# ipod phone



## eliezer (Oct 10, 2005)

does anyone know when an ipod phone will come out?

is it possible that it could come out this week?


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## mw84 (Oct 10, 2005)

Do you mean the Motorola ROKR? I think that's already out.


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## eliezer (Oct 10, 2005)

no. i mean an APPLE phone. the rokr's a motorola.

if apple made a phone it wood b lightyears better.

is it possible that an apple phone will come out next week?


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## kainjow (Oct 10, 2005)

Anything's possible, but no one knows. And since all the major Mac rumors web sites haven't said a word about an Apple phone, I doubt it anytime soon. But, it could be that "one more thing" Apple may introduce on Wednesday, ya never know. We'll just have to wait and see.


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## mdnky (Oct 10, 2005)

eliezer said:
			
		

> if apple made a phone it wood b lightyears better.


If Apple made a phone, chances are it would just be a re-branded Motorola possibly with a different look.  On the bright-side, at least it wouldn't be a Nokia.


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## Lt Major Burns (Oct 10, 2005)

?? (sorry to get all geek-war-y, but nokia are a far superior phone to motorola. to anyone, really.  I hate my V3 so much. i hate motorola, and i would like some harm to come to the OS designers there)

But, on topic, Apple fans have wanted them to make a bloody phone for years. they have never given any signs of doing anything of the sort, and it was a big thing that they even spoke to a mobile phone company about a possible alliance.

it's not coming for years, i'd guess, if ever.


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## Convert (Oct 10, 2005)

Lt Major Burns said:
			
		

> ?? (sorry to get all geek-war-y, but nokia are a far superior phone to motorola. to anyone, really.  I hate my V3 so much. i hate motorola, and i would like some harm to come to the OS designers there)
> 
> But, on topic, Apple fans have wanted them to make a bloody phone for years. they have never given any signs of doing anything of the sort, and it was a big thing that they even spoke to a mobile phone company about a possible alliance.
> 
> it's not coming for years, i'd guess, if ever.



I agree. Motorola = look nice (well, the RAZR does...) but the software is awful. 

I'm happy with my W800i anyway. I think that the ROKR has a built in jack port, and the W800i has an adapter, but otherwise, IMO there is no real benefit of the ROKR, over the W800i. The headphones are awful, too, even if the W800i ones aren't perfect.


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## dduck (Oct 10, 2005)

Lt Major Burns said:
			
		

> ?? (sorry to get all geek-war-y, but nokia are a far superior phone to motorola. to anyone, really.  I hate my V3 so much. i hate motorola, and i would like some harm to come to the OS designers there)



Damn! I keep waiting for somebody (ANYBODY) to say something nice about the software in the V3, as I lust for mating its sleek lines wirelessly to the rounded countours of my G5 tower. It looks fabulous!

Unfortunately, I have grown used to the rather nice software in the Sony/Ericsson phones, and could never tolerate regressing to something less polished. It's the little things in life that makes you happy - or conversely drives you up the wall.


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## dduck (Oct 10, 2005)

kainjow said:
			
		

> Anything's possible, but no one knows. And since all the major Mac rumors web sites haven't said a word about an Apple phone, I doubt it anytime soon. But, it could be that "one more thing" Apple may introduce on Wednesday, ya never know. We'll just have to wait and see.



They will do it the second it makes business sense. Surely they do constant prototyping, polls and cost/benefit calculations, as it is an obvious next step. The Apple of today has apparently learned an important lesson, namely that you railroad when it's time to railroad. 

Hence: They study this very carefully, aiming to be the first ones doing it right, not just design- and feature-wise, but also business-wise. 

It used to be that the first mover was the one to get rich. Now everybody is trying to be that first mover, so many go off half-cocked, which is NOT what you want to do. If you cannot execute well, then it is better to save your strength for some other opportunity.


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## alexandr (Oct 10, 2005)

Lt Major Burns said:
			
		

> ?? (sorry to get all geek-war-y, but nokia are a far superior phone to motorola. to anyone, really.  I hate my V3 so much. i hate motorola, and i would like some harm to come to the OS designers there)



couldn't agree more. got my V3 this summer, and it has been hazzle ever since. no logic whatsoever softwarewise..

a slow bastard aswell.

alex.


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## Convert (Oct 10, 2005)

alexandr said:
			
		

> couldn't agree more. got my V3 this summer, and it has been hazzle ever since. no logic whatsoever softwarewise..
> 
> a slow bastard aswell.
> 
> alex.



Yeah, the bluetooth is the worst part in my opinion. To search for a device you have to find an item, then select Move or Copy, and then search. Sure, it seems easier, but for anyone who is normal you expect everything to be in its own place, i.e. you have "Search for devices" in the bluetooth panel... bah.


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## alexandr (Oct 10, 2005)

yep, and becuase of its slow flash-memory, it writes between 2 and 6 kb/s to the memory when transfering from my PB.. waaaaaay to slow if you ask me. any sony ericsson would give me speeds of about 60-70kb/s..

alex.


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## Quicksilver (Oct 10, 2005)

Hmmm... Unfortunatley i'm one of those people that are sick of waiting for Apple to release an iPhone/iPod phone (Yes! Apple branded). I reckon it would have been a great success and i still do, but now i just got a Sony Ericson W800i and it really rocks!

I dont have to carry around my digital camera anymore, i have a mobile with a 2 megapixel camera built in and now ive just given my iPod the flick because i dont need more than 4GB and the Sony phone (512MB) has enough space and is just what i wanted, A music enabled phone that dosent look like a silver piece of $%iT (literally) and i can take resonable photographs on. Though i can also upgrade the capacity as the Duo memery becomes larger over time. 

Come on! that RokR is like going to Louis Vouton selling somone elses branded handbag to a babe that is "fashion concious" and saying _hey but you get our internal stiching inside but its not real leather you know_. I'm Sorry but, I think its a real embarrasment for apple to have that thing floating around.

But if apple did release a phone comparable enough to the W800i i would exchange it immediatley or just go get one and give the Sony to my GF.

Come to think of it if another "iPod Phone" device was designed close to the same form factor as the Nano made by apple. Mate it would be a sick ass lookin next generation iPod.




.


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## mdnky (Oct 10, 2005)

<OffTopic> To me a phone is just what it says...a phone.  Not something to play games on, listen to music on, organize my day on, etc.  It's for calling people and receiving calls.  So in other words I could generally care less about the software loaded on one.  Quality design and construction is far more important, as well as how well it'll work (reception) and it's durability.  

The Nokias (5160, 6160, 3595) I've had over the years (all in about a 16 month timeframe) failed terribly in those categories.  Family members who've had Nokias (3310, 5165, 6800, and others) have had similar issues, and some still are.  Their reception is terrible compared to LG, Samsung, and Motorola units on the same carrier.  For me the Motorolas excelled, the last 3 (i90, i736 Earnhardt, i530) being a joy to own.  I still have the latter two, the other was give to a cousin's friend who's still using it.  I "had to have" that special edition model, otherwise I probably would have kept the i90.  As soon as I get that i736 off my former employer's account, I'll sell the i530 off. </OffTopic>


If Apple does jump into this cell phone arena, I'd expect nothing but the best from them.  In other words, a clean elegant design that's easy & simple to use; but most importantly...rugged and dependable.  The problem is, they'll most likely limit it to one carrier that they choose (maybe two) and that most likely won't be my choice carrier.  It'll also wind up being full of useless and unneeded things which won't appeal to me.  

Personally I think they should focus on what they do know and stay away from wild goose chases.


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## fryke (Oct 11, 2005)

I'd hope they _wouldn't_ choose a carrier, but choose to be free of them. Just create a compatible world phone and let users actually _pay_ for the device without contracts for 1 or 2 years. That way, you can use the device with any carrier you like. Unless: I'm not sure how that is over there in the US... Here, if it's a GSM/GPRS/EDGE(+UMTS) phone, it'll work on any provider's net, basically.


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## dduck (Oct 11, 2005)

Well, sticking with phones, the most commonly used functions are:
Voice calls
SMS
Contact management
Calender entry/notification

The rest is really just chrome, as very few people use it frequently.

With that in mind, why is it that so many phones have horrible contact management, SMS entry and calender management? I mean: Do they not do focus groups?

I am a researcher in the field of augmentative and alternative communications and mobile text entry (see this paper (PDF) for in-depth coverage of the topic), and can tell you that it is well known that there are big problems with the most common T9 implementations. Even so, it is still today possible to pick up a brand new phone, where you have to start over fromt he beginning, if you try to enter a previously unknown word!

And don't get me started on phones with megabytes of memory, that will only let you store 50-100 old messages. WTF?!?!  

So far the best UI for cells I have used is the SE one, as SMS entry is tolerable good and contact management can be done on the Mac using Address book. Still, I would love to see some obvious improvments in the UI, and - dare I dream? - better support for those of us who are bi-lingual in text entry! Yes, I know the last is a minority wish, but still...


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## fryke (Oct 11, 2005)

That's why I love the Nokia Communicator. Brilliant messaging and contact management. A keyboard (forget about T9, although I'm quite comfortable with it, too...). And two good screens.

I think if Apple ever releases a smartphone, we'll have about 50% who'll love it and 50% who'll think that Apple should never have released one. 

I mean: How come people tend to like SonyEricsson's UI _DESPITE_ the five or eight steps it takes from having written a short message to actually SEND it?! (You write it, then you click 'send', then you click 'names' or something, then you choose the name, then the specific number, then you're at the "recipients screen" where you click on 'finished' and THEN you can send it. I mean... Nokia clearly has _that_ problem solved. Well, actually they never even had it. In Series 60 phones you get a screen that has a recipients field and a text entry field. If you click on the recipients field, you get the contact-list and can simply tick every name that should get the message. Veeeeeery simple. Apple would clearly have to do the groundwork for the UI. I really believe that currently, EVERY UI-maker for mobile phones has at least one BIG inconvenience in their UI...


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## Lt Major Burns (Oct 11, 2005)

nokia have it almost nailed, i think.  their sms entry is very good, the phonebook is easy to search _and manage within the phone_  the calendar (especially on the series 40 stuff) is very intuitive and efficient, and the common extra functions easy to use and powerful.  it's a pleasure to use a series 40 phone.  i hate smartphones though.  they are slow, far too complex and big.

they jeopardise the sms entry and calendar functions to add more choice and functionality.  the result is over complex and crippled.

apple should go for the series-40 killer.  implement photo-management like the nano/ipod (never have i seen image rendering as fast as on a small device) and licence most of the series 40 interface from nokia. keep it fast, keep it clean and simple.


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## eliezer (Oct 11, 2005)

motorola's are quite horrible.

sony ericsson's are quite hard to use. they have no red and green button

samsungs are very nice to use. e.g. e720

and nokia's are also very nice to use. 6230i (propbably the best phone PHONE)



anyway. im getting a se w800i. i just ordered it today and i started this forum to make sure that i wasnt getting a sony just before apple bring out a phone. i'd definitely get the apple phone.

i think apple have to bring out a phone soon becoz eventually they will loose the mp3 market. next year nokia are bringing out the n91 with 3/4gb storage. why would anyone buy an ipod if they had a few gig storage on their phone.

the ROKR is apauling. has anyone seen the picture of an ipod nano stuck onto the back of a motorola v3 with sellotape? it ends up SMALLER than the ROKR, everything about it is 100 times better than the v3 and it is made by motorola and apple. lol


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## Quicksilver (Oct 11, 2005)

I'll Lagh if they bring a phone out for the special 12th of october event. i just bought mine too but i think i would need to have the apple "cool" factor and the phone ive been waiting too long. So i would probably end up getting one anyway.


I've noticed that the sony W800i Walkman phone is quite easy to adapt to from a Nokia. The functionality is simple, a one button click and the phone turns into an MP3 player or a digital camera. And you don't have to have the headphones plugged in. I've also often found many people ask wether its a camera or a phone.

Also bare in mind there are rumors floating around that apple may be bringing out a smart phone in the future. In fact with the speed of the convergence and quality between Camera, Phone and MP3 players in the next three to six months i reckon they would be silly not to. Even if it jumps on moto's toes. This could also be the little hole that hurts iPod/iTMS greatly if they don't. Chances are, Apple would eventually be forced to enter this market even if they didn't want to. 



.


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## dduck (Oct 12, 2005)

Hmmm... I expect that Apple + Moto will have a deal for getting iTunes software on the RAZR V3x 3G handset, which is due this quarter in Europe. Now if only they will get the damn phone software up to speed usability-wize I'm there!


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## Convert (Oct 12, 2005)

Quicksilver said:
			
		

> I've noticed that the sony W800i Walkman phone is quite easy to adapt to from a Nokia. The functionality is simple, a one button click and the phone turns into an MP3 player or a digital camera. And you don't have to have the headphones plugged in. I've also often found many people ask wether its a camera or a phone.
> 
> .



You just press the walkman button (it's located just below the screen) or press the play/pause button on the left side of the phone.

The camera is superb, as you rotate the phone to use it, and it's a landscape camera, the volume buttons now become zoom buttons and there is an independent button on the right side of the phone (which is now on the top) to take the image.

To access, just slide the shutter back, and you're using the camera.


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## mw84 (Oct 12, 2005)

I have a Siemens SF65 which is HORRIBLE ! Although it look's great the functionality lacks, the graphical layout is ugly and over complicated, apps are scattered around in stupid places, the phonebook is probably the worst I've ever used infact the only decent thing about it IS the way it looks. Anyone wana buy it?   

Hopefully an 'Ipod phone' would have the looks of a Siemens or Moto with the functionality of the Nokia.


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## WinWord10 (Oct 13, 2005)

fryke said:
			
		

> I'd hope they _wouldn't_ choose a carrier, but choose to be free of them. Just create a compatible world phone and let users actually _pay_ for the device without contracts for 1 or 2 years. That way, you can use the device with any carrier you like. Unless: I'm not sure how that is over there in the US... Here, if it's a GSM/GPRS/EDGE(+UMTS) phone, it'll work on any provider's net, basically.



It works the same way in the US if you're on a GSM provider like Cingular or T-Mobile. However most people buy their phones with 1 or 2 year contracts to save money. Since Apple's only way of making revenue from their phone would be from the initial sale, they would have to charge full price for the phone. The sticker shock of buying a phone for $400+ would turn many people away, even though they might actually be saving money in the long term.


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## Gig' (Mar 26, 2006)

I'd be willing to pay the price for an iPhone like the one attached, the oled interface is brilliant and this ad http://mt.watchmactv.com/delivery/ondemand/iPhone/index.html bodes well....

Let's hope it's not April's fool in march


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## fernando.alonso (Apr 8, 2006)

this is what I was hoping for over 3 years...
Why has Apple been so lazzy?


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## Digitorb (May 2, 2006)

Hehe I really don't think Apple is gonna release a phone just yet... But who knows?


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## Quicksilver (May 3, 2006)

Gig' said:
			
		

> I'd be willing to pay the price for an iPhone like the one attached, the oled interface is brilliant and this ad http://mt.watchmactv.com/delivery/ondemand/iPhone/index.html




So would I Gig! I think if apple made a phone it may be marketed as a mobile ipod or somthing. One that has a phone as an added feature. And what is all that touch screen ipod talk? That feature could easily convert the entire interface to a phone and then to an iPod and vica versa.

I still don't think that the Sony W800i has the realtime switching and human interfacing between the music player and the phone mastered yet. But they are surley on their way.

If an ipod was built to make the switching between the phone/iPod really easy, then thats where i think the real phone sales factor is, and just being an ipod would sell it anyway. especially with a touch screen typed ipod nano looking one. it would truly blow all phone manufacturers out of the water. 

I honestly think people would love it.


.


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## Ifrit (May 4, 2006)

> With that in mind, why is it that so many phones have horrible contact management, SMS entry and calender management? I mean: Do they not do focus groups?



The only smart phone which is worth my money is the Treo 650. But you can't go wrong if you use the Palm OS UI.


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