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| iPhone: 3G-whiz? |
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| Wednesday, 11 June 2008 | |
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Opinion divided on importance of faster, smarter, cheaper Apple cell phone…
At the beginning of the week, in what was no surprise at all, Apple launched a 3G model of its iPhone as the second major iteration of the iconic device. What was perhaps not universally expected was that the new quad-band GSM and tri-band HSDPA phone would be targeted more squarely at the business user than its predecessor (although some pundits have also seen it as likely to attract more women buyers too). Probably most surprising was the fact that it’s cheaper than the original - some US$200 less for an 8Gbyte model. In case you missed it, the new iPhone debuted at Apple’s Worldwide Developers Conference (WWDC) 2008 in San Francisco is nominally twice as fast as the original, operates on Wi-Fi, 3G and EDGE networks (and automatically switches between them), and has built-in GPS for expanded location based mobile services. Slightly smaller and lighter than the original, the 3G iPhone is claimed to make multi-tasking a doddle, with simultaneous voice and data communications. iPhone 2.0 software includes support for Microsoft Exchange ActiveSync, to provide over-the-air push e-mail, contact and calendar syncing, as well as remote wipe and Cisco IPsec VPN for encrypted access to corporate networks, and runs the hundreds of third party applications already built with the recently released iPhone SDK. iPhone 3G also taps into ‘MobileMe’, a new Internet service that pushes e-mail, contacts, and calendars from an online ‘cloud’ to native applications on iPhone, iPod touch, Macs and PCs. Battery life is improved, with the 3G model offering 10 hours of talk time on 2G networks and 5 hours using 3G, with up to 5 to 6 hours of Web browsing, up to 7 hours for video playback and up to 24 hours for audio playback. iPhone 3G will be available in more than 70 countries later this year, beginning with customer availability in 22 countries - “Just one year after launching the iPhone, we’re launching the new iPhone 3G that is twice as fast at half the price,” said Apple ceo Steve Jobs. “iPhone 3G supports Microsoft Exchange ActiveSync right out of the box, runs the incredible third party apps created with the iPhone SDK, and will be available in more than 70 countries around the world this year.” As you might expect critical response to the 3G iPhone launch was torrential in volume and extremely diverse in tenor, ranging from ‘so what?’ through ‘it’s still got holes in it’ and ‘it needed to be done’ to ‘mould-breaker’ and ‘bye-bye BlackBerry, adios Android’. But did Apple have any choice in the matter? Six million iPhone ‘classics’ sold in a year is pretty impressive, until you look at the size of the overall annual cell phone market. Ovum says 6mn is equivalent to around 1% of the total global handsets shipped in 2007. You can also look at the size of the global Smartphone market. Gartner, for example, reckons 32.2mn of these were shipped in just Q1 2008 alone. Meanwhile, 3G network deployments continue to ramp up around the globe. According to the Global mobile Suppliers Association (GSA) as of May some 220 3G/WCDMA networks had been launched in 94 countries, and 90% of commercial WCDMA networks had cut over HSDPA service. 3G momentum is also building in the John Williamson |
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