iPhone Nano?
Rumours are abound that Apple might be working on a smaller version of the hugely successful iPhone. While most mock-ups circling around the internet are just of a normal iPhone shrunk down, I think that if the rumour has any legs at all, then it would make more sense for it to look more like the iPod Nano.
Courtesy of Apple
Mobile radio chips are so small now they can fit in a watch, and with Apple patenting technology that would remove the need for a physical SIM card, then the hardware needed to make a phone call is only going to get smaller.
There would be no point replicating the whole iPhone experience in a size smaller than the current form. In fact there are even hints that the next iPhone will feature a larger four inch screen. However, a basic phone could easily be operated using the iPod Nano’s tiny screen, especially if contacts were managed via iTunes or a MobileMe sync.
I can imagine Apple demoing such a device by not having phone numbers for contacts at all, instead just photographs. Imagine scrolling through your phone book contacts just like you do when scrolling through album covers. Tap on a photo of your friend to initiate a call. Perhaps the iPhone Nano would only operate with headphones. This would be aimed squarely as basic device – an iPod that can make calls, I don’t envisage an App Store ecosystem for such a device.
Update: The New York Time are now reporting that sources close to Apple are saying the company will not be releasing a smaller iPhone any time soon. Their information is from an unnamed source who claims to have been briefed on Apple’s future iPhone plans.
The report goes on to say that making a smaller iPhone would be problematic for developers and would fragment the platform in a similar way to the myriad of devices and sizes for Android phones. Developers would be forced to re-write their applications for new screen sizes and it would be difficult for the user to operate.
Steve Jobs has criticised Google’s Android for this; “We think Android is very, very fragmented and getting more fragmented by the day,” Mr. Jobs told financial analysts in October. “We think this is a huge strength of our approach compared to Google’s.”
This would be the case if you were to make a smaller iPhone with a full iOS operating system that could run today’s apps, but I believe an iPhone nano would be a completely new category and would only make calls. This would fit in with Apple’s recent track-record. They said they would never enter the Net Book market, claiming the devices just weren’t good enough. Instead they created a whole new device when they launched the iPad.
iPhone 3.0
Apple will introduce the next version of its operating system for the hugely successful iPhone tomorrow. The announcement, mainly targeted at developers, is designed to showcase version 3.0 of the phone’s operating system and is rumoured to introduce new features such as copy & paste, push notifications and MMS.
I certainly expect Copy & Paste – a feature that was shockingly omitted from the OS at launch – and I can also see some form of push notification for apps or allowing certain apps to run in the background. Another rumour which I would hope is true is tethering, or basically using the phone as an internet modem for your laptop or computer via bluetooth or cable.
A lot of the rumour sites have been predicting an Apple netbook or tablet for some time, and have been buoyed by reports of Apple ordering 10″ screens from Taiwan touchscreen specialist Wintek, who currently supply the iPhone’s touchscreen. I don’t expect Apple to go down the netbook route, but rather introduce a whole new product which would basically resemble a large iPhone, and I think version 3.0 of the iPhone OS is key to this.
I just cannot see Apple making a computer that won’t be able to run iMovie, iPhoto or the full Mac OS X at usable speeds. Currently the raft of netbooks on the market would choke and die if you threw iMovie at them. Apple have consistently stated they would not enter the netbook market and don’t want to make ‘inferior’ products. Tim Cook, the acting CEO whilst Steve Jobs is away, said: ”It’s a category we watch, we’ve got some ideas here, but right now we think the products are inferior and will not provide an experience to customers they’re happy with.”
Possible new Apple device
But a much larger iPhone-like device, with a more powerful processor and bigger screen, could do all of the things the netbooks are doing, but without the overhead of trying to run Windows. Most people use their netbooks for email and web browsing, something the iPhone does rather well, but also something that would benefit hugely from a big screen.
It would be a perfect product for education. Imagine a 10″ touchscreen device that can act as a book reader, such as the Amazon Kindle, allowing students to carry hundreds of text books in electronic, searchable format. A device that can record audio from lectures, whilst at the same time making notes with a much larger keyboard, and a device that can deliver web pages as fast and fluid as a laptop via WiFi and 3G.
Tomorrow we’ll certainly find out what Apple has in store for the iPhone over the next 12 months, but maybe they might surprise us all and announce a whole new product. 24-hours to wait…
