Three days from now I hope to have me greasy paws on an iPhone. I decided against v1.0 due to lack of 3G but as time went on I think the bigger reason, and certainly the most exciting thing about Friday, is the applications that will launch in the Appstore alongside the new phone and the v2.0 software. The iPhone is a new platform and from that point of view I can’t wait to see what app’s are available.
What I’m not looking forward to is re-joining O2. When I was previously with them I was never entirely happy with contract or upgrades. The deal looks good though and I think they’ve been pretty fair with existing iPhone owners so clean slate time.
Biggest issue on Friday will be limiting the spending on the Appstore. And finding an iPhone if O2 is to be believed. Happy days. Exposure, Twitterrific Touch and Super Monkey Ball will be 1st day purchases hopefully.
It’s almost a year since the iPhone launched in the states and around 7 months since the UK launch. It was a great device and I’ve lusted after one since launch. However I was on an existing contract, without jailbreaking you couldn’t add software and dropping back from 3G just didn’t appeal. The wait is almost over though. The biggest shock at next weeks WWDC would be no announcement of a 3G iPhone.
3G and GPS seem a stick on if you pull together all the rumours. What else would I like? 32GB, better battery life and a well stocked App’s store. MMS and video chat would also be nice to have and it will be interesting if all the .me rumours are true and that .Mac is really changing.
To be honest a 3G iPhone and no other extra’s would suit me just fine. Only slight worry - would O2 increase their tariff’s for 3G. Surely not? 3 days from now we’ll have all the answers as well as a release date. I’d love to be able to get one in the next couple of weeks. Roll on Monday.
So O2, Carphone Warehouse and now Apple in the UK have ran out of 8 & 16GB iPhones. Same is happening in America. It can only mean one thing (hopefully) - iPhone ver 2 with 3G will be here sooner than a soon thing. Or within the next couple of months.
As I was in contract and money was tight I didn’t get the iPhone back in November. But I will be picking up ver 2 assuming it is a 3G version, which it surely must be?! What else would be nice? A decent battery life although reports seem to be mixed on just how much juice the current version eats up. I’d also like a camera > 2MP and video would be smart too for those occasions without my camera. Those features along with the software that will start to flow from 3rd parties in June would make me very happy. Not really fussed with GPS. Oh, I would want MMS. Don’t send/receive many but I’ve had the feature for years so wouldn’t want to be without it now. Flash support too.
The one thing that niggles. If Apple are announcing the phone at the Jobs keynote in June would they really have let their current stock levels drop to zero? That would mean at least 30 days with no phones to sell? Maybe it’s stock mis-managment, maybe it’s clearing the decks and the current phone’s have sold more than expected, maybe it’s building up the hype or maybe it’s nothing? Time will tell.
I was so impressed watching the iPhone SDK launch last night. As usual with Apple there were some slick demo’s, some headline grabbing quote’s and some ambiguity but watching the 2 week old demo of Super Monkey Ball was a real clincher. This is a great mobile computing platform, not just a mobile phone platform. The full SDK launch is online but I’ve copied just the Sega demo below.
Firstly the enterprise additions to the iPhone are vast and will surely meet almost any enterprise requirements. The addition of push e-mail, calendars and contacts looks great - very fast. I also liked the remote wipe which again adds to the security.
However of most interest was the SDK. Harnessing the best of OS X and utilising XCode the SDK is now available for anyone to download and try, as long as you have a Mac. More developers moving to Macs per chance? You can develop an app and use a virtual iPhone on the Mac to test it or hook up an iphone and download you app to the Mac.
Software distribution of your app is via Apple only using a new app called App Store. It will sit on the iPhone and allow you to download free and paid for iPhone (and iPod Touch) software wirelessly. It will also let you know when updates are available for your software. I guess the worst thing about this is how easy Apple have maid it - one click purchases etc. If your app is a pay for app, Apple will take 30% of the money for hosting, distributing etc. Sounds steep but there’s not been too much backlash about it. To publish an app you need to pay $99 to register as a developer. That charge is for the developer, not per software so not really that steep.
More confusing is what will be allowed. No VOIP over Edge was one of the answered questions, no porn or malware, no chipping app’s but no clarification on how protective Apple will be on something like iTunes. From Daring Fireball, Amazon MP3 store on iPhones? It also looks like there are restrictions that make the SDK only of real use in the USA. There are some blog’s stating than non US residents can’t download their app’s to the iPhone.
For me it really sparked something. I just wanted to download the SDK and start hacking. It will be difficult finding the time but I’ve already got a couple of small app’s in mind that I would like to put together, just to learn how it all works. The SDK, coming in at over 2GB was downloaded this afternoon. It’s playtime. Just a shame all this along with iPhone software v2.0 and the non beta SDK isn’t released until June.
One more thing…I’ve still not bought an iPhone. I’m closer than ever to spending cash on one except I’m convinced 3G isn’t far away. Decisions decisions. It’s really the wrong time for my yearly bonus to appear!
Not much time to blog, but enough to post some links…
Loads of iPhone coverage everywhere else but here. Posts I liked - iPhone stress test, iPhone Disassembly and John Gruber’s first impressions. Unless there are some serious issues found with the iPhone over the next few months then it will be my next phone. A Euro 3G version would convince me even more. Time to start saving those pennies.
Pownce. I have 5 invites remaining if anyone wants to jump on another web bandwagon - share chat, links and files with friends over the web. Site’s been sluggish for me although I’ve no intention of using it to be honest.
Flock. The web 2.0 media sharing star browser that’s been in beta for forever has now moved up to beta 0.9. There’s a fairly big increase in features available so I’ve given it another try. While the Media Bar is nice it still feels buggy and thrown together. It’s crashed fairly often for me and Firefox still feels quicker. At least you can now use nested folders in bookmarks. It looks shiny but Firefox still wins pretty easily for me.
Speaking of Firefox…there is a Firefox eBay edition. Only mentioned as I hadn’t heard of it and Roy’s too lazy to post anymore.
Tom Bihn bags rock! Been using mine for the last few days and it’s been great. Finally my laptop can leave the house in relative safety.
Sky have now stopped phoning me about broadband…although I’ve now received two mail shots since. Although if Virgin media don’t get their act together I could well be moving to pastures new.
Speaking of Sky, why are they now putting HD movie premiers on Sky Anytime first, sometimes weeks before they are broadcast on the HD movie channel? Sneaky swines.
