posted
WTF, No one has blathered about how awesome/lame Apple's new iPhone is? And you call yourselves haters.
Hey it's pretty durned shiny, but was locked in glass cylinders until June. I'm sure everyone has heard all there is to hear, but yes, Apple announced a widescreen iPod, a phone and a mobile internet access/messsenger all rolled into one very cool little package. It's all touchscreen based. Prices to start at $499 (Ouch!) for the 4GB model. Cingular will apparently be the exclusive carrier. Also they'll probably have to change the name.
They also presented their iTV (nee AppleTV) thing which lets you stream or copy video via WiFi (or wires) to your home-theater setup. Max output is 720P which I guess isn't surprising given that it's intended for people who've downloaded their TV and movies from iTunes. Still it is pretty awesome for $299.
Other than that, there wasn't anything too earth-shattering. I mean the iPhone really steals the show, and it won't be available for six months. This year's floor was slightly less iPod-centric than the ridiculous levels of last year. There was still a lot of accessorizing going on, but there were also some pretty great new products out there and some new companies to watch.
I've been curious about getting a VOIP phone and checked out pretty much my only option on the showroom floor:
Currently no ability to display web pages means you wouldn't be able to log into many free WiFi hotspots which sort of defeats the purpose for me.
I did pick up some cheap RAM and discounted drives and stuff to make old PowerBooks sing. I picked up the latest version of Animation:Master (Universal Binary!) hoping it would be less buggy than the version I got when I was still running classic. (Keep workin' on it, boys) Also a battery upgrade to my 2nd gen iPod.
Mostly I had a really great time wandering around and looking at new things and meeting interesting people.
[ January 16, 2007, 06:51 AM: Message edited by: Chris ]
Registered: Sep 2000
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Cartman
just made by the Presbyterian Church
Member # 256
posted
FICNeo1973 > Apple iPhone
Registered: Nov 1999
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posted
Actually, turns out there was a trademark issue with VisageNet Industries, they're calling it iSchnoz� now.
The Open Moko Cartman linked to sure is neato. Am I correct in believing that is currently does not do WiFi? Any chance for a Linux version of Skype on it? Have prices been put forth?
[also I apologize for my spelling error in the title of this thread and would humbly request some kindly mod to correct my error. My only excuse is a lack of sleep brought on by miles of Mac compatible gadgetry.]
Registered: Sep 2000
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Cartman
just made by the Presbyterian Church
Member # 256
posted
Yeah, wifi's planned for a next revision.
Price will be around $350, according to an OpenMoko dev. I talked to (I'm a nerd like that). See also this article.
Dunno about Skype being ported, but since that would more or less go against the philosophy of the platform, not very likely.
Registered: Nov 1999
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OnToMars
Now on to the making of films!
Member # 621
posted
I didn't know Alan Tudyk posted on Flare.
-------------------- If God didn't want us to fly, he wouldn't have given us Bernoulli's Principle.
Registered: Jun 2001
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[thank you, kindly mod, for fixing the title]
Also thank you, OTM, if you are intending that I resemble Alan Tudyk. I think I prefer being giant, fat Alan Tudyk over, say, giant, fat John Billingsley. (No offense intended, JB)
With OpenMoko / FIC 1973, the philosophy seems to be that people want a phone that can be upgraded and do whatever so they don't have to buy a new one every couple of months. And so maybe I'm not seeing how having a Skype client runs counter to that. (I realize it's more complicated than that, but there is a Linux version of Skype)
Also, I hadn't read about the Nokia N800 before. That seems more like the combination I'd want. No direct cell-phone capability (I don't think) 2 SD slots, Wifi, Blutooth 2.0, Big ol' screen, integrated web browser and email client and the Maemo community kicking out more and better tools. I guess most importantly, they say it's gonna do Skype soon.
The Skypephones are great, unless, of course, the free WiFi hotspot you want to use requires you to log into via a browser. In which case you're SOL.
I'll be interested to see what becomes of this lawsuit brought by Cisco against Apple over the use of the Trademark iPhone.
Registered: Sep 2000
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