Comments on: Why Apple Will Release a Cell Phone http://jaxn.org/article/2006/07/31/why-apple-will-release-a-cell-phone/ the philosophy of technology Fri, 21 Nov 2008 19:26:15 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.7-beta2-9582 hourly 1 By: Jackson Miller » Why Apple Will Not Release a PDA (aka iNewton) http://jaxn.org/article/2006/07/31/why-apple-will-release-a-cell-phone/comment-page-1/#comment-30626 Jackson Miller » Why Apple Will Not Release a PDA (aka iNewton) Wed, 26 Sep 2007 20:55:39 +0000 http://jaxn.org/article/2006/07/31/why-apple-will-release-a-cell-phone/#comment-30626 [...] the spirit of my Why Apple Will Release a Cell Phone I give you my reasoning for why they will not release a PDA. First let’s look at how Apple [...] [...] the spirit of my Why Apple Will Release a Cell Phone I give you my reasoning for why they will not release a PDA. First let’s look at how Apple [...]

]]> By: Reviewing Predictions at Jackson Miller http://jaxn.org/article/2006/07/31/why-apple-will-release-a-cell-phone/comment-page-1/#comment-27552 Reviewing Predictions at Jackson Miller Wed, 05 Sep 2007 18:33:58 +0000 http://jaxn.org/article/2006/07/31/why-apple-will-release-a-cell-phone/#comment-27552 [...] July 31, 2006 I wrote Why Apple Will Release a Cell Phone to share my thoughts for the business case behind what we now know as the iPhone. (At the time [...] [...] July 31, 2006 I wrote Why Apple Will Release a Cell Phone to share my thoughts for the business case behind what we now know as the iPhone. (At the time [...]

]]> By: tommy http://jaxn.org/article/2006/07/31/why-apple-will-release-a-cell-phone/comment-page-1/#comment-3329 tommy Tue, 01 Aug 2006 14:40:03 +0000 http://jaxn.org/article/2006/07/31/why-apple-will-release-a-cell-phone/#comment-3329 it could be that Apple will release a "iPhone" as a cell phone, but somehow I doubt it. First, and maybe most importantly, Apple rarely positions themselves with a US exclusive business. Even the iPod and iTunes were available globally even when the iTMS was only available in the US. But my making a cellphone, Apple will have to decide what market to sell in, and what market is carved off the map. <br> <br> To do everything you listed, they'll have to use a high speed 3G service, the choices are EV-DO, UMTS or HSDPA (a high-speed data version of UMTS). EV-DO would make sense in the US, but would lock Apple out of the European market and most of the Asian market. UMTS or HSDPA would lock Apple out of most of the US and a significant amount of Asia. They could support all of the technologies, but would cost them a lot in terms of development and support to make their software and products compatible with the mobile protocols. So, I think they'd have to make that hard decision. <br> <br> Second, can you really Verizon or Vodafone selling an Apple handset, with all of the features listed, and without charging a huge monthly tariff? Or worse, limiting the features drastically. Apple could go it alone as an MVNO (like Disney), but that would make whatever product they sell a US only device. <br> <br> What I can see, is Apple going after the mobile VoIP market. It's not new, and has some players, but is mostly in a nascent form. A perfect opportunity for a company like Apple to put their stamp on it. Imagine if they released a wireless VoIP device that connected through a portal of their own, with a VoIP or POTS bridge. Then give it [strike]WiFi[/strike] Airport, give it iTunes, iChat, Safari and Mail, and you have the making of a nice mobile convergence device. Give it a camera and a mobile version of iPhoto and it could be a winner. <br> <br> What they would need, and may be what they've waited for, is enough hotspots to make the service useful away from home. And I think for that they'd partner with one of the players in that segment (think google, yahoo, earthlink...etc) for seamless access out of the box... it could be that Apple will release a “iPhone” as a cell phone, but somehow I doubt it. First, and maybe most importantly, Apple rarely positions themselves with a US exclusive business. Even the iPod and iTunes were available globally even when the iTMS was only available in the US. But my making a cellphone, Apple will have to decide what market to sell in, and what market is carved off the map.

To do everything you listed, they’ll have to use a high speed 3G service, the choices are EV-DO, UMTS or HSDPA (a high-speed data version of UMTS). EV-DO would make sense in the US, but would lock Apple out of the European market and most of the Asian market. UMTS or HSDPA would lock Apple out of most of the US and a significant amount of Asia. They could support all of the technologies, but would cost them a lot in terms of development and support to make their software and products compatible with the mobile protocols. So, I think they’d have to make that hard decision.

Second, can you really Verizon or Vodafone selling an Apple handset, with all of the features listed, and without charging a huge monthly tariff? Or worse, limiting the features drastically. Apple could go it alone as an MVNO (like Disney), but that would make whatever product they sell a US only device.

What I can see, is Apple going after the mobile VoIP market. It’s not new, and has some players, but is mostly in a nascent form. A perfect opportunity for a company like Apple to put their stamp on it. Imagine if they released a wireless VoIP device that connected through a portal of their own, with a VoIP or POTS bridge. Then give it [strike]WiFi[/strike] Airport, give it iTunes, iChat, Safari and Mail, and you have the making of a nice mobile convergence device. Give it a camera and a mobile version of iPhoto and it could be a winner.

What they would need, and may be what they’ve waited for, is enough hotspots to make the service useful away from home. And I think for that they’d partner with one of the players in that segment (think google, yahoo, earthlink…etc) for seamless access out of the box…

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