Indian consumers complain over illegitimate iPhone texting capabilities

According to a report in BusinessWeek, the iPhone won't do well in India if Apple doesn't sort out the SMS texting features.

A number of people using hacked iPhones on the continent said that the iPhone would flop if group texting and text forwarding features weren't added before an official launch in India.

Maybe it's a little unfair to blame Apple for not adding something that people in an as yet unsupported country want, but SMS is a much bigger phenomenon in the UK as well. This complaint was raised soon after the iPhone launched, not least because it's basic functionality that's available on most other mobile phones.

(Via BusinessWeek)

Posted by Andy Merrett on December 18, 2007 11:23 AM in iPhone news for consumers
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Stephen Fry wants an iPhone killer

Stephen Fry, great British comedian, actor, and wordsmith, has written an impressive blog post calling for the iPhone killers:

"All the big guns want an iPhone killer. Even I, mad for all things Apple as I am, want an iPhone killer. I want smart digital devices to be as good as mankind’s ingenuity can make them. I want us eternally to strive to improve and surprise. Bring on the iPhone killers. Bring them on."

Fry is obviously a smartphone addict — "I have never seen a SmartPhone I haven’t bought" — and takes a look at three devices which could be described as "iPhone killers":

"I really want you to believe that, Apple addict as I am, my eyes have always been open to the virtues of anything good, exciting, functional, elegant, pleasing to use. In fact the real precipitating reason for writing this is the fact that within three weeks I have bought/been sent, aside from my iPhone (which, yes, I dearly love), three soi-disant ‘iPhone killers’ - the HTC Touch, the Nokia E90 and the Sony Ericsson P1i. P1i. While I don’t intend fully to review, road-test or benchmark each device (as if I could, anyway), I do want to share my thoughts about where these devices appear to be going. (I’m not even going to mention outside these parentheses the LG Prada phone, that’s an iPhone beater in the same way Tim Henman is a Federer beater)."

He also picks on issues with the iPhone itself: only having server-side applications, lack of physical keyboard, poor Bluetooth implementation, downloadable ringtones, no mail attachment downloads.

Worth a read: Device and Desires

Posted by Andy Merrett on September 24, 2007 10:29 AM in iPhone Opinion| iPhone celebrities| iPhone news for consumers
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German consumers "enthusiastic" about iPhone

According to Gravis, Apple's biggest distributor in Germany, potential iPhone buyers are "absolutely enthusiastic" about the handset.

Archibald Horlitz, CEO of Gravis, spoke before the IFA consumer electronics trade fair. "We have a handful of iPhones in our stores to show our customers. Our clients are absolutely enthusiastic."

He also predicted that Apple would easily sell a six-figure number of iPhones in Germany, though he didn't know whether his chain of stores would get the rights to sell it.

(Via Bloomberg)

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Posted by Andy Merrett on September 3, 2007 11:26 AM in Latest iPhone news| iPhone news for consumers
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Another iPhone survey: slow Internet is a problem

Another survey, this time by Compete, questioned people who were looking to buy an iPod about the iPhone. The rationale is that this is one of Apple's target markets.

Only 2% said that they were extremely likely to buy an iPhone, which is lower than a lot of other surveys we've seen. 13% said they were very likely, while 30% were fairly neutral, 25% said they were not likely to buy, and 30% not at all likely to buy.

Price wise, 19% said they'd pay between $100 and $149, with 17% willing to pay $150 to $199, and 16% willing to pay $200-299. 10% said they expected it to be free with rebates.

Posted by Andy Merrett on June 28, 2007 4:42 PM in Latest iPhone news| iPhone news for consumers
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Greenpeace challenging Apple and consumers over environmental impact of iPhone

Greenpeace has been hard on Apple in the past, placing it at the bottom of a league table of environmentally-friendly electronics companies.

In its latest campaign, it's targeting Apple, and potential iPhone customers, to ensure that the new device is as green as possible.

Apple will have already made its decisions about materials used in the design of the first batch of iPhones, but Greenpeace are hoping that consumers will see beyond the shiny allure, and hold Apple to account for any decisions it's made. Not that the average consumer is going to crack open their $500 pride and joy and start scientifically analysing its make-up.

Posted by Andy Merrett on June 15, 2007 8:57 PM in Latest iPhone news| iPhone news for consumers
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Latest survey suggest "only" 6% of mobile users will buy an iPhone. Great!

According to the latest survey results, from Markitecture, only 6% of the 1,300 US residents questioned about the iPhone planned to buy one in the next 12 months, whilst 67% said there was zero chance that they'd buy one. The main reason? Cost. All those surveyed owned and paid for their own mobile phone.

Is any of this surprising or worrying? Not really, I'd suggest.

Apple is targeting 1% of the mobile phone market (which is effectively saturated, so we're really talking around 1% of current mobile phone users).

Even Ballmer is predicting 3-4% and he's against Apple.

Posted by Andy Merrett on May 1, 2007 9:19 PM in Latest iPhone news| iPhone news for consumers
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Latest iPhone survey shows nearly half know about the iPhone, almost 1 in 5 want one

Harris Interactive completed a survey across a representative sample of US residents, and found that 47% of respondents had heard of the iPhone, and 17% expressed interest in purchasing it.

Interestingly, the best feature - according to those who responded - was the storage capacity. 37% highlighted the 8GB (which isn't that much compared to an iPod but is good for a phone) as a good feature.

Posted by Andy Merrett on April 20, 2007 10:53 AM in Latest iPhone news| iPhone news for consumers
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