Touch Screen Revolution Leading to the Courts

Microsoft just released their next-gen touch-screen technology called Microsoft Surface. Microsoft has a demo of the technology where they touch two separate parts of the screen to stretch out a photograph. Does this ring a bell? It's exactly the same as Apple's "pinch" demonstration for the iPhone. It's also the same as Jeff Han's technology he's been demonstrating over the past couple of years. I wonder who owns the patent to all of this? How long until they are in a courtroom brewing up injunctions and screwing over consumers?

Recommendation: the Apple Phone Show Podcast

I'm a long-time listener of the TWiT podcast along with MacBreak Weekly. One of the frequent guests is Scott Bourne, an Apple and iPhone evangelist. He's started a blog and a podcast called The Apple Phone Show. The first episode has just been released. When the iPhone is released, it should be a great source for information and entertainment. Hopefully, he'll land guests like Leo Laporte to talk about the iPhone.

Stock Manipulation

The stock market attracts all kinds of people, including crooks both big and small. It looks like someone tried to manipulate Apple's stock recently by creating some fake Apple news. I have a feeling this isn't the first time. What's very interesting about this incident is they seemingly did it using Apple's email system.

If you read Engadget, you might have come across a recent posting of theirs stating the iPhone launch would be delayed. They reported this based on an internal Apple email that had been forwarded to them. Subsequently, Apple informed them that the memo was a fake. However, the damage was done, as Apple's stock briefly dipped 3% (that's $4 billion in market capitalization), allowing someone to buy the stock at a discounted price. To make matters even more interesting, the FCC approved the iPhone the very next day. Someone with prior knowledge of the FCC approval could have made millions from a dip and pump and dump. Looks like everyone is trying to make money off the iPhone, even if they have to do it illegally. Hopefully, someone is working on an investigation into the matter, because you can bet there is something shady behind this.

You'll Be Waiting In Line for an iPhone

The news today is a memo AT&T Wireless has sent to their retail stores with instructions on how to handle questions regarding the iPhone. AppleInsider has the lowdown, as well as a picture of the actual memo.

Two pieces of information stand out to me. From the memo:

Sales for the iPhone will be on a first come, first served basis.

That means customers will be camping out at an Apple store or an AT&T Wireless store if they want an iPhone anytime soon. It also means iPhones will be selling on eBay for thousands of dollars.

The second juicy detail is the wording regarding the price of the iPhone. The memo instructs stores to tell people the "4gb will retail at $499 and the 8gb will retail $599." The use of the word retail here is clever and leaves the door open to subsidized pricing. Who has ever paid retail for a phone?

Even subsidized, the iPhone still will have to cost more than most iPods; more specifically, it has to cost more than a nano, Apple's bestseller. Why would customers buy an 8gb nano if they could get an iPhone cheaper? Apple may not want to cannibalize their iPod sales.

However, maybe they should go ahead and do it. After all, weren't there 1 billion phones sold last year compared to something like 130 million mp3 players?

Will You Get an iPhone if You Want One?

I want an iPhone, and I want it as soon as it's available. But will I get it? Investment firm UBS is predicting only 250,000 initial units, and only 850,000 units by the end of the year. Since the iPhone will be only released in the United States, you'd think those numbers aren't as desperate as they sound. But I have a feeling there will be a global demand for the iPhone regardless, mainly due to people wanting to hack it for use on their cell carrier. Your chances of getting an iPhone at the initial launch will be like winning the lottery.

Should you get an iPhone right away? No, wait. Due to low supply, you'll probaby be waiting for a while anyways. Everyone should wait for a thorough review of the phone (see my previous post about the likelihood of user interface problems). I'm in the unique position of having my current phone die a slow, agonizing death. So, I need a new phone now. If it can take calls ok, I'll be reasonably happy, even if the rest of it is crap (although I'll feel $600 lighter).

Obstacle to the iPhone's Success: Can You Use It With One Hand?

Many people have criticized the iPhone without ever touching one. It's funny to note that most of the criticism focuses on things like the price of the phone (Steve Ballmer), or John C. Dvorak saying Apple can't survive the thin margins of the cell phone business. But what about the phone? Dvorak and Ballmer make no prediction whether people will like using the phone.

Let's focus on the functionality of the iPhone, because ultimately, that's where the battle will be waged. Apple can turn a profit on the device as long as it can sell a product that is better than any other of its kind. If they do that, they can follow luxury car companies and sell in smaller quantities for a lot more money.

Keeping Your Eyes on the Road

My first question for the iPhone is, can you use it with only one hand?

Picture yourself driving with your cell phone in your pocket. It rings. You know it's dangerous to talk on your phone while driving, buy you decide to answer anyway. Keeping one hand on the wheel, you reach your hand into your pocket, take out the phone, and with your thumb, you answer, either by flipping open the phone or by hitting the talk button. You do it without taking your eyes of the road. Will you be able to do all of this with the iPhone?

At 2007 MacWorld, Steve Jobs said making calls is the iPhone's killer app. That's making calls, not receiving. He never demoed receiving a call while the iPhone was not already in use. For the sake of discussion, let's call answering the iPhone from locked mode a cold call. The only reference to a cold call at 2007 MacWorld was when Jobs showed a slide of the iPhone as it presumably received a cold call. The slide showed two buttons on the iPhone, one to answer the call, one to ignore it. Would it be possible to hit those buttons with your thumb? Will the promixity sensor allow the button to be pushed if it detects your palm reaching across the phone?

Now, let's take a step back to my scenario of answering the phone while you're driving. The iPhone is in your pocket and it starts ringing. Without taking your eyes off the road, you take it out of the pocket and attempt to answer the call.

Can you tell which part of the phone is the top, and which is the bottom?

Assuming you know which way is up, how do you know--eyes on the road now-- you are hitting the correct button? The screen is smooth--there is no tactile feedback or any other distinguishing feature. Will our motor memories be enough to know which section of the screen to push?