[chucker]

Originally Posted by Farenheit Its great that the British Press are asking some probing questions though.

Agreed. Compared to some of the crappy Q&A questions you get elsewhere, the ones I've seen so far in this event are well-thought-out and relevant.

[MAJB]

Originally Posted by rasmits Boo! I declare this one... a dud.

Right. What is the point in Steve coming over to give this announcement? Could the Apple Europe CEO not have done it?

[Fahrenheit]

The iPod touch is training wheels to the iPhone

-Steve Jobs, 2007.

[jondaapplegeek]

shhhh - its a secret but:

http://www.apple.com/uk/iphone/

edit: secret no longer, it's a button! it's a button!!!

[Doxxic]

Originally Posted by jondaapplegeek shhhh - its a secret but: http://www.apple.com/uk/iphone/ editr: secret no longer, it's a button! it's a button!!!

Wonder where they took the picture. Looks like it's got a full EDGE connection.

[turbulentfurball]

Originally Posted by Farenheit Another stirling line.

It's sterling as in the currency. Stirling is a city (if you can call it that) in Scotland.

p.s. I finally have an Internet connection at my place.

[Wrao]

So Steve talks about how there won't be any more iPhone price cuts, but also makes mention that 2 more iPhone models are in the works. I think we all considered the iPhone mini or iPhone nano to be a real possibility, but I am curious what the other phone might be. This is not the first time Steve has made hints towards the existence of multiple phones for the iPhone line.

So, although the iPhone is not going to go down in price unexpectedly in the near future, it stands to reason that many consumers will still become a little frustrated when a newer, smaller, almost as fully featured, iPhone comes out for $150 cheaper.

Still though, if there are 2 iPhones in the pipeline, what might they both be? I couldn't imagine Apple making a BIGGER version, and I couldn't imagine them making a flip phone(or any variation on the flip phone idea, swivels and pivots et al) Also, anything nano sized would probably just be stupid for a phone.

But, I think it is safe to say, that even if the iPhone micro(or whatever) is generally kind of stupid, if it says iPhone and is $150, they will sell like... well, like iPods.


Also, one thing about the Phone market that Apple is not really used to, is that phones are updated almost every day. There are always new phones, the same companies produce new models within months of each other that share almost all the same features, featuresets change, prices change, displays, designs...etc. It all happens very very quickly in the phone market. If Apple really wants to keep up with all that, they have to be prepared to change the iPhone probably 3-4 times a year, Steve's reiteration of the 'it's technology' statement, leads me to believe that they are working on a multitude of iPhone rollouts for the coming months, and that iPhone itself will be updated more frequently than any other Apple product line.

[zippy]

Well, a CDMA iPhone would be at the top of the list in desirability, but I don't see that happening due to the exclusive AT&T contract. Unless Apple was sneaky and made that contract exclusive to GSM based iPhones, leaving the door open.... Nah, I can't see that happening.

Would people/Jobs classify a larger capacity iPhone as another model? I doubt it. But I would love to see a 16GB version.

I guess I can see the iPhone nano, or whatever it would be called as a distinct possibility. Might they even revive the previous nano form factor? That would be a hot seller IMO.

But beyond that, I really don't know what they could come up with that people would clamor for.

[steve77uk]

Bugger it!

Last month I signed up for an 18 month contract with Orange... They gave me the best deal as O2 were not giving too much away for the same price...

I got the Nokia N95 for free on a £35 per month on a buy it this weekend deal.

I get 800 free anytime any network minutes per month. 100 SMS texts pm. Free evening calls to land-lines and mobiles.

Free weekend calls to landlines. Therefore I need to use 800 minutes to mobiles weekdays to use them all up as the rest of the time is FREE!!! £35 per month is a bit steep on reflection. The phone isn't bad at all, but would prefer the iPhone.

O2's Tariffs...

The ultimate question would be if I bought the iPhone from the Store, did one of these sim unlock things I would be happy - but not happy if I bought it, unlocked it, Apple does an update and buggers it up

[Electric Monk]

Originally Posted by turbulentfurball It's sterling as in the currency. Stirling is a city (if you can call it that) in Scotland.

Stirling is also a very cool kind of engine.

Originally Posted by Wrao So Steve talks about how there won't be any more iPhone price cuts, but also makes mention that 2 more iPhone models are in the works. I think we all considered the iPhone mini or iPhone nano to be a real possibility, but I am curious what the other phone might be. Still though, if there are 2 iPhones in the pipeline, what might they both be? I couldn't imagine Apple making a BIGGER version, and I couldn't imagine them making a flip phone(or any variation on the flip phone idea, swivels and pivots et al) Also, anything nano sized would probably just be stupid for a phone. Also, one thing about the Phone market that Apple is not really used to, is that phones are updated almost every day. There are always new phones, the same companies produce new models within months of each other that share almost all the same features, featuresets change, prices change, displays, designs...etc. It all happens very very quickly in the phone market. If Apple really wants to keep up with all that, they have to be prepared to change the iPhone probably 3-4 times a year.

A 3G iPhone and a 3G Rev. B iPhone, no? Although releasing a multitouch flip (like the eMate) or mini tablet (Newton!) when the SDK comes out would be pretty cool.

I still can't see multitouch going to a smaller screen, and think that older versions will just drop in price as newer versions come out. Given that they keep updating software for 24 months buying the original iPhone in a year for 100 bucks would only sacrifice hardware stuff like 3G and GPS over the then-current top of the line model.

[Robo]

According to Gizmodo, Jobs confirmed (to no one's surprise) that a 3G iPhone would bow "later in 2008." Hmm.

[Doxxic]

According to Engadget, (among others), Jobs is currently hopping across Europe's capital cities.

I have this feeling that something went not precisely as expected.

Ah... Europe, my beloved economical swamp snake pit archipelago!

[chucker]

Originally Posted by Doxxic I have this feeling that something went not precisely as expected.

Why?

[Eugene]

Reality this way -->

Did anyone really expect anything more?

[MAJB]

Originally Posted by steve77uk £35 per month is a bit steep on reflection.

£35 a month for 200 minutes is insanely expensive. That really is a joke for O2 to offer that.

[Doxxic]

Originally Posted by Doxxic I have this feeling that something went not precisely as expected.

Originally Posted by chucker Why?

Originally Posted by Eugene Reality this way --> Did anyone really expect anything more?

Actually, yes. I was expecting more than one country to be involved with tuesday's announcement.

But I'm realizing this was just based on the rumors.

It really makes more sense for Apple to organize a media event right after one country bites, than it does to wait until all of them are aboard, even if it were just to get the others across the bridge more easily.

[chucker]

Originally Posted by Doxxic It really makes more sense for Apple to organize a media event right after one country bites, than it does to wait until all of them are aboard, even if it were just to get the others across the bridge more easily.

They want to maximize media exposure, and also increase the perception that they care about countries in particular. By having Steve fly to and make separate announcements in the UK, Germany and France each, they're doing exactly that. It's good for the image, especially when the common perception (justifiedly!) is that Apple traditionally gives too little regard for Europe.

So the "wait, that's it?" announcement of yesterday does make sense to me. It's no big deal for us rumor whores, but it is for Apple's PR.

[chucker]

Actually, never mind about France: Jobs just denied that rumor. So, just O2/UK and T-Mobile/Germany for now.

(edit) Speaking of which, another interesting tidbit from today's conference: Jobs acknowledged that he'd love to GPS in the iPhone for Google Maps, but not until modules are significantly smaller.

[herodian]

i think i must be the only one benefitting from this.

i currently pay 65+ on my phone bill with Orange. I think that includes paying for extra mins / texts etc.

12 x 65 = 780

12 x 35 = 420

780 - 420 = 360

so i'm already 90 up over 12 months.

i know the contract is 18 month min but i always work it out over 12 months as my Orange contract has always been 12 months at a time.

yeah, if i wasnt lazy i could probably get a cheaper deal form Orange, but tbh, ive been waiting ages for this phone and i'm not going to stitch myslef into another 12 month contract with them.

roll on 9/11

lol

[Doxxic]

Originally Posted by chucker but not until modules are significantly smaller.

What modules do you mean?

btw where did you get this?

[chucker]

Originally Posted by Doxxic What modules do you mean? btw where did you get this?

The GPS hardware modules. He said this in response to a question at the German press conference.

[Doxxic]

Sounds like you were there?

I think this GPS news is really interesting. Strange you read nowhere else about it (which does not mean I don't believe you of course).

[chucker]

No, I wasn't there; I'm just reluctant to quote sites since it was, y'know, in German.

So, here's two independent sites stating this:

http://www.ifun.de/content/view/3676/1/

iPhone hat kein GPS, da der Chip zu gross ist, evtl. soll es kommen, aber nur wenn kompakter realisierbar.

"iPhone has no GPS because the chip is too large; it might come one day, but only when doable in a more compact manner."

http://www.macnews.de/keynote/iphone...le/102945.html

GPS im iPhone? Später vielleicht... Weitere Fragen betreffen Google Maps. Das sei das beste System der Welt zur Zeit, lobt Jobs. Er würde gerne ein iPhone mit GPS sehen - aber dafür müssten die Module noch deutlich kleiner werden.

"GPS in the iPhone? Perhaps later…
Further questions deal with Google Maps. Jobs praises it as what he regards as the best system in the world at this point. He would like to see an iPhone with GPS – but the modules would have to become significantly smaller."

[Electric Monk]

As per this Ars thread there is now a program to do cell tower triangulation with the iPhone.

I hate Rogers (Canada telecom, the most evil telecom in the world, most likely). Let me have an iPhone!

[chucker]

Originally Posted by Electric Monk As per this Ars thread there is now a program to do cell tower triangulation with the iPhone.

Nice!

[kieran]

I've been trying to get this to work all day, but it keeps telling me that there are no known towers in range.

I've been at my house all day though, so I'll try it out tomorrow when I actually go somewhere.

[Electric Monk]

It appears the database is incomplete, especially for AT&T towers. Nevertheless the fact someone has something like this up and (sort of) working is very cool