Analysis of Likely 3G iPhone Components & Consequences

[Colourless]

Subsidized everywhere, and networked locked no doubt.

 

[iwod]

The remaining question is how much the contract will be. Since the phone is now cheaper i suppose the contract will be more expensive.

 

[Scott_Arm]

The remaining question is how much the contract will be. Since the phone is now cheaper i suppose the contract will be more expensive.

Yeah, but Apple doesn't get any revenue sharing on the plan, so hopefully it'll end up being a wash

 

[nutball]

Woo, this thing is starting to look interesting now. My three complaints about iPhone First were price and lack of 3G and GPS. iPhone Second seems to address at least two if not all three of those. It'll be interesting to see whether they allow multiple networks to sell it though, 'cos the packages it comes with from O2 are pretty shite.

 

[roninja]

My guess is same apps processor and MBX lite

 

[tongue_of_colicab]

Woo, this thing is starting to look interesting now. My three complaints about iPhone First were price and lack of 3G and GPS. iPhone Second seems to address at least two if not all three of those. It'll be interesting to see whether they allow multiple networks to sell it though, 'cos the packages it comes with from O2 are pretty shite.

Heard the package in the US is going to cost atleast 45 dollars and it will be network locked as you need to sign the contract in the store the moment you buy it. It will probably go like this in Europe too. Only exeption might be Belgium as by law you are not allowed to bundle a phone with a package so if they sell it there it must be region free. But than it will likely be very expensive.

I think I made my choice and will chose the HTC touch Diamond over the iPhone. I like the iPhone better but im not prepaired to pay a heavy premium just because its a iPhone. Only real downside of the HTC is the 4gb mem with no expansion slot but aside that I think its pretty much the same deal as the iPhone. You can get that for 0 euro's and pay 32 euro's a month to call 150min, have 150 or so sms and unlimited internet. I doubt a apple package will come close to the total cost of that.

 

[Scott_Arm]

Not related to current components, but it looks like the company Apple aquired, PA Semiconductor, will eventually be making the processor.

http://cultofmac.com/jobs-claims-pa-semiconductor-will-make-iphone-ipod-chips/2082

 

[Pressure]

Not related to current components, but it looks like the company Apple aquired, PA Semiconductor, will eventually be making the processor.

http://cultofmac.com/jobs-claims-pa-semiconductor-will-make-iphone-ipod-chips/2082

It's really no surprise that they will be making a system-on-chip (SoC).

That would lead to smaller devices with lower power requirements.

Afterall, the iPod and the iPhone is set to become their largest revenue maker (iPod already is).

 

[AlphaWolf]

It seems AT&T is indeed subsidizing the 3G iPhone.

 

[Scott_Arm]

It seems AT&T is indeed subsidizing the 3G iPhone.

I'm not a fan of increasing the price on plans. Over the two year contract you will end up paying more than people had with the more expensive phone.

And here in Canada, where our plans are already garbage, I'm really scared to see what the iPhone plan is going to cost.

 

[cthellis42]

Yeah, it's not actually a price drop, but considering both the public and punditry seem completely unable to measure out the "total cost of ownership," they were basically forced down that route to get mass sales. (For instance, over the first two years of a contract alone, a launch $600 iPhone was the exact same price as getting a FREE smartphone from Verizon, if you matched plans. Did that make headlines? Of course not.)

No real price drop, but less in the front end, and seemingly removing the biggest speedbump from much greater mass adoption.

(...of course since it makes headlines, now they WILL shout near and far about how the plan cost increase negates the price drop. Seemingly it just wasn't a factor before...? *sigh* )

 

[Scott_Arm]

I'd prefer more expensive unlocked phones so that carriers would have to make affordable plans to compete for business.

 

[tongue_of_colicab]

I always wonder how big the difference would really be. Here in Holland, even if you take sim onlu, you pay 9,50 anyway for unlimited internet acces. Than you'll have to pay atleast 7 euro's extra for a decent amount of call minutes. In comparison, I you'll get 150 call minuts and unlimited internet for 27,50 along with a htc touch diamond which will cost you around 500 unlocked. You'll have a hard time spending less with a sim only than with a plan. I think it only starts to make sense once you buy cheap phones.

 

[wco81]

It appears the AT&T plans are about $15 more a month to get the same level of service, except the data is unlimited 3G.

We were speculating about video streams and so forth. Even if the silicon supported it, it appears the AT&T network really isn't capable of that kind of throughput. Maybe with LTE.

If you notice, the App. Store can let you download content up to 10 MB over the air. Anything over 10 MB and you have to use Wifi or download to a computer and sync via iTunes.

3G networks overseas may be more capable but the pricing schemes would seem to discourage heavy use, such as video streaming. If you look at prepaid SIM offerings, the tariffs to make "video calls" are stiff.

It may not yet be economical to enable video chats in iChat yet.

 

[manux]

Vodafone italy sells iphone 8GB for 499e(unsubsidized)

 

[AlphaWolf]

iPhone in belgium is $679

Rogers deal in Canada is still pathetic (over $2100 over 3 years minimum) even with their promotion that will expire in August. Rogers has been feeding lines about how the large infrastructure required in Canada with relatively small population requires them to charge more. That would be more believable if Rogers service actually worked more than 2 miles out of a major center.

 

[eastmen]

My buddy has the first one and is waiting on getting the second one.
Personaly I got in on the sprint sero plan for $30 a month (500 minutes , unlimted data , texting and what not ) So i'm waiting on the diamond from htc (have the mogul now)

The iphone is really cool but its lacking hte ability to have 3rd party apps and home brew (without hacking it )

 

[Entropy]

iphone is really cool but its lacking hte ability to have 3rd party apps and home brew (without hacking it )

The app store which opened up alongside the iPhone3G is a huge development. It already offers 600+ apps from freeware to $69, and that's after the SDK has been available for a few months.
Extremely easy purchasing interface, and the store is right there, on your phone, all the time. Distribution, marketing, money flow - all taken care of. Developers are jumping on it, and if I was looking to change careers, so would I.

 

[silent_guy]

Extremely easy purchasing interface, and the store is right there, on your phone, all the time. Distribution, marketing, money flow - all taken care of. Developers are jumping on it, and if I was looking to change careers, so would I.

I don't disagree that it's a big deal: it is, and I love it. The experience is so much different compared to the hassle of buying apps for, e.g., Palm.

I'm just not sure if it's something you'd want to pursue as a career. A lot of apps are being dissed in the individual reviews because the company dares to ask $10 for it. Even at that low (IMHO) price, you'd have to sell thousands of copies to earn a decent living. And, as you said, there's a lot of developers jumping on it so you better be really good at it.

 

[wco81]

Yeah it'll probably shake out.

But a lot of developers seem to be doing side projects, just to play around with the tools, possibly put together something they'd want to use on their phones, etc.