
Rarely do we want to take something apart so much… Apple’s new phone, the iPhone looks great, can’t wait to poke at it… Since it uses Mac OS X the mantra at launch seems to be about build real (un-crippled) desktop level applications.
Also interesting, during a slight tech issue Steve Jobs apparently talked about TV jammers he and Steve Woz built when he was younger, love it.
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I suspect that when they say OS X, they just mean the OS X kernel. I don’t think it’ll run OS X desktop applications. It’s a bit like all those things that use embedded Linux; you aren’t going to be running OpenOffice on them without some software gymnastics.
In terms of hackability, I think the Apple TV (also announced) has more promise. It’s a set-top box with a fair amount of storage and incredible connectivity, running on some Intel processor or another. I give it 72 hours after release before the first build of Linux is up and running on it.
The iPhone is pretty awesome, though. A bit expensive, but not compared to the price of buying a separate device for each function. I’m most disappointed by it being only on the Cingular network.
I’m not so sure what the “OS X” on this phone means, either. OS X applications have always been geared towards running on multiple architectures (which is partly what made the intel transition easy), so running aps on this might not be too far fetched.
Much more likely is the widget functionality. It’s essentially javascript, so it’s easy to program for… but I wouldn’t want to do too large of a program.
Wait and see if there is an SDK for it first, it may be like the ipod and be only offered under stringent legal contracts.
personally i don’t think it fits with the ‘open sourceish’/hacker community spirit, in the keynote jobs said a number of time they’re patent centric and will heavily defend them, it could be an uphill battle for we hackers.
not that it’ll stop me trying, especially since recent rulings make it legal to disable the network locks on the phone, so it will work on tmobile/cingluar/gsm ( hopefully its quad band )
I hope they provide an SDK. I’ve wanted a phone that could run software I write. But it is true that they haven’t released an iPod SDK. I suspect that it might be easy to crash an iPod if you write bad software for it, and that would detract from the ‘it just works’ appeal of the device.
I think the stressing of the patents was showmanship, providing two things: it reinforces the notion that this is fresh and new, and it implies that only Apple will have something like this, so don’t wait for someone else to make a cheaper version.
Yes, but have you noticed that it’s not certified by the FCC yet? see for yourself here
Since it’s GSM, it’s gotta have a SIM, right? First hack should be to unlock it from Cingular’s network, and let freedom ring.
If there’s GPS capability, and Apple’s website doesn’t mention any, then that should also be enhanced in some way.
It’s a closed OS, which means that it will only be running 1st party applications.
it’s not out yet – 6m away, it’s too early to say what it will and will not do really…
I dont think Apple will ever release SDK for iPhone, since that will surely cause security problems in the future
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