8 Features the iPhone 2 *Should* Have
First off let me be honest, I don’t have an iPhone and I don’t intend on buying one. It’s not that I don’t like it, or think it’s pretty fricken’ sweet, or that it’s too expensive (it is). The reason I’m not buying this generation of iPhone goodness is simply because it’s the first generation of this device. Let me share a story about another Apple product that has done exactly what Apple is envisioning for the iPhone; total market dominance.
A friend of mine bought one of the original iPods, for those of you who forget what that product actually looked like and worked like let me remind you:
Scary I know, not only did this iPod look rather ugly, it ran like Windows ME. Now at the time the newly announced iPod from Apple was undoubtedly the hotness, and looked like pure sex compared to what we had seen before it. However as time passed, and mobile devices continued to evolve in form and function Apple slowly and wisely updated the iPod to it’s now current beautiful form. Once the first video iPod was offered I snapped up a 40 GB model and am enjoying it to this day. It doesn’t look as bad as the first one and doesn’t crash like the first one did (not to mention iTunes is 50% less crappy… just another 50% to go).
The point of that little walk down memory lane was twofold, a; first generation Apple products (and for that matter tech products) are always weak when compared to the second and third revisions and b; it’s wise to wait for Apple to revise these devices as you’ll gain features and pay less and end up with a truly superior product just like this current generation if iPod’s show:
On to the good stuff. From the blanket and absolute crushing coverage of the new iPhone around the web I’ve gathered some observations and made some guesses as to what the new iPhone should have. I’m calling it the iPhone 2 only for confusion’s sake as I’m sure Apple will have it’s own name for the new device (and no it’s not the Jesus phone)
1. Better camera. Currently the iPhone has a 2 mega pixel, no flash no frills camera that doesn’t take video. The 2 megapixel/no flash thing can be excused but the no video support is mind bogelingly stupid oversight on Apple’s part (it’s got YouTube support hello!). Unless my sources are wrong, the second gen iPhone should have video, more mega pixels and possibly a flash and better motion support.
2. More memory. This is an obvious one and almost isn’t worth mentioning but I’m sure Apple will (and should) up the amount of space available for the user to store data.
3. Better battery. It’s barely out on the market but I can already see the blog posting, forum rants and customer petitions starting now. Consumers are never happy with battery life on new gadgets and this generation iPhone is no different. Look for better power management from a smarter OS or a battery replacement option in the next iPhone.
4. 64 bit Vista/XP support. Small one but support should be there.
5. Multi carrier deals. We all know this is coming but Apple should offer this phone across the board to the other evil wireless companies. This will help drop prices which is good for the consumer and increase penetration which is great for Apple.
6. Better keyboard. There have been reports of some laggy keyboards especially when confronted with talented thumb wielding Blackberry addicts. I’ll say the jury is still out on this one but I am certain Apple will focus on improving this aspect of the device with the iPhone 2.
7. Faster network/3G Support. The problem the iPhone is presenting to the wireless networks in the United States is finally users have a proper browser to use, and actually want to take advantage of their new multi media cell phone which includes the ability to send and receive large amounts of data. Much like YouTube, and Bit Torrent as well as Napster before them the iPhone is going to help push along the advancement of these wireless data networks and actually allow users to take full advantage of the features this new device offers. This should only improve over time, and once the iPhone 2 is ready, the providers of wireless networks like AT&T, Verizon and others will be scrambling to support his new user trend.
8. Gaming support?. This one is a bit of a stretch (and was thought up by me) but the iPhone presents a unique chance for Apple to take some of the Nintendo/Sony money in the handheld gaming market. They should take the Nintendo approach and go simple and addictively fun with their games. There are tons of Flash web games available now that are simple and provide geeks with hours of unproductive fun on the web within the browser. If the iPhone offered and promoted this feature to users/developers they should have a very nice gaming system on their hands and bring in some money with in house developed apps and accessories/licensing deals.
That’s the list. I’m sure it’s full of logic holes and will spawn thousands of flaming emails from Apple fanboys but I welcome that. If you have an idea for this list leave it in the comments and I’ll put it in the article with link gratitude.
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I bought the iphone and I must take issue with some of your information. Basically the only 3 reasons you should have mentioned are battery life, size, and storage space (and maybe the camera, but really cameras will never be that important on phones). Everything else is correctable via software updates, coverage updates, or it is actually not even an issue.
First the keyboard/touchscreen interface. This is the most amazing touch screen interface I have ever used. People who say they are having problems with it must have enormous hands or some type of neurological disease.
Second the software issues. The touch screen interface allows for updates to the phone without buying a new one. there are 3 physical butttons on the phone, 1 that brings you to the main page, 1 that controls volume without going into settings, and one that turns the screen to sleep mode. Everything else is software.
Third the coverage and Internet speed. I will concede that it should be on multiple carriers and indeed it will eventually, but I don’t care because I already had ATT/Cingular. The internet speed will get better and better and the phone also allows you to join wireless networks if they become available.
Finally, the hardware issues I mentioned above. The size is great, but if some kind of new flexible screen technology came out then that would merit an upgrade. The battery life is plenty as it is, but more is always welcome. The only thing that is most likely to be issue earlier is the memory capacity. 8gigs is plenty really, unless you plan on using the phone as your primary media storage device. Thats well over 1000 songs. But, since it has a camera and the ability to have movies and pod casts, I can see that memory may pose some minor inconveniences that could cause you to wait for version 4 or 5.
I must say though, I did not plan on buying the phone when I got to the apple store. But, there was no line and plenty of phones to play with and after playing with one for a while I thought it was too amazing to pass on, so I bought it. So far i have no complaints except internet speed and that is fine a lot of the time.
[...] Link to Article verizon 8 Features the iPhone 2 *Should* Have » Posted at Josiah Cole dot com [...]
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