Pre-launch iPhone widgets, software, and accessories: beware
With iPhone hype and excitement building as launch date comes ever closer, it's not surprising that a number of companies are starting to cash in on the anticipation by releasing products that are supposed to work with the iPhone.
The concern is that some of those products may not work.
Preliminary specifications such as the physical dimensions of the iPhone are known, so there's not much that can go wrong with a padded case, for example. However, hardware and software that's supposed to interface with the iPhone is another matter.
Take "Scenario Poker", an OS X Dashboard widget with new features including "Designed for the size of iPhone’s touch screen".
Despite the fact that it appears on Apple's site, the manufacturers admit that the widget may not work on the iPhone. Two factors may influence this. Firstly, OS X is likely to be upgraded by the time the iPhone is released, and the version of OS X on the iPhone may be slightly different. Secondly, there's no guarantee that third-party widgets can be uploaded to the phone.
Mobile Mag has reported on a Bluetooth headset that implies that it's iPhone ready. Apple will make their own Bluetooth headset, and this one from Amazon might be sitting next to an iPhone picture, but that doesn't mean it will work. If it adheres to the Bluetooth 2.0 standard, then it probably will - but that's not guaranteed. In fact, one person comments that it's just a regular Sony Ericsson headset.
Further proof that you can put the word 'iPhone' next to any product to gain more interest can be found by a quick search for 'iPhone accessories' on Amazon. Twenty products already surface, 19 of which are made by Gomadic. Unless I've missed something, none of these are official 'Made for iPhone' products.
Products include a leather case with belt clip/loop, multi accessories for car, and add-on batteries and power packs.
Nothing really spectacular, but you can bet that won't matter when people search for iPhone accessories. And by the time the iPhone is launched, there'll likely be hundreds more.
Of course, Apple will be working closely with approved partners over the coming months, much as they've set up the "Made for iPod" scheme that has launched a thousand products.
Nevertheless, it seems fairly pointless shelling out for accessories that may or may not be fully compatible with the iPhone before it launches. In any case, see how much cash you have left over once you've bought the phone. Probably not much.
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