Apple announced iPhone on Tuesday in Macworld 2007. iPhone looks cool. It looks sophisticated too. But is it practical? Is it really innovative? The following is my comments about the newly announced product from Apple:
- Why EDGE and not UMTS/WCDMA or even HSDPA? There are 2 reasons I believe. One, using EDGE can keep the device smaller and make battery life longer. Two, iPhone is initially designed for Cingular’s network (which supports EDGE) and less than 1% of Cingular customers have HSDPA capability according to Gizmodo (1) so it doesn’t make sense to develop something which doesn’t fit the mass market. So supporting EDGE is good enough.
- iPhone is not a 3G phone. Technically speaking, yes, it IS a 3G phone. Actually, EDGE is a 3G technology according to ITU. There are 5 technologies which have been certified under IMT-2000 as 3G technologies: UMTS (W-CDMA), cdma2000, EDGE, TD-SCDMA (for China) and DECT (yes, that’s the technology used by cordless phone in US).
- Will iPhone (mobile) work in Hong Kong? Yes and No. Yes, it should work in Hong Kong because mobile carriers in Hong Kong supports GSM/GPRS/EDGE (for EDGE, only HKCSL and PEOPLES). But network equipement from different vendors have their own proprietary changes and settings which may not be compatible with all mobile devices. Apple should test and adjust the mobile setting on iPhone in order to make iPhone works against different networks. Otherwise you will experience call drops and inefficient data transfer over GPRS/EDGE. No, it may not work in Hong Kong because the iPhone is currently exclusive for Cingular. It should have SIM lock enabled. So it can only use Cingular SIM. Unless you have the unlock code from Cingular to disable the SIM lock otherwise you can’t use it in Hong Kong.
- Will iPhone have a UMTS/HSDPA model? I don’t know. But there are rumors that Apple is developing a UMTS/HSDPA model according to Gizmodo (1). If Apple wants to make iPhone successful in Asia (esp. Japan) and Europe, UMTS is the way to go.
- Price looks good? The 4GB and 8GB models cost US$499 and US$599 respectively. But they all require 2-year contract from Cingular. So I believe that Cingular has subsidized the iPhone otherwise there is no need to attach the 2-year contract with them. The actual SRP (suggested retail price) may be higher in other countries.
- How much will it cost in Hong Kong? No one knows but I will assume that they will be expensive than US$499 and US$599 (due to point 5) as carriers in Hong Kong will not subsidize too much.
- iPhone supports push mail! True. It supports P-IMAP (Push IMAP). But it is not new stuff. P-IMAP has been in the market for a long time but there is a problem - not much service providers and vendors are supporting P-IMAP for push mail. Even the key wireless players in the market don’t use P-IMAP.
- It runs Mac OS X! Yes! This is the best part of iPhone I believe.
- You can access Google and Yahoo! services thru iPhone! Yes, but you can do it nowadays with your mobile devices. Google and Yahoo! have developed their software for different mobile devices. iPhone is just one of them. Nothing special here.
- I can use Safari on iPhone! It is good news for Mac users. No idea what PC users are thinking but they only probably know what IE is.
- iPhone is a phone? IMHO, it is not. I think it is more like an iPod with phone and Internet functions than a phone with iPod and Internet functions. On one hand, the form factor is exactly a PDA form factor. IT IS NOT A PHONE! On the other hand, the UI was designed from a PDA user point-of-view. So I have no idea why called it a phone. And I don’t like the name iPhone. I like Newton. It is should be called “Newton 2″ or “iNewton”.
- Is it durable? I don’t know but because of the huge touch screen I believe it is not. If you would like to know the answer, get one and try to drop it from a few feets high then we will know the answer. In general, phone should be tough and durable. Imagine how many times you have dropped your phone on tables and on the ground. If you use a device to make/answer phone calls, then there will be chances for you to drop it by accident or by any means.
- Is battery replaceable? According to Engadget (2), no. Told you. It is not a phone.
- iPhone is more than a smartphone? Really? Although you can use it as an iPod, a phone, or an Internet communicator, it can’t run any third-party applications and all applications must be developed and supplied by Apple according to Engadget (2). Some media asked Apple about this before but Apple said “no comment”. Interesting. I hope it is not true. Mac OS X is a platform which allows developers to develop any kind of applications. If iPhone uses Mac OS X, it should be able to allows developers to develop the applications for iPhone. IMHO, we better call iPhone a “more than a portable media player” device.
- No Wireless Sync! This is what I hate. It supports Wi-Fi but you can’t sync with iTunes thru Wi-Fi according to Macrumors.com (3)! You can sync. contents wirelessly with the US$299 Apple TV but not with US$499 or US$599 iPhone! And I hate cradle!
Don’t get me wrong. I am not against iPhone. I am happy to see iPhone. I just want everybody to calm down and look at the facts we have now. And I hope Apple will be able to release more information in a near future. 
References:
在世貿部長級會議期間從電視上看到一幕幕示威者衝擊警方防線的驚險場面，我想當時大家心情都有點不安，因為大家自出娘胎後在一個和平的大都市中成長，重未經歷過戰爭或六七年暴動這種大場面。與此同時，大家都會擔心市民同警察的生命安全受到威脅，看見許多警察被示威者襲擊，我內心很難過。但當聽見香港警察最終都能控制場面，才放下心頭大石。在此，我要向香港警察說聲多謝。多謝您們在世貿期間緊守崗站，維持香港法治！專業、包容同克制的表現令我們香港市民及全世界非常欣賞！
