Filed under: Analysis / Opinion, Open Source, Software Update, Apple, iPhone
Coming in iPhone 1.1.1. probably
Eagle-eyed reader Travis (thanks!) went over Engadget's photos of the O2 iPhone announced yesterday morning, and sussed out every little feature and update he saw on their iPhones that current owners don't have. We can only believe that the iPhones shown must have already been updated to 1.1.1, and that US iPhones, via Software Update, will receive these features soon.- Now Playing controls everywhere!
- Double clicking the home screen goes to Favorites or iPod, similar to what the iPod touch can do now.
- The iTunes WiFi Store (well duh)
- Closed captioning, and the already leaked support for Video Out.
- New Calculator icon-- to match the iPod touch as well
- International keyboards
- Network setup with VPN support and EDGE disabling
- A "Carrier" menu, but your guess is as good as ours on that one. This could simply be a European thing, as their rules may not match American regulations. I really don't think AT&T would like to see Apple give the ability to unlock iPhones from their service in the next major software update.
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 2)
pundit761 said 7:14AM on 9-19-2007
If those are the only changes, i'm rapidly losing patience with Apple - "Nuevo Microsoft" - and the iPhone. Where the he*l are multi-thread SMS, MMS, and most of all iChat??? This thing has been out for close to 100 days and there has yet to be one major update for iPhone. Adding EDGE-disable is not a major upgrade. That should have been on this thing from the get go - all Blackberries have that option. When you do not allow 3rd party development, you get rapidly pushed to the side in a market as hot as mobile phones.
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Jr. said 7:20AM on 9-19-2007
Well, the Carrier-menu is probably to let users choose which carrier to use when abroad. In Europe, this is a very handy feature, so that you can control which carrier you will use while staying in another country.
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jan303 said 7:21AM on 9-19-2007
the carrier menu is for roaming when you are in another country. that way you can choose who you want to roam with, most carriers have more than one roaming partner (at least here in germany) in other countries. i think every generic cellphone has that option, if you try to change the carrier at home it will just tell you its not possible with your simcard.
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KeynoteKen said 7:30AM on 9-19-2007
Since it won't be out in the UK until Nov. 9, they've got all October before this has to be delivered... may even be 1.2.3 by then.
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dukrous said 7:36AM on 9-19-2007
The current firmware on the phone supports VPN already. I can't see this as a new feature. EDGE disabling is awesome, though...it'll save my speakers from going nuts every time the phone calls home.
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Tom said 8:33AM on 9-19-2007
Hey you guys. "Carrier menu" is a required feature in Europe. In some countries a mobile phone is not allowed to be sold with a sim lock. I live in Belgium where it is strictly forbidden. Carries may sell phones+contracts in a bundle but the phone should be simlock free. Guess this is the reason why we won't see an I phone in the very near future or it will be far more expensive than in the surrounding countries. Hope this shed some light on the subject.
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FinnishFries said 8:35AM on 9-19-2007
Same for the "Carrier" menu. I can't see how this is new. I have a unlocked iPhone running 1.0.2, and at least here in Europe I can switch carriers already.
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Rick said 9:01AM on 9-19-2007
You can add the Flash player to the list. I have heard this from at least three independent sources that the Flash player will be in an update "before the end of the month".
Also, for those waiting impatiently for 3rd party development, you're going to have to wait for the new OS. Expect to be able to "convert" widgets into iPhone apps with OS X.5.
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Cycomachead said 9:22AM on 9-19-2007
How about a new dock for the iPhone a-la the touch.
Apple seriously need to step up its game in the iPhone business. I can't be that hard to add the basic features.
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Matt said 9:33AM on 9-19-2007
What was so wrong with the old calculator icon that they felt it needed to change after 2 months?
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Geoff said 10:15AM on 9-19-2007
It's not a "feature," but I'd rather see the new reflective glassy "dock" from the iPod touch than the perforated metal thing we've got now.
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Justin said 10:21AM on 9-19-2007
The carrier option is not a new feature. It's been there since launch and is available when you are roaming internationally. I've used my iPhone in Singapore and the UK (where I am right now looking at my Carrier option).
Your options under Carrier are Automatic or a you can select from a list of available networks.
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aj_robins said 10:27AM on 9-19-2007
You may have been kidding, but I'd be surprised if the update did NOT kill ringtones and the buffer overflow unlock. Apple killed free ringtones in iTunes 7.4.2, and I think they're now going to kill ringtones via itoner and the like (I'd be thrilled to be wrong, though).
Also, as far as iChat goes, I don't think we'll ever see it, as it's too much of a threat to AT&T's lucrative sms income. My unsubstantiated wild-*** guess is that Apple is contractually obligated to not produce an iChat-like application for the iPhone (and is another reason why the iPhone is a closed device). Again, I'd love to be wrong, though.
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mark said 10:29AM on 9-19-2007
can someone explain the difference (from the customer perspective) between SMS and Chat? Folks have been lamenting the lack of a chat client and I'm not sure what the differences are.
and does anyone think, if a real chat client materializes, that messages sent will not count againts your SMS quota?
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Brendan West said 10:37AM on 9-19-2007
No. 6 sed "EDGE disabling is awesome, though...it'll save my speakers from going nuts every time the phone calls home."
BINGO! But my stupid clock radio does that when I set the phone next to it at night... Although this shouldn't be an EDGE problem since I have Wi-Fi. So I don't know.
Time for a new clock radio.
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Bobnease said 10:47AM on 9-19-2007
I also noticed on the O2 iPhone page that you will be able to sync with Bluetooth! Just thought it was worth pointing out.
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aj_robins said 11:15AM on 9-19-2007
SMS is like mini-email: you send a short text-only message from your iPhone to another person (or group of people, as in the case of other phones, but not the iPhone). MMS is like SMS, but you can also send things like pictures in addition to text. SMS/MMS originated in the UI-limited cellphone world.
iChat is like super-SMS: not only can you send messages to others, but you can constantly see their status: online, offline, away/busy, etc.. You can also do conference chats. iChat (or "instant-messaging" as it's generically known) originated in the PC/Mac world.
While charging for iChat messages like SMS messages may be possible, it would likely result in significant customer dissatisfaction. You can easily blow through your monthly 200-message limit in well under an hour (this would be equivalent to not having unlimited internet on the iPhone).
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Appleman said 11:16AM on 9-19-2007
@16
It's called GSM buzz. It happens from phone calls and sms too, not just EDGE.
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Zell said 11:30AM on 9-19-2007
Hey, what's that purple icon thingy near the lower right corner?
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Richard Stovall said 11:37AM on 9-19-2007
I don't get why double clicking the home button to bring up music controls is a big deal. If a song is playing, I just hit the iPod button and I have access to ALL of my controls, not just the ones in the picture. This is supposed to be a shortcut, but it doesn't really get you anywhere any faster.
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