You know you are reading someone (Daring Fireball) who really knows their stuff about Macs when they review the iPhone thus:
User Interface: The high resolution screen is gorgeous. Helvetica has never, ever looked so good on screen. Everything is very fast, very responsive. When you drag something – whether it’s the slider button to unlock the phone, a zoomed-in photograph, or a web page – the drag keeps up with your finger. I haven’t found a single element of the iPhone UI that doesn’t feel super-snappy. The whole thing feels very realistic.
Update: Real-time dragging is such a priority that if the iPhone can’t keep up and render what you’re dragging in real-time, it won’t even try, and you get a checkerboard pattern reminiscent of a transparent Photoshop later until it catches up (typically, an instant later). I.e. iPhone prioritizes drag animation over the rendering of the contents; feel over appearance.
ValleyWag today runs an interesting insider piece from a startup developing Facebook applications. Until recently FB members could invite all their friends to an app. creating massive viral adoption. Hence why some apps like Top Friends by Slide ended up with millions of users. Now Facebook is limiting app invitations to just 10 per day. That mean anyone creating a new app and trying to go viral has a mountain to climb. This is basically Facebook shooting themselves in the foot. Previously there seemed to be a great ecosystem developing where startups would be able to hook into revenue share deals based on the adoption of their app. Now, the ‘head’ of the apps ‘long tail’ will win because FB has artificially rigged the system in favour of those apps that came out before the “invite all” gate closed. Given that there are even a few UK developers who were banking on the Facebook app platform to create some success, this news makes for some depressing reading. Why is Facebook the new AOL? It’s just another a walled garden baby…
According to reports starting to leak out from reliable sources, a new 3G version of the iPhone may be launched Monday in the UK in a joint promotion with Vodafone, T-Mobile, and UK phone retailer Carphone Warehouse as an MVNO.
A report in the London Evening Standard newspaper (no link available) yesterday hinted that Vodafone would be the official carrier in Europe, but Newswireless (run by long-time mobile journalist Guy Kewney) today says Apple is going with three carriers in Europe to answer criticisms folllowing its exclusive deal with AT&Tin the US. The announcement is slated for Monday but an actual shipment date for the 3G iPhone is unknown, although it is looking like the year-end.
Vodafone recently launched flat-rate data charges for its under-used 3G network, making it a good platform for the iPhone, while T-Mobile has positioned itself for a while as a flat-rate “Web and Walk” carrier. Carphone Warehouse, though a left-field choice, is said to be in the frame as a MVNO carrier in the UK. The American version, using only 2G phone technology, goes on sale in the US today.
According to reports starting to leak out from reliable sources, a new 3G version of the iPhone may be launched Monday in the UK in a joint promotion with Vodafone, T-Mobile, and UK phone retailer Carphone Warehouse as an MVNO.
A report in the London Evening Standard newspaper (no link available) yesterday hinted that Vodafone would be the official carrier in Europe, but Newswireless (run by long-time mobile journalist Guy Kewney) today says Apple is going with three carriers in Europe to answer criticisms folllowing its exclusive deal with AT&Tin the US. The announcement is slated for Monday but an actual shipment date for the 3G iPhone is unknown, although it is looking like the year-end.
Vodafone recently launched flat-rate data charges for its under-used 3G network, making it a good platform for the iPhone, while T-Mobile has positioned itself for a while as a flat-rate “Web and Walk” carrier. Carphone Warehouse, though a left-field choice, is said to be in the frame as a MVNO carrier in the UK. The American version, using only 2G phone technology, goes on sale in the US today.
Just an hour or so before US stores opened their doors to the iPhone horde, readying themselves to buy a slow, 2G mobile phone, here in the UK we were slowly learning that the speedy 3G version is about to be announced and will arrive in Europe first. Smug? Me?
ValleyWag today runs an interesting insider piece from a startup developing Facebook applications. Until recently FB members could invite all their friends to an app. creating massive viral adoption. Hence why some apps like Top Friends by Slide ended up with millions of users. Now Facebook is limiting app invitations to just 10 per day. That mean anyone creating a new app and trying to go viral has a mountain to climb. This is basically Facebook shooting themselves in the foot. Previously there seemed to be a great ecosystem developing where startups would be able to hook into revenue share deals based on the adoption of their app. Now, the ‘head’ of the apps ‘long tail’ will win because FB has artificially rigged the system in favour of those apps that came out before the “invite all” gate closed. Given that there are even a few UK developers who were banking on the Facebook app platform to create some success, this news makes for some depressing reading. Why is Facebook the new AOL? It’s just another a walled garden baby…
On the eve of its launch, courtesy of Frukt Music, comes an analysis of the strengths and weaknesses of the iPhone:
Strengths:
- Apple approach: a)great product, b)simple usability, c) clear communication
- Dual-contact touch screen, twice the resolution of average computer screen, full-detail web pages with easy zoom-in feature, easy-view photo software, extra Google maps functionality (traffic details, fake GPS), easy music/phonecall switchover via headphone button, integrated email, phone and web features and other technological advancements will appeal to early adopter Apple fans
- Relies on tried-and-tested iTunes software – already a hit with consumers
- Easy to activate iPhone at home using iTunes
- YouTube link-up allows users to view videos over WiFi
Weaknesses:
- Apparently no way to record video – so no instant uploads to YouTube
- Sealed-in battery. Must send it back to Apple for a replacement.
- No memory card slot
- Over-the-air content delivery not part of initial iPhone plan (although not a critical concern: for every iPod bought, only 20 tracks on average are iTunes purchased, most are transferred from CD or illegally downloaded)
- Strength/Weakness: High price point ($499/$599 at launch) will only attract early adopters (J.D. Power: Typical U.S. phone user in 2006 paid $94 for a mobile). Although, for the initial model, perhaps early adopters are the sole target market (modest Apple sales targets of 10M globally by 2008, less than 1% of the mobile handset market)
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