iPhone Passion

The iPhone - the most complete gadget ever : it has an electric razor, blow drier, lipstick, mace, and many many more.

The guys from 37signals have a pretty novel idea: what if, for the iPhone, one could define motion-trail shortcuts to launch his favorite apps? Given that the multi-touch screen allows several contact points simultaneously (Steve showed us two-finger gestures, but we could hope for even more), then the various motion shortcuts are numerous. For Firefox we already have the extensions for motion-based shortcuts. Why not something similar on the iPhone?
Anyway, read their idea over here. I say it’s worth thinking about…

Steve Jobs shows the Apple iPhone on Saturday Night Live - SNL Jan 13, 2007
Update 19/01/2007 - lost and found again. Here is another one:

Update 16/01/2007: unfortunately the video seems to have been erased by the YouTube guys. Damn!

“Steve Jobs” appeared on Saturday Night Live last night to talk about the iPhone and it’s even better than we thought. Apparently it holds 2 billion, with a ‘b,’ songs! And it even has an on/off button and a clock! Oh, yeah, and don’t forget to download The Office in iTunes.

(via TUAW)

Pretty funny. I personally like this video, although opinions seem to vary

The BoingBoing guys have made my day. Here is the coolest Apple phone image I saw lately. As they say: Apple phone: no need to wait for June on this one.

Techcrunch has an interesting insight on Apple’s UGLY practice of bullying bloggers, that’s getting UGLIER by the minute. You know the first case: Apple taking bloggers to court because of published pictures of the Mac Mini.
Now, they are getting beyond the absurd: somebody created a skin for Windows Mobile phones that looks exactly like the new iPhone user interface. Somebody else created one for the Palm. Now, Apple lawyers are threatening all bloggers that even LINK to the software in question.
I believe Apple is BAD whenever doing this. While the creators of the skins in question might breach the copyright(although, come on, the iPhone won’t be any less successful because of these skins; even more, they will make it even more popular), the persons linking to them are in a very legal position, nonetheless.
SO. Without any further ado.
Also, please read engadget’s take on the matter . Dont’ forget to read gizomodo’s one as well.

How to install? Read details at the links pointed from techcrunch, and here as well.

Joy of Tech’s “the other iPhone lawsuit”

Because he didn’t have access to the real one, Jason Kottke has scaled, printed and cut a real-size paper version of the iPhone. A good opportunity to photograph it compared to other daily-life items. So, here you are, together with my previous post on iPhone sizes, enjoy some interesting pictures of Mr. Kottke’s hairy hands :

Read the rest of this entry »

Does The iPhone Need Patents? - the Techdirt guys seem to believe the 200 patents or so the Steve Jobs boasted during the keynote are a bit too much. Such an innovative concept would be successful even without the protection offered by the patents. While bad for the consumers, these kind of patents are ment to protect Apple’s conceptual and technical innovation.
Anyway, feel free to join the discussion over on Techmeme. Pro or contra the iPhone patents? You decide.

Looke like Amazon Germany has already decided to give German iPhone fans what they want. At a premium rate, off course.
Therefore, here it is: the iPhone for sale on Amazon.de.

Asking price?
999 euros!!!

PS. I have no idea on what is written over there? Does any of you? I also don’t understand the date mentioned “Im Angebot von Amazon.de seit: 17. August 2004″. If I understand correctly… that’s one ANCIENT iPhone…

The guys from biskero.org make a pretty strong point on the fact that “Apple launched not the iPhone but their MCNO” - where MCNO means “Mobile Content Network Operator”.
What does this mumbo-jumbo mean? Briefly:

* M: Apple provides the hardware, software and applications, iPhone, iTunes and Widgets. They brand the phone.
* C: music and video are provided by the media owners using iTunes.
* NO: Cingular in the US provides the wireless network.

So:
Apple provides the hardware - fully branded. Apple provides the software. Apple provides the content. Cingular provides the network. IMHO a closed solution, indeed, but after all this is what mobile companies did for ages.

Why should we care? That’s another thing to discuss on:
Because there are some interesting things that Steve Jobs wasn’t honest about. And David Pogue from NYTimes posted a list of questions from the iPhone curious, that make a lot of sense and get some very depressing answers. Among them:

Does it run programs from Palm, Symbian, Windows? –No.
Does it connect to iChat? –No.
Does it have games? –No.
Is it ambidextrous? –No.
Does it have GPS? –No.
Voice recognition? Voice dialing? Voice memos? –No, although this could change by June when the phone ships.
Does it get onto the HSDPA (3G) high-speed Internet network that Cingular has rolled out in a few cities? –No. But Steve Jobs said a later version of the iPhone will — once there’s enough HSDPA coverage in this country to justify it.
Does the Web browser support Flash or Java? –No.
Will it play music over Bluetooth? –Unknown.
Can you change the battery yourself? –No. You’ll have to send the phone in to Apple for battery replacement, just as with the iPods.
Can it open Word and Excel documents? –No. (Steve Jobs says it can open PDF files, though.)
Can you use it one-handed? –Yes, for some functions. But overall, it’s less convenient than on a phone with physical keys.
Can I make a call while driving a car? –Not as easily as on a regular cellphone with programmed speed-dial keys. (Besides–MUST you?)
Does the camera record video? –Not yet. Apple may add this feature by June.

The iPhone competitors - meaning the top-range smartphones - may not be as cool, but:
* there are smartphones out there that do pretty cool things as well.
* They allow you to listen to mp3s, browse the web, they even have Wifi&Bluetooth&GSM&Edge&touchscreen.
* Plus, they also have a MORE OPEN OS - Wndows Mobile, where independent vendors can sell their apps.

* they ALSO have interchangeable batteries - you can take a spare on you if you need.
* they sometimes have GPS
* they come CHEAPER

All in all, it’s not that bad to be a bit skeptic. After all, maybe Steve will be kind enough to listen to our complaints. And maybe make the iPhone a bit cheaper.

via Youtube. relatively funny animation.