Enter e-mail address to receive popsci weekly updates to your inbox.
Loose Lips Sink 3G iPhones
As recently as September, Apple was playing coy when it came to a rumored 3G iPhone. At a news conference that month Steve Jobs told reporters a phone wouldn't appear before they can "see the battery lives for 3G get back up into
the five-plus-hour range." Nevertheless, its carrier seems to have less compulsion to hold back. Yesterday, AT&T's CEO Randall Stephenson all but announced an impending 3G iPhone, responding to a reporter's question about the possibility with: "You'll have it next year." Apple declined to comment, but presumably isn't thrilled about the slip—especially when it comes on the tails of the holiday wish-list deluge.
Meanwhile, on PPX the news incited a flurry of trading on our 3G iPhone proposition. But until Apple proffers an announcement of its own, the stock's up for grabs.—Abby Seiff
Steve's Blog: Third-Party iPhone/iPod Apps Are Back
The Web is still a-twitter after Steve Jobs's pronouncement yesterday that an official software development kit is in the works (due next year) for the iPhone, allowing programmers to build native third-party applications. There's something about the tone of this communique—effectively a CEO's blog post—that I just love, so to quote:
Let me just say it: We want native third party applications on the iPhone, and we plan to have an SDK in developers’ hands in February. We are excited about creating a vibrant third party developer community around the iPhone and enabling hundreds of new applications for our users.
As many are pointing out as the dust begins to settle today, Steve saved the best for his love note's conclusion:
P.S.: The SDK will also allow developers to create applications for iPod touch.
While programming for the iPhone is great and all, that last juicy morsel is what seems to be getting Mac developers most excited. No matter how successful Apple's superphone becomes, its sales will likely remain a drop in the ocean when compared to the iPod, a gadget that has managed to sink its hooks into mass consumer consciousness like none before it. Safely assuming most future 'Pod permutations will be sporting higher-performance processors and an OS X operating system like the iPod touch, developers are licking their chops at the prospect of selling their applications to such a huge market of users.
In the end, though, Apple will have final say over what apps can and can't do via an "an advanced system which will...protect users from malicious programs." So you can probably stop crossing your fingers for that iPhone Bit Torrent client. The outlaw days were fun while they lasted. —John Mahoney
And they're off. George Hotz, New Jersey blogger and hacker extraordinaire, gets his name in the paper (and in our hearts) for pulling off a network transfer on an iPhone. In his YouTube footage you can clearly see the T-Mobile insignia (the iPhone runs AT&T, if you didn't know).
How he did it I don't understand. But it means that not only those of you stuck with T-Mobile now have a shot at the iPhone, but now anyone anywhere in the world can buy a prepaid GSM card and use Apple's holy grail.
It takes a few steps to pull off (and a lot of Red Bull), but heck if the kid hasn't done what Apple should have done in the first place. —Jacob Ward
(p.s. Classy kid. He takes time to thank his friends and fans at the outset, and Mom raised him right — he thanks "the dev team for a great product.")
Two Defective iPhones in Less Than Two Months: What's Going on Here?
I’m sending my iPhone back to Apple for repair this weekend for the second time, after only a month and a half or so of total ownership. My first piece suffered the dead-zone problem along the bottom edge of the touchscreen, and now last night, my brand-new replacement phone’s earpiece speaker conked out for no apparent reason after only a few weeks of use. This in itself is notable—that the iPhone seems to be suffering from some isolated but pretty serious manufacturing defects in its infancy. I could rant and rave about this fairly cut-and-dry issue along with everyone else, but instead this surprising second failure (and the second switch back to my previous phone while I wait for a new iPhone from Apple Care, God bless ’em) got me thinking more broadly about why, when asked how I like the iPhone, I invariably reply “Eh, it’s OK.”
Ultimately, the iPhone is still, well, a mobile phone: A nearly classless device that has integrated itself deeper into the daily lives of modern humans around the world than arguably any other piece of technology to date. Something that gets left in taxicabs, gets a drink spilled on it, gets dropped in the dirt, gets carried around in pockets and purses along with keys, coins and who knows what else every waking hour. To have a device this personal, this integral to day-to-day life, be the product of such a cultural moment, to be featured on local news broadcasts, to cost $600 and thus have to be guarded with your life, just doesn't feel right. A mobile phone in today's world is, above all, utilitarian, which sadly does not necessarily mean beautifully designed or even fun to use (especially in the U.S.). It should just get the job done.
Which brings up another point: The various incredibly simple jobs that other phones do well that the iPhone either can't do or does poorly is frankly shameful. Some who bought in to the advance hype might have expected the iPhone to do your laundry (and might be disappointed now to find that it doesn't). But this isn't the kind of thing I'm talking about. I'm talking about sending files to a computer or another phone via Bluetooth; easily texting a picture to a friend or uploading one to Flickr; being able to add your own MP3 ringtones easily (wirelessly, even); or even being able to send a text message to more than one person, for heaven’s sake.
At first I didn't think these well-reported limitations were deal breakers, because honestly, I don't necessarily live or die by whether I can send photos I've just taken to my computer wirelessly or if I have to use a cable. But I can recall several instances, at both work and play, when this feature on my old phone was either very handy or actually saved my butt (when I didn't have a data cable on me). And I damn well like having Van Halen's "Jump" as my ringtone (something that's possible on the iPhone only through a complex backdoor hack). That my $600 Jesus Phone can surf the Web and make calls so elegantly but can't do some very useful, very basic things out of the box sets off something that I can only describe as consumer-electronic cognitive dissonance. You can't begin to understand this dissonance by reading a spec sheet—it can only come after using this thing for an extended period of time. After which, of course, it's likely too late to return it.
It all comes back, I think, to Apple’s tendency to idiot-proof its hardware, especially its consumer electronics. The fact that most mobile phones, in their complexity, can do much more than the typical user realizes is one of the main problems Apple’s design team attempted to solve with the iPhone—and for the most part, they succeeded. They refined the user interface of these basic tasks to the point that it's a piece of cake—nay, a Joy with a capital 'J'—for almost anyone to pick up the iPhone and start using it for a few minutes. The sacrifice, however, is that in this quest for clarity via simplicity, what is eliminated are the small but important touches that might confuse Joe Blow but that users patient enough to learn will appreciate immensely. These are what the iPhone lacks.
Aside from all that, though, it's the access to an unlimited mobile data plan—something that remains prohibitively expensive in this country for the majority of mobile users and that I personally have never used before the iPhone—that has been truly game-changing for me. I think it's telling, though, that I enjoy unlimited data just as much, or more, when the iPhone is in the shop and I bust out my older, cheaper (and unlocked!) smartphone (Yes, AT&T's unlimited iPhone data plan—a bargain at $60 per month including voice—works with other phones).
Considering all these frustrating weaknesses along with an incredibly high cost of ownership of some fairly buggy hardware, and I'm starting to wonder what kind of revolt lies in store for us when first-gen iPhone users' warranties start to expire come July '08. Let alone next week, when you instantly burn up $600 by accidentally leaving it at the bar. So I definitely join the others who have said to wait for the next version, but in addition, I have to question whether any iteration of a super-high-end yet ultimately restrictive device such as the iPhone can tackle the huge job of being the go-to consumer electronic device for the masses, as Apple so clearly hopes. —John Mahoney
Today is a special day for PPX—our first proposition has reached its endpoint. As screenshots, binaries and source code for the iPhone's "hello world" application surfaced late Sunday, the necessary verifications was there to finally confirm that the iPhone Dev team has indeed succeeded in running a simple third-party application. Trading is currently suspended on IPHACK, and pending final approval, the stock will officially delist sometime in the next 24-48 hours. Holders of IPHACK rejoice—you just made some money (POP$100 per share, to be exact). For the record, PPX called it from the beginning: the price reached POP$80 (80% probability) less than a week after the iPhone's release and didn't look back.
As you can see, the application doesn't do too much yet (other than display a greeting to "netkas," one of the hackers responsible - see more on his blog), but "hello world" is the necessary first step for any programming platform to grow. The door is open—now it's only a matter of time until more full-featured apps start to pop up.
The interesting question now is how will Apple respond? Will they attempt to plug the hole via a software update? Fully embrace the move and release an official software development kit for programmers? Or simply ignore it? My money, for now, is on the latter—with the iPod, anyway, Apple has been fairly tolerant, allowing the iPod Linux crew for instance to hack away in relative comfort. But the iPhone is a decidedly different beast, so it will be interesting to see what happens. Hmm, do I smell PPX prop potential? —John Mahoney
It had to happen at some point. A group of security experts from a company called Independent Security Evaluators figured out a way to sneak past the iPhone’s defenses and pull off the user’s personal information. To do so, the group set up a web page with malicious code. In the experiment they ran, if someone accesses this page through a Safari browser, the code grabs the person’s text messages, the call log, address book, and voicemail data, then makes it all available to the hacker. But the group added that it could tweak the code to swipe passwords, too—it can essentially pull out anything they want. Don’t go switching off your iPhone, though. The group has warned Apple already, and suggested a possible fix. There’s also no evidence that anyone has tried this with bad intentions. For those of you who are concerned, Independent Security Evaluators suggest taking the same precautions you would with a laptop. Use only secure WiFi, and don’t visit suspicious Web pages, and don’t click through links in shady emails. Computer scientist Charlie Miller, one of the team members, will be presenting the detailed results of their study at the BlackHat computer security conference in Las Vegas on August 2.—Gregory Mone
Hello World: Third-Party Application Running on a Hacked iPhone?
The race to hack the iPhone was taken up a notch today by the folks at the iPhone Dev Wiki (Google it, they still don't want links in to avoid crashing their servers), as one of the team's most dedicated members claims to have written, compiled and ran a "hello world" application—geek-speak for a test program that simply displays the text "hello world"—on the iPhone. Patrick Walton (or "Nightwatch"), who appears to either be a student or professor at the University of Chicago, is being credited with the break-through.
Once a video surfaces and others and/or others are able to confirm the process, we'll know for sure. Good work PPX traders, you called it: the proposition has been valued at POP$80 or above since the iPhone's release, and it's currently trading at POP$91 and climbing. —John Mahoney
Duke University Says iPhones Might be Jamming Network
Let’s hope this isn’t another false accusation, delivered before the verdict is in. A Duke University spokesman says the college has been working with Apple in preparation for the start of the school year, because that company’s new iPhones have supposedly frozen parts of the school’s wireless network for up to ten minutes at a time. Apparently a single iPhone requesting access to the network was enough to stall parts of the system, and there are already as many as 150 of the devices trying to get online. Administrators noticed the problem nine times in the last week alone. Now the network team is trying to fix the glitch before the full student body returns for classes next week. But the bigger question, to us: Who is buying all these kids iPhones? Yes, they are bright students, but how in the name of Jobs are they convincing their parents to pay $2,000 a year for their phones? There’s a good explanation of the possible network issues, but not the spoiled student problem, here.—Gregory Mone
Note to Apple: The iPhone is Not the Best iPod You've Ever Made
There are plenty of well-publicized gripes with the iPhone. A slow mobile data network, tricky keyboard, no MMS, etc. The list goes on. None of the big spec-related weaknesses have proven to be dealbreakers for me yet as I've been using the iPhone this week (I'm trying to defer to the iPhone instead of my home PC, stereo, television and pretty much any other gadget to test its convergence abilities accordingly).
In a device billed to be all about its revolutionary user interface software, with even the tiniest of details carefully though-out in true Apple fashion for ease of use, it's logical to assume that the phone's most painful shortcomings will also be revealed in the smaller details.
Case-in-point: when I first plugged in the iPhone to my home computer after its initial sync, its music tracks were grayed-out in iTunes. I thought this may have had to do with using a different computer from the one I used to activate the phone, but alas, after a bit more research, it turns out this is default behavior. Not only can you not play songs on your iPhone via iTunes, but you also cannot manually drag-and-drop media files for loading into its memory like every other iPod. You can only sync the iPhone with a playlist or library on a single computer.
So if you use more than one computer to listen to and organize your music, you're out of luck—the only way to load music onto the iPhone is to have it mirror an iTunes playlist on your computer track-for-track. Any songs on your iPhone that aren't on the computer you're syncing with are deleted.
I keep different music collections on my computers at work and at home. With my dusty old black-and-white iPod I can simply plug in at work and load an album I may not have at home without erasing the songs that only live on my home computer. But with the iPhone, I have to choose which computer to use exclusively.
Sure, this prevents you from plugging your iPhone into all of your coworkers' computers and grabbing their music without paying for it (again, something all other iPods can do), but it also prevents you from loading the album you just legally purchased from the iTunes store or ripped from one of the CDs you keep at work for your trip home.
So buried beneath the legitimately great touch interface, a larger screen and snazzy Cover Flow browser lies a limitation that could be minor to some, but fairly significant to others. If Apple is serious about a DRM-free future, why the uncharacteristically paranoid feature crippling? Let's hope this gets hacked (or updated) soon. —John Mahoney
On Friday, we dispatched our crack team of videographers to witness the iPhone madness at the Manhattan Apple flagship store on 5th Avenue, the Soho Apple store, and several AT&T stores. They made a little documentary so we could relive the launch of the decade's most overhyped gadget again and again, forever. And it's funny stuff: Don't miss the slow-mo jog to glory as the first iPhone recipient enters the hallowed glass cube... and the receiving line of congratulatory Apple employees on his way out is also a sight to behold.
We've got three iPhones circulating around the office today, and, well, frankly everyone's a little bored with them. Has anyone started working on a hack to make these things run third party software? Tell us in the comments: PPX traders are dying to know. —Megan Miller
This screen was the bane of my existence as I waited to activate the iPhone this weekend—a period of time in which I experienced the limitations of Apple's partnership with AT&T first hand. Yes, I bagged an iPhone with minimal wait time on Friday, but I didn't start using it until Sunday afternoon.
Let's face it: calling your wireless provider for any reason is never, ever enjoyably. Now imagine that calling your wireless provider (multiple times, to be exact), simultaneously with 500,000 other new iPhone users, is the only way to transform your $600 purchase into a functioning device, not just the hottest 911 emergency phone in existence.
Turns out, my old-style AT&T rate plan (yes, I was with AT&T before they were Cingular, and now they're back) was incompatible with the iPhone's $20 data plan add-on for existing customers. And on top of that, a corporate discount on my account was tripping things up further. These hangups took 24 hours for the AT&T system to sort out, apparently—after starting the activation Friday night, it took until Saturday night for the email to come directing me to call AT&T customer care.
After being passed around to too many different departments and call reps to count for the problem's diagnosis (and who knows how much time spent on hold), on Sunday I was finally directed to a number specifically for handling iPhone activations( 877-800-3701 if you're still waiting, good luck). The rep there was able to activate the phone manually.
So, first iPhone lesson learned: for several core tasks, it's only as good as its carrier network. Granted, the onslaught AT&T was subjected to this weekend was unlike anything they have ever seen, but gee, didn't they know that was going to be case? —John Mahoney
PopSci's iPhone (THE FOOTBALL) Secured - Indiana Comes Through
So as Megan mentioned, I'm here manning the PopSci satellite office in the great state of Indiana on this fateful day. And oh what a state: drove up to an AT&T store 5 minutes from my house at 5:15PM, sat 25th in a sparse line, was filmed for a live local TV news spot, and walked out with an 8GB iPhone by 6:30, being thoroughly congratulated on my purchase by the high-alert staff all the way out the door. I even got a free water bottle while I waited for all of 45 minutes! Suckers!
So yeah, the FOOTBALL is secure. No lawn chairs in the sun (sort of jealous of Pete for that time, had to have been great), no strip club nearby (sort of jealous of John too), no sprint to the subway dodging crackheads to avoid the inevitable mugging on 5th avenue had I been at home in NYC.
And there it is, sprouting from my back yard. My dog just licked the box.
I'm excited to get to work (sorry family!)and hopefully provide some new insights that Walt, David and the rest were afraid to give, for fear of some horrific Jobsian retribution. I don't even want to think of how many bloggers stricken with post-purchase euphoria are hammering away right now (will they bring down the Web?!), so I'm gonna cut it short. Again, if there's anything iPhone related you want your faithful PopSci team to investigate, leave it in the comments. --John Mahoney
As the iPhone launch day fiasco unfolds, we thought we'd take a moment to share our own tale of getting our hands on a phone. As the world's largest consumer electronics magazine, you'd think we'd be able to get a review unit from Apple, yes? Well, no. Herr Jobs decided to seed just a handful of iPhones into the hands of high-profile journalists at daily newspapers including the New York Times, Wall Street Journal, and USA Today.
We contacted Apple back in April to try to secure an iPhone for review, but got no response. So senior editor Mike Haney sent this email on June 11:
> Hey [Apple employee's name withheld here] > > Just wondering what the going bribe is to be among the pubs to get > a review phone on the 29th? Do we have to arm-wrestle the punks at > Gizmodo? Name our first-born Steve? > > As always, any help is appreciated. We’ll be covering it > extensively on PopSci.com right away and likely have editorial > coverage in What’s New or H2.0 as soon as we can. > > Thanks! > -Mike
Hi Mike, I hope my email finds you well and enjoying your day. Thanks for your interest in iPhone.
I am forwarding your request to my colleague [name withheld] for her records. She'll capture your request, and will get back to you if we're able to accommodate. We don't know the availability of loaners at this time. Please feel free to follow up with her directly. She can be reached at [number] and or [email].
You may find pictures and information about the products on the Apple Press Info website located at http://www.apple.com/pr/. We appreciate your interest in the product.
We never heard back from [name withheld], so we placed a few more frantic phone calls. No answer. So, our alternative strategy? Dispatch far-flung staff members to tiny stores in the boonies.
Associate Web editor John Mahoney—who is on vacation visiting family in Indiana—is currently in line at an AT&T store near Indianapolis.
Marketing director Pete Michalsky is reclining in a folding chair outside a strip mall in Connecticut. He sent this dispatch:
On 6/29/07 4:05 PM, pete.michalsky wrote:
> Megan - on line now. The crowd is polite, but they started lining up here in > Stamford @ 12 noon, so they're restless. Store manager's coming out making > announcements every 20 minutes or so. Only one phone per. Everything, > including service selection and # porting being done on iTunes. More updates > later. > What fun! Do you have a lawn chair?
>
All 2-fiddy sitting in a chair at a strip mall. Livin the dream...
Staff photographer John Carnett is at an AT&T store in Philadelphia (notice a pattern here? PopSci officially feels that anyone waiting outside an Apple store at this moment is a total schmuck). He sent this report:
I went to a brand new AT&T store in Philadelphia at 12 Noon today—It was very remote so I figured I'd have no trouble getting one. I pulled in the lot and I see three very sort of rough-looking guys on a blanket. I see a topless bar across the street and then it all becomes very clear—they tell me they got the idea at 1 AM... They were not APPLE fans, they just figured they would sell them to someone, or sell the slot in line. Then I talked to this guy in a white van who started screaming about the fact that he has three months to go on his contract. I expect to have an iPhone and a cold beer by 8 pm. Wish me luck!
So, there you have it. Three men, 9 hours or so of paid salary time between them... three semi-functional but widely-coveted gadgets to show for the effort. The question remains: what should we do with the iPhones once we get 'em? Tell us in the comments. —Megan Miller
Okay, so you've all heard about the spate of crack addicts, homeless people, freelancers and other layabouts advertising on Craigslist that they'll stand in the iPhone line at the Apple store for $200. But this post marks a new low: linesitters for the line. "Will let you pee for cash"? Somebody just bomb us—we're done for. —Megan Miller
The first batch of iPhone reviews hit the web late last night, revealing Apple's press strategy for this one: They seeded review units to a handful of high-profile tech journalists two weeks ago with instructions to wait until yesterday to post reviews. Oh, and to make them seem balanced but actually be glowing.
Okay, I made that last part up, but reading them all at once, one does notice a consistent refrain. I'll quote Uncle Walt's version: "Our verdict is that, despite some flaws and feature omissions, the
iPhone is, on balance, a beautiful and breakthrough handheld computer."
I'm not going to go through and argue their points, since not being among Jobs's anointed few (and yes, that annoys me; hello! 7 million readers here!), I have not used the thing yet. But I will say I'm a little disappointed in this round of reviews. Not because I want Apple to fail—I'm as big a fanboy as anyone and love the idea of reinventing the phone—but because I'm sick of the free pass Apple gets because they're the cool kid on the block. The flaws these reviews list are not insignificant—most notably, that it's tied exclusively for five years to the crappiest network and missing basic features like a memory card slot—but the collective attitude is "No matter, Apple will fix these things soon enough." Really? Then why are we still cracking open iPods with screwdrivers to replace the batteries four years after the battery issue was first raised? Maybe even Pogue or Mossberg taking Apple to town about the shortcomings wouldn't convince Jobs to do anything about them, but it's frustrating to see the one company that probably could make the perfect phone fall short because we—and our journalists—will settle for less.—Mike Haney
As recently as September, Apple was playing coy when it came to a rumored 3G iPhone. At a news conference that month Steve Jobs told reporters a phone wouldn't appear before they can "see the battery lives for 3G get back up into
the five-plus-hour range." Nevertheless, its carrier seems to have less compulsion to hold back. Yesterday, AT&T's CEO Randall Stephenson all but announced an impending 3G iPhone, responding to a reporter's question about the possibility with: "You'll have it next year." Apple declined to comment, but presumably isn't thrilled about the slip—especially when it comes on the tails of the holiday wish-list deluge.
The first batch of iPhone reviews hit the web late last night, revealing Apple's press strategy for this one: They seeded review units to a handful of high-profile tech journalists two weeks ago with instructions to wait until yesterday to post reviews. Oh, and to make them seem balanced but actually be glowing. 
