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iCell in the Works?

Posted by Zonk on from the ican't-talk-now dept.

SirWraith writes "Ars Technica is running a story speculating on the possibility of an Apple cellphone." From the article: "At last week's CES, Motorola officially dumped Apple with its new ROKR E2 phone and its new iRadio digital music service. ... After the ROKR's lackluster launch, speculation abounded that Apple was saving the 'good' iTunes phone for itself, and the new 'Mobile Me' trademark lends credence to that line of thinking. At this stage of the game, it looks like Apple is moving in the direction of launching its own cellular service complete with its own lineup of phones (or phone, as the case may be)."

4 of 271 comments (clear)

  1. This wouldn't surprise me.... by FalconZero · · Score: 5, Interesting

    Portable device convergence has been obvious for years, with the inclusion of cameras, music players, video players, video calling, games etc... being crammed into mobile phones, it's unsurprising that Apple would want to segway its iPod market into the mobile phone market.

    Which would you rather have? An iPod, or a phone with an iPod built in? If Apple doesn't capitalise on the current media and consumer 'love' for iPods, then the plethora of other devices with similar or superior function will destroy Apples market (and it's only so long before flash storage becomes comperable in capacity to drive based iPods.)

    Apple could quite easily pull off a 'one phone' network not because it was technically superior or cheaper than other networks/handsets, but because Apple would do what Apple does best, give it a slick UI/customer experience and use their flair at advertising to buy the market.

    --
    Windows in 6 Bytes (IA-32) : 90 90 90 90 CD 19
    1. Re:This wouldn't surprise me.... by IronTek · · Score: 5, Interesting

      I was against the concept of a camera in a cell phone for a longtime.

      After I got a phone that had one, I started to think what it would be good for. I figured it was a comfort to have it in the case of an accident.

      Sure enough, I got into a small fender-bender in a parking lot. It was completely the other person's fault (they backed into me), but they later tried to blame me! Luckily, after it happened, I snapped some pics on my phone and sent them to my insurance company and theirs.

      The photos show clearly where my car was and where their car was. My insurance company didn't pay a dime. I received a check from theirs.

      So I don't think convergence in this respect is a bad thing.

  2. Ironically ... by eldavojohn · · Score: 5, Interesting
    You may recall from yesterday an article on Sun and Apple's possible mergers. Interestingly enough, at the bottom of that article you will find:
    "Your iPod is like your home answering machine," McNealy said. "I guarantee you it will be hard to sell an iPod five or seven years from now when every cell phone can access your entire music library wherever you are."

    Well, sure. Unless your iPod is your cell phone.
    Perhaps the author of that article had a lot of insight and perhaps they already new about this news.

    Either way, I'll follow suit and ask how much longer will it be until the iPod is your computer, media player, internet access, cell phone, credit card, personal identification, financial recorder/advisor, taser, keyless entry and pace maker?
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    My work here is dung.
  3. Possible Look of iPhone by schlpbch · · Score: 5, Interesting

    Isamu Sanada is an industial designer who designs fictious
    Apple products in his spare time:

    http://www.applele.com/index.html
    http://www.applele.com/pictures.html

    I personally favor this iPhone design:

    http://www.applele.com/pict_04hipod_r02.html

    Almost better than the real thing!