In the nearly two years since the iPhone burst onto the scene, the competition for handheld computers has grown fierce.
E-mail: ebaig@usatoday.com
By zxmacman
zxmac8384@yahoo.com
As an owner of an iPhone, I scoffed at the notion my cell phone cradled in my hand could be thought of as a netbook. Now don't get me wrong, I absolutely love my iPhone. It is one of he most revolutionary computer devices I have ever owned. But it took me purchasing a netbook to convince me that Jobs might just have a point.
Now I think I understand what Jobs meant. If a netbook is designed to provide a user a highly mobile device that’s always accessible, he’s right on. What’s more, I found the small keyboard on the Dell Mini hard to used and made lots of typing errors on it. While the “virtual” keyboard on my iPhone has its challenges as well, I must admit it compares well with the cramped "physical" keyboard on the Mini.
A slew of opinions have hit the web over the past few days directly surrounding the methods behind Apple’s App Store. Primarily focused around pricing, distribution and marketing, the debates have grown heated, and Apple has remained silent.
This article has some fascinating insights into a developer's application on the app store and how promotion impacts its success (or failure). Read More.
Check it out!
Hands full? Get the iPhone arm by ZDNet's Andrew Mager -- I’ve been having trouble managing all of my gadgets lately, but my buddy AJ Vaynerchuk sent me this solution. Props to all the interns at Revision3, and the cast of Internet Superstar for putting this together.
Joe Wilcox of Apple Watch compares Apple's revolutionary smartphone to Windows 95 and the coming of a new age of mobile computing. Here's an excerpt:
"Windows 95 was a remarkable moment in personal computing. Its successor has come.
"But not from Microsoft. Apple has launched the defining platform of the early 21st century. The PC is dead—or will be. Long live the smart phone, er, iPhone." Read Article
This is a great article about one consumer uses his iPhone. It's hard to argue that a computing revolution has begun!
By Michael DeAgonia
April 25, 2008 (Computerworld) Recently, I read an interesting report regarding iPhone use. Market research firm iSuppli Corp. found that many people use iPhones in ways that differ markedly from other phones, especially in categories that until recently weren't that important to most users.
We don't use it as often for phone calls as other cell phone owners.
And while we text message about as often as those who own other phones, we're much more likely to be checking e-mail, surfing the Web, watching videos or YouTube clips, or viewing photos.
What surprised me the most out of all of iSuppli's statistics is that iPhone owners spent less than half the time actually making calls -- 46.5% -- compared to 71.7% of the time people use other phones for calls. At first, I had a fleeting moment of defensiveness; I wondered if they were insinuating that the iPhone isn't good for voice calls. I hadn't noticed any problems with either my 8GB phone, or the newer 16GB model I replaced it with earlier this year.
It turns out voice quality isn't the issue. "This usage pattern shows Apple has succeeded in producing a true convergence product that consumers like to use for multiple purposes," said Greg Sheppard, chief development officer at iSuppli. "Apple has come as close as anyone to achieving a balanced convergence in mobile handset features and usage."
My curiosity piqued by the report's findings, so I set out to document how much I use my iPhone.
For example, accessing the Internet felt less like information gathering and more like I had lost a bet. The experience was flat-out unpleasant. First, the software was terribly slow, even though the Razr browser was rendering mostly text. Second, the mobile Web it offered up looked nothing like the Internet. I've seen the Internet and that's not it. WAP browsing may have been a compromise, but its execution in software is slow, cumbersome and inefficient.
Since I had to navigate my way through a maze of vague commands and menus, I avoided the Internet on my Razr. The contacts and calendar applications were useless, too, given the hoops I had to jump through to keep them synced with my Mac. The same was true of e-mail, directions and the other functions the Razr could theoretically offer. No wonder I used it mostly for phone calls; I couldn't do anything else very easily.
I've started paying attention to my iPhone use, and I've found that similar to the findings in the report, I use my iPhone to make calls about half the time. The other half I spend browsing the Web, checking personal and company e-mail, playing games and using most of the available features -- and then some. (Yes, my iPhone is unlocked so I can add unofficial apps, and it will remain so until Apple releases a newer version of iPhone software in June.)
What surprised me even more than how accurately the report reflected my usage is the amount of time I spend on the device itself. After a few days of focusing on how often I use my iPhone, I've realized that not only am I using it more for calls than I did with the Razr, I've found that I also used it much more overall than any other portable device I've ever owned, iPod included. Until this report made me step back and take a good look, I never fully realized how iPhone-dependent I have become.
Next, I click on the Home button to get to E-mail and the Calendar so I can prepare for the day mentally. Once I'm out of the house, the iPhone is linked into my car stereo, so it's always on as an iPod. And because my iPhone is also how I keep in touch, I never miss an e-mail, a text message or a phone call because of loud music -- the music mutes automatically when a call comes in. Since I commute daily from Orlando to Tampa, Google Maps lets me know what kind of traffic I'm facing, which helps me plan my routes.
Once at work, most of my day is spent staring numbly at progress bars, waiting for software to install. For those idle moments, dynamic content by way of the iPhone's mobile Safari browser and YouTube access is a godsend. The iPhone's media capabilities and its always-on cloud connectivity break the monotony, and since it's also my communications device, it keeps me always accessible. That's a downside, too: I'm always accessible.
Focusing on my iPhone use startled me into realizing that if my iPhone broke, or if Apple suddenly stopped making it and I had to use another brand, I'd be lost. I wouldn't know which device suited me, despite all of the competition in phones out there, because, in one way or the other, they're all wrong for me.
I felt that way before the iPhone's release, but now that I've used Apple's design and have grown accustomed to it, how can I go back? I tried to figure out why that was and realized that Apple made a few key design decisions early on in the iPhone design process that just happened to evolve into exactly what I was looking for.
Advantage two for the iPhone is multitouch. Everyone seems to be doing flat screens now. There were a couple of touch-screen devices on the market before the iPhone, but their interfaces were tacked on to existing mobile operating systems, which seem to be programmed to spite users. Plus, rival touch screens were the opposite of responsive, giving those awful bank ATM touch screens a run for their money. Not surprisingly, the design never caught on except with the most forgiving -- or masochistic -- early adopters.
It is because of this experience with touch panels that the mainstream media, consumers and cynics watched with curiosity when Apple first presented the ground-up redesign of OS X and its apps for mobile devices. The fact that the entire interaction lived and died by the intelligence and responsiveness of the touch screen was instant debate material, and every competitor was quick to dismiss the technology. Flash forward a year later and everyone who had dogged the idea now has their own touch-screen "iPhone killers."
But only Apple has multitouch matched to a user interface that's clever, intuitive and slick enough to take advantage of the technology. The lack of intuitive multifinger interaction alone makes any so-called iPhone killers merely iPhone wannabes, relegated to an audience comprising those that who can't or won't buy an Apple product for whatever reason.
With the iPhone, the simplicity introduced in the iPod remains, and the multitouch interface make all functions equally accessible, regardless of what feature they offer access to. From purchasing music to finding the nearest gas station to navigating through songs, iPhone's multitouch capabilities and Mobile OS X make things easy. The iPhone actually feels more like what must have been the original concept for the iPod in the literal sense: my entire life in my hands, with the ability to instantly sync with my computer, though no longer bound to it.
But there are other limitations that won't be as quickly remedied. Although the iPhone and iPod lines support the most popular music store in the world, the fact that that store just happens to belong to Apple and offers support for only a limited amount of available codecs doesn't sit well with some. But Apple would rather support specific codecs -- and support them well -- than spread itself thin supporting too many options poorly. It's the same philosophy Apple applies to its computers and operating system. What you leave out is as important as what you add in when it comes to ease of use.
As new iPhone features and support for enterprise use become available, the iPhone's reach into dyed-in-the-wool geeks resistant to Apple will expand. For those looking for a multifunction device that is actually useful in everyday life, I can say this: The iPhone remains the most user-friendly device I've ever had. Others agree.
Perhaps the most telling of all statistics comes from a March ChangeWave survey in which four in five iPhone users (79%) said they're very satisfied with their devices. The next highest percentage of happy owners came from BlackBerry users (54% are very satisfied), and LG and Sanyo owners (40% who said they're are very satisfied). The statistics speak for themselves.
Given the dramatic evolution of the iPod since its introduction in 2001, it's easy to see how, over time, the iPhone could spearhead the next major computing platform. Just in the next few months, we have the expected arrival of faster -- and possibly redesigned -- 3G iPhones, along with the release of a software development kit that should result in a slew of new apps.
Given that I couldn't resist moving from the 8GB model to the 16GB model when it came out, I see little chance that I'll be able to hold off from getting the next model when it finally appears. By then, I expect third-party applications for the iPhone to make it the Star Trek device I always thought it could be.
Michael DeAgonia is a computer consultant and technologist who has been using Macintoshes and working on them professionally since 1993. A Neal award-winning writer, his tech-support background includes tenures at Computerworld, colleges, the biopharmaceutical industry, the graphics industry and Apple. Currently, he is working as a Macintosh administrator at a large media company.
CNNMoney has an excellent article on Apple's prospects for 2008:
But that was last year. Now investors want to know if Apple can live up to Wall Street's lofty expectations for 2008.
Tech stocks have taken a big tumble so far this year and Apple (AAPL, Fortune 500) is no exception, with shares falling about 10 percent.
With that in mind, investors will be paying a lot of attention to what Apple chief executive officer Steve Jobs has to say during his keynote address at the company's Macworld show on January 15th.
Last year, Jobs unveiled the iPhone at Macworld. So Wall Street is hoping Jobs can once again deliver some exciting news to get the stock back on track.
Investors will definitely be looking for any announcements about updates to the company's popular iPod. Despite that product's runaway success, some analysts say that Apple has started to reach the saturation point with its portable media player. "Everyone who wants one has one," said Technology Business Research analyst Ezra Gottheil.
Morgan Keegan analyst Tavis McCourt also wrote in a recent report that he's concerned about slowing growth in iPod sales.
He cited the fact that the number of iPods sold in the company's fiscal fourth quarter, which ended in September, increased just 17 percent from a year ago, down from 50 percent growth in unit sales in the company's fiscal first quarter.
But just before the holiday season, Apple released the iPod Touch - basically an iPhone without the phone. The device's ability to access the Internet and its emphasis on video makes it more than just a standard iPod. So analysts said they are confident the iPod Touch could rejuvenate sales growth for the iPod product line in 2008.
Apple could also benefit from falling component prices. McCourt noted that NAND flash memory chips, which are used in the iPhone, iPod Nano, iPod Shuffle, and iPod Touch, have been getting steadily cheaper, which could boost the amount of profit Apple generates from the iPod and other consumer electronics devices.
And analysts said that other announcements from Macworld may also be viewed positively by investors. Trip Chowdhry of Global Equities Research, predicts Apple will unveil an update to Apple TV, a device that lets people view videos stored in their iTunes library on their television sets.
There has also been speculation that Apple will announce plans to allow movie rentals on iTunes through a partnership with News Corp.'s (NWS, Fortune 500) Fox studio. Gottheil said that even though revenue from iTunes is still relatively small, anything that can help increase movie and music downloads would be helpful since this should also boost demand for new iPods.
Of course, Apple still relies heavily on computer sales -- even though the company dropped the word "Computer" from its corporate name last year and now generates more than half of its total sales from non-Mac products.
At this year's Macworld, analysts suspect the company will round out its MacBook line with a new ultra light notebook.
A highly portable computer with long battery life and a flash drive instead of a delicate hard disk is something that Apple doesn't have right now, said Chowdhry.
He argues that if Apple unveils a new MacBook, that could open Apple's laptop line even further to new customers.
Gottheil disagreed with the idea that an ultra portable would bring in new customers. Still, he said that even if Apple simply got existing Apple fans to buy newer MacBook models, this would still benefit Apple because the new MacBooks would likely generate higher profit margins.
And that would be good news for Apple shareholders since Mac sales have been what's really driving growth for the overall company lately.
In the company's fiscal fourth quarter, Mac sales rose 40 percent from a year earlier to $3.41 billion. iPod sales, on the other hand, increased only 4 percent to $1.6 billion. So if the iPod Touch isn't as big a hit as analysts expect, the company will need to depend even more on the Mac to keep sales and profits growing.
With all this in mind, how will Apple's stock fare this year. David Bailey of Goldman Sachs wrote in a report earlier this month that he doesn't believe 2008 will be as "explosive" as last year, but that Apple's stock should head higher over the next twelve months.
He expects Apple's upcoming fiscal first-quarter earnings announcement, which includes sales during the key holiday shopping season, to prove that Apple is still a great growth stock.
Apple will report its results on January 22. Analysts predict revenue will grow 32 percent to about $9.4 billion and that profits will soar 40 percent to $1.60 a share.
Apple's string of healthy results come at a steep price, however. The stock trades at nearly 35 times fiscal 2008 earnings estimates.
That's much higher than the valuations for rivals Microsoft (MSFT, Fortune 500) and personal computer maker Dell (DELL, Fortune 500), which trade at 19 times and 13 times earnings forecasts for this fiscal year respectively.
Still, Apple has consistently smashed Wall Street's earnings per share estimates over the past year. And the company's projected earnings growth rates of 30 percent this fiscal year and 22 percent a year, on average, for the next few years, is much higher than most other large tech companies.
Chowdhry said investors should probably not try and make short-term trades on the stock though. He warns that investors who buy now just because they think Jobs will make an announcement at Macworld that will send the stock higher could be setting themselves up for disappointment.
But analysts said Apple is a good buy for long-term investors who can avoid being influenced by day-to-day volatility. Investors who want to make a bet on the company's ability to keep coming out with the hottest new gadgets and delivering strong earnings will eventually be rewarded.
From Time.com
By Lev Grossman
Stop. I mean, don't stop reading this, but stop thinking what you're about to think. Or, O.K., I'll think it for you:
The thing is hard to type on. It's too slow. It's too big. It doesn't have instant messaging. It's too expensive. (Or, no, wait, it's too cheap!) It doesn't support my work e-mail. It's locked to AT&T. Steve Jobs secretly hates puppies. And—all together now—we're sick of hearing about it! Yes, there's been a lot of hype written about the
iPhone, and a lot of guff too. So much so that it seems weird to add more, after Danny Fanboy and Bobby McBlogger have had their day. But when that day is over, Apple's iPhone is still the best thing invented this year. Why? Five reasons:
1. The iPhone is pretty
Most high-tech companies don't take design seriously. They treat it as an afterthought. Window-dressing. But one of Jobs' basic insights about technology is that good design is actually as important as good technology. All the cool features in the world won't do you any good unless you can figure out how to use said features, and feel smart and attractive while doing it.
An example: look at what happens when you put the iPhone into "airplane" mode (i.e., no cell service, WiFi, etc.). A tiny little orange airplane zooms into the menu bar! Cute, you might say. But cute little touches like that are part of what makes the iPhone usable in a world of useless gadgets. It speaks your language. In the world of technology, surface really is depth.
2. It's touchy-feely
Apple didn't invent the touchscreen. Apple didn't even reinvent it (Apple probably acquired its much hyped multitouch technology when it snapped up a company called Fingerworks in 2005). But Apple knew what to do with it. Apple's engineers used the touchscreen to innovate past the graphical user interface (which Apple helped pioneer with the Macintosh in the 1980s) to create a whole new kind of interface, a tactile one that gives users the illusion of actually physically manipulating data with their hands—flipping through album covers, clicking links, stretching and shrinking photographs with their fingers.
This is, as engineers say, nontrivial. It's part of a new way of relating to computers. Look at the success of the Nintendo Wii. Look at Microsoft's new Surface Computing division. Look at how Apple has propagated its touchscreen interface to the iPod line with the iPod Touch. Can it be long before we get an iMac Touch? A TouchBook? Touching is the new seeing.
3. It will make other phones better
Jobs didn't write the code inside the iPhone. These days he doesn't dirty his fingers with 1's and 0's, if he ever really did. But he did negotiate the deal with AT&T to carry the iPhone. That's important: one reason so many cell phones are lame is that cell-phone-service providers hobble developers with lame rules about what they can and can't do. AT&T gave Apple unprecedented freedom to build the iPhone to its own specifications. Now other phone makers are jealous. They're demanding the same freedoms. That means better, more innovative phones for all.
4. It's not a phone, it's a platform
When Apple made the iPhone, it didn't throw together some cheap-o bare-bones firmware. It took OS X, its full-featured desktop operating system, and somehow squished it down to fit inside the iPhone's elegant glass-and-stainless-steel case. That makes the iPhone more than just a gadget. It's a genuine handheld, walk-around computer, the first device that really deserves the name. One of the big trends of 2007 was the idea that computing doesn't belong just in cyberspace, it needs to happen here, in the real world, where actual stuff happens. The iPhone gets applications like Google Maps out onto the street, where we really need them.
And this is just the beginning. Platforms are for building on. Last month, after a lot of throat-clearing, Apple decided to open up the iPhone, so that you—meaning people other than Apple employees—will be able to develop software for it too. Ever notice all that black blank space on the iPhone's desktop? It's about to fill up with lots of tiny, pretty, useful icons.
5. It is but the ghost of iPhones yet to come
The iPhone has sold enough units—more than 1.4 million at press time—that it'll be around for a while, and with all that room to develop and its infinitely updatable, all-software interface, the iPhone is built to evolve. Look at the iPod of six years ago. That monochrome interface! That clunky touchwheel! It looks like something a caveman whittled from a piece of flint using another piece of flint. Now imagine something that's going to make the iPhone look that primitive. You'll have one in a few years. It'll be very cool. And it'll be even cheaper.
Find this article at: http://www.time.com/time/business/article/0,8599,1678581,00.html
