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Ok, so I could have chosen a less obnoxious title. Also, it’s not like I was the only one making the point…but STILL.

Today we find out many things from Apple, including that they are releasing the iPod “Touch,” which is basically an iPhone without the phone. What I found almost more interesting was the following:

1) They will be discontinuing the 4 GB iPhone. While supplies last, they can be had for only $299. See engadget for more.

2) The price on the 8 GB iPhone has now dropped to $399 from $599.

…I would just like to take this time to reference my post from June when I noted that the storage size of the iPhones was just not enough to get it done right. The 4 GB iPhone was apparently lagging way behind in sales, and I’m sure it won’t be long before the 8 GB model is just not enough and a 16 or 32 model will be on the shelves (Christmas was my earlier prediction.) When you’re encouraging people to watch portable video and put all their tunes one on device, 4 GB isn’t going to cut it. In my mind, neither will 8 GB, so I’m going to hold off on getting one for now. But at Christmas I might have something to ask for.

In any case, it’s amazing to see everything that Apple comes forward with. The new iPod, the redesigned Nano, new iPhones….It is also quite clear that the download and portable media paradigm is shifting heavily to video. If you thought the iPod video was cool, brace yourself. Now we wait for the “Goog” phone and what Sony has up its sleeve and then, as consumers with the holidays fast approaching, wait for the prices to fall.

In case you hadn’t seen it, George Hotz, the teenager from New Jersey who has spent the last two months (yes, 500 hours of time) hacking the iPhone so that it’s compatible with carriers other than AT&T, has traded his newly created device. The deal? Hotz traded his “invention” to CertiCell, a Kentcucky-based cell phone repair company, for a car and three new 8 GB iPhones. According to the AP article, Holtz will be sharing the devices with the two friends of his that helped him hack the device…no word on how they plan to share the car.

You can also check out Hotz’s official blog.

It will be interesting to see what this changes. Realistically, probably nothing. Holtz has posted his information on his public blog, so anyone could technically “do it” now, though it’s not the kind of thing the average person can pull off easily. The average person has no shot at pulling this off, despite the fact that Hotz says he can now do it in an hour. If, however, another company decides to get several people who can do this in an hour and sell them in large quantities, then we’re talking about a different story. From what I’ve read, this would be perfectly legal (you can buy a car, tinker under the hood and sell it for more, right?) but if some sort of mass distribution were developed we might see some additional legal claims from folks at AT&T.

Speaking of AT&T, they have not issued a public statement but I’m sure are not too excited about all this publicity with Hotz on tv saying he was bummed that it could only be used on AT&T and so he went around it. Even if people can’t do it themselves, it has to have folks thinking that a cross over model will be available sooner rather than later.

Apple, on the other hand, saw its stock rise…

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Update - According to this blog, the DMCA doesn’t necessarily cover hacking the iPhone and selling it commerically…

The article also notes that there is also a blogger who has offered $100,000 to anyone who can unlock a software release of the iPhone. The person claims they just want to post it freely and release the iPhone to the world.

Just a cool site worth taking a look at - http://iphoneapps.cnet.com.

The folks at CNET show some cool apps that have been developed specifically for iPhones. Including….Da da da Daaaaa - the tip calculator. Is it possible to have any electronic device that doesn’t calculate tip? I don’t think so.

Enjoy…

Over the past couple of days, we’ve seen the next wave of video and audio content delivery pick up steam. Wireless on-demand services for portable devices such as mobile phones and portable gaming devices like the PSP are now becoming a reality. Yesterday, Sony Computer Entertainment of Europe and SKY teamed up to create a joint venture that will allow more than 2.3 million PSP owners to download video and movie film content, on-demand. Stay tuned to the Leipzig Game Conference for more news on this development.

Today, C|Net News reported that AT&T and eMusic, the nations second largest online music seller after iTunes, have joined forces to allow users the ability to complete wireless downloads of independent music through cell phones. Here are some of the details:

‘Tracks will cost more than they do over the Internet–$7.49 for five songs, as opposed to $9.99 for 30 at the online site–because of the expense of sending them over a mobile network to a user’s phone. For that price, however, users can also get another copy of the song, which they can download from the Internet as an MP3.’

Did we mention this service won’t be available on the iPhone.

It’s clear that the convergence of on-demand and wireless are upon us. Of course there are still issues with regard to file sizes and load times. However, in the States, as the big players determine who will own the airwaves, it leaves us thinking, will home-based computing systems become ‘the third screen’.

This just may be the best iPhone news yet!

We all know the iPhone can view YouTube videos, surf the net, and so
much more. But I bet you never thought you could play World of War Craft (WoW) on it! However, before everyone stops reading to finally go buy an iPhone, I must let everyone know it’s not exactly what you’re thinking…

Yes, Alan Joyce from EverythingDigital.org did in fact get WoW to run on his iPhone with a little help from telekinesis, a remote access tool for the iPhone that allows you to control your Mac. It wasn’t exactly perfect…

His results can be seen in his YouTube video HERE.

Though, you are limited to a few basic functions and forced to endure poor performance, this is still quite an extraordinary task!

Hopefully, this will inspire Blizzard to make a mobile WoW very soon!

In case there wasn’t enough iPhone to feast on this week, our friends over at Apple have provided a virtual tour for our enjoyment (to feed our addiction). Now, we’re certain you’ll be ready for Friday.

Watch The Video

So we’re only about a week away from Apple rolling out its iPhone everywhere (if, by “everywhere,” you mean only from AT&T stores) and today a nifty announcement that the phone will come equipped with a pre-loaded player to showcase YouTube videos. It won’t be complete access to all videos within YouTube, but a selected group of around 10,000 clips that have been designed to be “battery-preserving.” See Forbes’ article HERE (one of many from 6/20) -

This announcement got me thinking, as many other people of course are, about the rest of what I perceive to be the iPhone’s shortcomings. Not that I don’t think the iPhone will come with many cool features and will certainly do a lot to advance every aspect of portable media… I think it will. But at this moment there are a few things that I see as major issues with the new device. For now I’ll just highlight what is clearly the most glaring - memory.

Your new iPhone can be in either a 4 GB or 8 GB form. For a phone, that’s a lot. But this isn’t supposed to be just a phone. No one would be too excited about Apple coming out with a $599 phone, no matter how cool it looked. This device is supposed to really start to bridge the gap between portable media devices. No more iPod in your left pocket, phone in your right and blackberry in your hand. Internet access via the network, wi-fi compatibility, iTunes synchability, a large video display…these are designed to bring your devices into one. So then the $599 doesn’t sound so bad considering how much all of those other three devices cost.

But 8 GB at the most? I venture to guess that many people have at least half that in mp3s that they’ve downloaded from iTunes. Many more have spent the last few years converting their entire music collection to digital on their 30 or 60 GB iPods. Those hardcore users will not be able to combine devices. They’ll still need to carry their iPods around for a while.

Then we’ve got the movies and video clips…”Cool,” you say. A screen that knows when it’s flipped sideways and turns to widescreen. Yes, it is cool. You could actually watch a full length movie on there and not need a telescope. But how much space does a movie take up? About 750 MB to 1.25 GB on average. That’s about 8 or 9 movies if that’s all you have on your iPhone. If you have some of those songs you’ve spent years converting, you’re talking about room for maybe 2-3.

Of course, the new screen is also perfect for keeping all of your digital pictures and showing them off on the fly. You can even make slide shows set to music. But add 3-4 vacations’ worth of images at a resolution that you’ve taken them at and you’re quickly over 1 GB (which many people have on their camera currently).

Bottom line, there isn’t enough space. And this, of course, is talking about the $599 8 GB model. I’d bet that most people are going to be more fascinated with the design and less interested in consolidating devices and therefore will go with the $499 4 GB model. They will quickly realize that once the phone novelty has worn off, the issues with practicality will be a bit of a kick in the pants.

Again, don’t get me wrong. I think the iPhone will do wonders for portable devices, much like the iPod did. It will certainly help media folks from all walks of life make lots of money (AT&T and Apple in particular). I look forward to writing more about this in the future. But this one issue just seems way off for me and I just can’t get around it. For me, this is reason enough to not invest the half a thousand in a new iPhone.

….but wait…I wonder if the 30 GB iPhone will be ready by next Christmas?