Second-gen iPhone Confirmed?

gadgetopia writes "ITWire is reporting that the Taiwanese manufacturer Quanta has seemingly confirmed a second generation of the Apple iPhone. Another report referenced by the article suggests the new model could come with a different case design. 'Quanta and Apple already enjoy a strong relationship, with Quanta building both MacBooks and iPods for Apple to sell worldwide, although Foxconn (Hon Hai Precision Industry) is reported to be building the first batch of iPhones due to arrive in the US market by the end of June. Reports suggest Quanta has received an order for 5 million iPhones which are to be shipped in September ... Presumably this could entail a 3G or even 3.5G HSDPA iPhone for European markets due to get the iPhone by the end of the year, or even the addition of more memory - imagine a 16Gb or even 32Gb iPhone, unlikely though those will be this year mainly due to the high cost of 16 or 32Gb of flash memory.'"

Can we please get out the next OS first!

Rather than a very expensive, albeit, nice phone can we please put out the OS we were origionally expecting this quarter..

Re:Can we please get out the next OS first!

Tiger is working well for me. An update would be nice, I suppose, but frankly I don't really care that much.

I'm far more interested in seeing apple jump into the phone business and keep everyone else playing catch up.

Re:Can we please get out the next OS first!

I'm more interested in 10.5 -- multiple desktops finally integrated (not some overpriced add-on or underfeatured free add-on). I can only hope they add middle-click-paste as well, but I'll probably have to wait for 10.6.

Re:Can we please get out the next OS first!

Yes, it really is Unix. It's just a fucked over version, that's all. And it's fucked over in ways that reduce functionality.

Could you elaborate on this? Please be specific. I write and deploy software to Unix (Linux, BSD, and occasionally Solaris) for a living, and I develop on a MacBook. It has served me very well, and I've found no areas in which it's really "fucked over" to reduce functionality. Well, I guess the lack of Gentoo-style start/stop scripts threw me for a bit, but that's not a global Unix thing.

Re:Can we please get out the next OS first!

1) The two segments are business and consumer, not business and casual users. Plenty of consumers have a $350 iPod and a phone worth (at least) $150. Quite a lot have a BlackBerry as well. It seems reasonable to assume some will prefer to have one device to replace the first two, if not the third as well.
2) Your view of what's useful and what's a gimmick for a phone is bizarre. Most mobiles are pretty shit at their core job of making and receiving calls -- it's a major PITA trying to merge two calls for example -- getting this kind of feature really really right is what counts. Visual voicemail, to take another example, is a step-change improvement in vmx management. Plenty of business users will be very keen to get their hands on those features, although whether they'll be able to or not will generally depend on factors beyond their control.

Re:Can we please get out the next OS first!

Current generation BlackBerries can play media and are cell phones, they provide all the features at less cost. Blackberry may be the standard in business, but they are moving into to the consumer markets with the Pearl, that is what I have and I see them more and more.

the Mom test

I plan to test the iPhone by handing the iPhone to my Mom and asking her to call my brother. I suspect that she'll be able to do it, with no training. If I'm right, then the iPhone will be quite popular. Apple will wind up selling their "smart phone" to people who would never buy any of the "smart phones" on the market today, because they are too difficult to use.

Re:the Mom test

I disagree with your test. A better one would be to hand it to her for a week, then try to take it away and see what happens. I have a blackberry, for the first few days or so, the interface was VERY strange to me, and it took a lot of pecking around before I figured out the philosophy of how everything was layed out. Now, I don't think i will ever own a different phone. Navigating through other peoples phones now is a pain, nothing is organized with any sort of logic, and the menus look like those of a fisher price toy.

Re:the Mom test

Except the difference between yours and GP's post is that his test is a more reliable way of seeing how these will sell, not how well the poeple that get one enjoy it.

Re:Can we please get out the next OS first!

It actually displays whatever buttons would make sense in the given context.

How many tiny physical buttons do you think it needs? I've used everything from a Treo to a BBerry, and can't say physical buttons push my buttons. Dialing numbers or mixed number/text is annoying with a full mini keyboard, and is painful with T9. I for one welcome our new touch screen overlords.

Recall seeing any keyboards on Star Trek? We have to make the move at some point in order to get into the future, and its not like Microsoft is going to usher in something new.

Another point of interest is that nobody is crying about the LG Prada phone, which uses a similar arrangement of a touch screen, albeit using the horrific Flash Lite.

Origins: Why the iPhone is ARM, and isn't Symbian [roughlydrafted.com]
Apple iPhone vs LG Prada KE850 [roughlydrafted.com]

Re:Can we please get out the next OS first!

Recall seeing any keyboards on Star Trek? We have to make the move at some point in order to get into the future, and its not like Microsoft is going to usher in something new.

I'm sorry to be the one to burst your bubble but Star Trek isn't real. It's version of a keyboardless future isn't real. This future comes from the same minds that gave us Tachyon Fields, Phasers, and Transporters (also not real). It's not the product of any real cultural/technological process in which keys were determined to be inefficient, ineffective, or obsolete. It's surprising how often I have to point out that Star Trek is fiction on Slashdot. It's sad, really.

Re:Can we please get out the next OS first!

As an early adopter I've owned (and occasionally trialed through work) loads of new phones - and developed 3rd party software for a couple (for fun).

The software on most phones is appaling, no attention is paid to user experience. They are not built by people who understand how to put together a good UI or a robust and appropriate interface for a mobile device - and I can't imagine they've gone through any sort of meaningful usability testing.

Smart phones are showcase of poorly designed software, with inconsistent behaviour, over complicated and badly organised system settings and unresponsive, sluggish and often unstable user interfaces - that are typically only half-implimented. This only started to be really visible once phones started getting complicated (as it's easy to make a simple system, like the early Nokia UI, easy to use).

I'm sure my last 4 or 5 phones will technically have a lot more features than the Apple Phone when it comes out - I've got 5 year old phones that I'm sure will be able to claim a richer feature set - but in the same way I've had other, more 'powerful' MP3 players than my iPod, if the user experience is right, that's more important to me. I'd rather have a smaller subset of features that just work really well, rather than bunch of confusing settings and overly complicated menus and options that insist on getting in the way rather than just behaving in a simple, minimalist manner and doing what I'm actually likely to WANT it to do.

I hope that in demonstrating how to get software right (which I have every confidence Apple will do - given their track record with things like the Newton) manufacturers will learn and develop similarly user-experience focused platforms with a similar level of polish. But I doubt it, after all they didn't learn from the Newton and the development of Palm OS has been royally screwed up.

As much as I don't want to sound like a fanboy, it's actually depressing how good the the UI on the Newton was when I think that no PDA or smartphone I've owned or even heard of since (and that must be about 20) has even been HALF as good. Sony were making some great hardware till they halted Clie development (the PEG-TH55 is still an awesome peice of kit, several years on) and the latest Nokia Smartphone range is interesting (I've got an E61 ATM), and the Sharp Zarus PDA range is really nifty too, but without good software, the hardware is just wasted.

OpenMoko

And as an alternative there is OpenMoko [openmoko.org] which, of course, runs Linux and is complete open.

fixed it for you...

And as an alternative there is OpenMoko which, of course, runs Linux and is incomplete, although it is open source, so you can help finish it.

European Release or Minor Rev?

Along with the speculation in the article, I have to simply speculate that the contract is for phones to be sold in another market, such as Europe. Or it could be a minor revision boost to coincide with new iPod revisions or some other flash-based announcement that Apple may make. From a business perspective, I have to think it is the former. I'm still interested to see the first revision of the iPhone on store shelves before I start worrying about a second revision.

Not a second iPhone, but a widescreen iPod?

Some have speculated that this is in fact a widescreen iPod, rather than a second revision of the iPhone (for a non-USA market?)

How about voice dialing and better battery

Rather than more memory (aren't there iPods with that already?) how about they at least confirm that the current iPhone has voice dialing or make darn sure they put it into the next release. I can only imagine the number of idiots trying to press "buttons" on their flat touch screen while driving. (if they've confirmed it then nevermind, and that's good to hear)

A longer-lasting battery is also a MUST if you want to use the sucker as *both* a media player/comp00tar and a phone. Want to watch a movie? Sure, but then you're out of a phone, buddy. Not so sure that's a great tradeoff. In-flight entertainment on long trips and something to call a buddy to pick you up from the airport? Better luck next time ^^

So, things to look forward to in the next release perhaps.

Re:How about voice dialing and better battery

"I can only imagine the number of idiots trying to press "buttons" on their flat touch screen while driving."

It will suck for the first couple months, and a few innocents will have to die to ensure the safety of the species, but I think we've figured out a way to rid society of yuppies and soccer moms who think they are so damn important that they need to speak on the phone while driving a 5000lb weapon.

Of course, their vehicles are twice as heavy as those around them because they feel they are entitled to the safety afforded to their status, and that if it means they are twice as likely to kill an innocent, they've earned this.

About two years ago, I was answering a phone call, and missed a redlight and nearly creamed someone. They pulled over to the side completely freaked out. I pulled back, even though it wasn't an accident and appologized saying I had absolutely no excuse and told them if they felt the need to call the police because of my wreckless driving, so be it, I'd wait. She said that she would have seen me if she hadn't been on the phone and said she was never going to drive while on the phone again either.

Guess what? Two years later, and still won't answer the phone while driving. Pull the fuck over jackass. You'll be five minutes late. And yes, I was a fucking jackass too (and now an overly moralistic one to boot).

I hope they make it so inconvenient to use the phone while driving that yuppies just naturally kill themselves off. No voice dialing for me...its the act of using these things that make them dangerous. Taking your eye off the road only makes it slightly more.

*waves iPhone around*

Oooo look shiny. Sorry, that's an automatic reaction to iPhone stories.

I think it means second production run, but probably for Europe. It will have to pass CE certification for Europe and I would guess that the European partners have probably pointed out that 3G would be a good idea as we have more of that than wifi at the moment.

Wait a minute...

So, Apple's going to release a product which was officially announced with tremendous fanfare 5 months before release, and now supposedly they're going to release the second rev 3 months after the release? And the 2nd rev order has already been placed with the manufacturer, even though the first rev won't be released for another month still? And it has a different case design (boy, that would piss off the accessories manufacturers)?

There are so many things wrong with this "story" I don't know where to begin. I think one of two things is happening here:
1) As someone above mentioned, this is a widescreen iPod (which has been rumored in the past to be released in September), not a new iPhone. Remember, both revisions of the Nano were announced in September as well. Or more likely,
2) There is absolutely nothing to this rumor at all.

These kind of news remind me of...

Adam Osborne [wikipedia.org] and his statements, which led to the bankruptcy of his company, Osborne Computer Corporation.

I'm not implying that Apple would face similar fate. I'm just wondering, why these kind of news does not damage the company nowadays like in the "good" old days.

The Onion Reported this First

http://www.theonion.com/content/news_briefs/apple_ hard_at_work_making [theonion.com]

Confirmed?

"Second-gen iPhone Confirmed?"
How can you use 'confirmed' with a question mark? It's either confirmed or it's a rumour. The word 'confirmed' is not intended to be ambiguous. In this case, it is definitely not confirmed.

Re:Confirmed?

Question marks are often used in news headlines to make a libelous statement look more like a question, to avoid litigation. That's not the case here, but that is the origin.

Finally!

It's about time! The picture I have of the first-gen unit has been great, but it has its limitations and the workarounds are cumbersome. I've been looking forward to a picture of a revised unit since the initial iPhone was announced; Apple's second-gen models are always more reliable than the initial ones.