Hanging On The Telephone

I watched the Macworld Keynote Podcast last night.

Well, slap my ass and call me Poppa. That's a nice bit of geekery, that is.

Now, I 'm probably a bit predisposed toward liking Apple's new phone (but iPhone? come on. You've got world class industrial designer Jonathan Ive designing stunning hardware, it's running a beautiful version of OS X for an interface, you sure could have had someone come up with a better name. The Mac was a revelation, the iPod name created a genre, iPhone is just....derivative.)

Anyway; Sprint, consider yourself On Notice. When June rolls around, I'm going to have to switcheroo. The Applephone is tied to AT&T/Cingular, so oh well.



Take a look:




Stunning.


One friggin hard button. the rest operates from a touch screen, so the setup changes to suit the mode you're running in. It runs laps around the other high end phones- it includes pictures, video, phone, 2 megapix camera, email, real html internet browsing, Google maps, and a smallish iPod (4-8 gig) in one package. Plus Bluetooth and Wi-Fi. 5 hours of phone call time or playing video, 16 hours playing music.

Jobs demonstrated a real world test run. He called Jon Ive, received a call from Phil Schiller and put Ive on hold, then merged the calls into a conference (with one button) then dropped one call, reviewed, selected, and emailed a photo (while still on the call) then found a restaurant and mapped it using Google maps, all while still on the phone call.

Phenomenal.

As usual, Apple has paid attention to the details, especially where the interface counts. A pinching motion enlarges or shrinks photos; dialing a number is touching a name; rarely will you need to resort to the numberpad (as Jobs said, Last Century's technology), you unlock the phone with a zipping motion, scrolling is simple and includes rubberbanding, and the phone has a proximity sensor so as you move it closer to your head, it deactivates the touchscreen so you don't have errant input from your earrings.

Screw the Treo. If you want to run your life from a phone, this is the real deal.

I have to have this for Summerfestblogging 2007. Nothing else will do. The only trouble may be the release; Apple expects it to ship in June, but given computer industry release standards, that probably means June 30. Well, here's hoping it will be earlier in the month.

Yeah, it's a bit bigger than my current phone, but it's smaller than the first generation of flip-phones, plus it's thin like a supermodel on a desert island.

So today's random ten is for Apple: finally delivering on the long-rumored ApplePhone in a way that does them all proud.
We're up to 23,500 songs.

1. (P.S.) Millionaire from the album “Mr. Hollywood Jr., 1947” by Michael Penn
2. The Stage from the album “Unclogged” by X
3. Crackpot from the album “Nexterday (iTunes Bonus Track)” by Ric Ocasek
4. Your Eyes Were Open from the album “Geffery Morgan” by UB40
5. Calling Upstairs from the album “Please Panic” by Vulgar Boatmen
6. Dave (Singel Version) from the album “In The Long Grass” by The Boomtown Rats
7. sheffield park from the album “The Curse of the Mekons/F.U.N. '90” by Mekons
8. Smokey Joe's Perfect Hair from the album “Let's Welcome The Circus People” by Tobin Sprout
9. Got Me Wrong from the album “MTV Unplugged” by Alice In Chains
10. Spirit Song (Death Command) from the album “Trinity Seas Seize Sees” by Sigmund Snopek III


11. All I Got from the album “In The Mud” by Split Lip Rayfield
12. Let's Get it Up from the album “A Hillbilly Tribute to AC/DC” by Hayseed Dixie
13. Sweet Child of Mine from the album “The Days Of Our Nights” by Luna
14. Rattlesnake from the album “Rancid [2000]” by Rancid
15. Rosalie from the album “A Man Under the Influence” by Alejandro Escovedo



that was a pretty sweet set. Gonna keep the Big Random going here in the office. You schmoes are on your own.