The Other New iPhone?

Remember last year, when a little-known company named Uniea announced new iPod nano cases—with correct physical dimensions—before the new iPod nano was ever shown? As we mentioned shortly afterwards, readers were quick to slam Uniea and its mock-ups, but the cases proved perfect fits when the new nano was released. Now, there are all sorts of friend-of-a-friend stories swirling around about the second-generation iPhone, and perhaps not surprisingly, they contradict one another.

[From The Other New iPhone? | iLounge Backstage]

We are now in the minor Apple rumors season, which is the month before WWDC (Major Apple rumor season is the 5-6 weeks before MWSF). The current focus of the rumors is the second generation of the iPhone. We already have plenty of noise making the rounds about the subsidized phones, so now the focus is in specific leaks about changes to the design of the device. It is still a little too early for leaked photos, that's not going to happen until about a day or so before WWDC starts.

WIth the leaked templates we'll have 3D mockups in about a week (the 3D mockups are another tradition since there are always plenty of talented Mac-using artists with the skill and imagination to put together some fantastic what-ifs).

Five minutes after the iPhone presentation in WWDC, the Mac Crying Game starts yet once again.

AT&T wins 12MHz spectrum, US iPhone to get nationwide WiFi?

The US Federal Communications Commission has approved the purchase by AT&T of 12MHz of wireless spectrum that covers 60 per cent of the US.

AT&T bought the spectrum from Aloha Spectrum Holdings. The spectrum, in the highly coveted 700MHz band, covers 196 million of the 303 million US residents and includes 72 of the top 100 media markets in the country. Aloha acquired the spectrum in earlier FCC auctions and from other auction winners. This portion of the 700MHz spectrum is not part of the FCC auction now in progress.

[From AT&T wins 12MHz spectrum, US iPhone to get nationwide WiFi? - Business - Macworld UK]

I am ready to do the "who's your daddy?" dance but I want to wait to see how the hell this is going to work with existing iPhones.
Cue-in the haters: "OMFG? WHAT ABOUT 3G???? THIS IS BULLSHIT!!!"

Apple iPhone now available with 16GB, iPod Touch with 32GB

Apple has now released revised capacity for both the iPod Touch and the iPhone. The iPhone is now available in 8GB and 16GB, while the iPod Touch is available in 16GB and 32GB. The smaller capacity devices carry the same retail price as before, the new capacity devices are $100 more.

Somehow this will piss people off.

iTWire - Apple cannot afford to keep single carrier policy

iTWire seems to be under the impression that Apple can't possibly make money by selling $400 phones tied to a single carrier, a carrier that over the life of the first 2-year contract will end up kicking back to Apple another couple hundred dollars or so in shared revenue. They go on to whine about why Vodafone (which they claim is the biggest carrier outside of China) was not used, which contradicts their own thesis that Apple went straight to the big players.

Either they did, or they didn't.

I honestly don't understand what the fuck is the deal with all of this whining about the iPhone from the business press. I own two and the damn things are nearly perfect. The problems that they have are very small, and they are workable. Why would I give a shit about the vendor lock-in if I have been an AT&T customer for over 5 years? I have had the same two numbers from AT&T Wireless to Cingular Blue, then Cingular Orange, then back to the new AT&T. Big fucking deal!

"But what if I don't want AT&T?"

Tough shit. This is not Burger King, you can't have it your way. Nobody forces you to buy an iPhone, there are thousands of cell phones out there, why all this god damn obsession with just one of many in the $400 price range? It's just a stupid phone! A very nice phone, but it is still just a phone!

They go on to whine about the international launch and how they could have sold so many more units and how come so many units did not get activated, etc. Who gives a shit? Unless you are an Apple stock holder, or you own stock in a company that competes with them, why obsess so much with it? It is a non-event.

"But why did they have to pick AT&T first?"

This has been explained over and over. Apple wanted complete control over the phone, which meant that the carrier had to share the risk of developing new systems just for one phone. It is obvious that AT&T was the one that made the cut.

Was that worth it? I don't know, but visual voicemail is excellent. I have hard hearing, and I detest voicemail. People leave me stupid voice mails with garbled phone numbers that end up being a complete waste of time for both of us. We do business together? That means that you have my email address, send me a stupid email, and we can talk on the phone as much as you want me to.

Here's a hasty comparison between my iPhone (1.1.3) and my previous cell phone, a Nokia 6030:

Feature	iPhone (1.1.3)	Nokia 6030
Can use by feel	NO	YES
Gigantic touch screen	YES	NO
WiFi	YES	NO
Surfing the net while not on WiFi doesn't suck ass	YES	NO
No need to carry iPod	YES	NO
No need to carry digital camera	YES (but the camera in the phone is horrible)	NO
Device itself is fast	YES!	NO
Easy to enter contacts	YES	NO
Easy to enter notes	YES	NO
Google Maps	YES	NO
Google Maps triangulation	YES	NO
Visual Voice Mail	YES	NO
Threaded SMS conversations	YES	NO
Can change face plates	NO	YES
Bluetooth	YES	NO
Great variety of third party wired headsets	NO (due to the plug and mike button)	YES
No need to ever remind the wife/SO to remember to pick up the stupid cell phone on the way out	YES	NO

Please notice that this comparison is completely unscientific and very biased. I had to put up with that Nokia piece of shit for almost two years.
I still don't see why people are still freaking out about the impact of the iPhone on Apple's bottom line. They made a killing, to the point that the iPod already made the transition to the iPhone's touch screen style. A year or so from now there won't be any iPod classics left, and all but the shuffle will be fully touch screen.