Specs

Today Apple issued a press release citing an improved battery for the iPhone along with a new screen cover made of glass.

Apple has had 6 months to improve a few things before June 29th and apply the finishing touches before launch, today we get a glimpse of 2 major changes on the iPhone since Macworld. First off, Steve Jobs announced the iPhone to have a 5 hour battery life for talk time, video, Internet and 16 hours for audio playback. The updated specs takes video playback up to 7 hours, talk time up to 8 hours, Internet use up to 6 hours and audio playback up to 24 hours. Also standby time has been confirmed for 250 hours or over 10 days which just happens to be the amount of time between now and June 29th, maybe someone someone at Apple is using an iPhone battery to remind them when launch day rolls around. Now that Apple has announced changes to the internal battery and confirmed the final specs an old pal of ours, John C. Dvorak can no longer whine about an insignificant 40 minute… more...

As if the short quicktime videos weren’t enough, Apple has given us more to whet our iPhone appetities. Since January, we have all been watching and rewatching the short animations highlighting iPhone features. Well now Apple has released 3D QuickTours on Apple.com showing us even more.

From the Gizmodo link:

the demos are exceedingly successful at showing how some of the phone’s more widespread technologies work

[Via Gizmodo]

Much like the iPhone spec ad I blogged about last week, here’s a great spec ad by Director Alec Sutherland, called ‘iPhone New York”. The spot, available in 60 and 30 second versions on www.iphonenewyorkcity.com, highlights people in new York talking about the iPhone in many different languages.

This is a truly classy ad: one that captures the robust offerings of the iPhone while delivering the rich diversity of the city. View the commercial here.

With just a little over two weeks left to go before the miraculous arrival of Apple’s iPhone, you may have questions left unanswered. Luckily for you, a forum member on Talk iPhone posted 101 facts and questions yesterday regarding the yet to be released device.

Inquiries measure from simple such as “What is the Apple iPhone?” or the status of iPhone’s use with other carriers to the difficult points of Apple care and the dreaded 2 year contract. Nonetheless this should answer a few doubts or worries you had throughout the crazy roller coaster Apple and AT&T put us through. However not all of this is set in stone, Apple could surprise us with a “one more thing”, make outright changes which won’t be noticed until we can get our paws on it or a wrong fact may be pop up.

Via: TUAW

As was probably expected, the iPhone was pushed back on the priority list at the WWDC keynote that took place just a few hours ago, with OS X Leopard taking centre stage.

However, for those of you just itching for more on the iPhone before its release in the States on June 29th, then take a look at Apple’s website (newly updated by the way), which features a lovely gallery and some more information about the device which is sure to cause a storm on its release.

Hopefully there’s be some more news on the iPhone in the coming days as we close in on launch day. This is almost as big as Shuttle taking off from Cape Canaveral, isn’t it?

One of the most convenient features of the iPod is the fact that although it syncs up with your computer through iTunes (allowing for transfer of music, movies, TV Shows, Pictures, and Podcasts) it also shows up on your Mac or PC as an external drive allowing for data transfer ontot he iPod as a portable hard drive.

What works for the iPod apparently is not the same for the iPhone. Chris Davies of SlashGear is reporting that the iPhone will only sync through iTunes or iPhoto.

This move is no doubt a move by Apple to encourage content purchases via the iTunes store and syncing it with the iPhone but as Davies writes: “That should increase ease of use for novice owners, but likely frustrate everyone else.”

[Via SlashGear]

From the beginning, out of all the negative features of the reported iPhone was the anticipated inability for a user to swap out the battery. We have been conditioned to simply accept Apple’s “Product Life Expectancy” argument and just deal with the idea that when the battery dies, it’s time for a new one. And much like we have been trained to do with the ipod, should something go wrong prematurely with the battery, it would mean a send back to the factory or the Apple store for a replacement.

Now we have the rumor that the iPhone will in fact have a removable battery. Reported by Ars Technica citing from the VIM3 weblog, the “battery would be user-replaceable after all by means of the lower speaker area sliding down and revealing the battery.”

If true, this would be a huge barrier of the iPhone’s success dropped to it’s knees. But Apple wouldn’t just do it because people ask for it. This move would make more sense for Apple. Allowing for user-replaceable batteries means more troubleshooting through less expensive channels like online user forums and discussion groups.… more...

Although many people (myself included) had assumed the iPhone would be Flash compatible, you can’t really take anything for granted anymore.

According to this Craigslist posting, the iPhone will indeed support Flash. Please note: This is Flash Memory not Macromedia Flash.

The job, listed as “iPhone Flash File System Engineer” and the location listed as “Cupertino” was posted yesterday afternoon and also includes a link to the Jobs.Apple.com site and associated job posting.

The responsibilities for the job are listed as follows:

Responsibilities
* Work with a highly skilled engineering team in the design and implementation of kernel technologies
* Drive product features and functional/industry specifications
* Development of device drivers for Flash and associated file systems
* Work with cross-functional teams to support product requirements for iPhone

There is no indication how many of these positions are open but it does point specifically to Flash file drivers. Is it just me or does seem a little late to be developing Flash drivers for the iPhone? Could it be that this won’t be available at launch?

[Via Craigslist and Apple.com]

The iPhone is not out yet but there are a few specs that we know to be a fact. One of those facts is that the iPhone will have a lithium-ion battery that is not replaceable by the consumer. Apple, of course, also uses lithium-ion batteries in the ipod and the MacBook and MacBook Pro notebooks.

An irreplaceable battery is a major bummer but one that people have learned to live with in the iPod. People will complain about it but will deal with it for the iPhone as well. Although some people will have no real problem, if you look at the webpage on Apple.com about Lithium-ion batteries, you will notice a little tidbit of information that might make some potential iPhone buyers have second thoughts.

In the sidebar of the page:

Hot Tip
If you use your iPod or notebook in temperatures higher than its specified operating range, 95°F (or 35°C), you may permanently damage your battery’s capacity. I.e., your battery won’t power your device as long on any given charge. You may damage it even more if you charge the device in these… more...

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]