yeh nice i want one. .

having now seen the keynote in full, I have to say it's nice. Also prices mentioned in the keynote (4Gb $499 and 8Gb $599) seemed to hint at retail price, not subsidised price.

Don't forget appleTV too!!

Hi,

I am constantly amazed by the way in which Apple and Google can succeed in generating so much media attention. If any other company had announced a phone like the one Apple is demonstrating do you really think it would generate so much interest.

Funny how the LG KE850 aka the Prada seems to look remarkablely similar to what Apple demonstrated

http://www.myiphone.com/the-prada-ph...cial-18239.php

and what's more it goes on sale at the end of February in Europe. Strange how it has got so little press and Apple so much.

Also have a look at synaptics and their concept phone, also remarkably similar to the Apple offering and their multitouch technology is also licenced to Samsung.

http://www.myiphone.com/onyx-concept...e850-17234.php

Watch the video and see what I mean.

http://www.synaptics.com/onyx/

So apart from an Apple's pretty interface, which has already been replicated as a skin for Windows mobile devices and Blackberries why exactly should I be excited ?

As for the Apple tv it really does not compare to existing solutions and why would I want it tied to iTunes with a small harddisk ?

Have fun

Martin

The Prada has too many hard buttons

A skin does not make the functionality the same; the sheer thought that has gone into the interface and how people want to use it frankly makes it look awesome.

And appleTV will steam from its own disk, from an iTunes PC and from the interweb.

And I own nothing of apple. How I wish I'd gotten some shares in the 90s

The RAZR user interface is complete garbage. You can spend ages typing an sms message, and there is no way of saving it as a draft unless you have identified the recipient. Not obvious.

Additionally if you run out of message memory while typing a message, you have no way to send or save the text you have written.

Changing the network or ring tone involves several keypresses, the external switches are stupid and not fully assignable.

The camera requires several keypresses to save a picture, when I'm sure most people would want to save it first.

The unit is fragile and the small exterior display fails frequently (which is not helped by the leatherette case with a metal stud strategically placed to crack it).

To summarise: its crap.

The touchscreen on the iphone is also a mistake in my opinion. Personal objects require some tactile feedback, unless you are going to be looking at them all the time. I think Nokia had the right idea with the user interface all along.

dave

the Motorola UI has always, in my opinion, been a big let-down.

Having owned a pronto remote control for years, I know the pitfalls of the screen and lack of hard buttons but when I do something on my phone then I usually look at it.

I'd imagine you can answer the iPhone simply by putting it to your ear

hehe, i enjoyed the keynote too. isnt it surprising that the ceo´s of cingular, yahoo, and google are all such poor public speakers, especially the cingular guy with his little white note papers, haha.

apple tv might be great sometime in the future, but i dont think its all that useful here in europe compared to the states, unless some of the USA itunes functionality comes to europe... more movies and tv shows... in HDTV!!!

well, i was just trying to be polite, haha. uncommonly restrained.

Fair enough, each man to himself. but for my money, those products you mention are rubbish compared to the iphone. i wouldnt take these products for free to be honest... rather just have a small normal phone. but the apple will receive my hard earned for sure for their little gem.

for those who appreciate both the subtle and the not so subtle, the iphone is not "remarkably similar" to anything that you have shown. i also dont think that anyone will be replicating the iphone interface just yet.

Hi,

I suppose I never been that impressed by the Apple products that I have used so that has influenced my viewpoint. I tried the mini Mac but I would the interface was getting in my way of me using the computer. I just did not feel in control and I felt it was controlling me. Speaking to other people it is a common feeling with the Mac. The difference between the people who don't like the user experience and the ones who like it is they tend to like the feeling that the computer is hiding "complexity" from them.

Also the way that Apple uses bundling of software and tieing of products (iTunes and iPod) annoys me as that was found to be illegal in the USA. They just get away with stuff that other companies can not and are held up as shining example.

Also the whole ipod stuff was hardly revolutionary as the market had already been created by Creative (they even created the menu that the iPod uses---Apple had to pay then $100 because they had infringed their copyright).

I suppose also that current phone already does more than the proposed Apple phone and I have had for a year and it is easy to use.

Sorry I just can't get excited about this product which seems to be a frankenstein merger of different product types. Though it is primarily a new iPod with phone functionality.

I am glad you will be happy with it.

Martin

apple business is not about being innovative but to put existing technology to work for people, not the other way around. this fact makes apple products to appear completely NEW. companies like Creative never created a market because their products were UNUSABLE and well...primitive.

well i guess that is all relevant because the "operating system" on mac computers called OS X is also going to be used on the Iphone. i suppose that real gadget lovers will be more excited about the iphone than those who just want a simple, working, available phone.

its funny, most people i know who made the switch to mac, said that they would never consider going back to windows. but then again, my gf cant seem to get hold of the mac, so theres both sides. even i was a mac hater of sorts before i suddenly saw the light haha.

Hi,

I have to say I am a bit of a gadget fan, when they prove that they are useful and can help me. I had one of the first palm devices and one of the first pocket pcs. I just got myself and mp3 player as it has taken a long time for me to justify buying one....it is not an Apple player as I wanted one that would support all formats.

I don't hate the Mac and it clearly has a dedicated set of followers, I just have problems seeing what all the fuss is about. My phone is pretty sophisticated and already does more than the apple phone can do and it was considerably cheaper as well.

By the way did you see that it looks like Apple has a potential 50& profit margin on the proposed phone which means there is a large scope for price reductions.

Martin

I also saw that people getting interested in this fact (the story is doing well on digg.com right now). Surely this is the case for almost every product out there when you compare raw costs to consumer cost? All the R&D needs to be paid for, plus the middle men and shareholders need their slice, which is where the other 50% goes. I'm no economist, so someone please correct me if I'm wrong, but as far as I'm concerned, this stat' means nothing.

indeed; phsyical manufacture -vs- all that effort and "missing dinners with the family".

You'll be telling me next that a Rolls Royce only cost 42'000 francs to build but of course retails at 250'000 or something

Hi,

very true and in the clothes industry the margins are even greater however, in the case of mobile phones it is very unusual. Also look at the big hit that Sony takes on each PS3 sold. They lose 100's of US $. The XBOX 360 also sold at a cost lower than the build price, though it is now meant to be profitable in terms of hardware sales.

A lot of people are concerned by the destruction of the traditonal consumer markets by very lost cost ie. low margin phones. Look at the quality of cameras being added to phones. At first a joke but now becoming they compete, with much lower margins and they are starting to erode the traditional camera market.

So it is pretty unusual what Apple is doing in this market segment

Martin

Not a hardcore Apple worshipper here but Apple deserves full credit for it's marketing and design skills.

Hi,

I agree they are very good marketing company and very good at designing hardware.

If you have not seen this it is amusing. It is a video of what would happen if MS had marketed the ipod

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aeXAcwriid0

If you look at the Zune packaging clearly the video had the desired effect

Have fun

Martin

anyone with an interest in informing themselves about what the iphone can do and how it can do it should take the time to actually watch steve jobs keynote address...

http://www.apple.com/quicktime/qtv/mwsf07/

have you seen this basellife...? would like to have your opinion once you have!!! By the way, thanks for the youtube link... very funny !!

Hi,

yes, I did watch the keynote. In fact I followed the live blogging of the keynote. So my opinion is based on what I saw. Steve Jobs is great show man I just happen to think that it just a new ipod that can also be used to make some calls but that it's primary job is a music plazer. I have been using a smartphone for many years and the only limitation I have is that I wish the battery life was better. My phone is easy to use so I expect I am not one of target customers. I don't expect business users of blackberries are going to be particularly interested.

To be perfectly honest some of the news coming out of CES was more interesting to me as it actually dealt with solutions to real problems I have at the moment.

All the best

Martin