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Apple's Smart Phone Depends on OS X Tie-Ins
anaesthetica writes "According to AppleInsider, Apple is not only working on a cellphone + mp3 player iPhone, but is working on a second model designed to be a smart phone, highly integrated with Mac OS and .Mac. The smart phone has gone through several iterations, as the notoriously demanding Mr. Jobs ordered the elite team working on the phone to redesign and re-engineer their prototypes. Capabilities are reported to include Front Row interface, syncing contacts and iCal with .Mac, "call ahead", iChat video conferencing integration, WiFi, and a slide-out keyboard. Too good to be true?"
.... appears to be taking a page out of the M$ playbook and tying the device tightly to the OS to drive OS X sales. One would hope that he is also smart enough to have the phone be usable to users of Windows & *INX without hopping though hoops to do it.
This is my opinion. To make sure you don't steal it, it's covered by the DMCA.
A phone I can plug a usb cable into and drop pictures/sounds/contract directly from my computer.
A nice easy interface to do this with.
Stop dollaring us to death when we want a picture or a ring tone that we create.
If it can have music as well, bonus.
IT would be neat if it used the same connection as the iPod
The Kruger Dunning explains most post on
This is interesting, considering the Leopard release of iCalendar Server for OS X Server v. 10.5. Granted it talks about .mac integration now, but as long as it can sync with other iCalendar software (iCal Server, Google Calendar, Yahoo Calendar, etc.), the product becomes that much more impressive. That alone will be good news for current Mac users that want to have direct calendar updates without the hassle of syncing their calendar.
The other thing I liked was the mention of iChat Video Conferencing from the handset to a PC. That's something I have wanted with the Pocket PC for ages, and even various video phones. They have a camera, why couldn't they do video conferencing? With 3G wireless networks and phones that can take advantage of it, the technology is finally in place. That would make the iPhone worth it for me alone.
I had been trying to get cell-phone free for the past two years, and it looks like Apple is going to make that harder for me with this release.
You do realize that third party developers can create applications for SmartPhones and PocketPC Phones that would allow a user to sync with a Mac, right? So the question is more.. why aren't third party developers doing this? I highly doubt you can blame Microsoft for that.
Oh, and just to note...
http://www.pocketmac.net/
You're welcome.
Apple will follow their usual model:
One axis with consumer (think MacBook, iMac, iPod nano)
One axis with prosumer (think MacBook Pro, MacPro, iPod video)
In all squares good, better, best
(Think MacBook White 2x1.83, White 2x2, Black 2x2)
(Think iPod Shuffle, iPod Nano, iPod Video)
Same for the phones,
iPhone small and inexpensive
iPhone nano/macbook
iPhone pro
My guess is that the mid version iPhone (nano/MacBook) will be first to be released and at a premium price (like $400 with no contract). After 4 months the iPhone (pro) will be released at a slightly higher premium price (like $500 with no contract) and the mid version iPhone (nano/MacBook) will be reduced to $250 and "one more thing" the youth low end model iPhone (small and inexpensive) will be released like the Nokia 3-series for $149 with no contract.
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