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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

It's hard to believe that the Macworld keynote was only a mere 10 days ago. We now know all about the iPhone, a release date for the Apple TV, the 802.11n capabilities of the Core 2 Duo Macbooks, and we are only three weeks into the new year. If you have been living under a rock or on an island for the past three weeks, you might of missed out of some of the big announcements. Hell, if you have been on the internet constantly for the last three weeks you still might have missed some announcements. I have decided to put up some news summaries and a time line of the next few months for Apple users.

1. iPhone announced - It was the most popular story of all-time on Digg.com. During the Macworld keynote address, Steve Jobs revealed a cell-phone that could revolutionize the way we view cell-phones in the same way the iPod revolutionized the way we view MP3 players. The phone features a touch-screen, a video iPod, a full-fledged Safari web browser, and the ability to listen to any voice-mail without listening to previous voice-mails first. The phone will be released in June with a $499 price-tag for 4GB of flash memory as well as $599 for the 8GB model.

2. Apple TV to be released in February - You could also call this the forgotten announcement of Macworld 07. Steve Jobs announced that we will see the Apple TV ship in February. It is now available for pre-order at Apple.com. The Apple TV will feature a 40GB hard-drive to keep programming on the device. The device also has the ability to stream songs, TV shows, movies, and podcasts from up to 5 computers in any household. The Apple TV will retail for $299 and will see a release in February.

3. New build of Leopard seeded to developers - This isn't news that will catch the eye of a typical Mac user. OS 10.5, also known as Leopard, should see a ship date sometime this summer or late spring. No announcements from Apple on an exact date yet, however the new OS seems to be coming along nicely.

4. 802.11n has been already been shipping on new Macs. - 802.11n is a new WiFi standard that allows information to be transfered over a network faster. The speed boost means nothing if you only use your router for the internet. However, if you plan on transferring long video files to your Apple TV, it would be beneficial to have a faster transfer speed. This new technology solves this problem. Apple didn't tell users that any computer shipping with a Core 2 Duo processor can already handle this new technology. This nice bonus for recent Mac buyers will be enabled after the user pays a small $2 fee. The download to allow this feature should be available by the launch of the Apple TV.

5. Beatles available on the iTunes Music Store - Many critics gripe at Apple due to a lack of the Beatles on the iTunes Music Store. This problem seems to have been all but solved in the last two weeks. Beatles album art was shown at Macworld and several sources have claimed to have seen new iPod ads featuring more Beatle album art. Beatles fans can now rejoice and put out money for digital Beatle downloads.

6. The Super Bowl commercial. - It seems that Apple Inc. has bought a chunk of commercial time during the Super Bowl in which they will reveal a new product. The internet is running rampant with rumors of a touch-screen video iPod. The announcement of the Beatles on iTunes is much more likely.

7. Apple is not a monogamist. - The Macworld keynote brought up several interesting partnerships. Cingular and Apple reached agreements for exclusive rights to the iPhone as well as a couple other projects. Apple also announced partnerships with Google and Yahoo! to bring great features to the iPhone.

8. Paramount to add movies to iTunes. - Macworld also brought an announcement about movie content on the iTunes Music Store. Paramount will be adding movies to the store which should double the amount of videos currently available on the service. This will be great for when the Apple TV is launched and users are looking for new movies to watch. If only Apple would announce a subscription or rental service...

9. Office 2008 for the Mac. - Microsoft recently announced Office 2008 for the Mac which should see a launch later this year. Take that PC users who just got Office 2007. Microsoft loves us more. I'm just kidding, don't kill me! Anyways, Office 2008 should bring Mac users the features and functionality which PC users will enjoy with Office 2007. This announcement is important because it shows that the Mac user base is important to big developers like Microsoft.

Here is an abbreviated time-line. If you don't have time to read the whole post, which I guess you might have already done if you are reading this at the end of the post, check this out.


I hope you all enjoyed this little news summary/ time-line. As always, feel free to leave your opinions by sending me an e-mail at TeenageFanboy@gmail.com or by posting in the comments section. I also invite everyone to register for our message board to post opinions here.

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

I said it. Please don't send in your hate mail yet, let me explain. Actually, let me rephrase that sentence. The iPhone won't change the world right away. Ah, much better.

Macworld kicks off next week and Apple websites have been abuzz with rumors concerning the keynote address. The keynote begins at 9AM Pacific and a live feed will be available at MacUser here.

One product which has been featured predominantly in rumors is a cell-phone from Apple. The cell-phone has actually been rumored for over five years. If you are interested in an Apple cell-phone rumor history, check out FierceWireless here.

Apple did collaborate with Motorola to produce the ROKR in 2005. The phone was the first cell-phone to integrate iTunes. However, the cell-phone received poor reviews because of a 100 song limit which was plagued by poor music transfer speeds.

It has been heavily rumored that Steve Jobs will announce an Apple cell-phone during his keynote address Tuesday. Little is known about the phone. We do know that the phone will not be called the iPhone. This name is a copyright of Linksys and was used on a recently release VOIP phone. It is also heavily rumored to have a battery broken into two halves; one for phone use and another for music playback. I have also seen several rumors which have speculated that the phone will run a mobile version of OS X.

It is highly probable that Steve Jobs will announce a mobile phone on Tuesday. Heck, it might even be in stores by Wednesday. This makes the Apple fanboy in me jump for joy. The idea of a great cell-phone that doubles as a great audio player is wonderful. However, I must admit that I will not rush out to buy one.

First, Apple needs to prove to me that they are capable of producing a quality cell-phone. I know that Apple produces better computers better than any other company in the world. However, a cell-phone is not a computer. Many people e-mailed me and called me biased after my "Top 10 Things to Know" post. They said I would never speak bad of an Apple product. Well, the ROKR was a bad phone. I understand that the ROKR was not completely developed by Apple. Nevertheless, the phone was poorly developed and still tarnishes Apple's record in regards to cell-phones. Apple still needs to prove to me that they can create a powerful cell-phone.

Second, Apple also needs to convince me that I should sell my iPod and my RAZR in exchange for a single device. I love my 4th generation iPod. The screen might not be in color and it isn't nearly as slim as the newer version, but it is still my favorite MP3 device. This mindset also applies to my RAZR. The phone is slim, sleek, and sexy. It handles my contacts and calendar great. I also have great reception with the phone. I really don't see any reason for loosing these devices in favor of a single device. Apple really needs to prove to me that this new device keeps the same great features of my old products while improving upon performance.

Finally, Apple needs to create something that stands out. The phone needs to be a fresh change in the cell-phone and MP3 market. The iPod currently dominates the MP3 market with it's great functionality and hip designs. Many cell-phones currently stand out with great features and designs in the cell-phone market. Apple must create and promote a product that stands out in both markets in order to sell a large amount of units.

Does this mean I think the Apple cell-phone will fail? I don't think it will fail at all. I am confident that Apple will produce a quality produce which will revolutionize the way we see our cell-phones and MP3 players. I just don't feel that this revolution will occur overnight. Once Apple proves that their device is really a killer product, I feel that we will see a drastic market change where multipurpose devices will become extremely popular.

Just don't expect this cell-phone to change the world overnight.


This page is brought to you by...
If you love wikis, the web has millions of informative wikis. These awesome little tools are an easy way to create fun things to do on your site. You can create a video game wiki for your website! Additionally a wiki can be specialized for any niche so add one to your site!