My 3G iPhone predictions and ramblings

By Aaron Besson at 2 June, 2008, 11:44 am

We have been hearing rumors about the shape, size and colors of the new 3G iPhone. we’ve seen all the leaked spy shots and photos floating around. Will it be thinner or thicker? Rumors on the forums of it being unlocked and locked, that there will be two versions for users to choose from, and rumors of when/if it will be available. Was Apple shooting the new commercial for the 3G iPhone last week? Are the 3G iPhones already in stores thanks to guys in fat suits smuggling them in? Who Knows.

Well, all of those are just that, rumors, until Steve Jobs takes the stage next week Monday at the WWDC 08 and makes his Keynote Address.

What we do know so far can help us make a good guesstimate at what we will be seeing. If you know where to look, there are some documents and reports from reputable news sources floating around that can give you a pretty good idea the new features and hardware.

MacRumors is suggesting the following prices and specs, but I personally think the prices will be lower. Call me optimistic, but I think the prices will be at least $100 lower than what MacRumors predicts. I am thinking they will discontinue the 8GB, and the 16GB 3G iPhone will be priced at $399 or even lower. I think it will be a little smaller (shorter) and it will be thicker. I agree with the color variations, video and camera upgrades for sure, video chat and gps too. But I also think/thought there may be two versions of the iPhone coming soon, but that was squashed when rumors of a touch tablet came around, which I now believe to be the next product to be unveiled at WWDC (despite denials by the person who first leaked it).

We all saw last week that Engadget kind of confirmed that “the 3G iPhone “will be about the same size and shape as the first gen“. It will have “proper GPS!”. The rumors of the new shape and color also seem to be true as their source is saying that “the whole thing is glossy black, from top to bottom. The volume buttons are now chrome.”

I think that Engadget is right about the specs as far as the hardware / shape /color etc, and I look forward to the new colors and specs. But what about new features and applications? I have commented on what I think is coming, but there is more info floating around currently.

In a recent 371 page document filled by Apple to the US Patent Office, besides pinning Steve Jobs as one of the iPhone Inventors, it also suggest allot of new/future features and apps will be available:

[0092] The device supports a variety of applications, such as one or more of the following: a telephone application, a video conferencing application, an e-mail application, an instant messaging application, a blogging application, a photo management application, a digital camera application, a digital video camera application, a web browsing application, a digital music player application, and/or a digital video player application.

It seems that Apples focus on the new 3G iPhone is Connectivity, and not just 3G connectivity. Everything seems to be pointing in the direction of bringing people together, geotagging, video conferencing, chatting (remember another patent earlier this year?), blogging and social networking all at faster speeds on better hardware.

This will introduce a whole new type of Software/Application development for the iPhone. I think most of the Apps we are accustomed seeing on Installer will no longer be, as there will be apps either from Apple or distributed through the AppStore that will be better.

Knowing Apple and it’s commitment to grabbing some of RIM’s (Blackberry) market share (which is at ~44%, up from 35.1 percent in the previous quarter) I am sure there are going to be some pretty big, pretty powerful business apps and partnerships that will be coming out soon too.

Pelago, a startup iPhone dev company that recently got some $15 million from investors, will soon offer a version of its software, called Whrrl, for the iPhone.

Whrl uses the iPhone’s Google maps and self-location features, as well as information about the prior activities of the user’s friend and suggests new places to explore or activities to try.

“Places to go: In June, the startup Pelago is expected to release a version of Whrrl, its mobile social-mapping software, for the iPhone. Whrrl helps people locate friends or find things to do nearby, and it incorporates recommendations made by others in the user’s social network. The image above is an artist’s interpretation of what Whrrl might look like on an iPhone.
Credit: Technology Review“

Now we/some may think of Whrl and others like it in a social, person to person dynamic, being used by teenagers to find each other. But I am thinking of this more on a business to consumer or business to business level. For example, a consumer trying to find a restaurant or local business/service, would not have to know of it or search for it, but would simply open up the app and he/she is pushed information about businesses or restaurants around them, tagged by their friends, associates and/or listed by companies for a fee.

Now we don’t know if Apps like this and others will be free, subscription based or cost a one time fee. But I am sure they will not cost more than a few bucks, we are very anxious to have a look at the long awaited App Store and more so what apps from BIG name software/gaming giants are going to be available.

What we do know is that the Installer that we have all come to love on our current iPhones, will NOT work at all on 2.0 firmware or 3G iPhones, and all current 3rd Party apps will have to be rewritten to work on the new firmware 2.0, and either be distributed via the AppStore or on a new versions of Installer. (Apparently OpenSSH still works so you may be able to log into your iPhone via FTP and upload your files/apps/games manually to the iPhone). Of course people will try to hack the AppStore and crack the commercial apps, but that sounds so illegal and like such a headache.

What does this all mean, well depends on how you look at it. For legit customers that are lucky enough to get a carrier supported iPhone will be happy (the list is now at 67+ countries), the adoption of the new 3G iPhone should be a smooth process, they will be able to activate online or in store and buy apps via the AppStore and should be able to start using the new apps and features without a hitch.

But for others (like me), it may not be so easy. Unlocking - gulp, something we have nto had to really worry about or think about for a couple months, we have been spoiled by Apple.

BUT - The 3G iPhone is supposedly coming with a different version of 2.0 firmware that has a new baseband and 5.x bootloader , and thus it will probably be locked for some time, and may not even be jailbreaked or activated in the near future, and to be honest, I would prefer not to have to go through all that again, I am ready for a carrier supported iPhone or for it to be Unlocked.

On top of all that, the unlocking tools of recent months (iPlus, iLiberty, and of course PWNED) may not even work with some fiddling. Developers have been able to crack the latest 2.0 betas that have been distributed by Apple, but I strongly believe that the final 2.0 Firmware will be tied to a new iTunes which is rumored to be necessary to install the final 2.0 and activate it, and I am sure Apple will/has built in allot of new security checks into this latest version.

Further more, who knows if current iPhones upgraded to 2.0 will be able to be unlocked, jailbreaked and activated. Again the Dev Team and others have claimed that they will be able to unlock 2.0 on current iPhones, but until the final firmware version is released to the public, we simply don’t know and cant be certain.

I am really hoping, that to crush RIM, (Blackberry) market share, Apple Apple unlocks the iPhone globally. Sell an unlocked version for $200 more and let the carrier sell a branded subsidized version. If Apple does this RIm doesn’t stand a chance in hell. But who knows what will happen, we only have a week till we all find out (hopefully).

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