"I don't really see how this is a 'first-of-a-kind phone' when lg already came out with something like this by at least december last year"
LG's phone is a "single-touch" interface. There's a huge difference between multi-touch user interfaces and single-touch interfaces. (Did you watch the Jeff Han video?) The interfaces are worlds apart. A single-touch interface is child's play compared to a multi-touch interface.
wow, that is pretty cool, but I don't really see how much more functionality that can add to a screen that small. I mean, one of the wicked things about that demonstration was the ability to use both hands simultaneously, but it wouldn't exactly be easy to fit both hands or even multiple fingers easily (and usefully) onto something the size of your palm.
"@c-unit- Steve can say whatever he wants. u have the right to ignore it, don't you. so why complain about totally useless things. "
Well, then you could just ignore what everybody says, couldn't you?
"I don't really see how much more functionality that can add to a screen that small"
In the keynote, Steve Jobs shows how you can resize or zoom things on iPhone with two fingers "pinching" back and forth. It's pretty cool.
I agree that you can't use two hands on the phone in the same ways as the Jeff Han video shows. But, I think the important thing to note is that Apple has dipped its toe into the water with multi-touch. They are starting small, with two finger multi-touch operations on iPhone and they will get more complex from there. If third party developers can start developing apps for iPhone they'll start to dip their toes into Multi-Touch as well.
The obvious next step is for Apple to take Multi-Touch to the desktop or laptop/tablet level. You can actually see in Apple's patents that they're already planning that. And a lot of the core libraries and features of OS X are perfect fits for a multi-touch interface: OpenGL, Core Animation, Expose, Genie effect, spring-loaded folders, the OS X Dock, etc. Remember iPhone has OS X in it. So, they're obviously starting to build the multi-touch UI right into OS X.
Just a guess, but that's probably why Steve Jobs ended his keynote with by talking about how Apple is trying to live up to that quote from Wayne Gretzky: "I skate to where the puck is going to be, not where it has been".
Even if the iPhone isn't up to snuff on the 3G, the storage and what-not, it's an important step towards a new way of viewing the future desktop.
@Stash
Cingular doesn't even have complete 3G coverage.
So Apple should just add it because its cool, and when u try to surf the web u get no Signal
Sweet. I love ur 3G idea. Apple should implement it pronto
Quote: SirNot I don't really see how much more functionality that can add to a screen that small Look harder, the screen is dynamic, endless unlimited space, continually changing as the context requires.
Nokia was lauded when they introduced "soft keys" which are 2 buttons that change function and labeled on the screen. Compared to that, the multi-touch screen is a brilliant concept.
A screen that small? It's the biggest screen on any phone I've ever seen and I have seen plenty!
Quote: [-Stash-] The two battery thing is bizarre. I can sort of see why they have two separate batteries, but frankly, I'd rather just have one big one and have the ability to talk for longer Does it have 2 batteries? If so that's cool, you could go crazy using the iPod and not worry about losing phone functionality. Think about it, no matter how big a capacity ONE battery has, it will still run out eventually so you'll need to keep an eye on it.
@wanderer: I wasn't talking about the fact that the real-estate functionality is dynamic, I was talking about how much of an advantage this multi-touch thing is on a screen the size of a palm.
Quote: Minisweeper To be honest, they should put 1 battery in it, and let you allocate it to each resource as you desire. I have 2 batteries in my vehicle. When we go camping I have the fridge working off one of them. No worries, no stress, no panic when it runs down, I know the vehicle will start up reliably from the other one. That's the simple, elegant, uncomplicated way of doing things, no settings, no learning curve... if you don't get it, I guess you just don't get it.
Quote: SirNot I wasn't talking about the fact that the real-estate functionality is dynamic, I was talking about how much of an advantage this multi-touch thing is on a screen the size of a palm. Did you not see the keynote? Scrolling, zooming-in, zooming-out... More here.
Apple has not actually said that it has two batteries.
The specs basically say: If you use it for Talk, Video or Browsing the battery will last up to 5 hours. If you use it for Audio playback, the battery will last for up to 16 hours.
The specs don't say anything about sleep and standby time. And, it doesn't say anything about two batteries. But, then again, who knows?
I'm not sure how anyone can see it as anything other than a (rather smexy) gimmick: It's no where near as powerful as an actual smart phone and won't let you install your own applications, and for more normal users it won't be almost as quick for every day tasks such as calling and texting as a normal phone.
blizeH: Now you're just making stuff up. If you actually watched the keynote, you would have seen how easy it was to call, text and listen to your voicemail. No "smartphone" has ever been this easy to use, period. And no smartphone has ever been this powerful.
How many "smartphones" do you know that let you do random-access visual voicemail, 1-touch conference calling, OS X widgets, multi-touch interface control with 2-finger zooming and cropping, fully compliant CSS2/CSS3 web browsing and email, Accesses the internet over 802.11b/g and EDGE and moves between them on the fly with zero configuration?
The thing runs OS X and desktop level applications. Of course you're going to be able to install your own apps.
But there's not a single person who has said that the touch screen buttons are as good as normal buttons for responsiveness when doing things like entering numbers or sending texts. Smartphone users want to be able to install their own apps (Skype etc) and normal users just want to use it for sending texts; the iPhone is going to be below average for both of these users, and it will only appeal to people who love gimmicks and pretty things.
Comments
I agree that you can't use two hands on the phone in the same ways as the Jeff Han video shows. But, I think the important thing to note is that Apple has dipped its toe into the water with multi-touch. They are starting small, with two finger multi-touch operations on iPhone and they will get more complex from there. If third party developers can start developing apps for iPhone they'll start to dip their toes into Multi-Touch as well.
The obvious next step is for Apple to take Multi-Touch to the desktop or laptop/tablet level. You can actually see in Apple's patents that they're already planning that. And a lot of the core libraries and features of OS X are perfect fits for a multi-touch interface: OpenGL, Core Animation, Expose, Genie effect, spring-loaded folders, the OS X Dock, etc. Remember iPhone has OS X in it. So, they're obviously starting to build the multi-touch UI right into OS X.
Just a guess, but that's probably why Steve Jobs ended his keynote with by talking about how Apple is trying to live up to that quote from Wayne Gretzky: "I skate to where the puck is going to be, not where it has been".
Even if the iPhone isn't up to snuff on the 3G, the storage and what-not, it's an important step towards a new way of viewing the future desktop.
Look harder, the screen is dynamic, endless unlimited space, continually changing as the context requires.
Nokia was lauded when they introduced "soft keys" which are 2 buttons that change function and labeled on the screen. Compared to that, the multi-touch screen is a brilliant concept.
A screen that small? It's the biggest screen on any phone I've ever seen and I have seen plenty!
Come on mate, be fair!
Posted: Friday, 12 January 2007 at 8:49AM (AEDT)
Does it have 2 batteries? If so that's cool, you could go crazy using the iPod and not worry about losing phone functionality. Think about it, no matter how big a capacity ONE battery has, it will still run out eventually so you'll need to keep an eye on it.
Posted: Friday, 12 January 2007 at 8:53AM (AEDT)
I have 2 batteries in my vehicle. When we go camping I have the fridge working off one of them. No worries, no stress, no panic when it runs down, I know the vehicle will start up reliably from the other one. That's the simple, elegant, uncomplicated way of doing things, no settings, no learning curve... if you don't get it, I guess you just don't get it.
Quote: SirNot I wasn't talking about the fact that the real-estate functionality is dynamic, I was talking about how much of an advantage this multi-touch thing is on a screen the size of a palm.
Did you not see the keynote? Scrolling, zooming-in, zooming-out... More here.
Posted: Friday, 12 January 2007 at 9:26AM (AEDT)
The specs basically say: If you use it for Talk, Video or Browsing the battery will last up to 5 hours. If you use it for Audio playback, the battery will last for up to 16 hours.
The specs don't say anything about sleep and standby time. And, it doesn't say anything about two batteries. But, then again, who knows?
bjrn: It turns out that Apple purchased FingerWorks, the company that made Touchstream, and its patents.
Just because it's my own pet bitch, IMO this is utterly useless on GSM (ie without 3G).