The iPhone as a Gaming Device: Part V

You know how in Super Mario where you have to push the button at the exact right moment in order to get Mario to jump and hit the block? That precise timing is not possible with the iPhone. Don't believe me? Try the web game Manga Snake on your iPhone. It is one of a dozen examples of iPhone web games that will frustrate you with their reliance on precise directional control.

I've made a big deal out of bringing native games to the iPhone, but it's becoming clear that there are big limitations in some areas. Games that don't require precise controls, like word and puzzle games (Bejeweled), can easily translate onto the device. Expect to see those games introduced in bunches after the SDK appears.

iPhone Predictions for 2008

1. UI will see major changes. In particular, users will be able to alter settings so that the "home" button moves the menu system one step backward, as opposed to just going to the home screen.
2. There will be over 300 Sudoku games via the SDK for the iPhone by the end of 2008.
3. Bluetooth wireless keyboard support will be added.
4. The iPhone will integrate with a new and improved Apple TV product, including the ability to use the iPhone as a remote control, utilizing the iPhone's quick and easy menu selection interface to quickly select from dozens of media files. Either this or a new Apple TV product will ship with (or offer as an upgrade) a touchscreen remote control.
5. Two new versions of the iPhone. The first will have the basic upgrades (memory, thinner, lighter, 3G, etc), the second in late '08 will feature major repositioning of buttons, including the home button moving to the side, allowing the iPhone to shrink in height.
6. The second iPhone update will also introduce iPhone colors.
7. There will be no iPhone Nano or tiered iPhone retail levels (eg Shuffle-Nano-Classic). Instead, there will be memory tiers again (16 gb and 8 gb).
   
8. WiFi synching with Macs, with the new Apple TV, and with a new in-dashboard product for cars from Apple to be introduced late '08.
   

The iPhone and the 700-Megahertz Spectrum

Interesting to note that not only has AT&T announced it will bid in the 700 mhz auction next year but also has acquired for $2.5 billion from Aloha Partners LP the largest swath of 700 mhz licences in the US. AT&T sems to be getting into this spectrum in a big way. If the spectrum provides a superior broadband experience, Apple's hand will be forced, and it will have to add connectivity to the network for the iPhone. A side effect is that Apple would also have to follow the spectrum's requirements for openness.

Bill Clinton Edition iPhone to Be Announced at MacWorld?

Nah, but he did autograph someone's iPhone. Link.

Does the iPhone Have Video Out?

Yes, it does. In fact, it pumps out a 480i widescreen picture. RoughlyDrafted's Daniel Dilger has a very thorough writeup of the iPhone and iPod's video-out capabilities, as well as a review of the new Apple composite and component cables that run around $40.

What's cool about the new cables is that they allow you to power the iPhone via a USB dock/wall plug while you are outputting video to your TV. To me, this has some very interesting uses that could be expanded in the future, since your iPhone can essentially be thought of as a DVD disc and DVD player combined, or even a multidisc DVD player, given more memory. Leave the cables plugged into your TV, synch a movie on your iPhone, connect it to your TV (or perhaps more interesting and useful, a friend or relative's), and watch the movie. A businessman could carry the cables and use his iPhone to give a video presentation without the need of toting along a laptop with video out.

I sometimes connect my MacBook to my TV to watch a movie, but unplugging the laptop, replugging it in next to the TV, etc., then having to unplug when I'm finished, etc, is a hassle. Synching my iPhone with a movie and connecting it to the cables already attached to my TV would be much less of a hassle, and cheaper than me also purchasing an Apple TV in addition to my iPhone.

iPhone to Get New Intel Silverthorne Chip?

AppleInsider is reporting that Apple is working closely with Intel to include Intel's "Silverthorne" chip in various new Apple mobile devices. The advantage of the chip is that it requires one tenth of the electric power of previous chips that have comparable processing power. AppleInsider is suggesting that Apple will use Silverthorn for an ultramobile computer, but I think Apple's first priority will be to stick the chip into an updated iPhone. Silverthorne is just as flexible as the current iPhone's Samsung chip in terms of compatibility with growing mobile technologies like 3G, WiFi, WiMax, etc. It seems clear that when Intel showed off its iPhone-like mock-up device, their intention was not to announce an Intel-branded phone, they were calling out to Apple to let them know they had a better chip for the iPhone.

Gruber Rips Fast Company a New One

John Gruber has an amazing post on his Daring Fireball site ripping apart the Fast Company article "All Eyes On Apple," an article so poorly fact checked and copy edited you know it was published for one reason, to put a hot topic like Apple on the cover, bash Steve Jobs, and sell a lot of magazines. Hey, if Reader's Digest can increase sales using Apple iconography, Fast Company can too. At least Fast Company actually mentions the topic featured on their cover.

I wrote about the Fast Company article on this site previously, but Gruber gives it a much more thorough going over.

Link.

Also, there's a CNBC video of the author talking about the article. Click below.

Open Season on Apple

Biggest iPhone Competitor? LG Voyager, Maybe.

It seems the LG Voyager is distancing itself from the other touchscreen iPhone clones and gaining a little buzz. I have to admit, I like the idea of the touchscreen exterior with the flip keyboard interior. However, the first question in any iPhone comparison is, is it a better music player than an iPod? Above all the other reasons, that is why I bought an iPhone. Of course, there are other reasons an iPhone is great, but if you're buying a phone to also listen to a lot of music, iTunes is the answer to your question.

One of the great things about following a topic as heavily covered as the iPhone is that you get to read a lot of really bad journalism. Check out this round by round comparison of the iPhone vs the LG Voyager. Link.

Illicit iPhone Parody Videos

A site called Illicit iPhone has several hilarious iPhone video parodies up. Link to my favorite, Chris.

Reader's Digest Puts iPhone on Cover, Fails to Mention It in Article

Reader's Digest put devil's horns on the iPhone and placed it on its cover. Inside is a feature article about the evils of technology, but the article has no mention of the iPhone itself. I guess the image of the iPhone is there simply to sell the magazine. Via Macenstein:

"But imagine my surprise when after reading through all 6 pages of the featured article “Get A Grip”, (a fluff article about the intrusiveness of technology in our lives) I found not ONE mention of the iPhone. Not even an iPod. I DID, however, count 5 mentions of the Blackberry, one of the Sidekick, and one more of the xBox."

I blame Google's Zeitgest.

Chinese iPhone Ripoff Video

Here's an infomercial from China selling an iPhone ripoff. There's no English translation, but it appears that among its selling points are an external speaker that can be heard 50 meters away and a replaceable battery. I wouldn't mind those two features on the iPhone. There is also a feature that requires you to shake the phone similar to a motion commonly made with the Nintendo Wii-mote. Upon shaking, the phone makes a silly noise and dials a number or advances to the next music track. However, the touchscreen interface looks awful. It looks like a thrown-together attempt at copying the iPhone OS. Ripping off the iPhone and the Wii in one device--you gotta love China's black market.

iPhone Used to Control ProTools Video

Here's an example of the endless possibilities of a touchscreen interface.

New NYC Apple Store's Staircase Is Da Bomb

Wow. Via Gothamist.

Revisiting Old Apple Articles

If you follow Apple news, you'll know one of the lamest bit of news going around is the speculation about what Apple should do with the $15 billion in cash it has. Some big names came up with insanely dumb ideas like buying Facebook or Nintendo. This story has been rehashed several times this year. An old article from Business Week probably delivers the best answer: use it to secure the supply chain for components like NAND flash memory.

"Apple's flash purchases are generally done in advance. Its 10K says it paid $1.25 billion up front for NAND supplies in 2006, and had used up $208 million worth of that during the fiscal year. And if you dig further through the 10K you find that $417 million worth of flash purchases are counted as part of "other assets" line item on the balance sheet, which totals $3.8 billion.

In a pinch, it can use its ability to pay large amounts of cash quickly in negotiating supply agreements on any important commodity component that runs the risk of running short: DRAM memory, LCD or touch screens, etc."

iMac Touchscreen Videos

Two videos. The first is a real demonstration of a touchscreen Leopard iMac. The second, a sexy touchscreen Mac concept commercial.

Unlocked iPhones Pulled From Shelves In S'pore. What's a S'pore?

Apparently, S’pore is a weird abbreviation for Singapore used by Reuters. Link to news story about Apple sending legal threats to Singapore retailers for selling unlocked iPhones.

Fortune Magazine: What's Apple Gonna Do With All That Cash?

First it was Wired Magazine playing personal shopper with Apple's $15 billion in cash, now Fortune Magazine is at it as well.

"If the past is any guide, Jobs & Co. could very well use some of the money to swallow smaller companies. In 2001 Apple bought education software company PowerSchool; in 2002 it went on a binge and snapped up audio production company Emagic, video effects company Nothing Real, and FireWire developer Zayante. (Apple’s acquisition record is mixed; it sold off PowerSchool last year and its FireWire technology has taken a backseat to USB 2.0, but audio and video software efforts have flourished.) It’s conceivable that Apple could use cash to buy its way into a new niche, like social networking or online collaboration."

Link to Fortune article.

Fast Company: Open Season on Apple

Fast Company’s lastest cover story paints a picture of Apple in 2008 as a company under attack by numerous enemies.

“In a way the company has never seen, the barbarians are massing at the gates. From hardware to software to services, major competitors with serious R&D and marketing budgets are laying siege to the House of Jobs. As Apple moves into new markets, it has made powerful new enemies, some working in concert.”

I would argue that Apple is the one “massing at the gates.” Apple is seizing new territory from cell phone makers with its iPhone and gaining more ground in the computer market with its OSX and MacBooks. Nokia, Dell, and other companies in these matured markets have been forced into a defensive position. Take, for example, Nokia’s plan to release a touchscreen phone and Michael Dell’s recent promise to create “product lust,” an obvious attempt to copy Apple’s advertising savvy.

The only area in which Apple finds itself on the defensive is with the iPod. Its most deep-pocketed competitor, Microsoft, finally has a product that could seize ground in the contrarian market (people who will not buy an iPod no matter what), but Apple’s innovation has continued to outpace Microsoft and the rest of competition. Based on current product lines (including cell phones that play mp3s), there are no signs the iPod’s market size or market share will shrink in 2008.

In the near future, based on its current product profile, Apple seems unlikely to give ground in any of the markets it currently competes. In fact, Apple has plenty of market share to gain in two of its three core markets (OS/computers and cell phones). It also could be argued that the third market, mp3 players, will continue to grow in overall size as mp3 players begin to catch on in unsaturated markets globally (Asia).

For continued growth in 2008, Apple will need to focus on the affordability of its products and the openness and versatility of its products.

Google Codes No Evil (For the iPhone, At Least)

Google officially introduced an iPhone-optimized Google.com--just go to Google.com on your iPhone to see it (or just look at the picture on the right). The coolest feature is the auto-suggestion.

There aren’t many companies that would improve the functionality of a competing product, but Google continues to do that with the iPhone. Google is smart enough to know that people using mobile Google search is more important than the success of their Android mobile OS.

iPhone Smudge Parody

I can tell you that the iPhone's screen is perfectly visible even when it's all smudged up. Still, this video is pretty funny.

iPhone Commercial Parody

A young woman uses the iPhone's visual voicemail to skip over her mom's numerous voicemails and...uh..oh god no!

iPod Touch Mugging Commericial

Rehashing Last Quarter's iPhone Sales

Maybe because iPhone news is thin these days, Roughly Drafted is revisiting iPhone sales numbers from last quarter. Roughly Drafted's Daniel Dilger points out that of over 4 million smartphones sold in the previous quarter, iPhone sales represented over a million of those, giving the iPhone around 27% smartphone market share. He also points out that the overall smartphone market increased 180% from the previous quarter. From the article:

"A large chunk of the new growth in smartphones can be attributed to Apple. It’s hard to say whether that’s because the iPhone attracted a new audience to the smartphone market by offering an approachable product, or if Apple simply gobbled up a large portion of the existing demand that would otherwise have resorted to smartphones using software from Palm, Symbian, RIM, or Microsoft."

Using a percentage of the smartphone market share is totally useless because there isn't even a consistent definition of what a smartphone is. In a couple years, what now constitutes a smartphone will simply be known as a cell phone. Using the percentage of overall cell phone market share is much more telling.

"Overall, NPD counted 38 million mobiles sold in the US in the same quarter, which gave Apple almost 3% of all of the nation’s new phone sales in its first full quarter of sales. Incidentally, in just a day and a half of sales in June, Apple sold over 1% of the phones in the previous quarter."

As I've stated before, Apple's eventual matured share of the cell phone market will be determined by the direction they take with future versions of the iPhone. A $400 cell phone is not an affordable choice to most people and can't capture as large a portion of the market as the iPod has. Choice is an important word here because buyers can choose from a huge market of free cell phones. Choice, cost, and the cell phone industry's current business model are what really differentiates this market from the mp3 market, rendering iPod comparisons almost useless. Although it is important to note that the current cellular business model is likely to change dramatically if the open network model of the 700 mhz is successful.

This revisiting of past sales for future speculation is like estimating the iPod market's share based on the sales of the first version. But I, of all people, appreciate the need to give people something, anything, to read about the iPhone. Besides, Roughly Drafted is just a great site.