My unanswered iPhone questions
Not that I'd expect answers now, but if folks have authoritative answers I'd love them:
- how will the touch screen experience actually work for usage? Will the alpha keyboard work well for instance? I've never seen it done flawlessly before, but this might be the first time.
- Apple says the phone runs OSX. What exactly does that mean? Is it a mach kernel? Is it running something lighter with an osx shell?
- to what extent is it a new platform? How easy is it to port apps from osx to this? widget?
- How closed? Will apple/cingular allow installation of apps by users? Develpment of apps by random, unlicenced third parties? (appears to be locked per Gartenberg and others)
- Battery life - big unknown until it ships with optimized software, but a key stat.
- Expandible memory?
- The wifi setup/config experience will be interesting. there's lots of room to improve on existing devices there.
22 Comments:
I asked a couple of those and got half answers from a rep:
- It's "MacOS X specifically for the iPhone" whatever that means. Nice spin.
- They are not currently opening it up for user applications. It's closed, unlike most Smart Phones.
- No memory slot!
Battery life (from http://www.apple.com/iphone/technology/specs.html):
# Up to 5 hours Talk / Video / Browsing
# Up to 16 hours Audio playback
Not unreasonable numbers if they hold up under real world use.
My unanswered Zune questions:
1. When will Microsoft acknowledge, address, or fix the skipping issue?
2. When will Microsoft actually release an update that actually adds a feature after promising many great update opportunities?
3. Why would it take Microsoft 18 months to get games that independent developers built for Apple in a matter of a week or two?
4. When will Microsoft release any metrics for its device or service?
5. When will Zune bloggers actually blog about the Zune?
If you've got a line on these, or can think of other questions I'm missing, leave a comment!
It should be interesting to see what happens with mobile phones once WiMax takes hold.
Unanswered Zune questions:
1.why does my player still skip?
2.Why no integrated podcasting solution
3.Why such a large screen but no video store.
4.Why go no frills...extras are nice.
5.Why does MS-DVR continue to be abandoned by the Zune team.
6.Why can't we share videos too?
7.Why does my zune shut off for apparently no reason sometimes.
8.Why do Zune team members focus so heavily on Apple when they could be englightening Zune users about how they're going to improve our device?
9.Why is it like the 4th day of CES and I've heard nothing about new accessories or upcoming features for my $249 digital media player.
10.Why does everyone keep spitting out this connected entertainment spiel when at the moment, nothing is really connected in a meaningful way.
This is my obnoxious rant for the week. Sorry David, I had to do it. Until Apple gets subscriptions onboard or Microsoft really starts to innovate with the Zune brand, I'll be a frustrated Zune user.
I'll be curious to see how the iPhone plays out and what niche first latches on. The media lover will be turned off with the short battery life and limited storage while it's too expensive for a normal cell phone. For the business user it needs to support a full range of sync because a smart phone is only as good as the information it can pull/push from other sources. In fact the real niche I see, besides of course the Apple fanboy with money to burn, is the small web 2.0 style start-ups, where they still expense their cell phone bill and don't have to worry about a corporate account that might not be with AT&T. They still have business to get done so need smartphone features yet are still into being hip & cool. I'm thinking everyone at 37signals.
Some more questions:
- How long until other carriers get the iPhone?
- Will it work seamlessly out the gate with Windows and Windows Office products?
- Can it view Word and Excel 2007 documents?
For "anonymous"'s completely off-topic questions:
- Never heard of this skipping issue. My Zune hasn't skipped once. That's gotta suck but it sounds like a very, very limited number of people are actually experiencing this.
- Microsoft promised great update *opportunities*, not actual updates every 2 weeks. You shouldn't have bought a Zune based on what it could be in the future. Seriously, the thing has been out less than three months and one of those months was December which as everyone knows is pretty much a worthless month for getting work done. Even if you're at work you're probably only half-focused. The fact that the 1.2 update came out in December was pretty damn impressive.
- Metrics would be nice, I'm guessing they are going to wait to accrue at least 2 or 3 quarters worth of data to show trending. Anyone know when Apple released their first iPod/iTunes metrics after initial launch?
- Not sure what you mean about Zune bloggers blogging about the Zune? Since launch they've blogged quite a bit about it, and I'd say they've blogged more about their DAP than any other manufacturer. In fact I can't think of any other media player that even has internal bloggers. What more can they blog about? Upcoming features that they really can't talk about? Deals in the works that they can't talk about?
shawn, Apple iPhone is exclusive to Cingular (now AT&T) for at least year. They called the agreement "multi-year", but wasn't really specific. Heck, it might be two years.
Unanswered Zune questions:
2. Can someone please explain what an integrated podcasting solution *is*? I use FeedDemon to read my feeds and for podcasts I just subscribe to a podcast then it downloads the enclosures (the podcast) in the background and adds them to a playlist in Zune which gets auto-sync'd. New podcasts take all of 20 seconds to add.
3. I can see the video store issue, though who else wants to put money on the fact that a future update is going to make Marketplace content available. Then again I don't really watch video on the Zune. Maybe if I took the bus, subway, etc. but I use my Zune mostly while driving, riding my bike, working, etc.
4. What kind of extras?
5. Call me crazy but I'm guessing that the Zune team hasn't "abandoned" ms-dvr, they've probably prioritized it and realized that probably only 5% of Zune users know/care about ms-dvr. So while I have faith it will happen I'm guessing that's down the road.
6. "Why can't we share videos too?" You mean you've actually found people to share with? :) What kind of videos would you share? I'm guessing video is stickier because even a 3 day/play limit wouldn't be enough to make content providers happy. Really, who watches an episode of TV or a movie more than once, much less 3 times?
7. That sucks about your Zune shutting off.
8a. The Zune team needs to address Apple as they are the current market leader so you have to always know what they're doing. I like the Apple insights personally, it shows they are very aware of the market vs. a hole in the sand approach. Also, if they *didn't* talk about Apple then the alter-you would be wondering what the Zune team thought of Apple.
8b. I don't know if you've ever worked on a commercial product but I have and I bet everyone on the Zune team is *dying* to tell you about all their ideas, desires, wants, etc. for the Zune. The problem is sharing too much gives the competition time to counter anything you do as well as killing any buzz. Talk about a feature too soon and it either gets met with lukewarm reception or gets over-hyped and nothing will ever compare to people's dreams. Features also get cut because one day a developer will declare how easy a feature will be to do and then 4 weeks later everyone finds out that it's much harder than first thought and won't be making the next update. Suddenly all the great features that *are* in the update get ignored in the press because everyone is focusing on what's *not* there. Seriously, that is the part about working on a commercial product that really sucks. You are so excited about a feature but you can't say anything about. Worse is when you talk about something and find out it'll never happen due to something stupid like licensing restrictions or some white-trash company holding a patent.
9. Good point about CES, I've been wondering where the Zune products are but then again I've cut them some slack given the timing of the product. I have seen more "...there will be an iPod and Zune version..." which has been nice.
I'm not saying I don't have frustrations with my Zune, it's just that all mine seem to be different than others. Mine are:
- When can I use my Zune as a memory unit/external storage device for my XBox 360?
- Better syncing options for those with large (30GB+) libraries.
- Zune software API so I can add one of my biggest annoyances... global hotkey support!
- More options for filename naming when ripping/copying media.
- Ability to play music directly off the player via the software.
This guy says it all
http://www.fool.com/investing/value/2007/01/10/microsofts-new-paperweight.aspx
Ron, I'm afraid your link got cut-off. Mind splitting it up over a couple of lines?
I tried to find whatever article you were linking (based on info from your link), but not only could I not find it, I got temporary blindness from the advertisement overload. :)
I have a PPC-6700 smart phone running WM5, it is not 'broken', nor do I 'hate my cellphone' like Jobs mentions. Nor do I believe Apple with zero experience in cell phones can come out of left field and suddenly 'change the world'.
I was also hoping to avoid iphone talk by checking out my zune blogs, I guess not. :(
In other news, my zune skips the more music I put on there it seems, I can also feel it skip! The HDD is definately chugging along during a skip. Bad Sector? Fragmentation? badly laid out file tables?
Ron: Thanks for the article link, you're right that guy is missing the mark by a mile! Wait.. that was your point right? That he's an idiot?
I have a PPC/Windows Mobile and yes I hate it.
They should find a way to bring photosynth to the zune...now that's innovative. I'd be happy to deal with having to do magical spells and tricks with the backlight to make my zune stop skipping if innovative features like Photosynth were even in the pipeline. But, asking for photosynth on this device is actually pretty funny being that we can't even hook a digital camera up to the zune and transfer pictures. Even the gigabeat, which the zune is based on, can do that......::sigh::
So, is this the end of the road for the Zune? At least that's what everyone seems to imply.
I think the iPhone is amazing but I don't plan to spend $500 on a cell phone any time in the near future, so, I won't be getting one.
Here is the link to the Motley Fool article. I broke the link into two parts as requested.
http://www.fool.com/investing/value/
2007/01/10/microsofts-new-paperweight.aspx
I was a zune owner. I returned it because it didn't live up to my expectations and the user experience I have had with my old ipod. Maybe I'll try again with zune v2...but I doubt it. I'll probably just wait for the touchscreen ipod at this point.
iPod won't have my $$$$ ever again until they have a subscription service and more codec support.
This may seem minor, but in my opinion, having a touchscreen on a product that takes as much abuse as a phone or media player seems silly. I had to buy three separate protection products for my 5G iPod (a screen cover for front and back, and a belt holster), and that was with dedicated controls. After using my iRiver Clix for half a year, I've found that I'm absolutely sick and tired of devices with shiny coats that are constantly covered in scratches and fingerprint oils.
Apple's interface for the iPhone (and subsequently iPod) may be a great step forward internally, but they sure as heck haven't learned how easy iPods are to scuff up and break. C'mon, Apple! We need these things to hold up under heavy, everyday use! Superthin with a build quality that breaks in your pocket doesn't say $500 device to me, that says, 'I hope you like spending $40-$60 on aftermarket protectors!'
David, just out of curiousity..did you guys get whiff of these Apple products back in 2005? And did that help drive your decision to move forward with the Zune project?
convert dvd to zune, dvd to zune converter-- ipod zune psp video converter software released
Someone please delete that spam!
Try (unsplit line)
http://pogue.blogs.nytimes.com/2007/01/11/
the-ultimate-iphone-frequently-asked-questions/
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