Apple iPhone: 2007

Wednesday, November 21, 2007

No Gphone, Google bets on Android

From the Business Standard

Google has unveiled an ambitious strategy that will make cellphones cheaper and speed up internet surfing.

Google’s Director of Mobile Platforms, Andy Rubin, said in a telephonic conversation from the US that the new platform called Android should reduce the prices of today’s $500 smart phones to around $100-150 in a year or so. “If there’s ever a Gphone, it will be built on the Android platform,” he said.

Smart phones are cell phones that run business applications like documents, spreadsheets and presentations.

Android includes a new browser and Linux operating system (OS) which will compete with platforms such as Apple's OS X (Google CEO Eric Schmidt is on the board of Apple) on the iPhone, the BlackBerry OS, Microsoft's Windows Mobile, and the Palm OS.

While there had been widespread reports that Google would announce alliances to create its own handsets - potentially even carrying the Google brand - it instead laid out a strategy that will give it a background role.

The announcement however is more ambitious than any single ‘Google Phone’ that the media has been speculating about over the past few weeks.

Google has partnered with 34 technology and mobile companies — under the Open Handset Alliance (OHA) — to develop Android.

The names include the likes of Motorola, Qualcomm, HTC and T-Mobile (but not Nokia and Microsoft).

The name of Bharti Airtel too has been doing the rounds, but Rubin did not want to discuss specific companies.

He also declined to comment on whether its India centre had any part to play in the platform’s development.

The Android (derived from name of the company that Google bought from Rubin in 2005) platform is “open”, which means the source code can be altered by developers for use on handsets.

“Open source reduces the cost of software which comprises a major chunk of the cellphone cost,” explained Rubin. Mash-up is a web application that combines data from more than one source into a single integrated tool.

A typical example is the use of cartographic data from Google Maps to add location information to real-estate data from Craigslist, thereby creating a new and distinct web service.

Meanwhile, carriers like Verizon and AT&T are worried that the open-software standards could expose users to software attacks or security breaches. Rubin does not think so.

Indian market gets a sinful bite of Apple's iPhone

From The Economic Times

MUMBAI: Is it a marketing coup or the upsetting of the Apple cart? Peddling the Silicon Valley computer giant’s iPhone in India by unlocking its US network affiliation seems to have gone mainstream. A tie-up between SBI Cards and Mumbai-based online shopping site Deals4all has begun selling the coveted mobile device, but Apple says the attempt is sheer ‘bootlegging.’

Holders of SBI credit cards were in for a pleasant surprise when they received their latest billing statements. It came with a discount offer for iPhone, at Rs 25,999 apiece, and usable across all mobile networks in the country. The advertisement was complete with call centre numbers and online address to place the orders.

But the customers were gripped by considerable confusion since Apple has not officially launched the iPhone in India. An Apple spokesperson confirmed to ET from Singapore that the company does not plan to launch iPhones in Asia before 2008 and hasn’t authorised anybody to sell the device in India.

Seedy pirates in electronic bazaars have been selling illegally unlocked iPhones in India for some time, despite the company’s warnings that such devices would become irreparable and lose warranty. But, “this is the first time we are coming across such an incident” where known companies with brand identity are selling the product, the spokesperson said.

SBI Cards, on its part, maintained that its tie-up with Deals4all was a generic one, and not specific to iPhone. “The responsibility for the product rests with the retailer,” said SBI Cards CEO Roopam Asthana. “We have many such tie-ups, apart from Deals4all, and since there is a large number of products on such websites, it is virtually impossible to keep tabs on who is selling what.”

Ujjval Saraf, the 25-year-old founder of Deals4all, was not available for comment despite repeated attempts. However, when an ET representative called the firm’s call centre identifying himself as a potential customer, an official said the deal was official and it was Apple that was unlocking iPhone for Deals4all. “It has not been launched in India, but this is only a promotional offer for SBI card holders,” he said.

Apple’s iPhone is a multimedia and internet-enabled wireless device that was launched earlier this year in the US, and this month in Europe. The company is in talks to take it to China too. Merrill Lynch reported that Apple would only be shipping 4 million iPhones this year, but 12 million units will be shipped in 2008.

The company, according to sources, is talking to both telecom service providers and retailers, to bring the device to India. HCL Infosystems and Wipro Technologies were also reported to be close to becoming Indian distributors of the iPhone. Reliance Retail, which already has an electronics retail venture Reliance Digital, also figured in the list of potential partners.

Apple to release iPhone 1.1.2 firmware Friday, it will brick your hacked phone

From Slashgear

I’m sure that everyone remembers when Apple released an update to the iPhone’s firmware, which was v1.1.1. It had a way of bricking hacked phones and upsetting owners everywhere. Well guess what? Version 1.1.2 is on its way, and it’s going to do the same thing

The new firmware will be rolling out this Friday as the iPhone makes its debut in the UK. The British version of the phone will come preinstalled with 1.1.2, and users here in the US will have the option of upgrading. Let me make this very clear to those of you with hacked iPhones…Do not upgrade!

The iPhone’s new firmware adds a few extras such as support for a bunch of new languages along with their respective keyboard layouts. It also has a fix for the TIFF exploit which just happens to be what allows you to jailbreak the 1.1.1 firmware. That of course means hacked phones will be once again bricked. If you’re not a hacker and don’t feel the need for custom apps on your iPhone, then by all means, download this update when it becomes available.

iPhones Available, Open to Crack

From techtree.com

Raza Noorani (20) and Nigel Jairaj (21); main occupation: B.Com students; side occupation: unlocking Apple iPhones (till recently, it was cracking PSPs)...

Apple Computer may delude itself that the India launch of its iconic iPhone is slated for not before next year, but iPhones are proliferating ever since the gizmo's US launch about a month and a half back. Both Noorani and Jairaj are ready to swear by this!

Today, you can get an iPhone for around Rs 31,000 from 'Alpha Electronics'; for about Rs 27,000 from 'Heera Panna'; for somewhere between Rs 27,000 and Rs 30,000 from any custom-notified shop. A month and a half back, the prices per iPhone were in the region of Rs 45,000 to Rs 50,000.

The gray market has its own sources for sourcing these iPhones; the usual suspects being contacts in customs, or carriers who come to India loaded with iPhones, or simply people who travel to- and fro- between India and the US.

"You've paid for the iPhone. The tie-up is between Apple and AT&T. It's their problem entirely. So there's no big deal about using iPhones in India, way before their official launch," quip Noorani and Jairaj.

The duo use a Windows-based software for unlocking iPhones. Originally into cracking PSPs, their iPhone foray began with a night well spent fiddling with a friend's iPhone. The morning saw the iPhone unlocked, much to their delight. That's how they got hooked onto the idea.

Subsequently, they bought an iPhone SIM free unlocking software online for nearly GBP 70, and have been cracking iPhones since -- for a price!

Customers based out of Mumbai are charged Rs 2,000, while those based outside of Mumbai (even outside of India) are charged Rs 2,500 per unlocking. In case of the latter, CDs containing software are sent to these customers, after which Noorani and Jairaj instruct them over the phone as to unlocking of their iPhones.

Otherwise, the process takes place pretty much from the comfort of Noorani- and Jairaj's homes. All they need is the iPhone that is to be unlocked, the accompanying USB cable, and a computer with Windows XP Service Pack 2. No need for an Internet connection.

Within a span of 15 to 20 minutes, a single iPhone gets unlocked. However, each iPhone is different by virtue of the fact that it's been manufactured under a different batch. To that extent, the unlocking process differs from phone to phone.

All said, Noorani and Jairaj are not alone in this venture. Some of the shops in Heera Panna, and a handful of individuals in this city claim to be able to unlock iPhones.

However, doing a good job is an entirely different story. Every now and then, the youngsters get customers coming to them, who've bought 'unlocked' phones from somewhere for a hefty price, and whose phones are now no longer working properly. It's up to the twosome to fix these iPhones. They say they charge about Rs 500 for fixing such iPhones, simply because they don't want to fleece customers who've already been fleeced more or less.

Besides, they've undergone a similar experience. They recall a gruelling week spent working for a shop in Heera Panna, within which time, they would've unlocked at least 30 iPhones a day. But, were paid just Rs 1,000 per unlocking, while the shop charged its customers up to Rs 4,000 only in unlocking charges per iPhone.

Going-it-alone, are they making much moolah? They won't tell but looks like it's enough to keep them going!

Reliance bags marketing & distribution deal for Apple

From The Economic Times

NEW DELHI: Reliance Retail has clinched an exclusive marketing and distribution deal with the $19.3-billion iconic maker of iPods and Mac computers, Apple, for standalone iStores. This is Reliance Retail’s first exclusive alliance with an international brand. The partnership was sealed on Monday. The first store, to be called iStore by Reliance Digital, will come up by October-end in Bangalore.

This is the first time Apple is tying up with a big corporate house for distribution anywhere in the world. The iStores would be standalone stores selling Apple products ranging from Macintosh computers to iPods and later, once it’s launched in India, the latest cult offering from Apple, the iPhone.
The standalone store, which will be opened just ahead of Diwali, will be spread over 2,000 sq ft and is currently under construction. Globally, Apple stores are not mere retail stores, they feature a theatre for presentations and workshops, a studio for training with Apple products, and a Genius Bar for technical support and repairs, and also offer free workshops to the public.

The Mukesh Ambani-controlled Reliance Retail will open 10 iStores by the end of the calendar year. Apple would invest in market development, said sources. Confirming the deal, a company executive said the partnership will benefit both. While it would give Apple immediate presence and scale, it would give Reliance Digital mileage as the ‘stores would be co-branded’. Reliance Digital, the consumer electronics chain of the retail venture, so far has only one store which opened earlier this year in the NCR.

Apple currently has few resellers in India but no company-owned store. The company sells its products worldwide through its online stores, retail stores, direct sales force, third-party wholesalers, resellers and value-added resellers.

Apple had 185 stores open as of June 30, 2007. In the Asia-Pacific, Apple has stores in Australia, Hong Kong, Japan, Korea, Singapore, Taiwan and India.

Apple’s portable music player, iPod, is also sold at department stores, member-only warehouse stores, large retail chains, and specialty retail stores, apart from Apple stores.

While Reliance faces trouble on the mass fresh produce retail front, it is banking on the tie-up with Apple to cater to the upwardly-mobile consumer segment. Reliance Retail has had to slow down its food and groceries stores rollout plans after facing protests from small traders in states like Uttar Pradesh, West Bengal and Orissa in the last one month. The company sacked 1,000 employees in UP after the state government shut 10 Reliance Fresh stores. It later laid off 400 franchisees for its planned retail operations in West Bengal and has also shelved a rollout in Orissa because of protests from small traders.

Reliance Retail unveiled its first stores — fruits and vegetable stores called Reliance Fresh — in November last year.

Apple's iPhone: A 100-day Report Card

From CRN From ED Moltzen

This weekend marks the first 100 days of the iPhone era and the world, as we know it, will never be the same.

OK, so maybe that's a little dramatic. But it certainly is changing the market, it's dominating many discussions and it's going to be here for a long time ahead. So what have we learned in the first 100 days? We've learned that Apple really does want to control every aspect of its technology, hardware and software, hackers be damned. We've learned that aggressive pricing tactics can bite back. And we've learned that Apple's competitors are more than three months behind -- and counting -- in coming to market with anything competitive to the iPhone.

Despite the feature-rich nature of the iPhone, with multi-touch technology, iPod integration, Web-anywhere features, it's been a lightning rod for criticism for everything from its lack of support for Adobe Flash to a recent software update that turned hacked iPhones into pretty paperweights. Forgetting for a moment the passionate debate over whether the iPhone should be an open device, whether the price cuts were too steep too fast, or whether AT&T is a lousy service provider, here's a 100-day report card that grades various aspects of the device itself after more than three months of use:

Call quality - It works! In three months, used mostly in the New York area but also up and down the East Coast, I experienced only one dropped call. Voices are clear. Visual voice mail works perfectly when the phone is shut off. A Nokia bluetooth headset was a nice addition, but the ear buds with the built-in microphone work well, too. Grade: A.

Web browsing - No Flash support is a drag, but you learn to live without it when you're on the go. Other than that, the iPhone-customized Safari browser is fast and compensates fairly well for a slow EDGE network. It is helped greatly by the multi-touch aspect of the screen -- which will be graded separately -- and bookmarking is easy and convenient. Grade: A minus.

Keyboard - The more you use it, the more you like it. Here is where Blackberry and Treo users generally turn their noses up at the iPhone, but the simple fact is, the pop-up, touch-screen keyboard is simple. And for those folks who don't know, or like to use, abbreviations for SMS text messaging, the keyboard is perfect for texting complete sentences very, very easily. Grade: A

Email - Very disappointing. Apple sets a very high bar for quality and usability, and in many other aspects of the iPhone it does great. But it slips when it comes to email. Sometimes the "push mail" feature will seem to go to sleep. Or just stop checking for new email. This is easily enough resolved by manually hitting the "Update" button, but if you're waiting for a stock or news alert, for example, sometimes you'll miss it or get it late. It doesn't happen all the time, but it's happened a half-dozen times in three months and that's too often for many people. It should do better. Grade: C+

Business Applications - Apple doesn't support most third-party business applications for the iPhone, at least not natively, so you've got to live with what it provides itself. The notepad application, Google maps, alarm clock and the calendar are fine. They work, and are useful. But it leaves you wanting more, like easier search functionality and voice recording. Grade: B

Entertainment Features Nobody else is even close to what Apple provides with its iPod functionality, both audio and video. But its camera only takes still photos, not video (although the still photos are decent quality and integrate well with Email.) The YouTube button is pretty neat, and works, but it would be nicer if Apple simply integrated Flash with its iPhone Safari browser so you could access it that way. Grade: A minus

Multi-touch If Apple ever decides to put multi-touch functionality into its Macintosh systems, it would have potential to destroy the competition. For now, though, we do get to use it on the iPhone and it's a tremendous feature. It simply changes your approach to accessing information. "Point, click and scroll" becomes just "scroll and touch." Expanding your view to the word, phrase or aspect on which you need to focus is a big help. Grade: A

Reliability and Battery Life It boots quickly and works reliably, so that's refreshing for anyone coming from a Windows world. But on battery life? Eh. The iPhone is capable of getting between eight and 10 hours of battery life, but if you use bluetooth or Wi-Fi a lot, or if you have to make lengthy phone calls, it can cut the battery life down to five or six hours. If you're on the go for an entire day, your schedule might outlast your battery life. That needs to be improved. Grade: B minus

Overall Should the iPhone be graded on a curve, measured against the rest of the smart phones in the market? Should it be graded on its own, since it really is a one-of-a-kind product? After 100 days, it's clear that there's really nothing else like it in the market. There will be knock-offs and copycats, (in some geographies, there already are.) Bottom line: It's a great product, it appears to be worth the hype, but there's certainly room for improvement. Overall Grade: B+

Thursday, June 28, 2007

Apple iPhone

The iPhone is a multimedia/Internet-enabled phone announced by Apple CEO Steve Jobs during the keynote address at the Macworld Conference & Expo on January 9, 2007.[1][2]

The iPhone has a scheduled US release date of June 2007, (later outside the US)[3] and will be available from the Apple Store and from Cingular Wireless. iPhone has a planned launch price of US$499 for the 4 GB model and US$599 for the 8 GB model, based on a two-year service contract.

The iPhone's functions include those of a camera phone, a multimedia player, mobile telephone, and Internet services like e-mail, text messaging, web browsing and wireless connectivity. iPhone input is accomplished via touchscreen with virtual keyboard and buttons. The iPhone is a quad-band GSM phone, though Jobs mentioned in his keynote that Apple has a "plan to make 3G phones" in the future.[4] Apple has filed over 200 patents related to the technology behind the iPhone.

Features

Features

Touch screen

The 3.5 inch (8.9 cm) display (320×480 px at 160 ppi) touch screen is specifically created for use with a finger, or multiple fingers for multi-touch sensing. No stylus is needed, nor can one be used, as the touch screen requires bare skin to operate.[20]

For text input, the device implements a virtual keyboard on the touchscreen. It has automatic spell checking, predictive word capabilities, and a dynamic dictionary that learns new words. Notably, the predictive word capabilities have been integrated with the dynamic virtual keyboard so that users will not have to be extremely accurate when typing — i.e. touching the edges of the desired letter or nearby letters on the keyboard will be predictively corrected when possible. Additionally, an optional landscape mode for text entry with the virtual keyboard has been mentioned by Apple executives as a possibility for iPhone, but Apple has not yet come to a final decision as to its inclusion in the shipping version of iPhone. A possible advantage of landscape text entry would be the availability of larger keys to ease text entry, especially for individuals with larger fingers. The iPhone varies from common desktop interfaces by using a direct manipulation model of scrolling. Where a typical desktop GUI achieves scrolling by using a scroll-arrow to push a view-window down and thus the content itself up (or the reverse, clicking up to move content down), the iPhone interface enables the user to move the content itself up or down by a simple and natural touch-drag-lift motion, much as one would slide a playing card across a table. Additionally, the interface will compute the speed desired for scrolling based on the speed and acceleration with which the drag motion is performed.

Scrolling through a long list works as if the list is pasted on the surface of a wheel: the wheel can be "spun" by sliding a finger over the display. After the finger is lifted from the display the "wheel continues spinning" for a short moment before coasting down. In this way, the iPhone seems to simulate the physics of a real object, which, it is thought, should give a very natural feel to the whole process.

The UI also features other visual effects, such as horizontally sliding sub-selections and co-selections from right and left, vertically sliding system menus from the bottom (e.g. favorites, keyboard), and menus and widgets that turn around to allow settings to be configured on their back sides.

The photo album and web page magnifications are examples of multi-touch sensing. It is possible to zoom in and out of objects such as web pages and photos by respectively "unpinching" and "pinching" them, that is, placing two fingers (usually thumb and forefinger) on the screen and moving them farther apart or closer together as if stretching or squeezing the image. This scaling is done uniformly and proportionally based on the image in question so there is no distortion of the image itself, as would be the case if the image were actually stretched or squeezed.

Other inputs

The display responds to three sensors: a proximity sensor that shuts off the display and touchscreen when the iPhone is brought near your face to save battery power and to prevent spurious inputs from the user's face and ears, an ambient light sensor that adjusts the display brightness and saves battery power, and an accelerometer, which senses the orientation of the phone and changes the screen accordingly, albeit in only one 90 degree direction.

A single frontal hardware button brings up the main menu. Subselections are made via the touchscreen. The iPhone utilizes a full-paged display, with context-specific submenus at the top and/or bottom of each page, sometimes depending on screen orientation. Detail pages display the equivalent of a "Back" button to go up one menu.

The iPhone has three hardware switches on its sides: sleep/wake, volume up/down, ringer on/off. All other multimedia and phone operations are done via the touch screen.

Wikipedia on the iPhone's Safari web browser.

Phone

The iPhone allows conferencing, call holding, call merging, caller ID, and integration with other cellular network features and iPhone functions. For example, a playing song fades out when the user receives a call. Once the call is ended the music fades back in.

The iPhone will include a Visual Voicemail feature in conjunction with Cingular which allows users to view a list of current voicemail messages onscreen, without having to call into their voicemail. Unlike most other systems, messages can be listened to in a non-chronological order, by choosing messages from a list. Cingular completely reworked their voicemail infrastructure to accommodate this new feature designed by Apple.

E-mail messages are presented chronologically in a mailbox format similar to Mail, which places all text from recipients together with replies. Text messages are displayed in speech bubbles (similar to iChat) under each recipient's name.

Camera

The iPhone features a 2 megapixel camera with video and software that allows the user to upload, view, and e-mail photos. The user zooms in and out of photos by "unpinching" and "pinching" them through the Multi-touch interface. The software will interact with iPhoto on the Mac.

iPod

The layout of the music library differs from previous iPods, with the sections divided more clearly alphabetically, and with a larger font. The Cover Flow, like that on iTunes, shows the different album covers in a scroll-through photo library. Scrolling is achieved by swiping a finger across the screen.

Like the fifth generation iPods introduced in 2005, the iPhone can play video, allowing users to watch TV shows and films. Unlike other image-related content, video on the iPhone plays only in the landscape orientation, when the phone is turned sideways. A two-fingered tap is used to switch between wide-screen and full-screen aspect ratios.

The iPhone has built-in WiFi, with which it will be able to access the Internet (through a wireless network) via the Safari browser. The iPhone will also be able to connect to the Internet through Cingular's EDGE network but will not be able to utilize Cingular's 3G/HSDPA network at launch.[20] The web browser displays full web pages as opposed to simplified pages as on most other phones. Web pages may be viewed in portrait or landscape mode and support automatic zooming by "pinching" or double-tapping images or text. The iPhone also has Bluetooth built in and works with wireless earpieces that use Bluetooth 2.0 technology and for file transfer.

An agreement between Apple and Google provides for access to a specially modified version of Google Maps — in map, local list, or satellite form, optimized for the iPhone. During the launch of the product, Jobs demonstrated this feature by searching for nearby coffee shops and then placing a call to one with a single tap.

E-mail

The iPhone also features an HTML e-mail program, which enables the user to embed photos in an e-mail message. Yahoo! will be providing a free Push-IMAP e-mail service similar to that on a BlackBerry; IMAP and POP3 mail standards are also supported, including Microsoft Exchange. The e-mail program Outlook for Windows cannot be synchronized with the iPhone[20] for the time being. There is no enterprise email connectivity[21] other than IMAP and POP3.

OS X

Apple has confirmed an optimized, full version of the Mac OS X operating system (without unnecessary components) will run on the iPhone, although differences between the operating system (OS X) running on Macs and the iPhone have not been officially explained.

It is expected to take up "considerably less" than 500 MB.[22][23][24] It will be capable of supporting as-yet undetermined bundled and future 1st and 3rd-party applications, which are currently limited to a "controlled environment".[25][23][26]

Apple intends to offer a smooth method for updating the iPhone's operating system, in a similar fashion to the way that Mac OS X and iPods are updated, and touts this as an advantage compared to other cell phones.[22]

Widgets, similar to the ones available in Mac OS X v10.4's Dashboard, are included on the iPhone. The examples given in the Macworld 2007 keynote were Stocks and Weather widgets.

The iPhone's version of OS X includes the software component "Core Animation" which is responsible for the smooth animations used in its user interface.

Other

The iPhone features a built-in battery that is not intended to be user-replaceable, similar to existing iPods. The battery is capable of providing five hours of video, web browsing, or talk time. The battery life for music playing is 16 hours.[20] It is unknown how long the batteries will last in sleep mode.

There will be new headphones which are similar to those of current iPods, but which incorporate a microphone. Calls can be answered and ended by squeezing the microphone. Wireless earpieces that use Bluetooth technology to communicate with the iPhone will be sold separately.

The loudspeaker is used both for handsfree operations and media playback.

The iPhone has the ability to synchronize with Apple's iCal (for calendar and notifications), Address Book (for phone numbers), and iTunes. Windows users will be limited to iTunes synchronization.

d under: Cellphones, Features, Handhelds, Portable Audio, Portable Video