blog dot cameronbanga dot com

NOTE: If you are looking for more great tips and tutorials for OS X, check out my new website, www.appleinfive.com

We are about 5 months away from the launch of the iPhone. I feel like I have gone on about the subject long enough and no longer need to discuss how great this phone is. Today, I am actually going to discuss what improvements the iPhone needs. It is never too early to start speculation about the second version of the iPhone. Here are a few things that could really revolutionize the revolutionary iPhone.

1. Vibrating Touch Feedback - One big complaint I have seen about the phone has involved the lack of feedback when a button is pressed on the phone. When you press a button on your current cell-phone, you feel the button press in. You have some sort of feedback. A touch-screen doesn't have this. What if the phone contained a small rumble motor which would vibrate when a button is pressed? It might sound odd, but you can imagine how well this would work if you own a Nintendo Wii. When you hold the Wiimote, the controller vibrates when you move the cursor over an on-screen option button. This would be a similar feature which would allow for a great sense of feedback whenever a button is pressed.

2. Hard-drive based - Battery life is a big decision behind the decision to use a flash-based player. Today, news has been floating around the internet regarding a new type of battery which would last about ten times longer than current batteries. That story can be found here. If that kind of battery would work on a cell-phone, I think it would make sense to make the phone hard-drive based. It would allow for 30 GB or even 80GB worth of space for holding songs and files.

3. GPS built-in - Or at least as an add-on. The Google Maps integration looks amazing. However, it would be a better if GPS was used so that it was not necessary to type in current location while on the go.

4. Homebrew - Apple has gone on record to say that this device will not run unauthorized 3rd-party applications. Apple needs to open the device up so that small communities can develop homebrew applications. This powerful machine could produce some amazing applications if independent developers or basement programmers were given free reign.

5. VOIP support - The phone has WiFi capabilities. It would be great if the phone had some sort of ability to run something like Skype. This will most likely never happen due to agreements with Cingular or any other future carrier. The ability to use Skype would be amazing with how wide-spread WiFi networks are becoming.

I hope everyone enjoyed these five ideas. While the second generation of the iPhone could be a year or two away, it is fun to speculate. If you have any comments about my suggestions or if you have suggestions of your own, feel free to post it in the comments section, in the message board, or e-mail me at TeenageFanboy@gmail.com