writes: "Following the rule of 'i before e except before P,' rumors of an iPhone resurface in the New York Times (registration required). The evidence: OS features, foiled acquisition attempts, PIXO relations, and the genius of Steven P. Jobs. Unmentioned, Apple's tried phones before. PIE produced a nifty desktop phone design, Apple Europe produced some nice telephone-computer integration software."

iPod and Palm

[jaoswald]

I'll tell you what *I* think needs to be done: integration of iPod with a full Palm OS capability.

One thing that keeps me from getting an iPod is that I already have too many damn gadgets that I need to function. Pager (work), cell phone (personal), Palm pilot, wallet, and keys. If I add a iPod to this mix, I run out of pocket space. And I don't want to clip three or four things to my belt.

I know that Apple is moving to include calendar and contact information on the iPod, but read-only access is not enough, and entering data through the five buttons + wheel on the iPod would be tedious.

iPod + Palm + phone *might* someday be even better, but a hard drive in a cell phone seems a bit much. I've never really liked the idea of being hooked to my cell phone through a headset.

Take a crack at it, why not...

[Launch]

Apple recently has proved their masterism of the UI in portible devices with the iPod.

Now many people have tried making PDA/Cell combinations, but few have stood out among the crowd (who know's how Nokia's new phone will play out).

Apple is a company that if everything went right and they developed a good product then they might have a real shot at being that de facto Cell/PDA combo that people are looking for.

A few things they'll need to do to succeed. Don't make the iPod mistake, make this thing Win compatible... Open up to the open source comunity, this is the perfect product for the open source community to have a crack at. Think hard about "can this product make it if it doesn't use the Palm OS?".... If you use the Palm OS how much does that take away from your ablity to develope a UI.... Could it be a Apple front end on a PALM OS?...

Hey I know what every geek needs, multiplayer PDA games that we do via cell phone... that would be a hell of an improvement on IR pong.

Re:Interesting discussion on the register.

[ptomblin]

Just so long as neither Sony nor Ericsson have any input what-so-ever when it comes to the user interface.

Read the referenced article. It says that the most likely candidate for cross licensing is one of the phones based on the Symbian platform, such as the P800 which is a pleasant piece of eye-candy. It's also the phone that Jobs invited Sony to demo at MacWorld Expo and the WWDC.

Re:Interesting discussion on the register.

[imperator_mundi]

But a cell phone with a little Mac look and feel could be a massive hit. Til now only Nokia developed its prouct line with a little coherence in what is design and interface, the others changed radically all the ui paradigms and the look many, many times.

if they do do it

[banky]

Did anyone read the article about the design of the iPod? Apple basically bought all the parts off the shelf, with the exception of the case. They didn't build it all from scratch, and used existing parts wherever possible. So given the relative success of the iPod, the logical choice for the design of the iPhone would be to partner with Sony or Ericsson, let them provide the guts, and let Ivo dream up the nifty case.

Then consider all the new stuff in Jaguar. Some posters have said, "Like including chat and address books in the OS is anything unusual". Well, it's not... except that Apple is all about the "Digital Hub". What do you wanna bet the iPhone will have the ability to sync with .mac, downloading all your contacts and stuff? That's assuming you don't spring for the Bluetooth adapter.

The biggest problem with phones is they aren't like MP3 players, in that phone services are localized. You can't use your bitching Sony with Nextel, or whatever. If they want the phone to work, they'll need to have the best penetration possible in terms of phone use.

I think there's at least a decent chance.

Re:Interesting discussion on the register.

[Anonymous Coward]

It is ALL about the user experience, otherwise we would all be using Windows CE. Rememeber the original CE-experience, a "mini-desktop"? Yikes!

That is the reason why there's UI designers, not just GUI designers. Ever tried an iPod? It is outstanding, a mini-GUI AND a new input device, the thumbwheel. This is the reason why it is marketed as a special-purpose device for music browsing (wheel) and playing (click). You cannot simply "fold" these functions into a PDA, where you need a keyboard or pen.

I want to see Apple (or anyone) give a try to a new user experience for phones and PDAs. Everything else out there sucks.

I highly recommend reading The Humane Interface by Jeff Raskin, http://www.jefraskin.com

A Possible Motorola Connection

[DLWormwood]

I'm surprised that no one has yet mentioned that Motorola's past relationship with Apple could be a factor in this... Moto makes phone chips and could be more willing to put R&D into improving PowerPC chips again if Apple makes phones with their other chips. (Or Apple could go elsewhere to "punish" Moto for failing to abide by Moore's Law.)

Apple can't compete with Japan phones in coolness

[patiwat]

Japan's mobile phones are generations ahead of anything coming out of Europe, let alone the US. That's one of the reasons why Motorolla and Nokia haven't been able to penetrate the Japanese market at all. (The other reason is that they don't want to invest in network compability).

J-phone started selling phones with video cameras years before the Sony Ericsson T68. The latest lineup from Sony Ericsson [sonyericsson.co.jp]seriously puts the T68 to shame. You can hardly find monochrome phones anymore - nearly every new phone in the market has a color screen. All those cool features that are being promised in 5 years from 3G (video conferencing, multi-player games, streaming music, Java, etc.) were available yesterday by au [kddi.com], j-phone [j-phone-central.com] , and DoCoMo [nttdocomo.co.jp].

Now I don't want to write Apple off just yet - Apple has a great brand in Japan for product innovation and design. But to think that Apple will come out with a phone that can beat the Japanese in cool factor (see the Keitai Gallery [sonyericsson.co.jp] for the newest and coolest) is pushing it.

Re:Why not?

[D_Fresh]

If Apple does this, expect a device that seems like other consolidated gadgets, e.g. Handspring's Treo [handspring.com], but upon closer examination is different in subtle but crucial ways. I don't think they'll veer from the basic iPod formula much - they'll start with a technology that's up-and-coming, like iPod's tiny HD, support it with a thoughtful combination of hardware and software, like firewire and iTunes, and they'll create a device that is so useful and good-looking we'll all wonder why nobody thought of it before. Only in this case the up-and-coming technology is Bluetooth, the supporting software is iSync, iCal, iChat, Address Book, Jaguar's Bluetooth support, and maybe even OS X Mail. Who knows what the cool hardware is - maybe there will be an integrated camera, or a clever way to use the screen, or a higher quality speaker, or an organic LED color screen. (The camera idea is intriguing, but that may end up being an entirely separate device - with their emphasis on iMovie, iDVD, and iPhoto I'd be surprised if they haven't at least prototyped some combo still-DV models. It's not unprecedented [epi-centre.com], either.)

I don't think Apple management walks on water - any engineering company can create new gadgets - but their design philosophy and willingness to push beyond what's already been done make all the difference. Of course they won't manufacture it themselves - again, the iPod showed their willingness to admit their limitations. When it comes to consumer electronics, they're not a fabrication outfit, they're a design house, with an emphasis on integration with their existing line of software. I'm excited to see what they come up with next.

Re:You missed the point...

[56]

That's my point, actually. The Archos came out well before iPod - I believe it was over a year earlier. Yes, it was heavier (and it DID in fact double as a hard drive) and it didn't use firewire - but PC's don't come with firewire cards, they come with USB. And, again, it cost less. Do not misinterpret what I am saying. The iPod is a far better device, without question. Yes, Mac's are more refined and are, in my opinion, better - I use one at home in conjunction with Linux and Windows machines. If "ignoring the capabilities" is a trait of a PC-zealot, then you are the PC-zealot, not me, as you have twice now misread (hopefully intentionally) the specifications of the Archos devices.