Applemorphic

Reports are coming in from all over the web with additional details about the iPhone, too many such reports to link them here. You’ve probably already seen them, but from my perspective, here are some of the highlights that weren’t obvious in Tuesday’s announcement.

• As far as we can tell, the iPhone system is closed, meaning you get to use the software that Apple provides for it.  Its hard to imagine Apple making the iPhone widget-friendly and not allowing users to install widgets of their choice (among other software).
• The iPhone is not Microsoft friendly. As of today, it apparently cannot read or write MS Office files, sync with Outlook, or connect to an Exchange server unless that server supports IMAP or POP.
• iTunes songs cannot be set as ringtones.
• The screen appears resistant to smudges, or at least they don’t impact viewing (they seem to be more obvious when the phone is off).
• Like other iPods, the battery is not user-replaceable.

I expect all but the last of these to change at some point in the future. After Apple actually gets this thing produced in volume and into the field, and now that they can openly develop solutions for it, things will evolve rapidly.

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This entry was posted on Friday, January 12th, 2007 at 1:52 pm and is filed under Software, Hardware, iPods, iPhone. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.