Should Apple Release New iPhones and Updates Faster?

With newcomers seemingly arriving by the week to challenge iPhone for the innovation crown, I am questioning if Apple can afford to update the iPhone merely once a year.

iPhone, since its introduction in 2007, has become an annual event dispite Apple and its carrier partners not saying anything about it.  For its part, Apple has never divulge information for new products prior to launch.  The original iPhone went on sale in the last weekend of June and since then, the iPhone 3G and the follow-up 3GS went on sale around June and July.  So, it's safe to give the iPhone an annual product cycle.

I think Apple fans go to a good scare a year ago when RIM came out with Storm.  Then in the months leading up to the Pre going on sale, many wondered if the iPhone 3G can compete against WebOS’ Synergy, something that the iPhone lacks.

Furthermore, the growing rift, or contrast, between Apple and Google, whether it is manufactured by the media and blogs or not, does highlight the difference in philosophies between these two innovative companies.  While Apple makes no apologies for its walled garden approach, Google’s Android is generally open to developers and handset makers, within limits.

One of the starkest contrast is that the iPhone’s interface is uniform in iPhone 3.0 while Android allows handset makers to graft their own flavor of UI such as HTC’s Sense and Motorola Cliq’s MOTOBLUR.  Oh, and let’s not forget Verizon Wireless' flagship mobile device, Droid.

And while near-term adoption for the iPhone remains positive, the sheer number of new Android devices coming to the market in the next few quarters, and the likely barrage of Window Mobile 7 devices will make the mobile market very crowded.

Thus, should Apple accelerate any product cycle for the iPhone and the Touch?  Apple does have a couple of advantages that has made it difficult for competitors to overcome.  The first is the 100K-strong app store.  It is hard to dismiss the success of the app store with already 2 billion downloads.  That’s something competitors would have a lot of difficulties overcoming.  Still, Android won’t need to match the iPhone app for app.  Even at a quarter or half the size of the iPhone app store, the Android Marketplace would be a success (AM should be closer to 20K apps by now).

While the app store is an advantage competitors can overcome in time, the second advantage the iPhone has will be more difficult to for Apple’s competitors to address.  The iPhone “just works”.  I’ve heard it many times said about the iPhone but never about any other devices.

Right now, I don’t sense any urgency from Cupertino for any need to make any changes to the annual iPhone upgrade schedule.  But I do sense that iPhone's effects on the mobile market and the confusion and desperation it sowed on competitors has waned somewhat.  At the very least, traditional handset makers have gotten used to the fact that the iPhone is here to stay (maybe except for Microsoft's Steve Balmer).

It doesn’t mean that Apple shouldn’t muddle things up a bit again or put more distance between itself and the rest of the market.

Hands On With Pre - Good But So Is The Competition

Fair and balance is what I'm trying to go for here.  Not Fox News style.  Just laying out the facts regarding the time I spent with the Pre at Best Buy.


So, the Pre has been with us for a few days now and you've read the reviews (if not, you should if you are consider the Pre as your mobile device).  Here are not notes I took in the time I had with the Pre:

• Multi-tasking - it's good to have but it's not a must for me since smartphones and mobile devices really are more conducive for the user to do one thing at a time.  Seriously, how many games do you need open with the IM, e-mail, and browser all open at the same time?  
• Multi-touch is very nice. Good to finally see it on another device besides the iPhone.
• WebOS is very very nice.  Feels very snappy.  Cards is very innovative.  
• The device is smaller than some (like the iPhone) but bigger than others (like the Blackberries).  On the while, it's bigger than I thought.  
• The screen isn't as impressive I thought.  I went in with very high expectations based on the reviews.  It was good and vibrant nonetheless.  I didn't not see the discolorations many Pre owners are unhappy about.
• I like flip the keyboard underneath the body in and out.  It was pretty cool but when I started using it, the body felt uncomfortable, going from an egg shape to an elongated form was a big weird.  The case was cheap.  It didn't just feel cheap as some of the reviews indicated.  Just going to be blunt about it.
• I've heard issues with the keyboard.  First, reviews felt the keyboard was too close to the top portion of the phone so their fingers were constantly bumping up against it.  I don't think it's a design flaw.  More likely, it's more about not making the phone appear longer than it already is.  Having said that, I had no issues with the placement of the keyboard.
• Two more things about the keyboard.  The keyboard is small.  Man, it's small.  I went around to the Blackberries and the Centro to test out their keyboards.  The Pre has one of the smallest at Best Buy.  I was typing slowly because I was not familiar with the layout but I do see issues for folks who need to type faster.  The second thing about the keyboard is the rubbery feel.  With the other phones, they had plastic feels to it.  Takes getting used to.

Those are the physical impressions I was able to come away with in the time I had access to the Pre.  As with the lucky few who had time with the Pre for evaluations, I don't think those reviews truly does it justice.  The Pre is a complicated device.  I don't mean it's difficult to use.  In fact, ease of use seems to be very important to Palm.  I'm saying that the whole WebOS, the multi-touch, and the slide-out hardware design has created a very unique mobile device.  

So, would I get it?  No.  I like the iPhone, I've invested apps, and I like the close integration with OS X and my Macbook.  However, this is what I recommend you do if you're considering getting a new device.

Spend a lot of time with it.  If you've got a Best Buy in the area, you're in luck.  They've got the iPhone, Palm Centro and Pre, and an assortment of Blackberries and Windows devices.  Spend some time with each device.  Ask for a live model to play with like I did.  Also, the customer service rep who was with me (watching me like a hawk) said they may get the iPhone 3G S on the 19th, the first day the new iPhones go on sale.

In conclusion, the Pre is a contender.  WebOS is particularly sweet.  Hardware is first gen so there's going to be issues like the keyboard.  If there is a problem that I have with the Pre, it's the lack of third party app support.  As it stands now, there are less than twenty apps.  

Palm did not have a problem attracting developers for the old Palm OS.  At the time, their only competitor was Windows for a while until Palm did nothing to improve its OS for years.  Today is a competely different story.

There is Apple's iTunes app store.  Android Marketplace.  Who else?  Oh, the wireless providers are getting into the app store business.  Sony, Nokia, Samsung, Microsoft.  I'm sure I've left a few out.  It just seems like everyone is creating their own app store.  

Palm's got momentum from the buzz the Pre has been able to generate and it needs to quickly capitalize on that.  Since the WWDC keynote on Monday, it's been iPhone 3G S this and that.  Very little heard about the Pre.  So Palm has to move fast.

Apple really impressed with iPhone 3.0 and the potentials of the iPhone 3G S has really blown everyone away.  Not only that, the Pre costs $299 ($199 after rebate) while the regular iPhone 3G dropped to $99 while the new 3G S costs $199 (16GB model) and $299 (32GB model).

So Palm has to move fast.  And a price drop may be necessary.

Note:  I previously used an iPhone.  I now rely on a G1 and iPod Touch for my mobile needs.  I just want to put that out there.  Fair, balance, and facts.

Another Note:  My short time with the Pre did not allow me to get into the inner workings of the WebOS so you'll need to test drive it more thoroughly than I did.  

WWDC And Pre Launch - Has Anything Changed?

E3 in Los Angeles last week.  This was followed by the Pre launch last saturday (50k-100k sold, depending on who you listen to) and Apple's WWDC today where Apple unloaded a plethora of news and new technology for its mobile and Mac platform.


It's been a busy week and this isn't over by any means.  iPhone 3.0 and the new iPhone 3G S will be available on June 17th and 19th respectively.  Following that, we have T-Mobile's second Android device, G2, and Verizon's Storm 2 on deck.


But even after that, it is prudent to ask if anything has changed in the mobile landscape.  Since only Pre and the iPhone 3G S are available or will be soon, this is where we'll focus for now.  At Onxo, we like put the spotlight on issues that a increasingly mobile computing society.  Since the Apple joined the mobile device and smartphone market, there has been an increase in smartphone sales.  Just ask RIM and it's record Blackberry sales.  In fact, a few competitors thanked Apple's iPhone for bring to attention of millions of mobile users the benefits of smartphones and mobile devices.


That was two years ago.  Last year, the iPhone 3G's launch put an exclamation on that focus.  That was followed by the Blackberry Storm and the G1, the first ever Android device.


And this year, Palm wowed the tech crowd with the Pre and it was immediately billed as the closest competitor to the iPhone.  In some ways, that's true.  Multi-touch.  App store with SDK kits.  3G Internet access with push mail, Google maps.  Merely catching up to the iPhone some might say.  Others might even say that these are features Blackberries and G1s have had for months or years.


Now let's look at the iPhone 3.0 that will grace 40 million iPhone and iPod Touch users next week.  Cut, Copy, and Paste.  Push notification instead of applications running in the background.  Video and camera functionalities.  Pretty good but it is arguable that the iPhone has finally caught up with things that the mobile market has had for years.  MMS, anyone?  ATT will make that available later this summer, not even when the iPhone G S ships.  Oh, and the iPhone still will not allow apps to run in the background.


As pleasing as Apple and Palm has made millions of mobile users, both companies merely bulked up on features.  Granted though, Palm has done some pretty cool stuff with its WebOS.  Apple, on the other hand, has done well with the App store, ease of use, provided unique user experience only Apple can offer.  And the iPhone design is simply unmatched.  At the end of the day, features-wise, there is nothing new to the market.


Is the mobile future bleak then?  Certainly not?  I'm only stating that in the short-term, there seems to be technological consolidation as device and smartphone makers focus on shoring up its base and improve on their technology.  After that, what then?


There is no telling since even by today's standard as the mobile market is still in its infancy.  Hundreds of millions, if not billions of users are using traditional wireless phones with no Internet access.  And only through innovation and competition will the device developers be able to move the mobile market in any meaningful direction.


For instance, should battery technology improve and nullify the constant need to charge the iPhone or a smartphone, new and more powerful features will be available to the mobile users.


For now, it's fine to get excited about the iPhone 3G S.  Heck, I'm very excited.  Just keep in mind adding the ability to copy and paste to a modern device when the mobile market has had it for years does not make it innovative or new.