Jonathan Arber
Has Apple really produced the ultimate media and Internet phone?
Details of Apple's long-awaited iPhone have finally been announced. While we cover the detailed device specifications elsewhere in today's EuroView, there is also plenty of interest on the content and media side. Steve Jobs described it as 'a widescreen iPod with touch controls ... a revolutionary new mobile phone ... a breakthrough Internet communications device', but is this really the case?Comment: While the iPhone certainly looks the part, we have a few issues regarding its music, media and web browsing functionality. Not least the fact that this first release will only support GSM and GPRS/EDGE, with no 3G connectivity. This means that the 'breakthrough Internet communications' experience that Steve Jobs touted will be severely restricted - 2.5G browsing can be a painful experience, and the reality of using the phone as an Internet device may be a far cry from what Apple is currently promising.In terms of music and media functionality, the lack of over-the-air (OTA) iTunes downloads is somewhat disappointing, although we think Apple is right to stick to sideloading for now. While music downloads OTA may be viable over 3G networks, over 2.5G the user experience (something that Apple prides itself on delivering) is likely to be poor. It is definitely better to wait until OTA downloading is a realistic proposition before launching 'iTunes mobile', as an early bad experience may kill user interest in such a service before it really has a chance to get going.We wouldn't be surprised to see Apple developing a full mobile content offering of its own, and branching out beyond just full-track downloads, much as it has moved into TV and film in the fixed space. It has already started developing and offering simple 'mobile-style' games for iPods, so it wouldn't be a massive leap to offer these and possibly more advanced titles on the iPhone, along with ringtones, wallpapers and video. After all, it already has content deals in place with all the major record labels, and has now expanded its movie portfolio to include Universal as well as Disney.However, the iPhone is certainly a huge step up from the 100 song limit of the disastrous ROKR, and with a choice of 4Gb or 8Gb models offers equivalent storage to the popular iPod Nano. However, the fact is that it is still far cheaper to buy a Nano and a 3G phone separately - with the operator of your choice (Apple and Cingular reportedly have an exclusive deal until 2009 in the US). It will be interesting to see what route Apple takes into the European market, where handset subsidies are the norm, and many consumers are used to paying little or nothing for their music phones.
