iPhone release date maybe delay to late June or early July

[Natobasso]

Originally Posted by fryke

Those prices, however, are still irrelevant until we know how they're bundled with connection plans. To make any good use of an iPhone, you'll want to have an unlimited data rate plan imho, which means money, money, money. If the iPhone costs 499/599 regardless of the connection plan (and all that's been said so far sounds like it), this means it's rather expensive compared to other phones or smartphones. Of course it's _the_ iPhone. Whether that's reason enough to shell out the big bucks remains to be seen.

Since I'm not in the US, I'll have to wait anyway, but even if I lived in the US, I'd wait a little and see the reviews first. Questions still unanswered for me:

1.) How does a day look on the iPhone if you listen to tunes for an hour in the morning and an hour on the way home, use it for E-Mail and phone calls throughout the day without recharging? Is the battery empty when you get home - or earlier even?

2.) Is the application set restricted to what Apple cares to offer? Does that mean that you'll _never_ be able to simply go online and buy a 3rd party app that manages a task you seriously want to get done on your smartphone?

3.) Is the iPhone, therefore, really smarter than a smartphone - or was that "smartphones aren't really smart" just marketing-trashtalk to hype up the iPhone?

I've just bought a treo 680 here in Switzerland (incredible deal right now, about 300-320 dollars without contract) and love how there's soooooooooooo much freeware/shareware around addressing specific needs. Since I use my smartphones to write stories as well, I think the qwertz-keyboard serves me better than an on-screen one would, although I'll have to test the iPhone once it arrives here.

From what I'm hearing Apple is backing off somewhat from the 'no third party developer stance' since the first announcement. Not sure how much, though.

[icemanjc]

I wish Apple would suprise us and do something like release it june 11th.

[Natobasso]

Check apple's website. June 29th:
http://www.apple.com/iphone/ads/

[lbj]

Just saw the commercial on ABC--I guess it is pretty official.

[FlashMac]

Originally Posted by Natobasso

From what I'm hearing Apple is backing off somewhat from the 'no third party developer stance' since the first announcement. Not sure how much, though.

Phone to Support Third-Party Web 2.0 Applications

Innovative New Way to Create Applications for iPhone
WWDC 2007, SAN FRANCISCO — June 11th, 2007

Apple today announced that its revolutionary iPhone will run applications created with Web 2.0 Internet standards when it begins shipping on June 29th. Developers can create Web 2.0 applications which look and behave just like the applications built into iPhone, and which can seamlessly access iPhone’s services, including making a phone call, sending an email and displaying a location in Google Maps. Third-party applications created using Web 2.0 standards can extend iPhone’s capabilities without compromising its reliability or security.

“Developers and users alike are going to be very surprised and pleased at how great these applications look and work on iPhone”, said Steve Jobs, Apple’s CEO. “Our innovative approach, using Web 2.0-based standards, lets developers create amazing new applications while keeping the iPhone secure and reliable”.

Web 2.0-based applications are being embraced by leading developers because they are far more interactive and responsive than traditional web applications, and can be easily distributed over the Internet and painlessly updated by simply changing the code on the developers’ own servers. The modern web standards also provide secure data access and transactions, like those used with Amazon.com or online banking.

From http://www.apple.com/uk/pr/110607_iphone.html

I wish Apple would surprise us and give some indication of when it'll hit the the third world (anywhere that isn't the US). My phone's on its last legs and as I don't much like what's out at the moment I'm going to wait until the iPhone hits the UK.
It'll probably be too expensive for my taste but it would be nice to know if it was even ball-park possible and worth waiting for, if its not coming here until December then I'll need to get something else sooner.

[Natobasso]

I'm hearing October 2007 for the UK (this from a friend from Manchester who was just here visiting who's a mac-o-phile).

[Natobasso]

My other post on the iPhone and 3rd party apps:
iPhone to support Web 2.0 Apps

[FlashMac]

Thanks Nato. October eh? I think I can wait that long. Not too keen on 18 month contracts and price will be a big factor, but I'll hold out for a while....