iPhone Interest Still Going Strong

Even though the iPhone has already been released into the wild, the amount of excitement surrounding this device doesn't seem to be subsiding by any measurable degree. Many readers have submitted their favorite reactions to the shiny new gizmo including a BusinessWeek report that suggests the iPhone only costs around $220 to make, a user review from MacScoop, one user's top 10 interface mistakes, a roundup of early security concerns, and details on the hardware behind the phone. Read on for more details.

Only $220 to Make an iPhone. Bomarc writes to tell us BuinessWeek is reporting that according to a recent analysis the new iPhone only costs Apple in the neighborhood of $200 ($220 for the 8-gigabyte model) to manufacture.

iPhone User Review. Alexandros Roussos writes "It has been an unforgettable week-end for the first iPhone buyers and MacScoop will now put the focus on one of them who provided to a complete review of Apple's very anticipated gizmo."

Mistakes in the iPhone Interface. Rakesh writes "I love the iPhone. It 's here to stay as my primary cell phone. But I've come across a bunch of things that make me think Apple rushed at the end to get this thing out there. Here's my list of the top 10 mistakes Apple made with the iPhone interface."

iPhone Security Roundup. An anonymous reader writes "Although some security researchers noted problems getting their iPhone activated, others wasted no time tearing the new device apart. Seth Fogie, from Airscanner, reported passwords can be found for the device from running strings obtained from the backup images through a password cracker. Robert Graham, from Errata Security, writes about Safari and Bluetooth bugs on their blog."

iPhone Hardware Details. abdulzis writes "Engadget has the scoop on the iPhone's hardware specs through a leaked firmware. 'Sascha at Gear Log seems to think given the recently discovered Samsung chip in the iPhone, perhaps the processor in question is a Samsung S3C6400, a recently-produced 667MHz ARM1176JZF-based CPU that seems to fit the bill.'"

Stop it already

[duggi]

Somebody please say "There is nothing to see here... Move along".

We can have a realistic discussion about IPhone after 2 months, not before that.

Re:Who cares really?

[glesga_kiss]

How can you be a Slashdotter, not watched Star Trek: The Next Generation, and NOT want an iPhone?

Because we are Slashdotters, we have watched Star Trek and already own a device that does everything the iPhone does. :-)

Granted it doesn't have a cool logo and look as pretty, but as geeks we aren't supposed to care about such things!

Re:Who cares really?

[kemapa]

The share price is only down a small amount, which can be attributed to normal market noise. This is actually an indicator that the iPhone is performing (over 500,000 sold) just about where financial analysts expected it to. If it had outperformed expectations you'd see huge abnormal gains, and if it had underperformed you'd see enormous capital losses. These two scenarios can still occur as more information comes out about the iPhone's sales, but for the moment it appears that analysts predicted sales fairly accurately and began pricing their estimates into Apple stock from when the product was first announced.

Personally, I short sold (bet against) a large amount of Apple stock last Friday. I feel like the iPhone has been over-hyped and the Apple loyalists are influencing the share price more than they should be in a relatively efficient market.

For those who are more risk averse than I am, it's potentially a bad security to be holding at the moment. Large fluctuations in share price are certainly possible in the coming weeks if analysts turn out to be wrong in either direction.

Re:AT&T Network (EDGE) +iPhone

[Charliems]

I did a speed test today, got around 190kbs, no idea what it was before in my area. As for the bluetooth, no it can not be used as a modem. It actually can't do anything with bluetooth except a headphone. According to the apple bluetooth wizard thing, there are no services at all the laptop can use.

iPhone users are willing beta testers

[dave562]

I've been thinking about this for the last day or two. When Microsoft releases a product, lets call it Vista, large segments of the computing world whine about what an unfinished product is. They laugh at Microsoft users and call them beta testers for an unfinished product that was pushed out the door sooner than it should have been.

Lets contrast that with Apple, and their beta product, the iPhone. It is still lacking some features. Other features aren't polished. Very few people clown the iPhone adopters and even the adopters themselves are comfortable justifying their purchase in terms of, "Well, I don't really need those features." I think that Apple is relying on the fact that their users are complete fanatics who will put up with a beta product. I predict that what we are going to see is Apple will eventually push out updates for the phone, and Apple users are going to say, "See, Apple is a great company. They LISTEN to what I have to say. They implement the features that I tell them that I want. I love Apple." Very few are going to point out that the features weren't even there in the first place.

Re:let's assume a 10% profit margin

[jaseuk]

Windows XP Embedded is a cut down version of Windows XP and is generally used in POS / Instrumentation / Appliances etc.

The Smartphone / CE / PocketPC OS can't realistically be any more than $5 a unit.

Anyway don't fool yourself that the iPhone is OSX. It's running on an ARM device, iPhone is as much OsX as windows smartphone is windows XP.

Re:I bet the software development cost a pretty pe

[arunkv]

Apple clearly spent a lot on development of the device and on the software especially... not to mention all of the prime-time ads. I bet it will take a while before those costs are covered and they start raking in the big bucks with the $380 'mark-up'.

Well, Apple's hoping to sell 10 million iPhones by 2008 [bbc.co.uk] which only gets them a 1% share of the mobile phone market. Let's say the parts cost $220 exactly as per the Business Week article. Then Apple's making 10 million phone X $300/phone approx. = $3 billion (yes, billion with a b). Even if they spend a couple of billion (that's a high end estimate) on R&D, software development, advertising, packaging, shipping, etc. they are going to make a cool billion in profits.

Re:Who cares really?

[coolGuyZak]

And for anyone claiming that the iPhone is a tech/techie/nerdy news story, please stop pretending to be a geek and go to the mac forums or cnet or some other consumer tech site.

I think you underestimate the sheer bling this piece of gadgetry represents, not just for the "style-obsessed apple-fanboys", but for the idealistic geek in all of us that sees the iPhone and thinks... I must have a Star Trek PaDD.

I'm in that camp. Plus, I lost my iPod several months ago, and have been month-to-month with my current carrier for about half a year now...

So, I'm happy it's getting so much press on Slashdot. While I agree that the hype is getting stale, seeing people's reactions to the release (whether owners, zealots, or trolls) has helped me make an informed decision. A decision I feel I can trust, coz I browsed these articles at -1!

Thanks slashdot!