iTunes Phone Revealed?

[ketha]

Very good post. I agree totally but I think people expect Apple to be a high impact company with people going wow, thats so cool, rather than, oh look at the Motorola phone that can play songs! Sony Ericsson made poor phones but people said, hey lets give them time. Apple dont have that luxury, they have to get it right first time now, they cant make a mistake, people want to knock them so bad that any excuse will we welcomed by the Microsoft gangs.

Yeah, and I for one think that pushing a bad designed phone out is a shame, but then not having a Media Centre type OS, or a video iPod or a tablet iBook is a shame from my point of view but to be honest Joe Public doesn't really care about all this 'early adopter' stuff, unless apple makes a really really terrible product they're going to have time to play with... and since no one thinks of them as a phone maker they've got time to get a few models out.

but yeah, essentially, as an apple 'fanboy' like the rest of you, i'm gonna be disappointed if it doesn't have that 'must have' factor... but Apple thinks about these things years ahead... i firmly believe Apple have a really good idea of what they want to do over the next five years and tend to think in these terms. I think they're moving away from the 'high end' market, for better or worse. It's a tricky move, for sure, for instance I'm not overly impressed with the shuffle and it's really the first Apple product in ages that I'm not 'wowed' by.

However, let's not forget that Microsoft got lots of stick for their Smartphone phones, and they're actually one of the neatest things Microsoft has done. fiddly OS, after a fashion, to be sure but actually a 'smart' phone on a small screen.

 

[amac4me]

More Images are shown here

http://macdailynews.com/index.php/weblog/comments/6152/

Check out the buttons on the side

 

[Capt Underpants]

http://macdailynews.com/index.php/weblog/comments/6152/

Check out the buttons on the side

oh crap! those pictures look legit...

 

[sprescott1974]

anyone see this

also from MacDailyNews...set your display to 256 colors and look at the podcast icon in itunes prefs.

i think this green/black phone is pretty close to what we'll see, but it probably will be white/silver as well. no one says it will only come in one color.

 

[aswitcher]

http://macdailynews.com/index.php/weblog/comments/6152/

Check out the buttons on the side

Thanks. Well this looks real...

 

[Heart Break Kid]

*looks at picture*

*double checks to see if its true*

*quickly searchs for bucket*

*vomits.*


Ugliest phone I've ever seen. Well, I guess I'm waiting for the SE W800 to find its way to these shores. SE has a better UI and works like a charm via BT and iSync with my PB.

I can't believe Moto dropped the ball on this. *curses Moto execs*

 

[ketha]

*looks at picture*

*double checks to see if its true*

*quickly searchs for bucket*

*vomits.*

i'd hardly say the 'ugliest' i've ever seen but I hope that that's a mock-up and they bring it out in white... or a 'choice' of colours.

 

[Heart Break Kid]

i'd hardly say the 'ugliest' i've ever seen but I hope that that's a mock-up and they bring it out in white... or a 'choice' of colours.

it looks like an xbox inspired bar of soap

 

[zap2]

looks liek an xbox( still would get it if its not too much $$$) really hope not

 

[Bibulous]

I'll buy one for $99 with a two year agreement.

 

[ketha]

I'll buy one for $99 with a two year agreement.

actually no one has mentioned price. That's going to be a very important factor, if this phone is going to be cheap then it might be worth it.

 

[efoto]

it looks like an xbox inspired bar of soap

Best description I have heard of it yet!

http://macdailynews.com/index.php/weblog/comments/6152/

Check out the buttons on the side

I don't get the picture in the upper right, the one where the green circle is over the keypad. I'm not sure about the rest of you, but it looks like that black is a covering or case pulled over a green phone in that picture. The others make the black look much for finite and real, however in the picture the thing just screams Photoshop to me.

Either way, this is one fugly phone. I personally HATE the black/green look of it, some odd mix of Xbox M$ influence mixed with a childhood fantasy to be a Matrix character or something, I think it would look silly held against your head talking on it. The only company currently "getting away" with black phones is Nextel in my mind, because they are bigger and badder, but all the other carriers stuff looks like sh** in black, silver is the way to go, all phones are always silver (or some other fabricated metallic color like a light blue-metal, bronzed, etc). I think for Apple to release their first ever partnered phone on this would be death....I certainly won't buy it, even if it is a free phone with new service, it won't get me anywhere near close to switching carriers. I'm disappointed, this sucks.
I would rather hold my damn iPod to my ear and talk on that....at least it has some style even if it is much bigger and heavier than any mobile on the market.

 

[ebunton]

Well the phone is black because it's a Motorola mobile phone first, and an Apple iPod second. I dunno how to explain that strange light metallic green though haha. The combination looks a bit tacky.

They aren't going to make it white, because I'm assuming the branding department doesn't want the phone to be interchangeable with the iPod (yet).

As people may have noticed, Motorola has this translucent black colour scheme on some of their other phones too (eg that 3G one e1000).

Anyone notice the absence of labels on the keypad???
Are you supposed to guess the numbers? ahha

Edit: OOhh... I think I know the role of the switch on the bottom of the side! It's to swap from phone (keypad) to iPod (scrollwheel) input method

 

[bretm]

I think someone is finally getting the idea! The buttons will be illuminated somehow when in phone mode. It'll be a click wheel when in ipod mode.

I believe the green color comes from the screen effects, which just happen to be green when the shot was taken. Most likely, the colors of the clickwheel, buttons, side buttons, etc. will change with the screen effects, which would be something very uniqe and apple.

Also would be the ipod mode. Apple likes simple and clean. So in ipod mode all the other unrelated buttons (number pad, etc.) are dimmed.

Well the phone is black because it's a Motorola mobile phone first, and an Apple iPod second. I dunno how to explain that strange light metallic green though haha. The combination looks a bit tacky.

They aren't going to make it white, because I'm assuming the branding department doesn't want the phone to be interchangeable with the iPod (yet).

As people may have noticed, Motorola has this translucent black colour scheme on some of their other phones too (eg that 3G one e1000).

Anyone notice the absence of labels on the keypad???
Are you supposed to guess the numbers? ahha

Edit: OOhh... I think I know the role of the switch on the bottom of the side! It's to swap from phone (keypad) to iPod (scrollwheel) input method

 

[Freg3000]

Much better.....thank you Engadget.

 

[mkrishnan]

Much better.....thank you Engadget.

So basically, this has all gone in one big circle right back around to a modified version of the e398? That does seem like the most rational option....

I do also hope that it doesn't look like that insane XBox phone... I actually *like* the way the XBox looks, but for a phone? Ummm, for me at least, thanks but no thanks.

This is the e398, below:

 

[downset]

the grey one is a changed e398 which has been going around just to test the software

the black one is the actual phone, the scroll wheel does the same as on a normal ipod, but its embedded into the keys, so its touch sensitive so you can use it to scroll like on an ipod, but actual play controls are on the side kind of like an ipod 2g with the buttons above the wheel

btw i like the design and the way they include a wheel onto the keys, its a nice solution

later in the year they will release an hd based version

 

[CubaTBird]

what about a flip phone? nobody has talked about the possibility of the itunes phone being a flip phone... i personally think that this phone will be something that nobody thought about... it'll have that "wow" factor that we all really need right now.. especially with the saturated tech sector right now...

 

[Tupring]

I agree with you to a certain extent but i feel iTunes was a key reason for the iPod's sucess before iTunes there was no music library software that was on the same level....So as long as i can sync the phone with iTunes effortlessly i will be happy...

ShadOW

You forgot about SoundJam MP. Without it, the iTunes we all know and love would not be here.

 

[ph0rce]

looks horrid,

why not let apple do the phone....

 

[obeygiant]

what would i look like anyway. I've never seen any "good" pictures of what it might look like.