HD For Indies

High Definition Video for Independent Filmmakers
A How To Guide for Digital Filmmakers
Welcome all! This is my blog to share my latest research,
thoughts, etc. on utilizing HD for independent filmmaking.

YES, I am available for consulting
Contact me at mike@hdforindies.com

All content copyright 2004-2007 Mike Curtis.

Tuesday, January 09, 2007

iPhone - one ring(tone) to rule them all...

Apple introduced a video iPod as expected, and an Apple iPhone, as expected. Also an internet connectivity device as well. Oh - they are all three the same thing! Apple's iPhone is a smart phone sized device (not a small candy bar size like my T616) that also plays video and connects to the internet over an EDGE network, Bluetooth, or 802.11b or g.

Gollum says "Mmmm....iPrecious!"

: )

Actually, I had so much fun with that I made some more, viewable here.

I sooooo want one of these. Here's some more info:

AppleInsider | High-quality images of Apple's iPhone (hardware)
AppleInsider | High-quality images of Apple's iPhone (software)
AppleInsider | Apple stuns Macworld crowd with multi-function iPhone device
Apple's iPhone main page
the "As an iPod page"
the "As an internet appliance page"
the tech overview page
the tech specs page

It runs OS X, it has WiFi, it has groovy sensors.

And of course, after all the marketing speak, the tech specs:

The straight scoop -

it is about 4 1/2 by 2 1/2 by a half inch

320x480 screen at 160 pixels/inch

runs OS X (!!!)

for phone usage, quad band GSM

for wireless data, can do 802.11b/g as well as EDGE (Cingular's) as well as Bluetooth 2.0

5 hours of talk/video/browsing battery life, 16 hours if just playing back audio (how long on phone standby?)

4.8 ounces/135 grams

As an iPod, they've updated the UI to work with the Multi Touch user interface - you just touch, click, drag, and toss to get around the UI. Watch the video (link above) to get a sense of how it works - the slickest iPod UI yet, by using the entire screen as a big touch interface, any location can be an interface element - much like the screen & mouse interface we use in OS X on desktops. What's that? Oh yeah - this is running some kind of cut down OS X.

The UI looks stunningly good, the features are great. My friend Charlie Wood (see his feelings on the matter here) sent me this chart which sums up the financial markets' take on the matter as well, so apparently Charlie and I aren't the only ones that think Apple's gonna kick butt with this:

(click for larger view)

If you can't make out the details, don't sweat it - it is the percentage change just for the day between Apple (blue line on top), Nokia & Motorola (the two middlish lines, seemingly unaffected much, down 2% for the day); Palm (yellowy orange line, down 6% for the day) and RIMM (maker of Blackberry, down 8% for the day, same as Apple...but in the other direction).

Right about 12:15 RIMM tips over and starts a power dive, and after an odd sharp drop, Apple took off starting at about 12:40, and kept going until about 1:50 (note the high volume indicated at bottom of graph).

........and BLAH - too much to cover, just go check it all out. Doesn't ship until June, not for sale until FCC clears it (a 2 month process, dunno when/if that started), $499 for 4GB model, $599 for 8GB model, both those prices with 2 year contract.

more later...

thoughts on iPhone -

It's a communicator, its a video iPod, it's a phone

-killer great UI

-iTunes is the universal syncing point now - besides audio and video from iTunes, also contacts, calendars, notes, pictures, bookmarks and email accounts (woah!)

-the dock is a little different, but still an iPod dock connector

-until you see video, hard to tell how rounded all the edges are (good move Apple!) - looks very comfy to hold, like a river rock

-3.5" screen (measured diagonally), 160 pixels/inch high density screen

-one oddness - the speaker and microphone are both on the bottom - will others hear your conversation? Or are you dependent on the headphones with built-in microphone? This may be one weakness of the system - if you want to carry it around as a phone and not deal with the headphones, using as "just a phone" could be a pain

-the clean lines of the unit are super clean from a design perspective, but potentially a hassle in the real world - the unit cries out for some kind of a flip top protective cover to prevent scratching the face, as well as a means of managing all that loose wire of headphones. Are bluetooth headphones/microphone coming up soon? The bluetooth earpiece, with a retractable cord second earbud, would be useful.

Will the Cisco trademark deal mandate by legal fiat (rather than technical limitations) that you won't be able to do Skype or other VOIP or iChat or similar?

-I'm finally watching the keynote video - when in keyboard mode (such as for SMS texting, or any other mode where you need a keyboard) can you turn it sideways to get a BIGGER keyboard? So that is can use the 480 pixels wide, not the 320 wide in vertical mode?

-Google Maps - can find stuff...can it give driving directions as well? GPS (bluetooth or wired via dock connector) would be super groovy addition! Tom Tom, are you listening?

-the headphone mike/switch is a good idea, but seems to presume you'll live with them in - the bluetooth headset thing is slick as well, finally doesn't look like a bad Deep Space Nine prop

-AppleInsider | Cingular to be exclusive US Carrier for Apple iPhone - so no Verizon or anybody else for quite some time - a multi-year deal

-OK, so it is possible to write more apps - what's the API? Where's the SDK? How soon can third party developers start making apps for this?

-My gut says that the details will be revealed at WWDC, as yet unscheduled, but May/June is a likely timeframe (unless that gets pushed back due to Leopard being even later than expected) - the dev tools for iPhone will be revealed and demoed at WWDC

-but some third party developers are already on it - my friend Charlie Wood, whose Spanning Systems makes a Google Calendar to iCal syncing piece of software, already issued a press release stating they'll support it syncing between Google calendar, iCal on your Mac, and iPhone's calendar. Nice job, Charlie!

-so, did EVERYONE lose at MWSF bingo?

yeah, this is a mess until I can clean it up...

further thoughts/questions post MWSF:

After a day, other questions are starting to pop up about the Apple TV and iPhone. Some of my favorites:

-can you stream from iPhone to Apple TV, either over dock/USB cable or wirelessly?

-can you use the iPhone as a remote for the Apple TV?

-what chip is in Apple TV, and why isn't SDTV supported? (I'm guessing a slower Core Solo chip and built in graphics to keep the manufacturing cost so low).

-where's the API and SDK for the OS X in the iPhone?

-what hardware is iPhone running on, as in what processor?

-they say it is OS X - obviously, it must be some kind of modified and presumably cut down version - exactly how feature complete is it?

-where are the other apps for iPhone, like mini-Word/PowerPoint/Excel or their iWork matches? (Are we waiting for iPhone/Mac matched versions of iWork?) - or maybe that is why we DIDN'T see new versions - waiting for Leopard and iPhone, and it'll all be a kit that works together?

-iPhone speaker and microphone are BOTH at the same end - will this phone work as expected if you just hold it up to your ear? Will others be hearing your conversations on that speaker?

-how loud is that speaker? Can you speakerphone with it? play music at your desk and hear it at all reasonably (good enough for podcast listening at least?)

-will Cisco's trademark on iPhone limit what Apple can offer to do with the iPhone in terms of VOIP/Skype?

-can you turn the unit sideways and get a wider keyboard, or are some functions locked to a vertical orientation?

-more links:

The iPhone is not a smartphone - Engadget

and these are especially good - Gizmodo iPhone Hands-On: I Called My Mommy - Gizmodo, and this one answers some of my questions - Gizmodo iPhone Hands On Part Deux: Why Isn't it White and Other Questions - Gizmodo

As for clearance with Cisco, oops, I spoke too soon - Paul Alvarado pointed out that while Apple and Cisco had been in negotiations, they ended at 8pm the night before without resolution, and yet Steve Jobs went ahead and used the "iPhone" moniker without permission - details here about the lawsuit Cisco filed against Apple today. Interesting, could be interpreted in many ways - ways Steve Jobs just exhibiting major brass ones by going ahead and using the name without clear permission? Or was Cisco leading Apple on, and yanked the rug out at the last minute so as to garner significant media attention for their own products, that I'd never heard of? Legally, Cisco is in the vastly superior position.

AppleInsider | Macworld: Intel says it's not supplying chip for Apple iPhone: "'We are not providing the silicon inside the iPhone,' Intel spokesman Bill Kirkus told Reuters. 'We are providing the silicon inside the Apple TV.'"

Daring Fireball: At ARM's Length - maybe it is an ARM processor in the iPhone?

=========
THIS IS GOOD AND NEW

The Ultimate iPhone Frequently Asked Questions - Pogue's Posts - Technology - New York Times Blog

David Pogue got some good skinny straight from Apple on how the iPhone is going to work.

Got so many questions, he even did a Part 2.
==============

-mike

Digit Online - 20 questions about iPhone - Jan 16, 2007

rentzsch.com: iPhone vs. Treo - Jan 16 as well

AppleInsider | PiperJaffray takes a closer look at Apple's iPhone - interesting nitty gritty on biz side and market potential of first gen iPhone - which will, I predict, in 6-9 months after release, seem ridiculously expensive and underfeatured.

Posted by: Mike Curtis / 1/09/2007 05:06:00 PM

Comments:

This is really really cool.
It's also really really expensive,
And I really really won't be buying one
(even though I really really want one)

$500-600 w/ contract. No thanks.

I realize that Blackberry Pearls sell for almost as much and sell reasonably well, but that's also because businesses are buying them for employees, rather than regular old Joes. The current smart phones on the market are half the price (there are a very few exceptions, but I don't think those are selling too well)

A step beyond the current smartphone, sure. But also a price beyond as well.

# posted by

Anonymous : Tue Jan 09, 11:32:00 PM CST

First thing I saw it, I was like "I GOOTA HAVE THIS". Then I looked up what it could do behind that slick UI, and alas, it's frankly no replacement for my PDA at all. i miss

- navigational capabilities (I got somewhere it knows where you are, but i don't want to look up the way on Google maps when I'm in the car)
- Office capabilities, such as reading and to some degree editing Word, Excel, PPT files (I hope since it's OS X it can read PDF?)
- third party software that goes beyond a few cute widgets. I have my own Filemaker database program on my PDA, which is ultra-specialized to my personal needs and will never be delivered by any company

Bummer. Anyway, all of these could be fixed in software. Next thing that will interest me if there will be a software development kit available soon and whether it will be easy enough to use to start developing soon. Maybe even before the baby is in the market.

KR

Jan-Peter Ewert

# posted by

Anonymous : Wed Jan 10, 12:43:00 AM CST

Incorporating full MacOSX in the phone will be a tremendous boost for the future of the Mac as millions of new users will be introduced to its cult. The implications could be staggering!!!

esp

# posted by

Anonymous : Wed Jan 10, 01:19:00 AM CST

can you turn it sideways to get a BIGGER keyboard?... Mike, if your wizardry finds the answer to this please post. Thanks

# posted by

Michael Ryde : Wed Jan 10, 02:44:00 AM CST

Is it 4.5" by 2.5" at 160 pixels per inch to give us 720x400... which would be awesome? Or is it 480x320 and 160 pixels per inch to give a physical size of 3" by 2"? Or is it 4.5" by 2.5" with 480x320 giving us about 107 pixels per inch?
Wait a minute- that would make it 107 ppi on one axis and 128 ppi in the other.

Better recheck the numbers Apple is tossing out.

# posted by

Clint : Wed Jan 10, 01:10:00 PM CST

Clint - I definitely screwed up my original numbers, to the best of my knowledge it is 3.5" diagonally, 480x320, and they claim it is 160 ppi.

# posted by

Mike Curtis : Wed Jan 10, 01:17:00 PM CST

I posted some thoughts and discussion on the iPhone here at my blog.

Hopefully there'll be some improvements & updates before a Summer release.

# posted by

Allan W. : Wed Jan 10, 01:19:00 PM CST

So this is a cool toy, but is it any more practical than the Newton was?

What it has:

-Video
-2 MP cam
-Syncing (will they change the name of iTunes?)
-Bluetooth and WiFi (can it dial over WiFi?)
-Proximity sensor to keep you from hanging up on yourself with your face (happens all the time on Treos)
-Nice headset and bluetooth headset

What it doesn't have (or doesn't say it has)

-Fancy apps (as said before, maybe it being Mac OS X will bring those later)

-GPS (or equivalent)
-size comperable to a cell phone - remember cells now can play (crappy) video and music, send texts. I found that anything over the size of a wallet might as well be a laptop, I never would carry it with me, hence why my Newton ended up on a shelf.

-IR - but maybe you can beam info using Bluetooth?

-Physical keyboard - I'm among those who hates touchscreens. The only one I ever kind of liked was I think an Alpine system - it shook ever so slightly when you pressed a button to simulate physical buttons. Worked pretty well.

-Voice Recognition and dictation taking - some new systems can now create text messages from speech, and most can recognize phone digits and names from your address book. A few can also read back what's in your phone PDA. Maybe Apple is gunshy on this...

What it ought ot have (in my book):

- GPS - make those Google maps work for a living, open up the local GPS advertising world.

- BT headset dock. Am I the only one who thinks that like styli, PDA phones should have a place to store your BT headset? Someone else wrote a place to wind in your headphones. With proper design, you could do both (well, one or the other) with the same space.

- Clamshell form factor - for me, candybar shape is death to a phone - scratches, pocket dialing, the works. Plus, if you could fold this thing in half, it would be barely bigger than a wallet, a good size.

- Full rate camera - it's hard to tell, but it seems the cam is a small sensor. A good sized sensor that takes pics when you most want to - in a dark bar out with friends - would be in order.

- Physical keyboard option - wasn't there a rumor that Apple had developed some way to have the keyboard on teh back of the unit with a sensor so you could type BEHIND the phone, but see what you were doing in front? That would allow for physical keys while still ahving a continuous screen.

As cool as this sounds, to me it isn't something I'd carry. If I even considered getting one, it would be for around the house as a mini laptop, or else as an iPod first, a phone second. Considering that, it wouldn't be worth the price.

However, I expect Apple will sell a bunch of these, and, like the iPod before it, will have variants along the way that hopefully will address my freakish needs.

# posted by

Eliot Hochberg : Wed Jan 10, 01:29:00 PM CST

RE: SPEAKER

Mike, the speaker on the bottom of the iPhone is for the speakerphone. The primary listening speaker is right above the screen, where it would normally be for a phone.

RE: THIRD PARTY APPS

Nope. Apple's keeping the iPhone closed to outside developers... for now. (See iPod.)

RE: NAME / CISCO TRADEMARK

It's been widely reported that Cisco and Apple have worked out a deal on this that allows Apple to use the name.

RE: GPS

First off, no other smartphone (or phone, for that matter, as far as I know) has GPS built in, so I think it's entirely unreasonable to criticize the iPhone for not having it (esp. for a 1st generation device, and when one can obviously be coupled via Bluetooth - not to mention the cost it would add).

RE: KEYBOARD

First off, none of us can judge/compare the software/onscreen keyboard vs. a physical keyboard, but everyone seems to be ignoring the obvious -- if you demand a physical keyboard, surely you'll be able to use your existing Apple Bluetooth keyboard with the iPhone if you really want/have to. (And it wouldn't surprise me if someone releases a compact companion Bluetooth keyboard as an iPhone peripheral; I mean, just consider the proliferation of iPod peripherals and imagine what's going to sprout up around the iPhone.)

RE: OTHER COMMENTS

Also, we don't know that it won't have "Office capabilities", but we do know that Apple has held off/back introducing iWork/iLife '07. I think it's pretty safe to assume that it has occurred to Steve to extend/integrate them to the iPhone at some point (and in a more elegant way than, say, Documents-To-Go on my Palm Treo). And if you want a real camera, buy a real camera for pete's sake. 2MP is better than what the Treos have!

Finally, I would recommend everyone actually watch the entire keynote introduction/demo of the iPhone before passing judgment / making assumptions, because this is really an extraordinary device with remarkable software/hardware integration that offers capabilities far above and beyond any existing smartphones, period. (And it's thinner than all of them, to boot, which is amazing.)

I just wish/hope/dream Apple sells an unlocked version within a reasonable period of time, at a reasonable cost.

# posted by

Paul : Wed Jan 10, 02:10:00 PM CST

Paul - good comments!

speaker for ear above screen - Jobs pointed to that and said "proximity sensor" at one point - I hope it is the ear speaker too, that would just make sense.

3RD PARTY APPS - do you have a confirm on this somewhere?

CISCO - an agreement for the name, but with what provisos on functionality?

GPS - I'm not dinging it for not having it, just wondering if they'll write an app to talk to a Bluetooth puck - a friend of mine has one for his PDA

Keyboard - you're presuming full size will work - not necessarily so...would love to see Apple or third party one, and want to see how it works in action. My concern - I have a Tom Tom 910 with a 3.5" screen, and the keyboard is horizontal, and it is almost too small for my fingers at that size.

Office capabilities- I concur on the iWork/iLife integration, I'm about to post some further questions/notes and I'd almost gotten to the point where you are - part of Leopard, depends on Leopard?

Have watched full demo, it DOES totally rock, see editorial I just posted.

Unlocked - maybe yeah, but does it matter if you NEED Cingular to use all the goodies? WOULD it work with other vendors? I am suspecting not for a while, Cingular is probably doing tricks to get all to work right here.

-mike

# posted by

Mike Curtis : Wed Jan 10, 02:20:00 PM CST

Sorry,

For some reason I am getting pissy about the fact that Apple just won a lawsuit that they sould have lost with Apple Records and then dropped the computer. I hope Apple Records sues them again, over the new name and the infrindgment of the term Apple in the music realm.

I also think that Cisco is going to win or get a settlement here on the iPhone.

So if I have a successful movie can I call it Napolean Dinomyte and my production company "SKG Interactive", because I would primarily be in a web space. Give me a break.

I just don't like the fact that now that Apple has the power they are steamrolling other entities intelectual and marketing properties with abandonment.

This is not how to conduct business...IMHO

# posted by

Moocycles : Thu Jan 11, 11:30:00 AM CST

Moocycles - yeah I agree Apple is getting a bit big for its britches and getting pushy. The Cisco thing - yeah, iPhone is the logical name for this, and anybody would guess that is what Apple would call it, but durn it, Cisco already had the name, and it is too similar a device (handheld phone works with Internet) that it would definitely create consumer confusion. So too bad - call it the Apple Phone then.

As for Apple Music, I'm less inclined to care - yeah yeah the BEATLES are great, but I really don't give two sh*ts about who their music publisher is.

Laughingly - "Yeah, OK, they published the Beatles...but what have they done new LATELY?"

; )

The brand there is Beatles. For computers, the brand there is Apple. If the two have settled, then leave it be. Apple, the computer company that does iPods and phones and online music store? Yeah, I know exactly who you're talking about. Apple Music? Oh yeah, the Beatles publisher - OK, now I know who you're talking about.

In the big picture, would teh world be a better place, would it have been better for Apple to NOT make the iPod and iTunes Store and respect that boundary with the publisher of a was-great-but-now-dead band?

I don't think so, IMHO.

-mike

# posted by

Mike Curtis : Thu Jan 11, 11:40:00 AM CST

further thoughts on the above - Apple Music has done nothing for me - the Beatles themselves made some great music, and I enjoy it, Apple Music was just the vessel that got it to me. Anybody else could have done it, Apple Music was just right place, right time.

Apple Computers, on the other hand, CHANGED MY LIFE. If Macs hadn't been around, I have NO IDEA what I'd be doing for a living right now.

So you can see where my sympathies lie.

I own a huge amount of Beatles music, and listen to some of it every month or two. I'm also sitting amidst 3 G5s, a MacBook, 2 G4s, and use 2 or 3 of them every day. I've given 2 G4s to my parents, sold off or given away another 3 or 4 Macs, and bought 2 Macs for my parents, got 3 girlfriends to buy Apple laptops, was a VAR and sold/integrated about 40 or 50 Macs, etc.

-mike

# posted by

Mike Curtis : Thu Jan 11, 11:43:00 AM CST

Everyone keeps talking about this thing not having GPS. Of course it does. Most every new phone on the market has a GPS receiver built in. It's part of the e911/eLocation thing to find people in an emergency. The question is whether or not applications can access that GPS info. Obviously, Google Maps can on the iPhone. Steve said that the phone knows where it is...that's GPS folks! Another nicety with some GPS phones such as the Motorola i730 I had was that it will spit out the GPS data via the standard NMEA protocol so the phone itself can feed a laptop where you get nice big moving map displays using other software. Will the iPhone have this? Don't know, but with all the connectivity this thing has, it's certainly conceivable.

# posted by

Greg Boston : Thu Jan 11, 01:38:00 PM CST

HD For Indies

Advertisements

Great HD Links

Archives

Tuesday, January 09, 2007

iPhone - one ring(tone) to rule them all...