Posts Tagged: iphone 5

android / apple / apple news / iPhone / observatory — 12 Comments
14
Sep 12

Observations on the iPhone 5 event

I’m a little late to this party due to travel. But here are a few thoughts about the Apple iPhone 5 launch event.

Tim Cook. I can’t fault any of his words, but I suspect that our friend Tim has been studying up with a speaking coach. And the instructions were: Be enthusiastic! Hit those adjectives with some gusto! Don’t get me wrong. Steve Jobs certainly indulged in an excessive adjective now and then, but he had a natural delivery. Tim really forces it, and it does wear thin. The best example comes at the end when he introduces The Foo Fighters. Way over the top.

Phil Schiller. Following Tim, Phil was actually refreshing. He’s not falsely animated, he’s just himself. A clear presentation of iPhone 5. Continue reading →

apple / apple news / iPhone / observatory / strategy — 14 Comments
5
Oct 11

Tale of the misnamed iPhone

What’s in a name? Judging by the cries of despair echoing in the night, apparently plenty.

Before yesterday morning’s iPhone event at Apple, the world was consumed by rumors. Seemed like we’d either see an iPhone 4S, an iPhone 5 or both. The 4S would be the economy model while the 5 would be the giant leap that got us all excited.

What we got was the iPhone 4S only. Damn! They gave us the puny one. That little baby step beyond the 4. Woe is us.

I do think Apple made a mistake. But wasn’t the phone — it was the name.

The name iPhone 4S sent the message loud and clear that this new iPhone was an incremental improvement. Meanwhile, nothing could be farther from the truth.

If Apple’s new baby was unveiled as iPhone 5, I doubt that we’d be reading articles with titles like Apple disappoints fans with modest iPhone 4 update and No iPhone 5 and no Steve Jobs send Apple shares lower.

The changes in this generational shift are actually very much in line with the changes in the last one.

When we moved from 3GS to 4, we got the Retina Display (a big leap in displays), the A4 chip (a big leap in speed), FaceTime (major new capability) and a better camera (from 3 megapixels to 5).

In this move from 4 to 4S, we get the A5 chip (a big, dual-core leap in speed), Siri (a major new capability) and a better camera (from 5 megapixels to 8, plus face recognition). So iPhone 4 delivered four major advances while iPhone 4S delivers three. But then 4S tosses in full 1080p HD video with stabilization, plus an extra hour of talk time.

So why is the iPhone 4 a huge leap and iPhone 4S only a baby step? iPhone 4S looks just like iPhone 4. And design is a very big deal, for Apple more than any other company.

One could say that Apple was just being honest. They did the same thing in the move from iPhone 3 to iPhone 3GS. The body style was unchanged, so the model number stayed the same.

But Apple, of all companies, should understand the marketing impact of a word. Or, in this case, a number. The name speaks volumes, and this name said “modest update.” That’s why people are referring to it that way — not because its improvements are insignificant.

If they called it iPhone 5, I believe things would be different today. Some would have written that the changes were modest, but those comments would have been quickly forgotten as the lines started forming again.

The happy ending, though, is that this little episode will be quickly forgotten anyway. Just like Antennagate. The launch details may get technology writers in a stir, but they have little consequence in the real world. To most, iPhone 4S will simply be the latest version of a great phone with great new features.

So why do I even bother mentioning it? It’s because episodes like this are just unnecessary self-inflicted wounds. There was no need for a bad headline to appear on the front page of CNN.com, and little things do add up over time.

I wish Apple had just called it like it is. And what it is, is an iPhone 5.

apple / apple news / iPhone / observatory — 3 Comments
29
Sep 11

iPhone 5 and the riddle of the sphinx

I’m not sure why this tickles me so, but it does.

We know that any move by Apple sets off wild speculation, but this time it was better than than ever. Within minutes of the official iPhone 5 launch invitation going out, articles were being written to “decode” its contents.

Look! There’s a “one” in the phone icon! That means no second model! Yep. It could also mean you have one message, and you’re looking at it.

Look! It says “Let’s talk iPhone.” Talk? Don’t you get it? Real voice recognition is here! It could also mean there’s one message for you, and you’re looking at it.

I wouldn’t normally get swept up in such things, but there are three other obvious clues here and nobody seems to have noticed:

1. The Push Pin. Look closely at that Map icon. See where the push pin is pointing? Not to Infinite Loop. It’s pointing to the middle of De Anza Blvd. That’s right. This event will make history (though the traffic noise may be a problem).

2. Form Factor. Sure, that’s always been the phone icon. It may also be the shape of iPhone 5. It’s been hidden under our noses all this time. They’re toying with us.

3. The Second Hand. The second hand on the clock is conspicuous because it’s atop the minute hand. Get it? “Second hand”? Apple will announce a new program offering second-hand iPhones. It’s obvious.

Let’s see who’s right.

apple / apple news / iPhone / observatory / technology — 10 Comments
31
May 11

Anatomy of an Apple rumor

“Daddy, where do Apple rumors come from?”

Good question. Though conspiracy-mongers believe Apple masterfully manipulates journalists and bloggers, providing millions of dollars’ worth of free buzz, that’s hardly the case.

The Apple rumor/buzz machine stopped needing any help from Apple eons ago. That, thanks to years of phenomenal success and a famously mercurial CEO.

It takes only a hint of a fact, a mere whiff of a story, for journalists and bloggers to spread the story like wildfire. A good example of this is the recent avalanche of rumors surrounding the mysterious launch date of iPhone 5.

It started innocently enough:

Two months ago, Apple sent out an invitation its annual Worldwide Developers Conference (WWDC). The invitation had only one line of text: Join us for a preview of the future of iOS and Mac OS X.

This invite was accompanied by a release from Phil Schiller, in which he said, “If you are an iOS or Mac OS X software developer, this is the event that you do not want to miss.”

Jim Dalrymple is a blogger known for his reliable sources. Jim immediately posted an article entitled No iPhone, iPad or Mac hardware coming at WWDC. His first sentence: “Apple closed the door this morning on any speculation that it would announce new hardware at its Worldwide Developers Conference saying it would focus on iOS and Mac OS.”

Apple “closed the door”? Yikes. A bit extreme, considering:

1. The invitation went out two months in advance of the WWDC. Apple has never, ever announced an intention to unveil new products two months in advance.
2. Apple’s developer event is, by no coincidence, aimed at developers. Every WWDC invitation in history has focused on software.

However, none of this stopped the story from being picked up by tons of news services and blogs, including the well-respected John Gruber at Daring Fireball. Most ran with with headlines like No iPhone 5 at WWDC this summer.

Of course Jim Dalrymple may well have other sources that lead him to this conclusion. But again, Apple did not close any doors.

And that was only the start of this rumor. Following this “definitive” word from Apple came more reports trying to scoop the initial reports. Analysts gleaned information from their sources. An Asian manufacturer had information indicating there would be a summer launch after all.

Just a few days ago, it was reported that Apple has been urging journalists around the world to attend the WWDC. To those all over this story, that meant something big was going to happen. One blogger said, “the obvious conclusion is that Apple is announcing a new iPhone.”

Gruber quoted that story, but doubted the “obviousness” of the conclusion by noting, “Again — Apple spread word just two months ago the WWDC wasn’t going to be used to introduce new hardware.”

Cut that out! Apple did nothing of the sort. Apple simply sent out an invitation to its annual software event, as they do every year. Everything else is a hunt for hidden clues.

I have absolutely no idea when iPhone 5 will be announced. Nor do I have any idea what will be announced at WWDC. Hard to tell with so much detective work going on.

But if you’re going to draw any conclusions, you might want to read between the lines of those who are reading between the lines.

 

advertising / apple / apple news / iPad / iPhone / iPod / mac / observatory / steve jobs / strategy / tablets — 2 Comments
29
Mar 11

The mystery of iPhone 5

It’s a wacky world when CNN.com is compelled to run the front-page headline, “No iPhone 5 coming in June?”

Even wackier is that the reported delay of iPhone 5′s birthday is really only based on the opinions of two bloggers: John Paczkowski and Jim Dalrymple.

I have respect for both of them, and Dalrymple in particular is known for having reliable sources. However, parts of this story sound fishy to me.

Dalrymple starts his article with this sentence:

Apple closed the door this morning on any speculation that it would announce new hardware at its Worldwide Developers Conference saying it would focus on iOS and Mac OS.

The door-closing to which he refers is actually Apple’s press release describing WWDC 2011. The release contains this quote from Phil Schiller:

“At this year’s conference we are going to unveil the future of iOS and Mac OS. If you are an iOS or Mac OS X software developer, this is the event that you do not want to miss.”

Now, I’ve heard a few doors close in my day — and I’m sorry, but this doesn’t exactly sound like one. It sounds more like Apple inviting software developers to a software developers conference.

True, Apple has announced iPhones and Macs at certain past WWDCs. However, I’ll venture a guess that the official announcement for those events looked very much like the one Apple released yesterday. It’s a software event.

Though I wouldn’t waste too much effort reading between the lines of a press release three months prior to the event, Paczkowski does offer a “delayed iPhone 5″ theory that sounds pretty good.

He thinks iPhone 5 may be designed to run on 4G LTE networks, and AT&T’s next-generation network won’t be ready till mid-summer. (Verizon’s is already working.) If this is true, there would be good reason to delay iPhone 5 until July or August, when they can stage a dedicated event to unveil a redesigned iPhone running at top speed with both Verizon and AT&T.

What does not make sense to me is Apple delaying iPhone 5 till the fall. Creative and unpredictable as they may be, Apple is extremely logical about their product scheduling. What they have now works beautifully: iPad in March, iPhone in June, iPod in September, Macs whenever they damn well please.

The reason they do this is that Steve Jobs believes in having one big message at a time. When a product is launched, it becomes the focus of all Apple communications: home page, TV, print, outdoor, Apple Stores. If iPhone 5 is delayed till October, there would be two launches to support at once — iPod and iPhone. I’m not saying it couldn’t happen, but it’s something I’ve never seen Apple do.

On a side note, this is also why I’m doubtful about the recent rumor of an all-new iPad 3 coming for the holiday season. (A) I don’t think Apple wants or needs to update iPad more than once per year, and (B) a new iPad for the holiday would siphon off attention from the new iPods.

Of course, if Apple were dabbling with that seven-inch iPad they claim to have no interest in, it might be a different story. That wouldn’t be an iPad 3, it would simply be a new model of iPad 2 — and it would be one irresistible holiday toy. (Now you know what to get me.)

But back to iPhone 5. I’m not sure when it’s coming, but I’m already concerned that I’ll have to pay a penalty to upgrade. I don’t see any mention of that in Apple’s WWDC press release.