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Apple iPhone - To Be, or Not to Be?
An anonymous reader writes "With the Apple WWDC looming on Monday, the internet once again beats itself silly over what Steve Jobs has in store. At the most fanciful end of the scale, there's talk of the Apple iPhone, to which CNET says, 'keep on dreaming', and Gizmodo says, 'no visible evidence'. The only solid evidence of an iPhone, beyond the endless mocked-up images, is the discovery of hidden phone-related code in a recent iPod updater. Macrumors has some info on what the keynote may contain -- and there's no mention of an iPhone. So, as the rumor mill continues to grind over the weekend, let the predictions begin. Is there an Apple iPhone, or is there not?"
Well, the current iPod is not a video iPod according to Stephen, so maybe the next one will not be a phone?
Makes sense.
I choose to remain celibate, like my father and his father before him.
The Motorola RAZR is a good phone (interface sucks, but I'm used to Moto phones so it doesn't bother me so much.) It's small, works well as a phone with an actually decent speaker phone, and the interface is usable enough for the 3 things I ever do with a cell phone (make calls, text message, alarm clock.)
Application development is not a symptom of the phone, but rather the network.
Verizon/Cingular wants to charge you $5 for Tetris, and if they allow just anyone to develop an application which can then be distributed, well, that's a problem for their business model. Most phone apps are programmed in Java anyway though, but the mobile toolkits are often quite pricey.
Cellular phones these days are awesome. It's the backwards thinking service providers who make them suck.
The Motorola SLVR L7, the ROKR, the V3i w/ iTunes. Apple doesn't need to make an "iPhone".
World Wide Developer's Conference
It's where the Apple developers get together and talk development of Apple related products, and Apple gives them a sneak peak (a VERY LITTLE fuzzy peak) at their future plans.
"Money is truthful. If a man speaks of his honor, make him pay cash." Notebooks of Lazarus Long, Robert A. Heinlein
The portable music market seemed pretty saturated, too
It is mostly where Apple tries to educate developers about their latest programming APIs.
There are several technologies that Apple comes out with that depend on 3rd party support. For example, Spotlight works better when third parties make adopt its protocols to make data spotlight indexable/searchable. Dashboard is another example.
The main reasons people don't adopt these new APIs are: lack of education and need for backward compatibility.
WWDC also is a good place to give feedback to Apple about what they are doing right/wrong/could improve. Also, if you have specific issues you need resolved, it is a good place to go in order to speak with Apple employees.
For example, I had a specific issue in an application I was developing with OpenGL. I was able to arrange a meeting at WWDC to speak with the manager of the graphics group. I was able to show him my application and explain why we needed this particular issue addressed. All of the people from DTS (Developer Tech Support) who are used to dealing with 3rd party developers like to never make hard promises. However, this particular manager told me "this WILL be fixed in 10.3" and it was.
This year, I have a short list of issues that I want to speak with Apple about.
I can't say I've ever come away from WWDC with specific information about future hardware products, but I have come away with specific knowledge I need in order to guide my development roadmap.
Avoid Missing Ball for High Score
I was using my treo on the last flight without any problems. A flight attendant did ask if it was switched off, and I said the phone was off and she accepted that. Any phone that can clearly say "Flight Mode" or "Phone Off" will not be a problem.