Apple's new hardware [Archive]

Jeff Kilgroe

01-09-2007, 08:31 AM

25 minutes to go...

I'm expecting:

new displays (it's about freakin' time).

Mac Pro spec bump - cheaper RAM and base price. Possibly an 8-core option since the Clovertown CPU is a drop-in replacement for Woodcrest. Those who can wait on 8-core would be best to do so until later this year when Intel ships the Stoakley chipset though. Hopefully some new graphics card options too.

iMac spec bump...

New Leopard OS 10.5 preview showing updated interface...

The new "iTV" product as a stand alone unit as well as it being integrated into new flat panel HDTVs from Apple (42" and 50" plasma).

Oh, and "one more thing..." Possibly a new iPod model - most likely the "iPod Fon" which is sure to underwhelm and fall way short of all the recent hype and hopefulness.

...I guess we'll see.

Sanjin Jukic

01-09-2007, 08:43 AM

Related to the RED 4K/2K workflow I am waiting for 8 core Mac Pro and new display line specs and prices.

Brook Willard

01-09-2007, 08:53 AM

The bummer is that we won't see too much pro line stuff until NAB. New Mac Pros wouldn't surprise me, but all the relevant goodies will stay under wraps until Vegas.

Emmanuel Cambier

01-09-2007, 08:54 AM

Jeff Kilgroe

01-09-2007, 09:03 AM

New displays are bound to be released at the same time as Leopard because of resolution independance.
One can't go without the other, because resolution independance doesn't really make sense with the current line of displays (even the 30" i'm typing on) and new displays don't make sense with current resolutions.
And last, higher resolutions don't make sens without resolution independance.
Emmanuel

I'm betting Apple will still revamp their current line of displays, possibly with built-in iSight cameras. As for resolution independence, there's plenty of applications for it now with current displays. Think public terminals based on 30" LCD panels, applications for the vision-impaired, etc.. I'm not doing as much of it these days, but as an A/V installer doing everything from home theatre to public info kiosks, libraries, etc.. resolution independence is long-overdue! For those of us with good eyesight, we will have to wait for upcoming HD-TFT displays, possibly available by the end of this year, but they will shift the current LCD screen tech from ~100 dpi to 220 dpi and higher. I sit approximately 38" away from my dual 30" displays and still can see every pixel just fine. But those upcoming 32" panels from both Samsung and LG (both vendors Apple uses for their ACDs along with Dell and others), 4K displays with LED backlighting and single UDI connectors are less than a year away. ...I hope.

Jeff Kilgroe

01-09-2007, 09:07 AM

The bummer is that we won't see too much pro line stuff until NAB. New Mac Pros wouldn't surprise me, but all the relevant goodies will stay under wraps until Vegas.

Final Cut Pro and the rest of the Pro apps won't get their big update until NAB. But at least it's not too far off. I don't really care, I'm going to limp along with what I have until my RED is about to ship. Then I will buy the biggest baddest system (or two) that I can round up. I'm hoping for 8-core Mac Pro using Tigertown (unified quad-core, not two Woodies on one die like Clovertown, faster FSB), 16GB RAM, SLI video... Hopefully we'll see that late '07 - which is when I'm expecting my RED One. :D

Jarred Land

01-09-2007, 09:08 AM

Sanjin Jukic

01-09-2007, 09:40 AM

Apple debuts iTv as "Apple TV" which can receive movies wireless to display movies on TV. WiFi networking. HDMI connector. Component cable. Up to 720p HD Vide. 40GB drive to store video. Three networking standards: g + b + n. Intel-based processor. Works with video, music, photos. Autosync content from one computer. Stream content from up to five computers. It will automatically sync most recent movies and be stored on the hard drive. Streaming will not store on Apple TV hard drive. Features a very simple Apple Remote. Can wirelessly surf trailers wireless connected to internet. Front-like interface allows live streaming from Apple.com (show's 'The Good Shepard' trailer) and Zoolander movie and Heroes TV show and various songs.

--------------

Apple TV suppose to be a good device to watch dailies, rushes or daily rushes shot with the RED ONE. Apple TV will be priced at $299. Will ship in February.

IAN SUN

01-09-2007, 09:44 AM

Wohooo!

Wide screen ipod!
Wohoooo!

i buy i buy

Show my RED movies Wohooo!

Brook Willard

01-09-2007, 09:44 AM

Widescreen iPod and mobile phone... well I'm happy. :D
[edit: wait, it's all one device. iPod, iPhone and "internet communicator"]

IAN SUN

01-09-2007, 09:47 AM

wide screen iPod bundled with "smart phone" tech.
interesting.

IAN SUN

01-09-2007, 09:52 AM

check it
http://media.macrumorslive.com/p/1168364876-thumb.jpg

IAN SUN

01-09-2007, 09:54 AM

OMFG!

Runs OS X...

Sanjin Jukic

01-09-2007, 09:55 AM

On the set with iPhone you can talk with your boss, with your workers, with your darling, with your mother, with your bank...etc...it is very smart and very easy to use. iPhone uses Mac OS X. Power management, networking, security, apps, Core Animation, audio/video. Built into iPhone. Allows creation of desktop-class applications...3.5-inch screen with 160 pixels per inch (ppi). Single 'home' button. Thinner than any other phone at 11.6mm volume controls. Two megapixel camera built-in on back. Headset jack (3.5mm) and Sleep/wake button on top. Speaker, microphone, iPod connector on bottom. Proxmity sensor to turn off screen and touch sensor when you put it close your head. Ambient light sensor to turn down/screen. And the acceleromter to determine landscape/portrait orientation. Includes coverflow technology...The 4GB model is $499. 8GB model for $599 --both with 2 year contract. Will ship in June in US. Europe in Q4. Asia next year (2008).

----------

Also could be useful device on the production set with the RED ONE. Maybe could be connected with the RED ONE camera to become external wireless LCD for director or producer or even a whole crew on the set!!??

COULD BE CONNECTED TO YOUR RED ONE CAMERA WIRELESS USING iPHONE AS A REMOTE CONTROL WITH 16:9 LCD DISPLAY MODE!!!???

Brook Willard

01-09-2007, 09:58 AM

But can you run REDCINE on it?

IAN SUN

01-09-2007, 09:59 AM

Sweeet!

http://media.macrumorslive.com/p/1168365240-thumb.jpg

IAN SUN

01-09-2007, 10:02 AM

acceleromoter, device flips aspect ratio automatically as you rotate it.
http://media.macrumorslive.com/p/1168365431-thumb.jpg

Jeff Kilgroe

01-09-2007, 10:03 AM

8 cores will help our cause tremendously, as long as the aps can harness the power. I personally am a little dissapointed that the CPU guys have dropped getting higher MHZ and just switching to more cores, because many applications like photoshop wont be able to split the processing... it was nice back in the day when our CPU's doubled in speed every 2 years.

As a long-time multiprocessor user, it's nice to finally see the CPU makers taking this route. It will force software developers to finally step up and make use of multiple processors. As for photoshop, the CS3 beta appears to be using 2 cores most of the time and some tasks seem to scale to 4, so Adobe has really re-written large portions of it. Hopefully we'll see all the plug-ins out there being adapted to multiple cores and 64bit computing environments soon.

The main reason for the shift from gaining more MHz to increasing the number of cores is that CPU makers have hit a wall. With current materials and manufacture processes, even with the upcoming 45nm die shrink, 3GHz is about the maximum speed attainable. IBM and Intel both figured (about 6 years ago) that CPU speeds could reach as high as 5 to 7 GHz, but that proved to be false. AMD thinks they can push CPU speeds as high as 10GHz by shifting over from silicon to a micro-laminant of gold on a carbon nano-structure surface. Preliminary lab tests on individual micro-circuits seem to confirm this, but it's still several years off. ...Somewhat akin to IBM's lab tests several years back where they were spelling IBM by arranging individual atoms of gold and tungsten on a carbon or silicon surface.

IMO, multiple CPU cores should hae been a natural part of CPU evolution years ago. But the rapid increase in MHz over the past 10 years forced CPU makers to only focus on that aspect of development. Many other advancements such as more efficient data pipes, multiple cores, layered interconnects, etc.. were all pushed to the back burner because throttling the MHz was the cheap and easy way to double performance every 8 months.

As the software community and compiler tools finally come around to support the new multi-core paradigm (properly, I should add), we will once again start to see large performance gains with every new CPU revision. Eventually the number of cores will hit a wall too (Intel is predicting about 80 to 100 cores, AMD says 40 to 60). At that point, manufacturers will have to look to newer technologies, materials and manufacture processes to continue advancing CPU tech. IMO, the next big evolutionary step will be quantum computing and atomic circuits. Instead of flipping and storing bits alectrical charges within transistor "cells", we will be changing the phase and or polarity of ionized tungsten atoms inside of a carbon lattice (patent pending ;) ).

Ace

01-09-2007, 10:26 AM

IAN SUN

01-09-2007, 10:27 AM

Damn you Steve Jobs, how much!!??!!

http://media.macrumorslive.com/p/1168365660-thumb.jpg

Oh boy, is gonna eat into my RED budget.

Steve Jobs: "this is a revolution of the first order"
Have agree with Mr. Super Amazing, like the RED ONE this product is going to completely redefine the market.

Good news for us RED MACofiles, hopefully they will invest some of the oceans of loot they are going to make on this device into displays and computers. More power more rez.

Jeff Kilgroe

01-09-2007, 10:30 AM

...I just re-did my contract with Verizon as I had to get a new phone and bluetooth headset. I guess I should've toughed-it-out and waited another month. Dammit.

Heh. I'll probably buy one anyway. :D

Stephen Webb

01-09-2007, 10:48 AM

$599 for 8GB version, $499 for 4GB.

Have to say I'm speechless. This thing looks stunning.

Jim, for the first time in a year, your thunder's been stolen!

Brook Willard

01-09-2007, 10:49 AM

No, it won't ship until June.

IAN SUN

01-09-2007, 10:49 AM

8GB model - $599
4GB model - $499

not baaad.....

wait a sec... thats with a Cingular 2 year contract, in the US.
boo

http://media.macrumorslive.com/p/1168368482-thumb.jpg

Blaine Golden

01-09-2007, 10:50 AM

Jeff Kilgroe

01-09-2007, 10:56 AM

I'm in that boat, too. :(

Now the question I have... What about a widescreen iPod with hard drive storage? ...Probably not a phone model?

Come on, Steve! ..."one more thing."

IAN SUN

01-09-2007, 10:58 AM

Now the question I have... What about a widescreen iPod with hard drive storage? ...Probably not a phone model?

Come on, Steve! ..."one more thing."

I hear that... i want one now!

Ace

01-09-2007, 11:01 AM

Well with all the new products, they've changed their name from Apple Computer to just Apple.. figures!

Jason Francois

01-09-2007, 11:02 AM

I've been waiting to get a new cingular phone. I was going to get the blackjack, but to hell with that. Mac users should finally have any easier phone to integrate with email, calendars, etc. Cool!!

Ace

01-09-2007, 11:05 AM

If Apple captures 1% of the yearly phone sales, thats 10,000,000 phones. They're aiming for ipod like penetration. This is gonna get interesting for Apple..

Jeff Kilgroe

01-09-2007, 11:10 AM

Apple will pull it off if they can get the price down over the next couple years and if it just works the way Steve demonstrated.

Ignas K

01-09-2007, 11:10 AM

Apple iphone... Speechless... The stuff they have managed to pack in that thing. Phenomenal.

The thing has got me MOST excited is the multitouch display. I cant begin to imagine how this will change the way we interface with computers when adapted to larger screens. Think of Minority report.

2007 will be a good year.

I like the interface idea too.

I found this: http://ted.com/tedtalks/tedtalksplayer.cfm?key=j_han

very similar to minority report indeed.

//

But the iPhone arrives to europe only Q4 - boo

.

Brook Willard

01-09-2007, 11:12 AM

No iLife, iWork, Mac Pro, etc... it's a one-product [tv] show considering that the iPhone won't ship for months.

I expect the rest of the products to trickle out over the coming weeks.

Jeff Kilgroe

01-09-2007, 11:16 AM

No iLife, iWork, Mac Pro, etc... it's a one-product [?tv] show considering that the iPhone won't ship for months.

I expect the rest of the products to trickle out over the coming weeks.

I'm betting iWork and iLife won't get their '07 update until Leopard ships - which is probably 2 to 4 months away. Mac Pro may get a minor spec bump, but it already got one in November (750GB HDs, RAM adjustment). We'll probably see revamped Mac Pro at NAB along with the updated pro apps.

Ace

01-09-2007, 11:17 AM

I like the interface idea too.

I found this: http://ted.com/tedtalks/tedtalksplayer.cfm?key=j_han

very similar to minority report indeed.

.

Yep! Thats gonna be on the new iphone. Unbelievable stuff. The fact that it also runs OSX blows my mind even more so, possiblities are endless. One could program all sorts of interface devices that would mimick real world analogue controls. Imagine having all your electronic manual controls to the RED camera on one clean screen.. Simultaneously adjusting all controls through multitouch.

I can just imagine the electronic follow focus apps that one could code.. Exciting times indeed.

DJ's are also going to get a kick out of this. One could program all sorts of musical sequencing interfaces with this stuff.

Ignas K

01-09-2007, 11:18 AM

I was so sure Ill get iLife, iWork, Mac Pro updated...
maybe its done and well see it when apple.com will be updated, instead Steve wanted to concentrate on iPhone only as it needs more attention..
love iPhone!
2year contracts - not that much.

Jeff Kilgroe

01-09-2007, 11:20 AM

AirPort was updated - new Extreme model in the same form factor as AppleTV. ...Not mentioned in keynote. Looks to be some other additions to Apple's store too.

Jeff Kilgroe

01-09-2007, 11:24 AM

Somewhat OT, but when is Apple going to update their XServe RAID configs and pricing. Good grief.

Sanjin Jukic

01-09-2007, 11:24 AM

Steve Jobs at the end of his Macworld Expo Keynote January 2007: "We're announcing today that we're dropping the 'Computer' from our name, and from this day forward we're going to be known as Apple Inc."

So no new computers and displays at the moment.

IAN SUN

01-09-2007, 11:27 AM

Yep! Thats gonna be on the new iphone. Unbelievable stuff. The fact that it also runs OSX blows my mind even more so, possiblities are endless. One could program all sorts of interface devices that would mimick real world analogue controls. Imagine having all your electronic manual controls to the RED camera on one clean screen.. Simultaneously adjusting all controls through multitouch.

I can just imagine the electronic follow focus apps that one could code.. Exciting times indeed.

DJ's are also going to get a kick out of this. One could program all sorts of musical sequencing interfaces with this stuff.

This is going to be an incredible boon to developers. Wish I could code.

*controller for Bluetooth follow focus device*

Jeff Kilgroe

01-09-2007, 11:33 AM

This is going to be an incredible boon to developers. Wish I could code.

*Bluetooth follow focus device*

We'll see...

Apple has yet to release an iPod SDK of any type and plenty of us out here would love to code games and small apps for the iPod. It's rather frustrating, the only iPod games out there right now are recycled crap which Apple has either produced in-house or approached specific developers themselves to obtain them.

Ace

01-09-2007, 11:36 AM

We'll see...

Apple has yet to release an iPod SDK of any type and plenty of us out here would love to code games and small apps for the iPod. It's rather frustrating, the only iPod games out there right now are recycled crap which Apple has either produced in-house or approached specific developers themselves to obtain them.

Seeing their move to OSX on handheld devices, Im guessing the native ipod OS will be dropped.

You could always install Linux on an ipod!

Jeff Kilgroe

01-09-2007, 12:02 PM

You could always install Linux on an ipod!

Yep. And it's been done... Quite a hacker movement already in place with games like pong, tetris and asteroids. But not commercially viable.

As for OSX [mobile] on the new iPhone and presumably future iPods, we can only hope that Xcode will include SDK elements and compiler tools for the new mobile devices. Just because it's "OS X" doesn't mean it's any easier to develop for. Apple still has to deliver the goods and I think they will be somewhat controlling of the iPhone. Especially due to any agreements with Cingular.

Ace

01-09-2007, 12:14 PM

Forget pong and tetris, I've seen Doom2 on the ipod. I digress..

So the new Apple TV has an Intel processor. But they wont say what kind of processor it is. At $299, and a few hacks, these things could possibly be clustered in the 10's for a decent processing farm..

Ace

01-09-2007, 12:19 PM

Actually scrap that. Bad idea.

Jeff Kilgroe

01-09-2007, 12:27 PM

Actually scrap that. Bad idea.

Yep. Bad idea. I think the CPU is an ARM variant, probably one of the newer 800~1200 Mhz XScale embedded CPUs. It's not a Core Solo or Core Duo series x86 chip. The thing is just a bigger iPod on steroids that you can connect to your TV.

As for the whole Linux / Doom2 on iPod, yeah... It works. The 5G iPod has been hacked to run Linux and a special iPod / mobile port of Doom2. Kinda cool, but is a great way to totally futz your iPod.

Don Woods

01-09-2007, 12:53 PM

I don't want to wait untill June. The onlything that sucks is I will have to switch from verizon to cingular... But hell. I don't like those network guys that much anyway.

IAN SUN

01-09-2007, 12:58 PM

Oh well I guess no HDD version cause they wanna to keep the form factor thin like a runway model on smack.

CVB

01-09-2007, 01:12 PM

Nice looking phone.. http://www.engadget.com/photos/first-iphone-pics/

IAN SUN

01-09-2007, 01:14 PM

mmm, on second thought, with only 8gigs tops, this seems to violate the iPod "take all your music pics and videos with you" philosophy. look for a 60+ gig HDD version down the road. Maybe with a bigger screen sans phone?

Joe Carney

01-09-2007, 01:42 PM

160dpi lcd is pretty darn cool.

Jeff Kilgroe

01-09-2007, 02:59 PM

Oh well I guess no HDD version cause they wanna to keep the form factor thin like a runway model on smack.

My guess is that there will be a widescreen HDD version sometime in the next few months. They can't simply shuffle all iPod users who want the new widescreen display over to a 4GB / 8GB model while also forcing them to have integrated phone and expect it to fly. My guess is that such a new iPod wasn't announced because Apple wants all the media and consumer focus on Apple TV and iPhone and nothing else right now.

I'm intrigued by the iPhone and may consider switching, but that's doubtful. I'm with Verizon because it gives me the best coverage everywhere I go. Unfortunately, I travel into a lot of areas still that are dead to GSM and Cingular / AT&T with their "all over network" still has a long way to go to truly be "all over". It's slowly getting better and I'll definitely consider it when my current contract is up in another 23 months. As cool as the iPhone looks to be, I'm not about to pay $350 to buy my two lines out of the current contract and sign up for yet another contract. I'll just live with my current phone and buy a widescree/touchscreen iPod once they put an HDD or at least 24GB of storage into it.

Roxco

01-09-2007, 03:09 PM

Let see at 3.5 inches and 160 ppi that's 540 pixels verses 4520 for RED.

So you would need over 8 iPhones just to see one frame at full rez.

Oh well, maybe I can stream over iTV and see a decent image. ;)

Rosco

Sproketz

01-09-2007, 03:19 PM

Overall there wasn't much to Jobs keynote in terms of new products available now or even soon. Usually Jobs doesn't talk about products 6 months out so I am guessing he needed to have SOMETHING to announce or maybe the stock needed a bump.

The phone looks very nice but I am guessing it's not that close to finished. They badly need to deliver a widescreen video iPod. If the screen on the iPhone was ready now, they might have launched a new video iPod first. At 4 and 8 gig, the new phone can't hold that much video. No new iPod means the screen isn't ready yet, and hopefully Apple will get a new iPod out sooner than the phone delivery date.

Don Woods

01-09-2007, 03:44 PM

Well we Mac world is always the consumer side. Wait for the NAB pre show keynote. That will blow your mind. And if you can make it to the keynote it usally free and worth going. I went to the one two years ago and it is almost worth the NAB trip it self.

IAN SUN

01-09-2007, 04:30 PM

Do you know offhand when it's scheduled this year?

Don Woods

01-09-2007, 05:53 PM

it is usally the sunday before opening day. Just right before NAB start searching around the apple site.. Or sing up for the events news letter. Last year I didn't find the register link until about two days before. I singed up me and 4 friends. They put us on a waiting list and me and another friend got singed up and the others didn't make the cut. So as soon as it up I will post on here.. Last year they didn't have an event. But logic says this year they will be releasing at least an upgrade to the studio. So should be good times. Oh and free food and Champane after.

Scott Webster

01-09-2007, 06:02 PM

Poi Boy

01-09-2007, 08:43 PM

8 gigs does not seem like much but what an incredible device ! this will make Apple and cingular a boat load of money. I am sure a high capacity I pod with the same form factor will ship before the June release of the phone. WOW !
Aloha
-A

Jarred Land

01-09-2007, 09:02 PM

im guessing the only thing apple is waiting for is FCC approval.. and if they can escalate that, we might see it sooner.

Don Woods

01-09-2007, 09:49 PM

True. And also I would not be suprised to see more 3rd party partners as shipping becomes closer.

Poi Boy

01-09-2007, 09:53 PM

As far as the iphone goes I think it is exclusive to Singular till 2009...bummer. I am certain however that you will see new 40gig ipods before June.
Aloha
-A

Rob Lohman

01-10-2007, 03:03 AM

Regarding games, they can make some interesting games with that user interface. A bit like Nintendo DS (is that the right one I'm thinking of?). Had some fun with a Wii + Projector + Friend last night. Loved the golf game. Hopefully the phone will get some innovative games too.

REDHKSC

01-10-2007, 04:12 AM

What about 4K to iPhone to blew everyone away in a Tiny 3.5" screen ?

RED Apple puts me to the 3rd degree!!!! WOW !

STEWART CHONG
Founder
WOW Holdings
HKG / CHINA / Taiwan / Thailand / India / Sweden

Founder
REDHKSC.ORG

REDHKSC

01-10-2007, 04:25 AM

im guessing the only thing apple is waiting for is FCC approval.. and if they can escalate that, we might see it sooner.

President George W. BUSH has stated that he enjoys his country music with his iPod !!!!

No problems It will be a American Standard, at least I am from Hong Kong of CHINA to believe that will happen VERY SOON.

Stewart

PaulClements

01-10-2007, 05:18 AM

Apple iPhone - the top of all muggers hitlists this June!

I actually don't think it looks quite as nice as the ipods for some reason, looks good, don't get me wrong. Phones are always overcomplicated compared to the simplicity of the Ipod but if it works well then i don't suppose that's an issue.

I always thought that when Apple made the iPhone they might include something like a wifi adapter in it that when at home could connect to your local wifi and call over the web for free ala skype or google talk. Seems a missed opportunity if it doesn't have some sort of feature like this. Even having an adapter that links to a normal home phone wirelessly and uses that connection when you are nearby would've been a good idea. It always annoys me that I have a landline I pay to use a mobile I pay to use and free online service (That I pay to use if I phone landlines or mobiles) I'd love to see an invention that combines all three dependent on your location leaving you with just one bill to pay, only then would VOIP become a truly viable communication solution as large percentages of individuals would own the equipment to use it because it's built into their phone already.

Milan Nikolic

01-10-2007, 06:10 AM

What is going on with APPLE 50" TFT monitor? Should we wait for NAB? What HD resolution? Compatible with RED
video out interfaces?
Any ideas or rumors?

Craig Schober

01-10-2007, 06:28 AM

Jeff Kilgroe

01-10-2007, 08:02 AM

What is going on with APPLE 50" TFT monitor? Should we wait for NAB? What HD resolution? Compatible with RED
video out interfaces?
Any ideas or rumors?

Well it's all just rumors... Apple doesn't develop or manufacture TFT panels and/or lighting systems, so I guess we just wait to see which one (if any) they use. Most of the big panel makers (Samsung, LG, Hitachi) are showing 4K+ panels in the 46" to 52" range at CES. Apple uses panels from all three of those manufacturers in their various ACD models. My vote goes to the 46" 5760x3600 panel from Samsung with LED backlight system. Although I'd like to keep my desktop monitors at 32" or less if I could... But with the higher resolutions and UDI interfaces coming up later this year, I could easily switch from dual 30" to a single display.

Simon Blackledge

01-10-2007, 08:30 AM

So if it's not FCC cleared.. how did he use it to make a call ? faked?

was considering the Apple TV.. mainly for ease of putting music in front room with a visual control of whats playng.. but I see its only 720p for vids.and the photos are AppleTV rez.. :-( there's always something!..

Sanjin Jukic

01-10-2007, 12:01 PM

"... the iPhone CPU is a single-core, ultra low-voltage edition of the Core Solo using the P1265 process to achieve its goals."
http://www.macnn.com/articles/07/01/10/zdnet.critics.bash.iphone/

Damien Molineaux

01-10-2007, 02:51 PM

So if it's not FCC cleared.. how did he use it to make a call ? faked?

It will still work even if it's not FCC approved. Cingular gave 'em a few sim cards for the demo.

Gavin Greenwalt

01-12-2007, 04:40 PM

- $500
- No 3rd Party Apps
- Extremely limited video codec support
- No Handwriting Recognition
- No expandability

Pass. I'll take a PocketPC.

Sanjin Jukic

01-13-2007, 05:42 AM

- $500
- No 3rd Party Apps
- Extremely limited video codec support
- No Handwriting Recognition
- No expandability

Pass. I'll take a PocketPC.

Said a PC guy and took a PocketPC. Like in the Apple TV ads. Get an iPhone.

Martin Drew

01-13-2007, 08:38 AM

one of its features is that it does automatically connect to local wifi networks detected and switch over to that. i'm sure they looked into skype-like solutions but found them too unreliable and kloogy for a targeted mass market product that's supposed to be slick.

They would probably impliment iChat rather than Skype. Given that it is there own app, they could make it as slick as they want. I suspect it has more to do with having Cingular as a partner, They aren't going to be too keen on telecoms over WiFi.

Martin

Jared VanLeuven

01-14-2007, 07:25 PM

But EDGE is sooooo slooooowwwww, I'm so hoping they up it to 3G before the real launch. Seriously, EDGE is like dial-up.

I always wanted a lickable phone.

Poi Boy

01-14-2007, 07:44 PM

Martin Drew

01-15-2007, 02:20 AM

Who wouldn't want one...it is like sex ! my treo cost the same and isn't anywhere near as good.I've heard lots of detractors, it won't do this, it won't do that; They will sell every unit they can make.
Aloha
-A

Agreed. I am in the queue. Doesn't stop me wanting more though, real pain that they made it so closed.

Here is an interesting project too.
www.regdeveloper.co.uk/2007/01/15/open_phone/
It isn't a direct alternative to the iPhone because it will appeal to a different market segment but I do like the whole Linux angle, in many ways it is closer to the stated Red ethic of openess.

M

Damien Molineaux

01-15-2007, 03:42 AM

- $500
- No 3rd Party Apps
- Extremely limited video codec support
- No Handwriting Recognition
- No expandability

Pass. I'll take a PocketPC.

The iPhone is not as revolutionary as most seem to think, it's just that Archos are even worse than Apple use to be at promoting their products. They have a line called "Pocket Media Assistant" with WiFi, okay they use a pen not fingers, but use Linux (ie. open source! and there are a lot of free plugins, such as something resembling Skype allowing you to call via WiFi!), allow the recording of video from an analog input and have 30 GB of HD. Sadly this line has been replaced by a new line, which doesn't run Linux so is less open, the video recorder is not integrated anymore, but the screen is bigger, similar to the iPhone. A friend of mine has been using an Archos PMA 400 very happily for quite some time, it is amazing!

Cheers,
Damien

PS These are available right now, I'm trying to find one of the PMA 400s before they run out.

Häakon

01-15-2007, 06:51 AM

But EDGE is sooooo slooooowwwww, I'm so hoping they up it to 3G before the real launch. Seriously, EDGE is like dial-up.

I always wanted a lickable phone.

EDGE does suck, but the phone has integrated WiFi, so if you've got a wireless connection around you can get broadband speed to your phone (and best of all, not have to pay for any "data plan" fees to use it).

Gavin Greenwalt

01-15-2007, 09:47 AM

The iPhone is not as revolutionary as most seem to think, it's just that Archos are even worse than Apple use to be at promoting their products. They have a line called "Pocket Media Assistant" with WiFi, okay they use a pen not fingers, but use Linux (ie. open source! and there are a lot of free plugins, such as something resembling Skype allowing you to call via WiFi!), allow the recording of video from an analog input and have 30 GB of HD. Sadly this line has been replaced by a new line, which doesn't run Linux so is less open, the video recorder is not integrated anymore, but the screen is bigger, similar to the iPhone. A friend of mine has been using an Archos PMA 400 very happily for quite some time, it is amazing!

Cheers,
Damien

PS These are available right now, I'm trying to find one of the PMA 400s before they run out.

Hell, even LG announced a phone a few months ago that's pretty much identical:
http://www.slashphone.com/media/data/904/ke850-1.jpg
http://www.slashphone.com/89/6073.html