Hans Across The Interwebs

The 3G iphone is on the way and I want one. But please let all the cruel rumors stop until its here. I can’t concentrate like this.

Did it all start with Kevin Rose’s rumor that 3G iphones would not be far away and would feature a camera on the front for Video chat? His predictions have been hit or miss in the past. Still, sometimes ‘hit’. It could be true. We want it to be true.

In fact so much so, that suddenly all kinds of evidence has started to appear that a 3G iphone can’t be far off. Lo and Behold: iPhones are all but sold out in New York Apple stores, according to the Huffington Post.. A sure sign that Apple is getting ready to replace it with a newer version, right?

Well, maybe. But maybe not.

While thoughts of 3G second generation iPhones dance in consumer’s heads because limited product supply could be an indicator that new iPhone models are about to be released, the lack of product might also be a side effect of production or shipping delays.

Then there was the Wired story that Apple had already ordered 10 million 3G iphones.

Gartner analyst Ken Dulaney has joined in the rumor-mongering, saying that Apple has in fact already placed an order for 10 million of these second-generation iPhones. That’s in addition to the 10 million v.1 iPhones Apple has ordered, he says.

While Dulaney doesn’t give a specific timeframe for its release, he does claim Apple moved up its iPhone v.2 release mainly to help spur on iPhone uptake in places like Europe, where slow sales have been attributed to the phone’s distinct lack of 3-Gness.

Well that rumor is obviously false, since not even 10 million of the version 1 have been sold as of yet.

The argument about European users certainly does make sense. The original iPhone is available in most European countries - either legitimately or through clandestine means. But I’m certainly not replacing my 3G, 5 megapixel cameraphone WITH video chat until the iPhone can give me at least a comparable experience. Okay I’ll take 3 megapixels, but not a pixel less. And 3G is definitely a minimum requirement now, though I won’t be disappointed if it’s not exactly 250Mbps.

One thing is for sure, absolutely everyone is now convinced the iPhone is a viable platform. The introduction of the Software Development Kit (SDK) has silenced critics that the beautificious machine was too proprietary, and has instead made them download the SDK more than 100.000 times.

In fact, even Microsoft is now contemplating developing applications for the iPhone. Then again, when Microsoft comtemplates - they tend to take their time.

So it looks like the biggest product of 2007, is shaping up to also be the biggest product of 2008. Props to Apple for great product design and even greater marketing and PR.

I’m wondering though if a 3G iPhone will spur a replacement cycle - especially since at least in the US there’s 2 year contract attached to every iPhone. Or is the 3G iPhone most importantly an international play as predicted by Gartner?

I’ll tell you this. Apple better hurry it up, because I’m sure these rumors aren’t helping sales of poor old version 1. And: if a 3G, 32Gb, 3 megapixel iPhone came out - I’d own one the very same day. What about you? Would you buy one, or if you own one would you replace it?

Yesterday I went out and got myself the new super duper K850i Sony Ericsson flagship phone. I’ll post a more extensive review once I’ve had this thing for a while but here’s my first impression:

Whoever was in charge of designing this phone is an idiot. Or on pills. Or both. It’s an extremely aggravating phone.

The first thing is the ‘touch screen’. It doesn’t have one, there’s only three touch sensitive spots on the screen. Basically they’re the old ‘yes’ ‘no’ buttons. It’s a clear concept, but its very counterintuitive. When ‘just clicking away’ at the phone I kept pressing other spots on the screen. Obviously that won’t work, but it took conscious effort to change that behaviour. That’s called counterintuitive.

Second idiotic thing is the navigation buttons. They got rid of a perfectly good joystick and replaced it by some glowing square that sits in the middle of the number buttons. Up is above the 2, down is under the 5. It’s ridiculously weird, though it may be a productivity boon: it will completely prevent you from playing any games.

When the phone rung the first time I was completely confused how to pick it up. None of the screen buttons say ‘pick up’, and the pick up and hang up buttons have lost their green and red colours. I’m not saying I can’t learn, I’m just saying it’s counter intuitive. A phrase that keeps coming back to me.

Next: this is supposed to be a media phone. Upon start up it has one of it’s three navigational ‘buttons’ dedicated to ‘media’. You can’t change that. Click media and you get this kind of ‘player’ interface. My gripe with this is: how am I supposed to get the stuff on there? Ah, plug the phone in, select USB mode, copy, paste. No thanks, I’ll stick with my iPod, particularly because it has a REGULAR HEADPHONE JACK. Jeezusss, the only headphones you can use are the ones SE gives you. AHHHH it drives me nuts.

Of course the thing people want most in this phone is the cybershot camera, and they’ve definitely made some improvements. Losing the camera cover is very practical. Also the special camera buttons that light up when you turn on the camera is excellent. The ‘dedicated camera functions’ are now usable and you don’t need to keep going into the menu to, for instance turn the flash off.

My last phone was the K800. The k850i is exactly the same size minus the lens cover. It feels much smaller though, which is a good thing.

Another little but significant improvement is that the short cuts can no go directly to an application (like the opera browser). In the K800 it could only go to the applications folder. However, there’s not earthly reason why they couldn’t fix this on the K800 as well. People aren’t nearly upset enough about this. Apple gives a button the wrong colour and people are up in arms. Sony can fuck up all over the place and no one gives a shit. Sorry for ranting.

This phone also has over the air firmware updates. You don’t need to connect to your PC any longer. Which is nice because I don’t use a PC. I sure hope there’s a firmware upgrade soon though, because I also keep getting random disconnects, number I somehow “can’t call”, and intermittent success setting up data connections.

So there it is. I’d say be very aware of what you’re getting into with this phone. It has some excellent points, it has some weird points and it has some downright dumbass crap design decisions.

I’ll be posting more thoughts as they come up.

Got anything to add or ask? Let me know in the comments.