Slashdot Mirror
iPhone Nano To Be Launched By Christmas?
the-s-dog writes writes to mention that while there have been many people wishing on a star for an iPhone nano, it seems that at least one UK news pub is confident that it will happen, and in time for this Christmas no less. Still completely unfounded rumor, but an interesting possibility. "Apple is about to launch a 'nano' version of the hugely successful iPhone. It is expected to be in the shops in time for Christmas. The product will be launched in the UK at up to £150 for pay-as-you-go customers by O2, the mobile phone group owned by Spain's Telefonica. 'This will be a big one,' said an industry source."
When does the iPhone Slider with QWERTY keyboard launch?
-516
"One expert suggested the nano phone would have a touch wheel on the back and display on the front so that numbers would be dialled from behind." I can't even fathom how hard it would be to try to use something like this. If this were the case, it would mean that there is no touchscreen, otherwise you would just dial directly from the screen. This is a rumour that I expect will never come to fruition, given the current price of the 3G.
If you post as Anonymous Coward, don't expect a reply.
It's the Daily Mail, FFS. They're as gullible as they are deranged.
No kidding!!! What do you say at this point?
I'm going to base my prediction of its success on the comments to this article, since Slashdot mocked both the original iPod and the iPod nano before they went on to become huge sellers and icons of our pop culture.
What will it be, Slashdotters? Do you hate it? If you do, does that mean I should buy more Apple stock?
No. It will be a tiny, tiny, tiny one. One billionth the size of an iPhone. So small you will need a stylus the width of just a few carbon atoms in order to dial out.*
It is, after all, an iPhone nano.
*But that's ok, you can compensate for the tininess of your stylus by the smugness of owning the latest and greatest Apple offering.
"Trolls they were, but filled with the evil will of their master: a fell race..." -- J.R.R. Tolkien on Olog-hai
The new iPhone nano will not include a qwerty keyboard, as the new form factor would not allow it. I'm posting anon for obvious reasons, but as an Apple insider I will inform you that there is "slider" technology -- you see, the new form factor is a closely-guarded secret because it will be the must-have gadget of all Apple fans: it's a butt-plug! Yes, the gadget which all Mac users secretly desire but were afraid to ask for. What did you think they wanted to do? Pick up WOMEN? The female Maccies could simply use their imagination to put the iPlug to good use.
No display, and dials random numbers.
...are a bad idea.
It is dangerous to be right when the government is wrong.
Why, it could only be a touch with fewer features?
Before Apple had announced the SDK, an iPhone Nano might have been a possibility. The mockups of an abbreviated Apple Touch interface floating around hint at the plausibility of getting the basics of the iPhone UI into a smaller package.
Post-SDK, however, there's no way that's going to happen. The varying hardware feature set (camera, microphone, etc.) between the iPhone and iPod Touch are already diverse enough to make software marketing a bit dicey, but I can't see Apple introducing a major new variation to the UI for smaller screens along with a whole new set of targeting constraints for developers.
Perhaps there is yet one way an iPhone Nano could exist: No App Store compatibility.
Your mind is clear / The things that you fear / Will fade with how much you / Believe what you hear
The all new iPod Touch-Myself, comes preloaded with a huge assortment of pornographic wallpaper, and the ringer can only be set to "vibrate." ...I can't wait!
What it really needs is a bottle opener - seriously apple, get on it.
Prediction: The real iPhone killer is going to be sex robots from Japan. Think about it.
Techcrunch reckons this is bullshit meant to drive traffic. I'm inclined to agree.
neuro at well dot com (when I post, it's my opinions, no-one elses)
I've never read a post by someone who has just drank the Apple Cool-Aid before.
This reminds me of Zoolander's phone. Good to see they are finally selling it to the masses and not just the male models.
for the iPhone Flea
One song and 5 phone numbers - that's all I need.
Custom, hands-free Linux installs. Instalinux
This isn't news. It's rumor and speculation with absolutely no source cited. For shame, Slashdot...
I have a blackberry and my wife has an iPhone. I am very jealous of her iPhone. The speed of the internet alone makes me want to dump my blackberry and get a new 3G.
Apple is also coming out with the iUnicorn 6G and (Now with Horn!) it will be ridable, require no feeding, able to fly, and it will shoot rainbows out of it ass while it cures cancer and AIDS in the onlookers below. Look for the iUnicorn 6G in Apple Stables starting this Christmas for a starting price of 299, 399 with glitter.
Actually, the biggest complaint I hear about blackberries is that they work. People get blackberries and feel like they are somehow more reachable - even to the point where it now impinges on their downtime.
In my experience most people don't complain about their iPhones because they realize they are making a compromise by buying one. "Gee, it's closed and I can't install apps on it like my other phone... Oh well, it's an iPhone! I downloaded an update and now it's bricked... Oh well, it's an iPhone!" etc. ad absurdum. It's kind of like a smoker of tobacco, "Yeah, I know it will kill me, but I like smoking! Yeah, I know it's expensive and I'll be reviled, but I like smoking!" Nothing else matters 'cause the user has his fix.
I'm sure there will be several jokes and some Apple bashing, but putting all that aside, I think this could be a pretty good idea, but wonder which direction this would go.
I would bet that somehow, somewhere, some functionality will be sacrificed. For example, they could combine an iPod Nano with a phone, give you no games or apps, and even sacrifice contacts/calendars. Or, the less expected route (but I think better) would be to give a phone that sacrifices the iPod functionality (no music/video), but still give you email, web, and PIM functionality.
Oh for Christ's sake - when will Slashdotters learn, the Daily Mail is nothing more than a comic? I realise most contributors here are American and can't be expected to know the wide ranging differences between British news rags, but our tabloids like the Mail can be trusted as far as you can throw a UFO. If an 'inside source' really did leak this story, and nowhere else but the Daily Mail has reported it, it's because everyone else has laughed the source out of the door.
If you get one bundled with a Sovietel subscription, Jesus calls YOU!!!
Confucius say, "Find worm in apple - bad. Find half a worm - worse."
I disagree, it isn't flame bait... My reaction to the title of this article was "YES! They're gonna get screwed AGAIN!"
No one is perfect, but damn, apple keeps burning its customers with phones! I'm too cheap and poor to be buying the latest phone, but at least my HTC mogul (aka titan, ppc 8600) has lasted a while and held it's value more or less over time.
My abilities are only limited by my imagination
""Gee, it's closed and I can't install apps on it like my other phone... Oh well, it's an iPhone!"
Yes you can.
"Oh well, it's an iPhone! I downloaded an update and now it's bricked... Oh well, it's an iPhone!" etc. ad absurdum."
I don't think Apple invented that one.
See my blog http://ilovecookes.blogspot.com/ for light hearted technical information.
As they don't ever release an iPhone Shuffle ;)
No tyrant thrives when every subject says no.
How much will internet access cost on Pay As You Go? It seems like a lot of the features of the iPhone rely on having a network connection, but at current rates it would cost you an awful lot to make use of them on a PAYG contract.
const int one = 65536; (Silvermoon, Texture.cs)
SJW, n: "Someone I don't like, and by the way I'm a fuckwit" - AC
iPhone Shuffle: Just drunk dials from your address list. Switch setting to dial in order or random.
iPhone Femto: So small no one but smart people can see it. And you don't have to speak. You just imagine the conversation.
Some drink at the fountain of knowledge. Others just gargle.
iPhone one-button: just a button and 15 digit numeric display. You dial it by setting it like you would a digital alarm clock. Just hold the button down while the digits count up, stop when it gets to the number you want to dial. If you miss, you gotta go around again.
Some drink at the fountain of knowledge. Others just gargle.
This "article" is advertising. Why the hell would you give apple free advertising on the front page. At least MS pays for a banner. Keep your guard up people, advertisers spend about as much money as the government on psychological studies of the public so they know how to get under the radar of most people.
Has robbed my ability to post anything worthwhile to this discussion.
Is for a nokia style flip phone with an original iphone style scrollwheel and monochrome or minimalist screen similar to regular ipods, that uses mini-SD memory. that's all. Is that too much to ask for?
I'd rather have the version from Steve's long lost sister, Brenda. The iPhone BJ seems as a strong contender.
Two buttons. 0 and 1.
I seriously doubt there will be a phone.
A new nano mp3 player which is basically a small touch, yes, no problems believing that however.
I'd put this rumour in the very unlikely basket
You keep using that word, "bricked". I do not think it means what you think it means.
If you mod me down, I shall become more powerful than you could possibly imagine.
As stated the nano version is probably vaporware. Every time is see an iPhone I think "Jeebus, that's a tiny screen." How about one the size of a Kindle?
It's Design 101 - Big screen good, small screen bad.
Prisencolinensinainciusol. Ol Rait!
This belongs on Digg, not /..
-- Cheers!
Well, last I checked no one was requiring anyone to buy every phone as it becomes avail. Show some restraint.
As to value, I was gonna buy 5,000 of the original iPhones as a long term investment, but my broker managed to talk me out of it. Really - who buys a cell phone thinking it's going to be an investment? I have a drawer cluttered with a couple of StarTACs (analog & digital), some Qualcomm thing, my old Samsung, who knows what else. I suppose I should get around to tossing them, but I'm really hoping they'll appreciate. Yeah. That's it.
Actually, the biggest complaint I hear about blackberries is that they work. People get blackberries and feel like they are somehow more reachable - even to the point where it now impinges on their downtime.
Thing is... the blackberry's primary function is to serve as a business tool and it is designed that way. the iPhone is something that anyone who uses an iPod (there's a lot of em) will understand. You're comparing apples(pun intended) with oranges.
"Gee, it's closed and I can't install apps on it like my other phone... Oh well, it's an iPhone!
Um... there are about 1000 apps in the appstore that can be installed and how they are the delivered via iTunes or directly to the iPhone is the most user friendly yet.
I downloaded an update and now it's bricked... Oh well, it's an iPhone!" etc. ad absurdum.
Updates can only potentially brick iPhones if they have been jailbroken. If you're going to frick around with the firmware of a device using code from someone other than the manufacturer... well.. you're asking for trouble aren't you.
The iPhone keyboard has tactile feedback.
That is, assuming your fingertips are not devoid of sensation.
You feel the screen against your fingertip - that's it, you've touched it. It is practically impossible to touch it too lightly.
Slashdot "sometimes you have to go outside" to read newspapers that may contain as much 'news' as slashdot.
Can rename it to rumourdot? Or slashrumour? Perhaps slashtruths may be more appropriate though.
In other news "Duke Nuke'm Forever may be available to play inside the flying car, click on my adverts for further details".
Just wait til she's asleep and steal it. She'll never know whodunnit.
To have a right to do a thing is not at all the same as to be right in doing it
This sort of thing always reminds me of this:
Jim Hacker: Don't tell me about the press. I know exactly who reads the papers:
* The Daily Mirror is read by people who think they run the country;
* The Guardian is read by people who think they ought to run the country;
* The Times is read by people who actually do run the country;
* The Daily Mail is read by the wives of the people who run the country;
* The Financial Times is read by people who own the country;
* The Morning Star is read by people who think the country ought to be run by another country;
* And the Daily Telegraph is read by people who think it is.
Sir Humphrey: Prime Minister, what about the people who read the Sun?
Bernard Woolley: Sun readers don't care who runs the country, as long as she's got big tits.
http://clightnirish.wordpress.com/
Thing is... the blackberry's primary function is to serve as a business tool and it is designed that way. the iPhone is something that anyone who uses an iPod (there's a lot of em) will understand. You're comparing apples(pun intended) with oranges.
The blackberry's primary function is to allow people to communicate. The iPhone's primary function ... is to make money, but that's unfair ... is, ostensibly, similar. The value of the interface is subjective. Of course some people will like it and some people will worship it to the exclusion of all else, but contrary to popular belief, not everybody.
Um... there are about 1000 apps in the appstore that can be installed and how they are the delivered via iTunes or directly to the iPhone is the most user friendly yet.
While there are plenty of apps available one of the top three iPhone complaints I hear on a daily basis is that an app that is available for jailbroken phones isn't available, or that Apple's draconian restrictions prevent an app from functioning in a useful manner. I'm sure it's very easy to use, but I believe that's all for nothing if what you get out of it is utterly insufficient.
Updates can only potentially brick iPhones if they have been jailbroken. If you're going to frick around with the firmware of a device using code from someone other than the manufacturer... well.. you're asking for trouble aren't you.
How soon we forget.
The scroll wheel interface from the iPod/iPod nano form factor seems to lend itself to the resergance of... rotary dial!
Steal my band's record! Seriously,
Absolutely: it isn't flamebait because if you don't buy the latest phone from Apple, they will actually anally rape you. </sarcasm>
"Wise men talk because they have something to say; fools, because they have to say something" - Plato
Agreed - and to refer to the earlier post, "experts" is common Daily Mail speak, almost always used without references or even being attributed to who these experts are. It typically means "actually we don't have a clue who says this, but we'll say 'experts' to make it look convincing".
If this was any other product speculation, it would be branded vaporware. And to add to that is the fact that it comes from an unreliable source such as the Daily Mail. But because it's Apple, it gets lapped up here on Slashdot...
Yeah - I find it curious (and worrying) that whilst British mainstream news articles posted tends to be from the BBC or the broadsheets, and Slashdot wouldn't touch tabloids with a bargepole, the Daily Mail is an exception. It makes me embarrassed to be British when I see it quoted on International sites, and read by people who have no idea of what the newspaper is like.
I suggest we start tagging these articles "dailyfail", so that we know what the source for them is.
Well I got a 3G phone years ago.
Coming soon - iPhone Shuffle, no screen, one button, calls a random number from your preloaded phonebook?
Bow before me, for I am root.