commentary Fans of Apple's iPhone are suffering from the worst case of Stockholm Syndrome the tech world has ever seen. If Nokia or Sony Ericsson dared to hood-wink us by slapping an AU$800 price tag on a 2G phone, with a 2-megapixel camera and no MMS, they'd be run out of town by a pitchfork-wielding mob.
After the iPhone was unveiled at MacWorld 2007 there was as much criticism as praise directed towards the touchscreen handset. This didn't stop people queuing up to buy one, like crowds on the opening night of a Star Wars film.
With the imminent arrival of the iPhone in Australia, and with some significant announcements by Apple regarding the implementation of iPhone firmware 2.0, it's time to take another look at the phone that makes us weak at the knees, and to compile a wishlist of how the second-gen iPhone should look on paper.
Online — the need for speed
3G: The most glaring oversight with the first generation iPhone was pairing the best mobile Web browser with inadequate mobile data speeds.
When our counterparts in the US reviewed the iPhone they commented that the Web browsing experience on the handset was "a completely and surprisingly satisfying experience...", therefore the upgrade to a 3G or HSDPA chipset is a no-brainer. While it hasn't been officially confirmed by Apple, there is enough anecdotal evidence to suggest the wait for faster mobile data on the iPhone is almost over.
Cross-platform IM client: Perhaps we're dreaming of a corporate Utopia, but Apple making an agreement with AOL to pre-install its instant messaging client thumbs its nose at the rest of us who have never signed up to use AOL, but instead rely on competing services. Thanks Apple, but we'll wait for when Adium is released through the App Store.
RSS Reader: To support the excellent Safari browser, an RSS reader would definitely come in handy. In our experience, small screens lend themselves to small doses of information, like news headlines and sporting results. RSS is currently the best solution for "info snacking" on the Web.
For business' sake Mr Jobs, unlock our phones
Accessible file system: Being able to browse and alter the files stored on the iPhone opens the door to must-have smartphone functionality; most importantly the ability to use the iPhone as a mass storage device.
Business software: Business customers will arguably benefit most from the firmware 2.0 upgrade. Apple's licensing of Microsoft's Active Sync protocol doesn't just mean full compatibility with contact lists and calendar entries, but means business users will have "push" access to e-mail (messages delivered to the device as they are received at the e-mail server) rather than mail delivery at timed intervals — the shortest of which is 15min on the current generation iPhone.
A majority of iPhone applications aimed at Enterprise users will become available when Apple launch the App Store. Examples included Salesforce sales tools and Epocrates software for doctors which were displayed at the announcement of the App Store at MacWorld 2008's live demonstration.
A few mind-boggling omissions
Camera: To be fair, the 2-megapixel camera in the current iPhone is actually quite good, but a flash and auto-focus would be very welcomed additions. Similarly, video capture software for the camera is a must for the next generation.
Multimedia messaging: A mobile phone without the ability to send MMS is like a car without a CD player. Sure, you can start the car and drive it around, but, where's the CD player?
Bluetooth: It may seem like a small issue, but there's a reason why Bluetooth is now a ubiquitous feature in mobile phones: people use it. Bluetooth is the broad name used for many Bluetooth radio protocols. The current iPhone makes use of only one, the hands-free protocol, while several other common protocols are absent, notably the A2DP stereo protocol and basic Bluetooth for file transfers.
Landscape virtual keypad: It's simple arithmetic: you take a virtual QWERTY keyboard, add an accelerometer and the result should be landscape text input. Having landscape mode in the Safari browser is great, but the next-gen iPhone needs the same functionality across all apps where long strings of text input is required.
There's various other alterations we'd love to see; a replaceable battery and a non-recessed 3.5m headphone jack come to mind. We'd love to know what you'd like to see in the the second-generation iPhone. Let us know on our forums or in the talk-back section below.
Achtland
16/05/2008 04:44 PM
LOL @ Multimedia messaging: A mobile phone without the ability to send MMS is like a car without a CD player. Sure, you can start the car and drive it around, but, where's the CD player? I just never got one put in my car...it's so analogue it just has to be cool... ;)
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mainframe
16/05/2008 04:48 PM
i agree with the IM client. alot of americans use aol/aim and so they probably figured that it would be the best choice for it because they are american. but the rest of us dont use it...and as much as i loathe microsoft, i have to admit, without msn messenger i'd be a lonely lil geek :P so hopefully there will indeed be a third party IM client available to take advantage of other services.
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chris manuel
16/05/2008 05:52 PM
What about a GPS system?
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DukeXL
16/05/2008 07:07 PM
Anyone noticed the jobs on the apple australia page... apple is currently hiring 2 people for iphone carrier validators and eng.... release coming up soon??? i thik so... link... http://jobs.apple.com/index.ajs?BID=1&method=mExternal.searchJobs&searchCountryID=19&Language=en
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David S
17/05/2008 10:15 AM
Honestly, who wants to use overpriced MMS when you have an easy-to-use email client built in? And who wants a CD player in a car that has an iPod dock?? That's so last year...
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adnan master
18/05/2008 12:29 AM
what abt general SMS forward option.... i suppose its a basic feature of iphone... which is really lacking..... this phone sucks...........
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Kat1705
18/05/2008 03:49 PM
WHEN IS IT COMING!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! a friend bought one off ebay and its great but you can never guarentee warantys!
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DukeXL
27/05/2008 05:44 PM
It says bluetooth, would that be the type that us school kids use to send files for free?
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dan_rox77
31/05/2008 02:43 PM
@DukeXL Yep, that's the bluetooth we use to send stupid penguin shuffling videso between us... :p
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lhp
06/06/2008 11:35 AM
Looks like you'll get some of those: check out http://www.cens.com/cens/html/en/news/news_inner_23229.html. 3G, 110-120g vs 158, smaller screen (2.8 vs 3.5"), and plastic case rather than Al-Mg alloy. I've seen other reports that suggest a 5 Mpixel camera, video capability, and FM tuner. Apologies if this is old news!
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GraemeJ
17/06/2008 06:52 PM
So many manufacturers are trying to compete, add Windows Mobile 6.1 and a 5mp camera please and at least I will be sold.
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