1. It doesn’t support SD (micro)memory cards, no slot present
2. I can’t install other software (TomTom navigation and so on)
3. I can look at movies but I can’t record any
4. I don’t use iTunes, nor an mp3 player function and I don’t care for music support or YouTube videos
5. The battery is sealed-in so no hard reboot if the device locks (by removing and replacing the battery)
6. Got to hand in the phone at Apple store for x days if battery breaks
7. Not ready for over-the-air content delivery (3G and so on)
8. Sealed deals with operators that require minimum sign-up periods
9. I don’t store pictures on my phone, don’t have time to show off pictures either, I just use it for work-related things, not during coffee breaks
10. Compared with Nokia’s N95 5 megapixel snapshot maker, the iPhone has a rather crappy image quality

So, apart from the very cool design and touch screen navigation, there really isn’t much in it for me. I just need a device with easy access that allows me to install what I want, that allows me to chose any provider I like and that improves my mobile experience. And for what it has to offer, I think it is way too expensive. There is no technology progress. A slick interface doesn’t make me happy if the functions behind it don’t live up to the expectations. But yeah, that’s just my humble opinion. What it does pretty well though, is blend!

Video: Will It Blend? iPhone [source]

By the way, you can bid for the blended iPhone on eBay :-) It’s already at $430.

The videos you shoot with it are of good quality and the sound of the things you record is too. With 30fps, it’s a nice experience to play back your adventures. I didn’t use the secondary CIF videocall camera because I didn’t quite know who to call :-)

Scanning for wireless networks, connecting to them and uploading goes very fast. I have nothing to say about that. Holding on to the network has proven to be a little more difficult, I had to reconnect at least once every 10 minutes when I was uploading pictures to Flickr. Once the connection is there, it’s almost as fast as broadband. I like this feature the most. It is, however, VERY battery-consuming.

A few downsides to the device though:

Even though it has up to 220 hours of stand-by time and up to 6.5 hours of calling time, I ran out of power quite a lot when I used the wi-fi feature to upload images to Flickr or to browse sites or make videos. I realize that for regular use this power supply is really good, but if you deliver a mobile multimedia pc and show off with its features, I think there needs to be some more power to it to cover all the fun. If you play some movies you’ve put on the little 1 Gigabyte memory card, you can see the battery power bar shrink almost in real time. That’s a bummer.

The mobile GPS works fine when you’re on foot and you could download maps for free from the website to cover more than 100 countries. The service becomes paid as soon as you want voice guidance added to the road descriptions of your travel route. Here’s something I don’t understand either. It takes a really long time to locate the 5 needed satellites when you’re in the middle of the city. You need to find an open spot to get a signal (took quite some time) and from then on it’s pretty smooth, but it’s only good when you’re on foot. I tried it on a bike and that was about as fast as the thing could go. For usage in a car, it simply is too inaccurate and sometimes it loses contact with the satellites, leaving you stranded and waiting for a signal to continue the quest. Then comes my question: why would you need voice guidance? If you go slow enough to read the map I don’t see a need/market for it, unless the receiver becomes stronger and the service improves.

I’m very satisfied about the speed of the browser and the fact it has RSS built in. It’s also remarkable that it’s not an ordinary WAP browser, but a full browser ‘as is’. It’s the same sort of browser you’d use on your regular pc. That’s pretty cool.

What I don’t like, or rather, what I miss, is the touch-screen functionality. I’ve been using the HTC TyTN (and still do) and it’s really a super thing that you can navigate with touch. Switching back to a device that needs confirmation keys and has keys that require multiple touch for a character or action is very challenging. I kept pressing the screen, expecting something to happen out of habbit. Sending text messages or answering email is far more time-consuming compared to when you have a sliding keyboard.

If Nokia was keen enough to have a slider in two ways, it would even be so much more cooler if there was a three-way slider or if the regular phone keyboard could be replaced with a small keyboard similar to the one you use on a pc. If they aim to be the leading mobile multimedia device, they need to let go of the old mobile phone functionality and approach pc users with an environment they are more familiar with.

Closing remarks are the items I already mentioned in my first review:

• Have the phone remember the location of the images, it saves about 4 clicks I think, per image (+ moving the cursor to the right link every time). The images are stored on a micro SD card, so navigating to that time and again… that’s just way too hard.
• Need more battery power, for real
• Have the phone remember password settings in the browser. If you have a strong password like $TR0ngPaSSw0rd!, typing it again and again every time your wireless connection drops… Awch
• Need more battery power, for real

Useful links:

* Full phone specs
* Nseries product site

via Gizmodo

1. You are not speaking at an official CTIA event.
2. Your presentation is eloquent and relevant to the future of mobile. It focuses on new ideas. It outlines solutions, even if it’s inspired by problems.
3. You speak for no more than 10 minutes, and are prepared to answer up to 5 minutes of impromptu questions.

Leave behind the approved corporate messages. MobiCamp is where you’ll hear things that need to be said from voices that need to be heard. It’s where you’ll be enlightened by new ideas and inspired by creative thinkers. It’s the stuff we need, but these days so rarely find, at our industry gatherings.

Rather than be subjected to the same old PowerPoint presentations with tired stats and uninteresting samples of “mobile snacks,” come share your stories and your vision with others who will help you shape the future of mobile.

MobiCamp is a community-generated mashup. If you’ve got something to contribute, you can decide how it fits into the agenda. MobiCamp’s US thing is on Sept. 11th 2006 from 7PM to 10PM, 111 South Grand Avenue, Los Angeles, California. And hopefully it’ll find its path to Europe as well.
(Can we integrate it in ‘our’ next BarCamp, Peter?)

Check out the MobiCamp site

It’s a bit weird to actually have your users create two different profiles I think. On the one hand it’ll generate truly dedicated users, on the other hand it’s not really user-friendly. Perhaps that’ll change too in the future. It’s the first time I hear about creating a new profile for mobile content for a service you’re already using. Suppose Hotmail or Yahoo would do that too… you’ll lose your overview and the data would become unmanagable, unless you can merge the data afterwards, but that would make it needlessly complicated.

You can now upload videos directly from your phone or PDA to YouTube. All you need is a mobile device that can take video and send MMS messages, and an Internet access or data plan from your service provider. We currently support uploads from Cingular, Sprint, T-Mobile, and Verizon.

To get started, click on “Create Mobile Profile.” Login, or create an account if you don’t already have one. Once you’re logged in, you’ll create a mobile profile to set up the default information for your videos, and then our system will generate the email address where you should send them. This address will be unique to you and your profile, and you can have up to two profiles.

And what about downloading videos to your mobile device? Are the videos going to be ’slimmed’? YouTube doesn’t say anything about that (yet). It would also recquire your mobile device to have a recent Flash player and I can imagine that it might take a while for some videos to be downloaded. Nice move though. If the networks can support the traffic and can offer a smooth and continuous service, I think YouTube might have another boom in content. Citizen Journalism has been taken to the next level, let’s hope it generates some usable content.

On a sidenote, a project called YouTubeTalk (not affiliated with YouTube) is gaining momentum. It looks like an ordinary community forum that adds to the comment function of YouTube. All links from their homepage go directly to YouTube. In 10 days (it launched on May 1st) they gathered 1239 Posts in 118 Topics by 132 Members. Not bad, but I don’t think it’s that useful.

Sometime in the next few weeks, French billboards will be able to speak to your mobile phone – but only with your permission . The IHT reports.

"People with certain kinds of phones who download a special software program and say they want to participate will receive digital advertising – when the phone is near the billboards. [...]

Advertisements most common on mobile phones now are self- promotional text messages sent by phone companies to subscribers. The difference with the new project is that consumers consent to receive alerts about digital advertising as they move through the city"

Kameleon Technologies is taking the lead with the smart tag networks for billboards, cinemas and stores. Visit the site and see the Flash animation for more details about this new trend.

Cross-posted on i-wisdom

VoiceIndigo is a mobile distribution service for podcasts which enables brands to reach out to the farthest corners of the mobile network edge, the blogosphere, and the audible web to transact with consumers via click-to-call, click-to-request, and click-to-buy.

MOBILIZE for Podcasters let you deliver your podcasts via the mobile phone.
Add a MOBILIZE button to your podcast’s website.

Also worth remarking is:

With over 1.7 billion subscribers, mobile users are by far the largest potential media audience in history. They can also be the best understood. We’ve developed Ambient Advertisingâ„¢, a patent-pending innovative new way to monetize audio content that benefits Listeners, Podcasters, Mobile Service Operators, and Advertisers alike.

via Textually

• Watching television clips while mobile using your mobile phone device or handset
• Watching real-time, streaming television from multiple sources — on demand — anytime you wish using your mobile device
• Watching pre-recorded television and/or video downloaded from your wireless device directly, or transferred from a PC

To participate in mobile television, for a consumer it requires that:

• You must pay undivided attention to what you are watching – unlike audio, you need your eyes and ears for mobile TV
• You must have pretty decent vision to be watching mobile TV or video on a screen the size of what is commonly found on most wireless phones
• You must be willing to pay a set fee or a per-channel or per-clip fee for what you may be able to directly download (in most cases)

Read more thoughts about this at The Wireless Report

Disney is launching a US service that will enable parents to monitor how their children use their mobile phones. They will be able to track voice, text, video and picture messages and set limits on their children’s calls.

The phone will also allow parents to locate where their children are via a global positioning system.

Disney is targeting 20 to 30 million children with the new service. While the US mobile phone market is well established with 70% of the population already owning a phone, this figure is lower among teenagers.

About 45% to 50% of 13 year olds have a mobile phone, according to technology analysts Jupiter Research.

The new phones for parents, which will be sold over the internet, are expected to be available from June.

Disney has not yet revealed what it will charge for this service, but monthly fees from other providers are as little as $10 per month for each new family member.

Source: BBC News

Download the new version (right-click, save as) | read illustrated reviews at Nathan’s & Philipp’s

“The way it works is that you register on the site and then add your blogs to your account or profile. You also add your phone number. Your phone number is how the site recognizes you. That way, only you, from your mobile phone number, can send SMS’s to your blog. You can add as many of your blogs as you want, one SMS will post to all of them.

LetMeParty currently supports LiveJournal, Wordpress, Blogger, and Xanga.

Check out LetMeParty | via PicturePhoning

However, contrary to the meme of slim and small cell phones, the spray unit adds considerable bulk, “It may be difficult to embed a perfume spraying apparatus in a small and lightweight mobile phone,” the application states. And more fundamentally, “the perfume may stain the mobile phone or the user’s clothes.”

via ShinyShiny | Ringtonia | Mobiledia

Wikipedia Mobile:

Users of Pocket PCs, Smartphones and Java-enabled mobile phones running web browsers can now access a lightweight version of the Wikipedia on-line encyclopaedia. New Zealand-based company Instinct has created a mobile version of Wikipedia for mobile devices, currently available as a beta website.

Point your phone to this URL : http://www.3g.co.nz/wiki

PayPal Goes Mobile:

Paypal’s new Paypal Mobile service is apparently up and running, and from what PSFK says there’s really not a whole lot to it: you can either text PAYPAL (729725) with the dollar amount and recipients digits (i.e. “send 10 to 2125551212″), or you can do it manually by calling 1-800-4PAYPAL (1-800-472-9725), which is obviously far less exciting.

In-Game Advertising Goes Mobile:

Expect in the near future to see a rising interest for mobile in-game advertising and with new technology such as a new multimedia devices featuring excellent processor performance, display technology or 3G surround sound, in-game advertising can now be displayed to a very high quality.

ZoneTag Geocoded Moblogging:

Yahoo recently rolled out a great new moblogging application called ZoneTag. The application uploads images from your mobile phone to Flickr and automatically tags them with the location, based on the cell tower nearest you.

MSN/Hotmail users can now access their inboxes from their mobile phones. (you probably just have to surf to the hotmail url and log in) (no press release found yet)

Yahoo Goes Skype:

“Using the new Phone In service, subscribers get a personal phone number for receiving incoming calls to their PC from regular phone lines and mobile phones. Those signing up can receive unlimited domestic calls for $2.99 a month or $29.90 a year. With the Yahoo! Phone Out service, subscribers can make PC-to-phone calls within the U.S. and to 30 other countries for two cents a minute. To use the new services you’ll need to download the new client (available at http://messenger.yahoo.com/).”

… Users will also be able to access SeeMeTV, 3’s mobile TV channel, which shows and pays for customer-created content.”

MSN.co.uk has signed a three-month deal with 3 to create a branded online space where users can submit clips that will then be judged by other users in competition for a cash prize.

Read more on Guardian Unlimited | via PicturePhoning

1. Create a user account on Odeo.

2. Now click the Odeo “Send Me A Message” Buttons menu.

3. There are tons of button styles to choose from. Just select one and copy-paste the HTML code in your blog template or website.

There’s even a better option. You can embed the Odeo functionality in your blog without asking your visitors to open another window. Just add the following iFRAME code to your HTML.
Your visitors will see a form like the one below. Odeo will alert you when you’ve got new voice messages.
(the sender must have a microphone, obviously)

Try Odeo via Digital Inspiration | LifeHacker

From Guerrilla Innovation:

The exclusive department store ILLUM in Copenhagen recently launched an SMS-auction concept called Window Shopping.

Between March 2nd and 24th, the store is putting three luxury items on auction everyday. The items are placed in the window, facing pedestrians who can submit their bids via SMS.

The latest bids are displayed on plasma screens, so that people can the follow the action in real time.

Visit Illum if you understand Danish.

To get started, simply visit http://mobilicio.us from your mobile browser. Available for Cingular, Nextel, Sprint, T-Mobile & Verizon.

Mobilicio.us would not be possible without the incredibly efficient (and generous) del.icio.us API. On top of the del.icio.us API, Mobilicio.us uses a version of mySQLicious which has been modified to support caching del.icio.us bookmarks for multiple accounts. Links displayed through Mobilicio.us are altered to use Google Mobile to “mobilize” the site.

via Textually

MySpace, the popular social networking site, added support for receiving MySpace alerts on your cell phone via text messaging for Cingular subscribers. The alerts are to let users know when they have received things such as messages, comments, picture comments, friend requests, and event invitations.

To receive alerts a user must input their Cingular mobile telephone number and then input a verification code that they will receive in a text message on their phone to complete the activation process. There is no word yet if or when they will expand this service to other cell phone providers, such as Verizon Wireless or T-Mobile, but with the rapidly increasing popularity of text messages it’s likely to happen and happen soon.

From Daily Phreak | via Textually

“The company today announced that it will be integrating Google’s Blogger and Web Search features on all its future mobile phones. Owners of a blogger.com account will be able to file stories via their mobile phone on the move with the included software.”

Darla Mack links to an article on Search Engine Journal and says:

Google and Sony claim to be the first in the US cell market to provide pre-loaded blogging application with a tight integration to the mobile camera and easy set-up for mobile users who do not already have a Blogger blog. Have we forgotten that Nokia’s Lifeblog integrated with Typepad and comes preinstalled on certain Nokia devices?

Indeed, somewhere in 2005 Nokia came up with Lifeblog, so Google & Sony Ericsson are definitely not the first companies to team up and deliver this kind of service. I do however think that they are a worthy competitor to Nokia and Typepad. Any speculation on the next team that will deliver a combo for mobile & blogs.