January 9th, 2007

Macworld 2007: Apple Fan FREAK-OUT

Finally. Waiting for Macworld is worse than waiting for Christmas morning when you’re a kid. Looks like the iPhone is here (multichorded interface) and the Apple TV (aka iTV). I’m getting these photos right from MacRumorsEngadget, looks like cell phone pix.

My predictions last year were true - a phone combination of multichorded (that’s more than one finger at a time) and touchscreen interface, combined with an iPod. Wow, I didn’t expect all of that so soon. How am I going to keep the screen clean? I’m sure there’s an RDF field generator on-board for quibbles like that.

pad
coverflow
google maps

More photos here as they’re posted. There’s some solid coverage over at Engadget with nicer pictures.

It’s not going to be cheap. I wonder if the rumors about them going with Cingular are true. Kristi told me last night she’d want one, and she hasn’t even seen this yet.

Some beautiful videos of the iPhone in action are now up at Apple.com. 

Posted in Tools, Toys, and Geekery

Responses

Looks like I was right about Cingular.

Allan On January 9th, 2007 at 10:14 am, Allan said:

And it looks like they’ve really embraced the multichorded stuff, which is good.

(from Macrumors keynote coverage) ...2 fingers together like pinch and bring them apart and pic gets bigger…

The MIT demo I link to above is totally amazing. Were I the Steve and saw that demo, I would have seen the future of human-computer interaction and offered them jobs immediately.

Allan On January 9th, 2007 at 10:21 am, Allan said:

I’m too old. I’ve pretty much decided that my phone just needs to make calls and hold a charge for a week. Sorry I can’t get all excited with you.

Good time to be a macphile, though. Works like (patented) magic! Enjoy!

On January 9th, 2007 at 11:01 am, Jason said:

Dude, I love your phone - it’s 100% function and no fuss.

I’m excited, but at $499-$599 my ardor cools considerably.

Allan On January 9th, 2007 at 11:04 am, Allan said:

TUAW noted:

11:10 PT. John and Steve hug. No “one more thing”

11:05 PT. What we didn’t see: Leopard ship date. iWork. iLife. Core 2 Duo mini. Oct-core pro’s. Universal Apps. High Def at the iTunes store. Any computer hardware outside the new iPhone. .Mac updates or revisions. Adobe.

I was hoping for a Mac Pro upgrade, which is inevitable with Intel’s new quad-core Q6600 chips out now. An Leopard demo and iWork update would have been nice, too. Maybe we’ll hear more this week.

How could he not give us “one more thing”? It’s tradition!

Allan On January 9th, 2007 at 11:41 am, Allan said:

I just want my phone to sync with my computer so I can have my calendar and contacts with me. That’s been trouble with a Mac for me.

So what Christmas and birthday presents are you returning so we can afford to get two of these things??

On January 9th, 2007 at 12:02 pm, Kristi said:

LOL - can I return one of yours?

Allan On January 9th, 2007 at 12:38 pm, Allan said:

The videos online are awesome, though they’re definitely simulated. The phone features videos are exactly what I would want in a phone interface - an interface that nobody’s gotten right yet.

Of course, at the bottom, it says:

“This device has not been authorized as required by the rules of the Federal Communications Commission. This device is not, and may not be, offered for sale or lease, or sold or leased, until authorization is obtained.

So it may be just a lot of hot air (hot pixels?).

Allan On January 9th, 2007 at 01:15 pm, Allan said:

Sounds pretty cool, but a little impractical for me.  Two-fingered map browsing is fine, but I love my Blackberry because I can work it with one hand (while still holding it) and it wirelessly syncs with the calendar and email.  I use my Plaxo address book for the contacts, so I can access them anywhere (although I wish browsing to it was faster on a handheld).

Truth be told, I hate the phone, but that is another story (see www.CreativeOutletLabs.com).

On January 9th, 2007 at 06:33 pm, Jennifer Davis said:

@ Jen: I think one could still do many tasks one-handed (what’s the other hand doing, BTW?). Scrolling, ‘frinstance, could be done with a thumb.

I’m pretty sure it’s got calendaring and email/address book (video). I bet there’s a pipe to Plaxo somehow; does the CrackBerry just pull up a web page, or is there some kind of RIM app?

I hate the phone, too. I’d rather IM, or talk in person.

Kristi On January 9th, 2007 at 11:29 pm, Kristi said:

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