Apple Takes iPhone to Next Level
17 June 2008- Price Cut to $199 for 8GB Model
- Twice as Fast 3G iPhone at Half the Price
- SDK Downloads Top 250,000
- Debuts MobileMe - ‘Exchange for the rest of us’
About 12 months after the iPhone hit the market to a gushing chorus of “oohs and aahs,” Apple marked the first anniversary with the launch of a new, faster 3G iPhone at half the price on Monday at the Moscone Center in San Francisco.
Worst Secret
That Apple would launch a 3G iPhone at its developers’ conference was, of course, the world’s worst kept secret. And had Apple CEO Steve Jobs failed to introduce the new iPhone, surely there would have been an uprising on the streets of San Francisco and in the gullies and alleys of the Internet.
Clad in his customary black turtleneck and blue jeans, Apple CEO Steve Jobs unveiled to a large throng of developers and media the new iPhone, which supports the faster 3G network and comes with built-in GPS capabilities and the iPhone 2.0 software that supports hundreds of third party applications as well as a Microsoft Exchange ActiveSync feature that should make the iPhone appealing to enterprises.
3G is the Key
Popular as it was, one of the biggest gripes of the first generation iPhone was that it used the slower 2G EDGE network.
Apple has addressed the problem with the 3G phone using a technology protocol called HSDPA (High-Speed Downlink Packet Access) to download data fast over UMTS (Universal Mobile Telecommunications System) networks.
With the 3G iPhone, e-mail attachments and Web pages are supposed to load twice as fast on 3G networks as on the 2G EDGE networks.
“It’s amazingly zippy,” said Jobs.
In any case, with the iPhone 3G designed to automatically switch between EDGE, faster 3G, and even faster Wi-Fi, users are supposed to get the fastest speeds possible.
Apple’s carrier partner AT&T says its 3G network is available in 280 US metros now and hopes to extend it to 350 metros by year-end.
Beautiful
“It’s really beautiful,” was how Jobs described it as he unveiled the iPhone to applause from the awe-struck audience.
With a nice 3.5-inch display, a full plastic back, solid metal buttons, flush head phone jacks, thinner at the edges and improved audio quality, the iPhone 3G appears to be a cool lil’ thing.
Other Features
There’s more to the new iPhone than the 3G upgrade, GPS, a few enterprise-friendly features or its slick design.
Here are some of the other key features of iPhone 3G:
* Talk time of five hours on a 3G and 10 hours on a 2G network; five-to-six hours of Web browsing; up to seven hours of video playback and up to 24 hours for audio playback.
* Leverages Apple’s new subscription-based MobileMe Internet service that pushes e-mail, contacts and calendars from an online “cloud” to native applications on iPhone, iPod touch, Macs and PCs.
* Built-in speaker, microphone, SIM card tray and 3.5mm stereo headphone mini-jack.
* 2 megapixel camera.
* As with the older version, on the new iPhone too users can multitask with simultaneous voice and data communications. So when users are on a call, they can simultaneously get map directions, check e-mail or browse the Web.
* A new scientific calculator, the ability to mass move and delete multiple e-mail messages and parental control for specified content.
* The new AppStore lets iPhone users buy native applications in various categories including games, business, news, sports, health, reference and travel. To be available in 62 countries at launch, AppStore is said to work over both cellular networks and Wi-Fi.
Price Cut
Weighing a mere 133 grams, iPhone 3G is scheduled to start selling on July 11 for $199 for the 8GB version and $299 for the 16GB model with a two-year contract.
The 8GB model comes only in black but the new 16GB version can also be had in white.
The new pricing is $200 less than for the previous versions of iPhones.
Does anyone still remember that the first iPhone cost $599 at one time?
70 Countries
Apple intends to offer the iPhone 3G in 70 countries later this year, beginning with 22 countries including the US, Canada, Mexico, Hong Kong, Japan, Australia, New Zealand, UK, France, Germany, Austria, Belgium, Denmark, Finland, Ireland, Italy, Netherlands, Norway, Portugal, Spain, Sweden and Switzerland.
iPhone SDK
Even as all eyes were on the gleaming iPhone 3G, perhaps the more important news was the developer ecosystem that Apple is building around the device.
Apple said 250,000 developers had downloaded the iPhone SDK since its launch on March 6.
The SDK provides developers with a set of Application Programming Interfaces and tools to build native applications.
Several developers including AOL, Cisco, eBay, Electronic Arts, Epocrates, TypePad, Salesforce.com and Sega have built native applications using the iPhone SDK.
Apple said 25,000 people applied for the paid developer program and 4,000 were admitted.
Developers set the price for their applications and get 70% of revenues from the apps.
If the application size is 10MB or less, it can be downloaded over the cellular network, Wi-Fi or iTunes. If the applications are more than 10MB, users can download them over Wi-Fi or iTunes only.
Apple is also planning to provide for enterprises to distribute iPhone apps through the corporate intranet as well as introducing an “ad hoc” method to distribute applications in a compact environment like a university classroom or a small software development team.
Introduces MobileMe
Along with the new iPhone 3G, Apple also rolled out a new subscription Internet service called MobileMe that delivers push e-mail, contacts and calendar and keeps them synchronized on different devices - iPhone, iPod touch, Mac or PC.
“Think of MobileMe as ‘Exchange’ for the rest of us,” said Jobs. “Now users who are not part of an enterprise that runs Exchange can get the same push e-mail, push calendars and push contacts that the big guys get.”
MobileMe costs $99 per year for individuals and $149 for a family pack. The individual account comes with 20GB of storage and the family pack with 20GB for the master account and 5GB for each four additional members. Members can purchase an additional 20GB for $49 or 40GB for $99 annually.
Impact on RIM
The talking heads on CNBC, the US business news TVchannel, feel that the new iPhone will have some impact on Research and Motion, the maker of the Blackberry phone that’s popular in corporate circles, but also think the two can co-exist.
Changes in Business Model
Apple continues to tweak the business model around the iPhones. It started with exclusive deals with operators in geographies like the US, UK, France, Germany and Ireland before starting to sign non-exclusive deals with multiple operators in other regions of the world.
In the latest change, Apple will not get a cut of the monthly service charge from the carriers.
But with the price cut and additional features, the iPhone should now be more appealing to those who stood on the sidelines for the last 12 months because of the high price.
“At just $199, we think the iPhone 3G is going to be affordable to almost everyone,” said Jobs.
Apple says it’s sold six million iPhones since they debuted 12 months ago and is on course to sell 10 million in 2008.
Some analysts feel that the lower iPhone prices could bring in a lot more consumers. “Apple is now better positioned comparatively on price to gain significant share in the handset market,” wrote Merrill Lynch analyst Jeff Fidacaro in a research note although sales may be hurt in the short term as customers wait for the new version.
Whiners
Of course, the iPhone 3G has its share of whiners.
Here’s a brief list of cavils from the whiners on what’s lacking in the iPhone 3G
- lack of video recording and of MMS,
- relatively low spec 2 megapixel camera,
- it still works only on the AT&T service,
- no cut/paste feature
- the phone cannot be used as a modem as many other smartphones can
- it’s not on sale till July 11
If you think of more shortcomings, let us know.
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