With seven days to go before WWDC, the 3G iPhone rumor mill is pretty much on fire. Some of the rumors are pretty bonkers, but most of the more popular ones are pretty darn reasonable. In the name of science, we’ve pushed all of the rumors through our FCF (Fanboy Crap Filter), and rated the more likely rumors on the PKL (Pre-keynote Legitometer) scale. Lets take a look:
Rumor: It’ll be announced during the WWDC keynote
PKL Rating: 10/10 - With just about everyone expecting the announcement, Apple’s gotta do it. Not doing so would be a bad move for their stock.
Rumor: It’ll ship on the same day as the announcement
PKL Rating: 5/10 - As nice as this would be, I can’t imagine how they’d manage to keep the secret. Maybe if it were limited to Apple stores on launch day, but it’s crazy to think that the employees at some of the one-or-two-people-per-shift AT&T shops could fight the temptation to crack open the boxes and fire off pictures to everybody they know. People regularly risk being fired to leak info on much smaller news items. Giving it a full week to get shipped all over the country, I’d expect it to hit around June 16th.
More after the jump..
Rumor: Front-facing Camera
PKL Rating: 7/10 - One of the primary reasons for a front facing camera is video calling, which has been floundering around untapped for years now. It’s entirely feasible, and a number of handsets have it implemented to some degree - especially outside of the US. Unfortunately, it remains stunted by the absence of a handset not only popular enough to make it commonplace, but also technically capable on the hardware and network side. The 3G iPhone would be a mighty fine platform to pave the way - it’ll be plenty popular, be on a fast enough network, and Apple’s got plenty of proven experience with video communication after iChat AV.
Rumor: It’ll have GPS beyond the current Wi-Fi solution
PKL Rating: 8/10 - People’s view on this one tends to vary greatly based on where they live. Major city dwellers see no reason for it, with the Wi-Fi based GPS doing the job for them just fine. Talk to anyone who lives or travels where WiFi density is abysmal, and they’re hurtin’ for something else. My guess? It’ll be a combination of the current SkyHook WiFi solution and aGPS, falling back on the latter to boost accuracy when WiFi signals aren’t adequate.
Rumor: Stereo Bluetooth support.
PKL Rating: 9/10 - That stereo bluetooth (A2DP) support hasn’t been on the iPhone from day one is crazy. Sure - between random tempo changing and poor quality, it’s something that a good majority of handsets screw up - but come on, Apple. Music and wireless are your things, now. They go together well, so lets get this stupid wire out of my face while I’m running. With Leopard coming out of the box with A2DP support, Apple’s at least warming up to the idea.
Rumor: 3 megapixel Camera
PKL Rating: 10/10 - That is, it oughtta be at least 3 megapixels. The current iPhone rocks a 2 megapixel camera. The SGOLD3 chipset rumored to be in use on the 3G iPhone supports up to 5. Any thing less than a full megapixel bump would be underwhelming.
Rumor: It’ll be 22% slimmer
PKL Rating: 8/10 - Totally reasonable. 22% sounds like a whole lot, but it only shaves it down to around 9.1 mm - still a bit thicker than the iPod touch. Slimming things down between revisions is by no means a new addition to Apple’s bag of tricks.
Like any good speculation, these are all just best guesses made after a good amount of consideration. Think we’re spot on? Think we’re way off? Drop a comment!
It should have had most of these things in the first release. I see the first iPhone as a beta that people paid to join.
Japanese iPhone, that’s all I want to hear.
What about wifi-sync and streaming to Airtunes?
It’s most definitely gonna be announced at WWDC. I partially agree with Chris, most of these features seem like they fit in naturally with the iPhone’s evolution. Personally I would like the highest possible resolution on the camera, replacing the need for a separate digital camera for the point and shoot crowd (me included).
What a real win for the iPhone users however will be the apps that can take advantage of this hardware to a fuller extent than Apple itself imagined. Can’t wait.
If it has a flash, or even just a light, for the camera, I’ll be pretty much sold.
No matter how high the resolution, if I can’t take photos in the pub I’d barely use the camera.
“Unfortunately, it remains stunted by the absence of a handset not only popular enough to make it commonplace, but also technically capable on the hardware and network side. The 3G iPhone would be a mighty fine platform to pave the way - it’ll be plenty popular, be on a fast enough network, and Apple’s got plenty of proven experience with video communication after iChat AV.”
That sounds exactly like Fanboy Crap to me.
Very cool…
Can’t wait for the new iPhone 2 to be released! I always think the “generation 2″ of Apple products are better. The new one will obviously make the old one looks like a dinosaur and sadly ugly.
As for features, I am curious on what other new/original ideas they are packing into the new iPhone. I would like to see more innovative features other than the usual suspects (slimmer design, 3G, etc).
Perhaps they will find a way to make the keypad more user friendly this time. And maybe screens on both sides of the phone to make it more cool. Imagine if they can use the cameras on both sides to project the video output on both screens - it will be as though the iPhone is transparent! (just a wild idea) .
Anyway, good job and keep the rumors coming!
Best,
Darren
Darren dude.. you suck.. major ass kiss
I agree with a lot of the points, but I just don’t think that Apple will include GPS until they release generation 3.
I’d love to have it but do you not think the 3G iPhone would sell just as well without it and that Apple would like to hold it over to get people to update the phone next year as well.
it will have the capability to record video
I’m with Richard on his point that Apple will include GPS in the next version of the iPhone.
The market isn’t ready for such a feature.
Well if this new iPhone is going so be available for japan, then it might have a GPS ! that the cool part of it :) because if you want so sell an phone in japan it has to have a GPS…it’s the law ! I’ve heard that Apple has made some meeting with DoCoMo to sell it in japan and Corea, so for me it’s pretty much certain that the iPhone2 will be equiped with GPS.
i don’t agree with you Yonghwee, meabe the US market is not yet ready for the GPS, but the european market is pretty much ready for it… we have GPS for as low as 99euros here and thoses aren’t bad GPS. nearly everyone now has it’s own GPS in his car. so having the possibility to have a single object replacing the phone, camera and GPS is very popular in europe ! that’s why the Nokia N95 is so popular (except that you have to pay to use une GPS…Grrr)
Maybe I am wrong, but I think the location finding technology of the current iPhone (as in other phones) uses the time of flight between the phone and a number of adacent cell stations- NOT Wifi (which has a very limited range). The reason this works reasonably well in a city is that the cells are very small and close to each other- in the countryside the cells can be many miles in radius, and thus not good for finding a person’s location.
Praying for a camera with flash!
well it depends on the phone, Amnon. The Nokia N95 has a real GPS embedded. but you have to pay to activate it. Many new phone now comes with a GPS. And u don’t have to pay to use it on the new ones if i’m correct.
having followed all the rumors concerning the iPhone2 for nearly a month, i haven’t seen a single one concerning a flash…sorry
Extended battery lifetime. Should be fixed before anything else.
What about solar power? I read a rumor about that yesterday. Sounds far-fetched, I guess, but it sure would be nice to not have to constantly charge the thing.
One of the let downs in the iPhone 1.0 was not having a front-facing camera for iChat. Even it is fanboy fodder, it’s a cool idea and one that will come forward. Why not Apple? Their iChat is one of the best consumer video chat products on the market.
As far as GPS, geo-tagging pics, videos and text is a huge up and coming market ready to explode this year. Waiting a year to release this functionality would cripple Apple’s share of the handset market so it seems like a reasonable rumor.
Hmmm, all the talk is about the hardware but nothing regarding the software. I’m wondering what kind of applications will be available given the release of the SDK. Any ideas, fanboys?
well, watch what applications are available with the installer app… it should give you a insight of what’s coming up next with the SDK as many applications will be ported to the sdk… my 2cents
What about this site?
http://tinyurl.com/642egq
I’d like to be able to use that site on the new phone– now it sucks!
My wife has been using the Iphone from day one and likes it but is annoyed by not being able to send a picture message (MMS). All phones now days support this so why not the Iphone? How about an SD card slot too?
What about Flash compatibility while browsing websites?
We are going to see 2 iPhones:
1 Thinner (iPhone Nano)
and 1 Thicker (iPhone Pro) with different specs. (The Nano won’t have GPS for example…)
How about support for multiple phone numbers for the biz folks?
here are a couple of things that I think Apple should include in their new software bundle
1. the ability to copy, paste, and cut from different applications in the phone, especially taking pictures off of the internet and saving them
2. the ability to switch back and forth between applications without having to go to the home screen
3. obviously picture messaging would be great, but also i would like to easily be able to insert contact numbers into text message field
4. finally, and in my mind the most important, is a comprehensive search feature, they already have it on OSX with spotlight, i hate scrolling through hundreds of emails to find just one
here’s my list:
1) improved battery lifetime
2) “edit before call”
3) “send contact”
All of the above would make me a happier customer. Oh I forgot… Apple has no customers. Apple has fans.
I noticed an issue whenever I was on the phone and received a text message, I had some kind of issue with not being able to access the call functions or something. (I sold my iphone and so I don’t remember…)
According to Leander Kahney (author of inside Steve jobs’s Brain) here are the spec of the new iPhone2 (he got that from a develloper) :
- 3G HSDPA
- GPS
- New Battery (bigger lifetime)
- 22% Thiner than the iPhone1
- 16 or 32GB version
In terms of software:
Java support is coming (sun announced it, maybe not for when the apps are downloadable but it is coming).
Flash is hopefully coming (not sure)
Other than that in software a program called intelliscreen is coming (in public beta now). Basically your lock screen actually becomes useful and can have the weather, your mail, RSS feeds, new SMS messages (amazing program, check it out if you have installer.)
Many many games
Obviously custom themes for the iphone (already out)
I doubt it would use solar power as most people keep their phones in their pocket or another area with no sun all day (bags for ladies).
Also to Amnon, the iPhone uses both wireless technology and cell towers to locate the phone which is why when you are in range of a known wireless network, the positioning system pinpoints you very accurately.
oh also I think and would hope the directions feature on the map would improve.
What I mean is that the positioning system (if possible) could locate were you are and automatically tell you when to turn etc (like a GPS)
I’m an urban dweller and hoping for a much better GPS solution. Combined with a faster phone it would be very nice to have enhanced accuracy. It would also be nice to be able to attach GPS info to photographs taken with the camera. Please?
In order to support 3G the battery life must be improved. You can’t really do that and make the device 22% thinner. Rumors of the iPhone with a curved back seem to allow for a bigger battery to support the almost certain 3G feature. This would also allow more room for other feature such as GPS as well.
There will most likely be different version of the iPhone with different form factors/features. In order for Apple to reach their target of 8 million iPhones in 2008 they will have to make the phone more affordable to the masses. Not just cater to the tech-savy.
Hey, this was fun!
3/10 - It will have a keyboard.
Not if you don’t count the touch screen.
6/10 - It will have a 800×480 resolution, just like Sony Ericsson Xperia.
Would be nice and certainly feasible.
10/10 - It will be able to receive SMS vcards.
Because $70 phones have been able to do this since the dawn of time.
9/10 - It will support MMS.
Another core feature of just about any other phone with a camera that’s missing in the 1.0.
1/10 - It will make a perfect Macchiato.
Wouldn’t that be nice?
I find it funny that 3G didn’t make the list… give it a 10/10, but I don’t *think* that they’ve officially announced it. Have they?
I believe that for Apple to even hope to captivate the world with this new phone it will have to well exceed the first. I think GPS is almost mandatory as most of the new smart phones already have it to some degree. My Blackberry curve has it and I now would find it difficult to go to another device that doesn’t have it. If they wait for the 3rd generation, GPS will be old news and so will iPhone.
A better camera - say 5 megapixels - would certainly get my attention as would a better keyboard. But whatever they do, it better be impressive because the first phone blew us away and the competition is working awfully hard to catch up. Palm and Blackberry are already eating up their market share and this will continue if iPhone 2 is anything but WOW!
Thing is, the iPhone 1.0 is a consumer device. It does okay with regard to certain Blackberry-like features, but that’s not what it was designed to do.
OTOH, the Blackberry does really, really horribly at doing iPhone-like things.
Now, iPhone 2.0 is going to be a lot better at doing Blackberry-like things, and maybe better than the Blackberry in many cases. And it’s going to do consumer-like things much better than iPhone 1.0.
Amidst all this, Palm is an also-ran. They owned the market ten years ago, but they futzed around and fiddled while Rome was built and then continued to fiddle around while Rome burned, and now they’re a dinosaur that has long since outlived their usefulness.
Blackberry and Palm have nowhere to run.
Apple could certainly do aGPS in iPhone 2.0, and combine that with their existing triangulation and Skyhook for wifi location-based status, and that would be good enough for most of the US. Not good enough for Europe or Asia, however.
So, real GPS with some sort of tight controls over power usage seems to be pretty much guaranteed.
A higher resolution camera would sure be nice, especially if they could do one with good quality. Five megapixels would be ideal, but I’d take four or even three. A flash or LED light would be great, but third party solutions would also be okay, if they plug into the dock port and work with software from the camera.
IMO, the biggest win is going to be the upgraded firmware with support for things like 802.1x WLAN security, the enterprise features, and especially third-party software.
But a separate iPhone Nano and a separate iPhone Pro would make a lot of sense. Apple did that with the iPhone 1.0 where a closely related device was made available without the phone portion.
I can hardly wait.
PLEASE support AirTunes?!?
I can’t wait for the new Iphone. I love my current Iphone but lets face it, times are a changing.
Need to have:
Copy & paste capability.
3G
3 megapixel camera
A tactile button for camera
flush mounted headphone jack
Voice activated calling
Nice to have:
Video recording
Audio recording
Flash
If they do a front facing camera, perhaps they will be able to make the screen flash like the macs do. Better than nothing.
@David Owens
“If it has a flash, or even just a light, for the camera, I’ll be pretty much sold. ”
If the camera is moved to the front, they could use the screen as a light like PhotoBooth does.
Check out Nokia 3315… the most awesome phone ever!
Looks pretty good, although I think you need to rate the possibility of getting the 3G iPhone on Monday, maybe 7 or so, especially since Apple has been getting all of those mysterious shipments.
well it’s now confirmed that Softbank will sell the iPhone in Japan:
http://w00kie.com/2008/06/04/iphone-on-softbank/
Does anyone know what will happen to current iphone users that have 18 month contracts? will we have to take out new ones or just change sims?!
What about MMS, for those of us who like to txt photos!
Man, I hope apple delivers. I just bought 16K of their stock yesterday @ 187. I wrote more about it here -
http://www.savingtoinvest.com/2008/06/oh-noi-just-bought-16k-worth-of-apple.html - and am hoping they over deliver as usual. Great product info in this post.
Andy