How about iLife mini integration?. Possible?

Motorola phones have the worst earpiece and interface in the market.

It took a couple of iterations of the phone software just to allow the call to go to speakerphone before the call picked up! This is just the tip of the iceberg. Nothing about the interface is intuitive.

I'd give my right arm for a phone with an interface designed by Apple. Looks aside, it should make some damn sense.

The ROKR is purposly crippled (whether by Moto, Cingular, or Apple is anyone's guess) an Apple iPhone will more than likely have a clickwheel and no 100 song cap - the iTunes functionality grafted onto the ROKR and SLVR L7 was an afterthought - it can't replace an iPod unless it works LIKE an iPod - that is with a CLICKWHEEL! (no - the shuffle doesn't count) And I'm betting Apple was unwilling to allow Moto to build in a clickwheel onto any of their hardware because they knew it would steal away sales from "real" iPods - and would dilute the brand prior to the eventual arrival of the "true" iPhonePodThing

rezzz, iChat integration would be my guess as well. I would say the inclusion of iSights in all Macs this year has a greater purpose. Phone home to the wife or kids who can see you on the computer? That'd be a killer feature.

Um, how does having an isight on your computer help get your picture on the computer? It might help THE OTHER WAY AROUND! And wouldn't it be easier to just set up your macbook and use its camera then trying to get your little image over a cell phone connection? And pictures? Maybe motion, but, in the US anyway, that would cost a lot of money on your cell plan.

iChat integration might be nice, but limited in functionality (all phones have text messaging, has there been a call for IM, chat rooms, etc.)

And who's paying for all that bandwidth? Oh, right, the parents of all those kids using these features.

But, anyway, the big question is whether Apple would include the features that cell phone bandits need, not just what apple decides to throw in there. Apple makes cool software and all, but they usually dumb down their software feature-wise for 'ease-of-use' sakes (i.e. safari, mail, etc). The ipod's been out for a long, long time, and they still can't figure out how to play two tracks without a gap in between.

How about a phone with iCal, address book, mail functionality- with some kind of innovative text to speach input? That would be a real Apple product- not just a glorified iPod/phone

If you ever thought about the basic function of a cell phone then you will know that not even the sharpest looking device can promis basic functions as assumed by its looks. I speak from personal taste standpoint however I like most of you love Mac and use it for work and play.. I too have an Ipod and cant live without it... Now back to phones... I have owned my share of cell phones and I have yet to replace my razr v3i with anything that comes close with cingular as the network/carrier and the phone being the razr by moto... The hardware is perfected based on the slim profile and proven functionalities... I do also agree with the fact that the UI and software sucks A S S but what can you do but hope that apple will do better then the razr hardware and just kill the GUI with its own masterfull interface and logic. I question not the software in this case but instead the hardware and design... Mix the ipod and cell and you may hit or miss the phone functionality all together - find a balance is the challenge - Lets wait and see... my 2¢

* Any iPhone MUST WORK AS A PHONE!!! Pull in week signals, decent sound quality, etc..

1. UNLOCKED GSM World Phone (Needs to have at least the ability to pull in a week sig. as well as my moto v635). I want to buy this at the Apple Store and put my SIM in and go! 2. High Speed GSM/3G data 3. Support BT earpiece, or cars w/ built-in BT for hands free opperation. 4. It has to work with Salling Clicker (Motos don't) 5. Music? Meh, Nice if it does it as well as a nano, but not why I'd be buying. 6. Ability to Flash/Flex/ ala Moto phones.. but someone needs to write the MacOS X based tools ;-)

That's it. Mostly need to work as a fscking phone ... I'll buy 2 of em...

jwd

the RAZR is way way over rated. Sure it's one of the top phones for the US market but that is not saying much. The US phone market stinks.

I've always liked the Sony Ericsson line of phones which I thought of as the "Apple" of the phone manufacturers. Well, until the new Apple phones are realeased.

I was about to buy an unlocked W810 or W710 (the only way to get the cool phones to work with our networks) but I will wait to see what happens on the 12th. http://www.sonyericsson.com/spg.jsp?cc=us&lc=en&ver=4000&template=pp1_loader&php=PHP1_10376&zone=pp&lm=pp1&pid=10376

A cool resource for phones in the US market is http://www.phonescoop.com

Also, the coolest software for phones and very mac friendly is Salling Clicker http://www.salling.com/Clicker/mac/

I hope.

I agree that this phone has to function as a phone first. I Apple gets the priorities right initially. Personally, I think the perfect phone would be the Sony Ericsson W810 if it had iTunes support (which the company in an interview said they would love to work with Apple). Even without full iTunes support I was planning on getting one instead of an other iPod (I have two). It also supported FM radio and had a 2MP camera which is just enough for those "got to have a photo" moments.

I'm excited about the announcements. I really hope Apple has something great.

Okay I don't have a cell phone never have either. Got a home and business line already and enjoy not being available 24/7 and the luxury of being unreachable, try it. The other side is as a society we plan less and less and depend on the instantness of "call me when you are near my house.." type of scheduling. I love Apple's products and if this "iPhone" is really different from the endless varieties out there already maybe I will take the plunge. A radiation tumor blocking shield would be nice too.

Without a carrier subsidy (presumed if it is an unlocked GSM phone) how much would you be willing to pay for an iPhone (lets make the assumption that it is a strikingly designed melding of a middle of the road cellphone and a Nano - no Buck Rogers videochat (which won't work on TMo and barely will work on Cingular) or any other flight of fancy wishlist features mentioned above: iChat, Newton, etc...) Just a phone that makes calls well and duplicates all of the features of a Nano with.....hmmm lets say 8GB of Flash memory - how much?

Well I would have to gess that if true and iphone is released that the price of this unit will be upwards of $399 unlocked to match that of a high end cell phone unlocked...

Now would I pay that much if it made me feel happier about using the celly ... maybe.... I would have to save a bit and then just go buy it.... I mean we all crave cool toys and being apple we just buy it because its cool and feels nice to the touch... The real cool thing about this is that apple has never done cell phones so its just a cool move in general and I would support that just because I think its a good move and I am a fan at the end of the day.

Now another question... I prefer the CLAM CHELL type we have the CLAM SHELL type cell phones and we have the BRICK type ...

example: Clam Shell = Razr Brick = Slvr

what would best function design wise for an iphone (try not to assume it looks like an ipod otherwise the brick is a dead give-a-way)

I would love to see a clam shell type design from apple. ...

how about you guys/gals?

I recognize the added surface area for buttons and keypads and such that a clamshell offers, but I'm a latecomer to the mobile phone revolution - and have only owned 2 so far: A Nokia 3650 (Symbian 60) and a T-Mobile SDA (WinMo5)(which I love other than it locking up every 2 days (less of an issue before I got a silicon skin for it)) something about the flipping mechanism in a clamshell makes me doubt the durability and I'm really hard on CE devices. Also I think the simplicity of an iTunes Phone would lend itself to the linear form factor of the candybar. I suspect that it will be heavily tied in with iTunes/iPhoto/Addressbook and be largely clickwheel driven on the phone end (but lord knows I'm usually wrong about most things) :-)

I have a RAZR, and i find it to be far from "useless". I would change 3 things. One, incoming calls don't interrupt the camera fucntion, and text messaging. Two, i would give the base razr 16-24 megs of internal hybrid type memory, so that if you take the battery out, you can save the images you just took etc, instead of losing everything, and lastly there needs to be a secondary antenna, possibly just an extension of the primary. This extension would ensure holding the phone from the bottom does not block signal. Yea, Moto's software is slow as h***, but it kicks the a** of anything else i've used.

I second that last post... The Razr can get many improvements but overall anyone that has used it can tell you that the phone is worth every penny and the form factor is gr8. There are dozens of other units that are equally hot however my original point was that apple can learn from the razr as a solid clam shell foundation if that was the route they were looking at...

I guess that's my question, will it be more like a phone with iTunes integration or more like a PDA with phone & iTunes integration. I had a WindowsMobile 5 smart phone and it was horrible as a phone, great as a PDA. Now I've got a Razr until something better comes along - great form factor but I don't like the software.

Or could they really pull out a trick and have a mobile OSX incorporated into a widescreen, wi-fi, video iPod now more of a pda-Pod.

Perhaps one enclosure could be sold with additional functionality such as: $299 - video iPod (now widescreen) $399 - video iPod + PDA + wifi $499 - video iPod + PDA + wifi + phone

either way, I'm looking forward to seeing what Apple offers and since I'm happy with Verizon's coverage, I hoping they will offer it.

Apple has never built any O/S from scratch. Making a cellphone would be a bad idea, What o/S would be used? Symbian? Palm? and I'm sure it's not going to be Windows Mobile.

If Apple is going to build a cellphone O/S from scratch, how good is it going to be? Is it going to be better than Symbian S60? Symbian UIQ? WM5 AKU3? I doubt so.

What features are going to be included? Camera 5MP like Nokia N95? GPS-enabled PDA-phone like O2 Orbit? Synchronization software? Push mail? GPRS or EDGE Support? 3G Support? Quad-band support?

If it's going to be solely for playing music like iPod and making a call, I predict Apple will take a huge loss because the only consumers will be Apple fanatics.

While it looks like it's a good idea to make one, Apple must be careful in cellphone competition because Cellphone companies are very aggressive especially in European and Asian Market.

if Apple releases a phone I will definetely going to get it. As it would be my first cell phone I don't care about software (especially MS). I want the looks and functionality of an iPod.