The iPhone Thread !!! Update: OS 3.1.2 Out!

[Jaggu]

Thanks for the explanation but unless the screen area improves will improving the resolution alone make a leap difference?

[d3mon]

There is only one direction that the screen real estate is going. And that is up.

Toshiba recently demoed a new winmo phone with a 4.1" (!) screen.
Touch HD has a 3.8" screen.
The new touch pro 2 will have a 3.8" screen.

And yes, even without increasing the physical screen size, the resolution bump alone would make a huge difference.
More pixels -->> Greater clarity viewing the same content / More content with same clarity as a lower res display

PS:
Ever tried a 15" laptop with a 1440x900 resolution instead of the usual 1280x800 ?
Or maybe a 17" laptop with 1680x1050 or even 1920x1200 resolution instead of the bog standard 1440x900 ?

You'll know what I'm talking about.

[Jaggu]

Yup i have tried that, and lets not compare laptops with 2" difference, to mobile phones with .5" difference. The user experience is quite different. Even in laptop there will is strain as the screen goes small, even though the resolution is better. i know, since i face the question from almost everyone who see's me with my tiny vaio and i face the difficulty when i open an image for editing in it, shot from my dslr

There is no alternative to the screen size then.

Am not denying there is a difference (then why would manufacturer even work on this right?) but in real life scenario in a phone browser it is a huge challenge. Yes real estate is going up and will go up, till they term it as non-pocketable, and then they will come out with a new term to place the product.

Your explanation is quite clear and factual and maybe this weekend ill get my hands dirty with some experimenting the latest version of skyfire on the win mob. Ill definitely post up if i see a remarkable difference with browsing.

Only hurdle is to find the more modern hardware compared to my ol iPac, which is the only win mob device i have right now. :( Time to call up some friends.

[d3mon]

No jaggu you got me a bit wrong there.

What I meant to say was that most 15" laptops come with a resolution of 1280x800. Some are equipped with a screen with the same physical size, but a higher resolution (1440x900)

Same goes for 17". Same physical size, different resolutions.

I was not trying to compare 15" to 17". My point was that even with the physical size remaining the same, resolution does make a difference.

And yes, it leads to a little more strain on the eyes if you try to view it from afar.

PS: Why is my posts count stuck at 41? I went to view my public profile, which shows that I've made 55 posts so far ? Something amiss here ?
I ought to be a BHPian by now !!!

[speedzak]

Originally Posted by kb100

Definitely trendsetting - the iPhone - for having started a revolution!

It takes a lot of effort and time to prove that MINE is bigger than YOURS'!!
Especially when it's something to do with APPLE. It's an old story.

[Samurai]

Jaggu, you are a true gadget freak.

Originally Posted by d3mon

Ever tried a 15" laptop with a 1440x900 resolution instead of the usual 1280x800 ?
Or maybe a 17" laptop with 1680x1050 or even 1920x1200 resolution instead of the bog standard 1440x900 ?

My notebook has 12 inch wide screen, but my office desktop has 22 inch wide screen. Yet, 1680x1050 is highest resolution available to me, that is because of my low-end graphics card I think.

[Jaggu]

Originally Posted by Samurai

Jaggu, you are a true gadget freak.

My notebook has 12 inch wide screen, but my office desktop has 22 inch wide screen. Yet, 1680x1050 is highest resolution available to me, that is because of my low-end graphics card I think.

naah, i just get bored easily.

Yup sometimes even size doesnt help without the right backing.

Samusan: some thoughts on the OS's from a techie's perspective please.

[d3mon]

LCD monitors (heck, all monitors for that matter) have a maximum supported resolution (called native resolution for LCDs). Desktop monitors generally stick to the following:
15" - 1024x768
17/19 " - 1280x1024(5:4) OR 1440x900(wide)
20"/22" - 1680x1050 (wide) OR 1600x1200(4:3; now obsolete)
24"-27" - 1920x1200 (wide)
30" - 2560x1560 (wide)

The case for laptops isn't quite as clear cut due to the different form factors in the market.

So you could have a lot more 'variety' in the kind of display you get in a laptop.

Also, as laptop displays are meant to be viewed from a closer distance than their desktop counterparts, they can afford to carry a higher resolution without inducing much of eye strain.

Higher the resolution-->Smaller the dot pitch (individual size of each pixel) --> Closer you have to be to make out all the details

So @samurai
It's not the limitation of you graphics card, it is your monitor itself that can't support a higher resolution !


MODS: Please look into the post counts. Like I said, I ought to be a BHPian by now.

[DriverR]

Apple's iPhone, an Indian flop, prepares for China
Source - Economic Times

Take the most talked-about phone in recent history and launch it in one of the fastest growing cell-phone markets in the world, and you'd expect fireworks. But in India, where carriers Vodafone (VOD) and Bharti Airtel (BRTI.BO) have been offering Apple's (AAPL) iPhone since last August, unsold phones are stacking up at shops around the country. Apple won't break down sales figures by country, but a senior Airtel executive confirms analyst estimates that total official iPhone sales here have yet to touch 20,000 handsets. Vodafone, which has a lower-key advertising campaign, has sold even fewer, the analysts estimate. Even including sales on the black market, where the phone sells for half the $700 sticker price, the total only increases by an additional 15,000, according to an Indian customs official. That's puny, especially since Indian cell-phone providers have added nearly 20 million new customers since the iPhone's launch last year.

What has gone wrong for Apple in India? Nearly two years after the phone officially went on sale in the US, Apple's failure to gain a foothold in India's lucrative may hold lessons for its upcoming iPhone push into China. As the global recession hurts growth in the US and other mature markets, Apple could use some success in these still-growing Asian giants. Sales are already slowing worldwide: The company says it has sold 30 million iPhone and iPod Touch units since their launch. On Mar. 5, JPMorgan Chase (JPM) analyst Mark Moskowitz cut his estimates for iPhone sales to 3.41 million for the January-March financial quarter, down from almost 3.85 million. "[Our] primary research contacts suggest that Mac and iPhone volumes had been trending below our prior expectations," Moskowitz wrote in a note to clients.

In India, Apple has run up against some big obstacles. For instance, it has to fight against Nokia (NOK), a longtime favorite among local consumers. The Finnish company dominates the Indian cellular market and is tops in smartphones, too, with about 40% share.

Three iPhones Equal One Car
The iPhone is also priced far beyond the reach of even many middle-class Indian consumers. Even though iSuppli, the El Segundo (Calif.) market research company, estimates iPhones cost less than $175 to build, both Apple and Airtel stuck to the approximately $700 price for the phone in India, vs. $199 with a two-year AT&T (T) contract in the US In India, then, three iPhones equal one Nano, the $2,000 car that Tata Motors (TTM) launched in India just two weeks ago. An Apple spokesperson in London, Bethan Lloyd, said in an e-mail that pricing and tariff issues are decided by local partners, not Apple. Apple declined to make executives available for an interview.

For Airtel and Vodafone, subsidizing the phone has not been an option. The vast majority of Indian users have prepaid accounts, and even with the few regular contracts out there, high-end users generate just about $30 a month in call and data charges. Add to that the fact that the iPhone is easily unlocked and used on rival networks, and the carriers decided the AT&T model in the US just wouldn't work in India.
(In Europe, where iPhone sales have been lukewarm, many carriers reached the same conclusion.)

But Apple's India problems go beyond the issues of competition and pricing. According to Sanjay Gupta, the chief marketing officer of Airtel's
mobile business, Indians just use their phones differently. With spotty data coverage and slow download speeds
on non-3G networks, the iPhone just doesn't dazzle the way it does in the US Also, Indian customers like to forward text messages; Nearly 70% of them do that at least once a day, says Gupta. Until recently, the iPhone didn't allow users to do that. "It's a big functionality issue," says Gupta. "The device is being judged as a phone, not as a data device."

While Apple has made headway winning acceptance from corporate IT managers in the US, it has had no such luck in India. Local corporations are willing to shell out $700 for BlackBerrys (RIMM) or more business-functional Nokia phones, but many perceive the iPhone as an entertainment tool for young people.

Another difficulty for Apple in India: Local partners don't necessarily have the same goal of selling lots of iPhones. Airtel, for instance, doesn't seem to mind that Indian consumers haven't embraced the gadget, since associating with Apple has helped the carrier in other ways, says Gupta. "For us, it allowed an association with iPhone as a brand," he says. "And that's definitely made us happy."

Things may change. India may soon get a real 3G network, as the government starts a 3G spectrum auction, and prices could potentially drop as newer models are introduced.

Talks with Chinese Carriers
But by midyear, all eyes will be on China, where Apple has long been rumored to be in discussions with state-owned China Mobile (CHL), the world's largest cellular carrier. Lately, speculation is focusing instead on No. 2 operator China Unicom (CHU), which reportedly will launch the iPhone in China as early as June, according to published reports in both Chinese and US media. Lloyd, the Apple spokesperson, declined comment, saying Apple does not address rumors or speculation. However, Yi Difei, a China Unicom spokesman in Beijing, confirms the two companies are talking but won't commit to the rumored May 17 launch. "The cooperation with Apple is still under negotiation," he says. "It might succeed or fail. Both parties are still negotiating. The result is uncertain yet."

As Apple's India experience shows, success is far from assured in China. Like their Indian counterparts, Chinese consumers have embraced Nokia, which is the dominant brand in the local market, with everything from entry-level handsets to smartphones. Moreover, like India, China is behind more developed countries in launching 3G networks. The Chinese government also does not allow phones to have Wi-Fi functionality, worsening the user experience for many of the key, data-heavy functions on which the iPhone has pegged its success. And in China, as in India, people aren't used to signing multiyear contracts with carriers. "You are asking people to change their behavior, and that's a very big thing to ask," says Trip Chowdhry, a California-based analyst for Global Equities Research.

Still, even as it struggles in India, there's reason for Apple to be optimistic about China. Clearly many Chinese like what Apple has to offer: According to analyst estimates, there are as many as 1 million smuggled iPhones (with illegal Wi-Fi access) already floating around in the Chinese market.

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Edit: I just realized that this thread may belong to the Mobile Phone Thread. Mods, please shift this, if needed.

[johnda]

guys what's with the silence? are we all going to wait till June? 3 days and no post? atleast the "you wait and see" stuff !!!
I saw an add at a phone store: Apple - has no curve's' yet is Bold'er' than the omina. he said it was original. he's an apple fan too!

[Jaggu]

he he am busy exploring 100 new things for OS3 through another forum. Yes awaiting June 09.

[capri_cap]

Originally Posted by d3mon

Exactly my point capri. What you have mentioned is called skinning. Changing the default icons, backgrounds etc.

BUTTTTTTTTTTT

Ever tried changing the interface itself ?? Maybe you want the grid of icons to be replaced with a circular wheel? Maybe you are fed up with sliding the bar to answer the phone ? Maybe you wish to COMPLETELY redesign the entire interface ? You can do all that and more in a winmo device.

Yes that is possible, on iphone as well. If you google a bit, you would get stock images of vista and the procedure, which can be added and the entire iphone interface can be changed.

[srijit]

Noticed yesterday that the Maps application in the iPhone is now giving out driving directions, in India.

@Jaggu, as you have a proper 3G iPhone could you please verify this and also if tapping the locate me thingy will update the map with your current location?

[Jaggu]

Originally Posted by srijit

Noticed yesterday that the Maps application in the iPhone is now giving out driving directions, in India.

@Jaggu, as you have a proper 3G iPhone could you please verify this and also if tapping the locate me thingy will update the map with your current location?

ohhhh mamamia! yup its working, showing directions (pretty accurate with distance and time).

Current location was always working and is working for me. It even gave me the route to badravathi from where i am LOL

Cant wait for turn by turn to come.

[vineetmanghani]

Originally Posted by srijit

Noticed yesterday that the Maps application in the iPhone is now giving out driving directions, in India.

@Jaggu, as you have a proper 3G iPhone could you please verify this and also if tapping the locate me thingy will update the map with your current location?

Yes, I noticed it too on my 2G iphone yesterday....seems like a good step up. Till now I used to use maps on the road to figure out my own way...Now I can see what google maps have to say too !!