Interviews

A group of speakers consisting purely of industry leader at the Mobile World Congress could not agree on why the iPhone was so popular amongst consumers. While we could flat out tell you it’s the interface that makes it so damn attractive, it apparently flew over most of their heads.

Adobe on the other hand was the only one to acknowledge that Apple hit a home run with the iPhone while others passed it off as a great time waster. Mike Yonker made a great point as to why the is iPhone is popular amongst consumers: users can get the content they want faster, The iTunes store and YouTube make it that much easier.

Via: iPhone Alley

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Steve Wozniak, co-founder of Apple, was interviewed by LaptopMag.com about various topics surrounding Apple.

Wozniak is specifically asked about what his opinions are on the iPhone and Wozniak feels that the iPhone should be “more like a computer” and Apple should allow anyone to develop applications for it. When mentioning jailbreaking the iPhone for 3rd party applications, he says:

“Apple has a right to lock the iPhone. But I am really for the unlockers, the rebels trying to make it free. I’d really like it to be open to new applications. I’d like to install some nice games. Why in the world can I not install a ringtone that I’ve made? How would that hurt AT&T’s network? Here is Steve Jobs sending letters to the record companies saying they should provide music that’s unprotected, but here he is taking the opposite approach with the iPhone. I don’t know to what extent AT&T is involved in the thinking and direction.”

Although I have not managed to hack my iPhone in anyway, I, as well as many others (I’m sure) couldn’t agree any more with Wozniak. more...

What is Conceited Software?
Conceited Software, formally Envisibyte Solutions was founded in 2000 by Nicholas Penree with the goal of sticking out in an already dominated market. Over the years we have become a successful and growing player in the custom tailored solutions market. In 2004, we added an additional associate, Elvir Metjahic, whose ideas were a positive influence on our company.

Conceited Software is a development firm born with the mantra that we must provide users with applications that are above the curve. We aim to provide an experience that is better than the rest. Currently, we develop custom applications for Mac, Windows, and now the iPhone. We are passionate about what we do and always strive to help our customers in any way possible.

When did you get started writing software for the iPhone?
We started writing software for immediately after a homebrew software development kit became available. Using an undocumented API is not for the faint of heart, but with our customers demanding a solution for their problems using the iPhone we got to work. When we saw that Nullriver Software Inc. was… more...

Jim Cramer of the popular “Mad Money” TV show thinks Ivan Seidenberg, the CEO of Verizon shpould get mad props. In his show, according to his website, TheStreet.com, Cramer said, “Seidenberg should take Verizon even higher and deserves the benefit of the doubt.”

But when Cramer then asked Seidenberg about how the iPhone would impact Verizon, thats when the real propping came out. In this case, it was Seidenberg propping up Verizon’s flexibility, advanced network, and breadth of choices as reasons why Verizon can counter AT&T and Apple’s iPhone.

The iPhone is going to create a lot of buzz and add “sizzle” to the industry, Seidenberg said. He believes that people will go to Apple and AT&T stores and then compare the product with what Verizon has to offer.

Although I believe that Verizon does indeed have a more dvanced network and greater flexibility, there is no way in hell people will take the time to compare options between Verizon and AT&T. Why? Well, mostly because those who are interetsed in the iPhone are caring more about the “sizzle” than anything else.… more...

Brier Dudley, writer for the Seattle Times, recently conducted an interview with AT&T Mobility president of national distribution, Glenn Lurie, regarding the iPhone.

Lurie has had the chance to play with the iPhone for a little longer than most review-writers out there and his impressions on the device are excellent, although I doubt he could turn around and say the device was a pile of trash what with the marriage AT&T and Apple hold.

Lurie mentions,

The anticipation that we’re seeing, the buzz we’re seeing, at least for me, has far exceeded our expectations of how important this would be to the business and us.

and also goes on to justify the high price point for the iPhone. He is basically saying what Steve Jobs said at the very beginning; when you combine a $200 iPod Nano, a $200 SmartPhone and a free-to-$50 mobile phone, you get the 4GB iPhone and at a reasonable price.

[Via MacRumors]

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I hear a slight sigh of relief around America at the moment (I have super hearing) as Apple Insider reports that Apple executives are confident the iPhone will ship on time and have plenty to go around.

In attendence at the meeting were USB analyst Ben Reitzes and Apple executives Peter Oppenheimer (Chief Financial Officer), David Moody (Vice President of Mac Product Marketing), and Eddy Cue (Vice President of iTunes), with Reitzes reporting the execs said to be “confident the product will ship on time with volumes to meet customer demand”. Good news all around.

One other interesting thing to note is the possibility of the iPhone as we currently know it not even reaching U.K and European shores, with Apple likely to “introduce new models and partners for the iPhone in Europe and Asia within a year.” Could the 3G version of the iPhone arrive sooner than expected?

[Via TUAW]

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Paul Boutin, over at Slate.com, has suggested that of all the other phones being released at the minute that aim to take a slice out of the iPhone, none will come close.

In the article he says that the likes of Nokia and Samsung sell off their phones as two or three products in one, but offer something rather limited to which they had originally promised, whereas Apple sell themselves short but still manage to convince enough people that their products are the best of their time.  In what way is the fruity technology giant selling it short? The iPod, internet communicator and mobile phone all in one on an OS X based system really makes the phone a computer, and not a phone.

Mr. Boutin says that Apple’s iPhone “interface looks and works more like the computer you use all day, blurring the distinction between the two. There’s nothing else like it in the pipeline,” and “once the third-party application restrictions start to loosen, the iPhone won’t be just a phone. It’ll be a platform.”

[Via MacDailyNews]

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In an television interview, not yet aired, Sony Chairman/CEO, Sir Howard Stringer, gave ample props to Steve Jobs and the iPhone. According to Smarthouse, “In talking about current products, when asked about Apple’s iPhone Stringer said, ‘The good news is that Steve Jobs spotted a trend that we’ve seen. The phone is a convergence device, between music and a phone. We are all building variations on the same theme. We have sold plenty of Walkman phones [from Sony Ericsson], especially in Europe.’ While Stringer is pleased with Sony’s cellular phone progress, ‘I would never sit up here and say I’m not worried about Steve Jobs. I wouldn’t bet against Steve.”

Later on in the interview he also admits that Sony missed the boat when it came to portable music. This is the first time I have heard anyone from Sony admit, what I perceive, is an admission of stupidity about pushing the MiniDisc format when it comes to portable music.

Sony has always had a pseudo relationship with Apple most recently with deals on the… more...

You really have to love those reporters who try and annoy the hell out of you be asking questions that they know will get right up your nose! Think about the end of a football match when the reporter asks the coach “the other team were so much better than you today, do you really think you stood a chance come half time?”.

Well, it seems that those type of questions has annoyed one fella for probably not the last time - we’re looking at Motorola Executive, Simon Thompson, who slammed the question “What do you think about the iPhone?”, with his reponse:

“We thought it looked very pretty and white. iPhone, iPhone, iPhone! I’m just bored of this darned question. Look, there will be a billion phones sold next year - on a good year, there will be 10 million iPhones.”

After you’ve giggled your heart out at one company getting all upset by others pre-success story, you’ll kindly flame the dude for incorrectly stating that iPhone to be white. I’m almost as colourblind as a dog (you think I’m kidding?) and even I have the… more...

Guy Kawasaki, former Apple evangelist and venture capitalist has a few questions about the iPhone. 8 of them actually. For anyone unfamiliar with Mr. Kawasaki, I suggest you google him and Apple and read all that he has written about Apple. In this blog posting, Guy asks questions we should all be asking: concerns about battery life, the closed suystem, and of course the price tag.

A very good read for anyone interested in buying one in June.

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