So, apparently it's all on isn't it? June will be the month that brings a new War of the Worlds of highly desirable hand held devices or smart phones as some call them. The Battle Royale between the forthcoming 3G RIM Blackberry 9000 BOLD and Apple's 3G iPhone.
These things are so far ahead of smart phones. Both are highly evolved hand held computers. To take the music analogy further if I can, and since its about all I know, I must try, the iPhone has been like 'Sergeant Pepper's'. It's an epoch. Everything is simply stated, dated before of after the iPhone. Sgt Peppers is a reference to an old late 60s album by the pop band the Beatles that has held awkwardly enduring influence over many modern bands with guitars. I suddenly realized more of you will know what an iPhone or a Blackberry is than what Sgt Pepper's is. That's a joy at least?
But before the iPhone came along, the Blackberry really had changed everything. But the Blackberry by now is more like the movie period Elvis, it's revolution as good as done.
You don't need me to tell you what they can do. I like the google mapping/driving directions - that's going to be even better in 3G - and will a free turn by turn navigation system be in the offing inside your phone? Farewell to Verizon's Telenav which is fun if you like paying an additional $10 a month.
3G is AT&T High Speed Network with coverage seemingly eschewing the heights of Echo Park. Every else it offers off the chart speeds so maybe that offers a delicious possibility that a Blackberry or iPhone tethered to a laptop could replace a cableInternet connection here or there. Well not here obviously, but there... I'd love to see that.
Most entertaining have been the rumor mill about the iPhone, predicting this, and scotching that. I mean who knows. The sites from which all of this information was purloined, is merely the tip of an iceberg of information that could be purloined.
I guess the foundation to all of this is the date of Apple's World Wide Developer's Conference - starts June 9th. This is not a rumor. The Developers' Conference has sold out for the first time in its history. Then there's AT&T, in that upbeat-optimistic-cheery-american-corporate fashion - cancelled all retail store employee summer holidays from June 15th to July 12th. So it's gotta be the new iPhone, because, while the Blackberry is beautiful I don't think it's going to get people out of bed before breakfast to line up around the block.
There's the rumored huge discount over existing AT&T prices, if you can find an iPhone currently - even more grist that original model has gone, let's say, 'classic'.
Then there was the tracking of AppleMan Steve Jobs' miles flown on his corporate jet. The air miles shot up considerably at some point, indicating he was testing the new iPhone all over the world, probably. Orsomething . What about the Apple shipping manifests showing a big uptick in product from the iPhone manufacturing centers pouring through our ports. And even the specific ports get names. What does Homeland Security know about that? And what about the mysterious unmarked product boxes stacked up by the iMacs at Apple's West Coast distributor. Must be iPhones.
So, a faster, more sophisticated iPhone, far lower price. It sounds like to malaphrase Lou Reed, like Christmas in July.
Meanwhile given his desire to reach across the aisle, President-elect Barack Obama apparently totes both a Blackberry and an iPhone - he was recently photographed with the iPhone and the rumors swirled - did he have an advanced 3G model? Had he finally, surreptitiously received Al Gore's endorsement?
