In my earlier post, I said I would prefer to see Apple put together a mobile version of MacOS rather than a slick new mobile phone device. Well, the iPhone seems to be both. It “runs MacOS X”, but what that actually means remains to be seen. The keynote demo and screen shots I’ve seen indicate that the UI is more like Dashboard than OS X, but if the OS X kernel is back there - very interesting possibilities indeed. And that Safari mobile browser looks very good indeed. But to my (pleasant) surprise, Apple seems to have provided some key device innovations as well. The primary one being, of course, the drastic move to a full touchscreen interface, with a single button, and no stylus. If this smart touchscreen interface works as well as Steve Jobs says, it will be quite a feat.
There are still a number of questions to be answered with the iPhone, such as:
- What does “3G” mean - EDGE, UMTS, HSDPA? It had better be one of those last two, or else they’re starting behind the curve.
- Will the WiFi allow you to automatically switch to a Skype phone when WiFi is present?
- Is it unlocked so I can use it on other GSM carriers, in the US or elsewhere?
But if this lives up to even 80% of the hype that Steve J is trying to kick up at the moment, it’ll be a big success.
No 3G. No UTMS or HSDPA. Just EDGE. Yes, its behind the curve datawise. No idea on the wifi. Its locked to cingular in the US. Won't be out internationally until Q4 so who knows whether it'll be available unlocked then.
As Laura stated, from what I read, it is Cingular's EDGE service only. I'm not up on my acronyms, so I don't know if that is good or bad... However, an unlocked device would obviously be best.