[Ram]

Right on @anupmathur.

Apple was shocked by market demand into releasing their SDK to 3rd party developers. Flak would have killed the iPhone stillborn otherwise! Did the iPhone ever have the equivalent of
http://forum.nokia.com?
Probably just about there today, if that!

It was never Apple's native style nor was it ever their strategy to let 3rd party developers profit from their platform.

BTW, that is the key reason why IBM's PC platform stole an early and decisive march over the Macintosh -- Apple naïvely thought they'd do everything themselves.
Ram

[Samurai]

Ram, Anup,

I know you guys have logged lot more miles than my two decades in the industry. But, have you actually seen the presentation here: Apple - QuickTime - Apple March 6 Event

My company has never used Macs and never developed anything for Macs, I don't even own an iPod. So, I have no soft corner for Apple products.Yet, few weeks back my boss declared that we need to start looking into iPhone based developments, he said it is possible everybody will switch into iPhone, which I found ludicrous. He said he was blown away by the new SDK, and that got me really wondering. He is a 1975 batch IITian with more than 3 decades of industry experience at every corporate level in every platform starting from Mainframes. You can't impress him easily.

Therefore, I too saw the presentation. Well, I am also blown away. The new SDK is so revolutionary, I went weak in the knee. If you have already seen the presentation and then making this statement, then I don't know what to say.

[srijit]

Jassi, I forgot to mention a few points. First off, it was just my opinions and it might be in no way the right one. The only thing I know is that I can find no faults with the iPhone. Other phones might have better options but they still dont mean anything to me. That might be hard to understand, but there is nothing I can do about that.

Internet - I live in Trivandrum and I dont think I am going to experience 3G speeds anytime soon. My experiences with my friends iPhone were with the wifi at our houses and Airtel EDGE on the road. I liked what I saw.

Video Codecs - I am sure that many phones support H264 codecs. I just love the iPhones screen and also the ease of use. I have also heard that TMPC (?) player is in the works for iPhone and that should solve the codec crunch.

iPod - The point was that I wouldnt have to carry a 2nd device. I currently listen to music on my old SE w800i, and I would like to have some intelligent playlists like Amarok has. I was just wondering alound whether this would meet my expectations

Camera - 2Mp is low. The camera features are bland. But people are already using the SDK to create camera apps. It wont be a big deal and I am sure that the pics taken on the iPhone would just be for novelty.

Video Recording - Currently not possible. Maybe someone will release a recorder.

VOIP - Ah, but I dont want to use skype. I prefer voipbuster, to make unlimited calls to the US, UK and Australia. Skype is costlier for PC to phone calls. Plus fring.com supports skype too, I think.

Samurai san, your boss is a very astute man, as if you dont know that already. I too have the SDK video saved on my computer. I dont believe that any SDK comes near it. Imagine the localization possibilities

[mav2000]

Hi Jassi,

How good is the internet surfing experience in the viewty compared to the newer n series phones. also is there a voip solution on it?

[nishantgandhi]

The highly controversial Apple iPhone is finally getting a more reasonable price of GBP 169 instead of the original GBP 269. O2 UK and Carphone Warehouse who exclusively sell the iPhone in UK will be also giving GBP 100 vouchers to customers who have bought the iPhone in the last 30 days.


The new price cut of GBP 100 (valid as of today) actually makes the European version of the iPhone less expensive than the US counterpart - the price tag pf GBP 169 translates into something roughly around $330, while the US 8GB version still costs $399 before taxes.

The price drop actually makes us wonder whether O2 UK is having problems with selling their legit iPhones. Nevertheless, it's not sure whether this step will tame the black market of unlocked iPhones imported from the USA. After all, to get an O2 iPhone you have to sign a long-term contract with O2.


While the iPhone 8GB gets its numbers slashed, the price of the 16GB iPhone version remains unchanged at GBP 329.


This move from O2 opens doors to even more rumors about the expected announcement of a 3G iPhone in June 2008. The new 3G iPhone is rumored to even boast a 32GB version

(Source)

[jassi]

srijit - i understand your points mate and am in no way saying people should not use the current iphone, if it meets their expectations they should.
i love technology and the iphone is good stuff - someday i would want to use it when it meets my needs. Expecting more from apple in terms of technology and given that the sdk is out expecting more in terms of software from the general community is also normal and I hope you understand my perspective as i understand yours. peace to all cheers:

mav - i have not played around with n series so can't compare, but yes I can say that the viewty browser is good and if you use the bundled google package or add opera mini browser, the internet experience (performance and usability) is at par with iphone and other windows mobile phones. It will be better when hspda is launched in india, as of now we are on edge.

cheers,
jatin

[srijit]

nishant, all those 8Gb phones have sold out in most places They might be clearing stocks for either 32Gb iPhone or for 3g phone or both.
Also Italy is rumoured to have the first 3G iPhones, but without any carrier lockin. One of their networks get to be the exclusive seller for a few months and then after that all can sell.

[jassi]

i did see this presentation sometime and it is indeed quite exciting stuff - now that software bit is taken care of to cater to enterprises as well as developers, lets hope they enhance the hardware with iphone 2, just that little bit, maybe a better camera which takes videos and 3g/hspda support

Originally Posted by Samurai

Ram, Anup,

I know you guys have logged lot more miles than my two decades in the industry. But, have you actually seen the presentation here: Apple - QuickTime - Apple March 6 Event

My company has never used Macs and never developed anything for Macs, I don't even own an iPod. So, I have no soft corner for Apple products.Yet, few weeks back my boss declared that we need to start looking into iPhone based developments, he said it is possible everybody will switch into iPhone, which I found ludicrous. He said he was blown away by the new SDK, and that got me really wondering. He is a 1975 batch IITian with more than 3 decades of industry experience at every corporate level in every platform starting from Mainframes. You can't impress him easily.

Therefore, I too saw the presentation. Well, I am also blown away. The new SDK is so revolutionary, I went weak in the knee. If you have already seen the presentation and then making this statement, then I don't know what to say.

[bigman]

Originally Posted by nishantgandhi

The price drop actually makes us wonder whether O2 UK is having problems with selling their legit iPhones. Nevertheless, it's not sure whether this step will tame the black market of unlocked iPhones imported from the USA. After all, to get an O2 iPhone you have to sign a long-term contract with O2.

(Source)

No need to sign a long-term contract. The contract only comes into force if you use itunes to activate the iphone. If you buy on O2 and then use iliberty (or the other jailbreak/unlock software) then you bypass the need to take out the contract. So an iphone without contract for £169.

[srijit]

Originally Posted by bigman

No need to sign a long-term contract. The contract only comes into force if you use itunes to activate the iphone. If you buy on O2 and then use iliberty (or the other jailbreak/unlock software) then you bypass the need to take out the contract. So an iphone without contract for £169.

Are you sure? As far as I know, the only places you can get phones without contract were the Apple stores, both retail and online. Those buying via AT&T, O2 or T-mobile had to sign a contract, cos it was in their interest that you pay for the subsidized phone. Apple on the other hand is all about the User Experience You leave their stores without any hassle.
If on the other hand we can indeed buy iPhones without contract from O2, then that is great news


Samurai san, one more thing that is interesting about the iPhone is that there are very few differences between models. So far the only changes have been in the storage capacity department. When a 3G iPhone comes, there wont be a huge change. You can write software for the iPhone knowing that it will work on all phones from the first model. This is similar to how Mac's have limited hardware to support

Compare this to the thousands of models that companies like Nokia, SE, HTC put out. Everytime a new model brings in unique hardware, you are forced to rewrite the code to suit that model. And if that model only has a samll userbase, it is a complete waste of time.

[bigman]

Originally Posted by srijit

Are you sure? As far as I know, the only places you can get phones without contract were the Apple stores, both retail and online. Those buying via AT&T, O2 or T-mobile had to sign a contract, cos it was in their interest that you pay for the subsidized phone. Apple on the other hand is all about the User Experience You leave their stores without any hassle.
If on the other hand we can indeed buy iPhones without contract from O2, then that is great news

100% sure. I got one myself last week but traded it for a HTC Kaiser.

With O2 in the UK the contract is done when you use itunes to activate the phone. If you jailbreak, activate and unlock the phone through software like iliberty then you bypass the need to take out the contract.

If you are in the UK then there is plenty of info on this at :iphone price reduced to £169 from today 16th April only 8gb - HotUKDeals Forum

Carphonewarehouse were getting customers to sign something to say they would activate but you can still buy it online from O2 and they make it clear that the £169 is a one off charge and 0 monthly.

[srijit]

bigman, if you got that, then that is cool. Its just that in the US, if you buy from AT&T, you are forced to get the contract when you buy the phone. Of course, you can jailbreak, unlock, whatever, but you are still bound to that contract. At least, that is my info. It is good to know that there are options

[flipsyde]

i wanted to pick an iphone this month from the US but i have been reading plenty of articles which says that a 3G iphone is round the corner and mayb even the 32gb iphone.

i have someone coming from the US on may 15th skipping which there is someone arriving on june 20th. i need to take a call on whether i should buy one right away or should i wait a little longer and see what comes up. i am not desperate for a new phone so i can wait (but not for long......)

andddd as if this was not enough to boggle my decision, my family is planning to make a trip across europe in june. we cover most of the usual touristy locations. now i understand from netchefs post that you get a 8gb iphone for £169 in the UK also remember reading elsewhere about 8gb iphones in germany retailing for 99euros or something...... now these are real tempting deals....... pls advice!!!!!!!

[srijit]

I'd advice you to wait to see if there is a June announcement. However the deals on the ₤169 8Gb phone might not be available then.

[bigman]

Originally Posted by flipsyde

now i understand from netchefs post that you get a 8gb iphone for £169 in the UK also remember reading elsewhere about 8gb iphones in germany retailing for 99euros or something...... now these are real tempting deals....... pls advice!!!!!!!

The German T-Mobile deal for 99 euros is dependant on you taking out a very expensive monthly contract. I worked it out and it would cost you 1200 euros for the yearly line rental to get the phone for 99 euros.

With the £169 UK deals you are not forced to sign the contract and can bypass the need to take out a contract.