Hey kids! Get ready to jump around like blithering technophile idiots once again, says Dan Jones of Unstrung. The 3G iPhone, coming July 11, is expected to be the main attraction at Apple’s developers’ conference at 9am (PDT) Monday. You can watch it live on Engadget and Gizmodo which have live coverage as well as Apple’s streaming video site.
The price is expected to be $199, down from the current $399 and $499, with AT&T kicking in a couple hundred dollars to make the devices more affordable.
So far, Apple has sold just over 5 million phones. That pales in comparison with competitors. Windows Mobile, which provides software for phones from HTC, Samsung, Palm and others, says it will sell 20 million phones this year.
About 1 billion cellphones are sold every year. No. 1 manufacturer Nokia, for instance, sells more cellphones in a week than Apple has shipped to date, notes USA Today. According to researcher Gartner, Nokia sold 435 million cellphones in 2007. The “real verdict” on the iPhone’s success hasn’t been reached, say some observers. “The numbers are too small to call a home run.”
With a data plan, consumers pay an additional monthly charge — usually $15 to $25 — for access to the Internet on their phones, adding greatly to the carrier’s bottom line.
Jobs says location services is going to be a really big deal on the 3G iPhone. “We get location from celltowers, from WiFi, and now we get it from GPS.” So that’s A-GPS. “We can actually do tracking.”
“The big news, I’m happy to tell you, the 8GB will sell for $199. We think the iPhone 3G will be affordable to almost everyone. 16GB model for $299 — for that model we have a white one.”
Consumers will now pay $30 a month for unlimited data service from AT&T, compared to $20/month last year. Voice service starts at $40 a month. Business users will pay $45 per month for data, in addition to a voice plan. The $199 iPhone requires a two year contract. So the 3G iPhone will cost a minimum of $70/month in addition to the $199 sticker from AT&T - fairly typical smartphone pricing.
AT&T Video Share could be a featured attraction. Video Share allows users to share live video over wireless phones while on a voice call. The application is enabled with AT&T’s HSUPA upgrade for faster upstream speeds. [NOTE: A commenter may be right about this service not being a big deal for the new iPhone]
Sling Media, makers of the Slingbox place-shifting TV device, is also building a version of its SlingPlayer software for the iPhone and iPod touch for remote video access and streaming.
Jobs is also expected to demonstrate some third-party iPhone applications, says Technology Review, which could include games that use the phone’s accelerometer as a control, new mapping software, and quick ways to update profiles on social networks such as Facebook or MySpace.
Platial’s iPhone application could map out 150 million pieces of user-supplied location-based data while Pelago will offer a version of its software, called Whrrl. The software enables “social discovery”. Whrrl proposes new places to explore or activities to try, using the iPhone’s map and self-location features, as well as information about the prior activities of the user’s friends.
Vollee, a 3G streaming services provider, began offering a free, open beta version of Second Life for cell phones. It’s available for 40 Wi-Fi-enabled and 3G cell phones with more handset compatibility coming soon. Including the iPhone.
Apple’s App Store is the only way to get official third-party iPhone applications onto your device. Developers have been submitting their applications to Apple for testing and verification since the iPhone SDK became available, this March.
Data from M:Metrics indicates that iPhone users are data junkies. iPhone users spent just 46.5% of their time on the device making calls, compared to 71.7% for the typical cell phone user.
Could the iTouch be enhanced with a WiMAX chip from Sequans? Well, yes it could. Don’t plan on it today, though.
Maybe that’s what Samsung’s Omnia is all about. It features WiFi, 7.2Mbps HSDPA, GPS, microSD, FM radio, a wide screen for videos, a 5 megapixel camera and runs Windows Mobile. It will be unveiled at the CommunicAsia trade fair in Singapore starting June 17.
But will it enable Android apps?
“Our motto is “Think Different.” Not “Stand in line like a bunch of friggin sheep.” Comprende? You know what? I hate each and every one of you. There. I said it. I’ve wanted to say that for years and now I have. You smug pricks, you phony hippies, thinking you’re all so cool and smart and hip because you’re sitting there at an Apple event when really you’re just a bunch of poser frigtards…”