iPhone 3.0 is on like Robotron, March 17th preview =p (1 Viewer)

[Sam Posten]

How long till the beta firmwares make it to the general populace? I give it till Friday noon...

 

[Sam Posten]

what we DIDNT get:
What Apple didn't announce for iPhone OS 3.0 - Ars Technica

App management improvements was the only one I cared about...

 

[DaveF]

A comment in a different forum stated something I've wondered about: does the iPhone have no integrated method for data synch?

What remains perplexing to me is how Apple made such a remarkable technological and interface leap, while seemingly missing basic lessons from a decade of PDAs e.g. copy/paste, data synch, and even a to-do list.

None of these issues keep me away from it (that's $$ and ATT). But I see significant opportunity for the Pre with its (seeming) emphasis on personal data management. (not an "iPhone killer", but real competition and expanding the smart-phone eco-system).

 

[Sam Posten]

The best thing about the Pre is that it will keep Apple motivated....

Anyway, I've been a Student Dev thanks to my night job for a long time and tonight I finally signed up for the (real, not student) iPhone dev program.... Should have my authorization code in under 24 hours and will be able to download the beta, but I'll be under NDA for it I guess. Edit: I'm in!

USB tethering, Publish Video and Find my iPhone found in OS 3.0

AT&T to offer unsubsidized iPhone 3G with no commitment required?

Video: iPhone OS 3.0 walkthrough

IPhone 3.0: iPhone 3.0 Beta OS Walkthrough Video

 

[Ted Todorov]

The latest from Macrumors is evidence of video support -- presumably for the as of yet unannounced iPhone 3.0 hardware.

Re the Pre: I really think you are giving the Pre/Palm too much credit as competition. The company is one failed launch away from bankruptcy, the idea that the Pre will attract major developer support is laughable (essentially it's "WebOS" is the Javascript based development environment that Apple was offering developers at the iPhone 1.0 launch, before 2.0 and the SDK. Apple was met with howls of outrage (and rightly so!)) And the idea that they will sell vast amounts of Pres on Sprint is not the likeliest. This is a valiant effort from a dying company. The only way the Palm and the Pre will survive is if Microsoft buys them and discontinues WinMo. Not likely. MS bought Danger -- and produced what, exactly?

What is driving Apple are Steve Jobs, Tim Cook, Jony Ive et al. and their quest for perfection.

 

[Sam Posten]

To be fair Palm has been at the mobile space for a long time and I think they have a much better shot at getting a smartphone right than does anyone at Nokia, RIM or on the Windows Mobile Disaster (tm).

That they hired Chuq Von Rospaq (spelling?) speaks volumes to me. I still have no interest in the platform but as I said compelling rivals will force Apple to keep moving which is a REALLY good thing.

 

[DaveF]

As a 7-year Palm user, when a friend -- and still a diehard Palm fan -- told me last Fall that Palm had an amazing, new, comeback OS in the works I told him there was no way. Palm was lost and soon to be dead.

But the Pre announcement and demo showed a device clearly designed for the PDA user. I saw a better understanding and purpose for personal data management than I've seen on the iPhone. A demo is not shipping product, and announcements are no appstore. Nor does the Pre have the broad appeal of the web-browsing / iPod / game machine of the iPhone. But for someone who really wants a "Personal Data Assistant", the Pre is exciting.

 

[Ted Todorov]

Palm has hired lots of Apple people -- they have a great team. If the Pre had come out two years ago, this would be a very different story. The problem is that Palm is not just late, but virtually bankrupt. Sales of their current devices have fallen off a cliff and they still don't have a shipping date for the Pre. And even if the launch happens relatively soon and goes better than the BB Storm, I just don't see how Palm will emerge from its death spiral. Why would any developer devote time and effort to a platform that may vanish at any moment?

 

[DaveF]

Isn't this moot? Didn't Palm pre-announce a roster of brand-name developers already lined up for Pre development?

Moreover, didn't the early developers for the iPhone crank out simple apps in a couple of weeks and in the digital gold rush make tens, even hundreds of thousands of dollars? If the Palm Pre is indeed fueled by web standard code, it's doubtful app creation is going to require months labor and Microsoft-ian bankrolls. If some joker can roll-up a web page in a couple weeks and sell it for a few bucks with the hope of hitting the jackpot, then there will be developers early on.

It may not pan out. If the gold rush is not large enough, if consumers ignore the Pre, etc. then it will fizzle, perhaps quickly. Palm is in a precarious position.

Even if it succeeds, I don't think the Pre is going to be gangbusters; it won't topple the iPhone. But in the mismash of "smart" phones on the market, there's room for it. And it looks like there's serious design savvy behind it; enough to possibly recapture the hearts and wallets of former Palm lovers. And those who don't love the iPhone and would really be better served by the Pre's design philosophy.

 

[Ted Todorov]

The gold rush for iPhone development happened because by the time the iPhone SDK was announced there was an installed user base of several million iPhone/iPod Touch users plus a clear belief that the number of iPhones would explode once the the 3G was introduced. Also, those millions of iPhone users had a preexisting propensity to shop on iTunes for music and video.

Palm has none of that going for them. I may have the wrong brand crystal ball, but no Pre programming rush is happening. As for the "brand name" developers (who?), the iPhone was all about indie devs., and what they produced was hardly junk -- stuff like PocketPedia, Wurdle and 2 Across were among my first downloads -- excellent then and still excellent now.

 

[Ted Todorov]

Good news/bad news: the iPhone went on sale today in Bulgaria, but still no sign of Bulgarian language support, not even in the beta 3.0 firmware ) some French site posted screenshots of all available languages.
Apple page: Apple - iPhone - Bulgaria

 

[Sam Posten]

Arent the Bulgarians the worlds largest exporters of computer viruses? =) Apple may be on to something here =)

 

[Ted Todorov]

That was certainly true back in the day of the first PC viruses. Under the planned Eastern Block economy, Bulgaria was designated as the computer hardware/software power. It made, of all things, Apple II clones under the brand Правец. Once the Ancien Régime collapsed in 1989, there were many under-employed programmers, some of whom turned to virus writing. Some guy with my last name (no relation) was running a virus distribution BBS in Sofia in that pre-internet early '90s era.

 

[ManW_TheUncool]

I don't know about other former Palm users, but I'd give the Pre a shot *IF* Verizon offers it real soon *AND* won't force me into their $$$ web/email service plan for years to come. However, that seems to be a highly unlikely scenario.

_Man_

 

[DaveF]

Assuming tethering for the iPhone, will this help sell Macs? I'm considering a BlackBerry for work and a possible benefit is tethering. However, most BlackBerry phones -- especially the new ones -- don't support tethering on a Mac.

So the iPhone would seem to be a rarity, a new smart phone that tethers with a Mac.

 

[Sam Posten]

The low end macbooks and Airs would really be marketable with that for sure, not sure on the MBPs tho!

Ted, thanks for the virus info, I remember much of that from a Wired Mag article that explored why Bulgaria was so hot for Viruses, good stuff but obviously long past current on where things stand.

Sam

 

[Ronald Epstein]

Strong rumors starting to come out that a new iPhone is coming
in June.

 

[Blu]

I was really hoping for news at the 3.0 preview on the new iPhone.
Really would like a 32 gig version!

Does anyone know if themes will be enabled with the 3.0 update? I'd really like to do that without jailbreaking it. I haven't read anything about that capability but maybe it just wasn't mentioned.