TAG | Jobs under pressure yet again to launch spectacular new iPod |
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| by Alex Zaharov-Reutt | |
| Wednesday, 05 September 2007 | |
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Page 2 of 2 Nokia's iPhone clone will have reported capacities of 16GB or more, will operate at 3.5G and faster connections (including Wi-Fi and potentially also WiMAX), and the ability to include GPS mapping and navigation as Nokia now does for selected phones along with, importantly, an army of third party developers ready to take advantage of Nokia’s touch screen interface through a Nokia software development kit. Featured Whitepaper
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As many have pointed out, there are plenty of flaws in the iPhone, from the lack of cut and paste, to the limitations of a 2.5G (really 2.75G) EDGE connection (as compared with the 3.5G speeds I get everyday from the N95), to the inability of the screen to rotate when entering notes or playing videos, the lack of a true third party software platform and the locked nature of the iPhone itself, amongst other desires and disappointments. But thankfully, the iPhone’s amazing interface and usability more than make up for the iPhone’s missing features, at least for now, some of which could easily be delivered in a future iPhone software update. If the new iPod touch does run OS X, many of the same iPhone restrictions could apply. Third party software development will likely be limited to Apple and official parties only, which will only serve to build a dynamic hacking and unofficial third party software community as has happened with the iPhone. But the move of the iPod to a real computer operating system opens up the new iPod to be so much more than just a basic media player. Even without a phone, if it has Wi-Fi, email, a calendar, a browser, a notepad and more, the iPod touch would be a fantastic handheld computer, one that more than competes with Microsoft’s ‘Ultra Mobile PC’ platform and one that will, in theory at least, sell hundreds of millions of units around the globe. Give the new iPod a mini VGA out port, and let it connect to a Bluetooth keyboard, with the iPod screen as a ‘mouse’ or touch interface, and you’ve got the most portable Apple computer ever. But while this would be fantastic, giving the iPod this capability probably won’t come until the next version after this one. Whatever happens on Wednesday, Steve Jobs is, once again, under immense pressure to come up with new iPods that will simply blow us all away once more with clever design that blows the competition away. Jobs knows the stakes are high – if people don’t love the new iPod as they have previous models, the iPhone itself and the range of Macs which are selling more than ever before, the public mood could turn, the stock price could be affected and ‘things could go wrong’™. But Steve Jobs has navigated difficult waters before, from the current iPhone restrictions to backflips over statements that video didn’t belong on the iPod and more. So far, we’ve seen some fantastic technologies over the years that everyone else strives to copy, while Apple continues setting the pace. Let’s hope, for all our sakes, that this Wednesday sees yet another game changing new iPod from Apple. With companies like Nokia, Sony Ericsson, Samsung, Motorola, LG, Sharp, HTC, Microsoft and others all gunning for supremacy in the handheld phone/computer/media player/camera/digital do-it-all device space, Jobs can’t afford to slip up. Still, I can’t see him slipping up anytime soon. Wednesday’s iPod announcements will undoubtedly be spectacular, and will surely make me wish my 8GB iPhone had tens of gigabytes more capacity. What next – iPhone 2.0 at Macworld next year? |
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