Friday, May 09, 2008

The new iPhone

Here's what I want in the new iPhone:

<> More storage. I'll take as much as I can get so long as it doesn't affect the phone's physical size. 32GB would be a nice starting point.
<> Over the air (automatic) updating of calendars, contacts, and podcasts- podcasts being key. I don't want to have to physically sync my iPhone with my computer to update its content, nor do I want to do it over a WiFi or Bluetooth connection at home. I want this to be done seamlessly over the mobile network, which is the primary reason why I would like:
<> 3G. Faster web browsing and YouTube would be great, but the killer feature of 3G would be enabling the iPhone to seamlessly stay up to date with all of the content sources that feed it.
<> Video recording. It would be nice to be able to shoot little video clips. Auto-upload to YouTube would be nice too.
<> The ability to receive phone calls while using the mobile data connection. This is a major limitation of the first iPhone. I don't completely understand the technical rationale behind this, and I've heard people say that this limitation is dependent on the type of EDGE network used in certain locations, but currently, if I'm using the EDGE connection to browse the Web or for any other data service, I am unable to make or receive phone calls. That sucks, and hopefully the move to a different sort of data network will remedy this.
<> Copy and paste.
<> A higher resolution camera. It doesn't have to be outrageously high-res, but better would be better.
<> Battery life that is at least as good as the current iPhone. If Apple can do everything I want without sacrificing battery life, that would be awesome. If battery life has to come down to accommodate new features, I'd prefer to trim features.

Here are some thoughts/predictions:

<> I seriously doubt Apple will introduce an iPhone that's in any way larger than the current one- unless it's a new product altogether (such as a tablet-like device that's got a dramatically bigger screen). Some rumors have predicted a slightly thicker iPhone- I doubt it.
<> Prices are going to have to come down for Apple to continue to make inroads with consumers. $399 is too expensive for a product to break through into a market that's dominated by phones that are essentially free. But the current iPhone (and the hypothetical 3G version of the current iPhone everyone's been talking about) can continue to comfortably occupy $399 and up price points, so I believe Apple will release a second model of the phone that's dramatically cheaper ($99 to $199). I don't think they're going to simply drop the price on the current EDGE iPhones to accommodate this market- I think they will release something iPhone "nano"-esque.
<> There will be at least one new "wow" feature no one's really talked about yet. This could be related to some sort of new wave of retail partnerships (i.e. the Starbucks functionality on steroids).
<> GPS is not a given. To me, GPS seems more like a check-box feature than something that's really critical. It sucks up a lot of battery life, and now that the iPhone can approximate its location via the network, I don't know if the engineering tradeoffs tip in favor of including GPS. Location-awareness is certainly a major feature to have on mobile devices, and much of the future functionality enhancements we'll see will revolve around location-based services (and advertising)- but I'm not sure if traditional GPS on the next iPhone is necessary at this time.
<> Games are going to be big. The iPhone will become the Wii of portable gaming.
<> The iPhone will become integrated with other Apple devices, including (perhaps beginning with) the Apple TV. Imagine using your iPhone as a remote control for your Apple TV- or as a controller for playing games on the Apple TV (not sure if the Apple TV's graphics capabilities would be suitable for high-end gaming, though).

Regardless, my number one prediction is that I will buy the new iPhone almost immediately after it comes out.

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