I've been a PocketPC owner for a long time and after reading some people's reaction to Apple's announcement I wonder if there's going to be a lot of dissappointment when the reality of battery life sets in. IMO it's no help having one device for phone, email, iPod, maps, etc. when you need to carry 2 extra batteries just to get through the day.
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iPhone as home theater remote?
Looking at this thing as the universal portable electronic device (phone, email, iPod, maps, etc.) and with various wireless protocols (WiFi, Bluetooth) I was wondering whether one could pile on a universal remote via wireless.
It has a nice resolution color touchscreen and powerful operating system. I can just imagine using an iPhone as the interface to my home theater as well. Will they open this thing up to third party developers?
It has a nice resolution color touchscreen and powerful operating system. I can just imagine using an iPhone as the interface to my home theater as well. Will they open this thing up to third party developers?
1 - 5 of 5 Posts
I don't think it will be a major issue for most. You aren't going to be on this thing (video, net, apps) non stop for 5 hours straight. You can get a car charger, a portable wall charger, etc.
I don't think this is a blackberry/pocket pc type device. It's a video iPod that runs programs but most likely will be for the net only. This runs OS X, not windows, so no spread sheets for corporate types, no emailing million dollar deals and emailing pie charts, etc. This is the mac crowd. PC users who want to make phone calls, surf the net and play with video. They aren't going to do that for 5 hours straight without having a charger around.
That said, I think you might be able to use it as a remote if it's got BT to control iTunes. Can't remember the specs, but there was an app written a few years to allow you cell phone to control iTunes. Not sure where that's progressed to since then. Maybe more features added, other devices supported, can't say.
I don't think this is a blackberry/pocket pc type device. It's a video iPod that runs programs but most likely will be for the net only. This runs OS X, not windows, so no spread sheets for corporate types, no emailing million dollar deals and emailing pie charts, etc. This is the mac crowd. PC users who want to make phone calls, surf the net and play with video. They aren't going to do that for 5 hours straight without having a charger around.
That said, I think you might be able to use it as a remote if it's got BT to control iTunes. Can't remember the specs, but there was an app written a few years to allow you cell phone to control iTunes. Not sure where that's progressed to since then. Maybe more features added, other devices supported, can't say.
From my experience all of those things that you describe aren't what kill the battery life of a smartphone. I've had several and it's always lead to 2 contributing factors over all else:
1. Screen - Look at that screen on the iPhone. It's gorgeous! I don't care what technology they use it takes a lot of juice to run that baby. If you look at their claims they quote 5 hrs use and 16hrs audio playback. I'm sure that's assuming that the screen is not on while the audio is playing. That's more than 3x the run time. Now think about how you can change the song, check an email or text or dial a phone number without turning on the screen.
2. Signal. I have had limited success with Cingular's EDGE coverage in my are (Long Island, NY) and have found that the more the phone is trying to search for a signal the faster the battery burns.
To bring it back on point... The Apple iPhone is not expected until June and Bluetooth is already making the way into the living room (like the SOny PS3 which only has Bluetooth and no IR remote) so I'm sure there will be something available. Keep an eye on these guys who produce PocketPC remote control software now:
http://www.novii.tv/
http://www.ultramote.com/
http://vitotechnology.com/
However, the mostly likely candidate may be Griffin technology. They are one of the top makers of iPod accessories and they used to have a product called "Total remote" for the PocketPC.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Kid Red /forum/post/0
I don't think it will be a major issue for most. You aren't going to be on this thing (video, net, apps) non stop for 5 hours straight. You can get a car charger, a portable wall charger, etc.
I don't think this is a blackberry/pocket pc type device. It's a video iPod that runs programs but most likely will be for the net only. This runs OS X, not windows, so no spread sheets for corporate types, no emailing million dollar deals and emailing pie charts, etc. This is the mac crowd. PC users who want to make phone calls, surf the net and play with video. They aren't going to do that for 5 hours straight without having a charger around.
From my experience all of those things that you describe aren't what kill the battery life of a smartphone. I've had several and it's always lead to 2 contributing factors over all else:
1. Screen - Look at that screen on the iPhone. It's gorgeous! I don't care what technology they use it takes a lot of juice to run that baby. If you look at their claims they quote 5 hrs use and 16hrs audio playback. I'm sure that's assuming that the screen is not on while the audio is playing. That's more than 3x the run time. Now think about how you can change the song, check an email or text or dial a phone number without turning on the screen.
2. Signal. I have had limited success with Cingular's EDGE coverage in my are (Long Island, NY) and have found that the more the phone is trying to search for a signal the faster the battery burns.
To bring it back on point... The Apple iPhone is not expected until June and Bluetooth is already making the way into the living room (like the SOny PS3 which only has Bluetooth and no IR remote) so I'm sure there will be something available. Keep an eye on these guys who produce PocketPC remote control software now:
http://www.novii.tv/
http://www.ultramote.com/
http://vitotechnology.com/
However, the mostly likely candidate may be Griffin technology. They are one of the top makers of iPod accessories and they used to have a product called "Total remote" for the PocketPC.
Correction, OS X runs MS Office X just fine.... Seems to me the real problems would center around whether it is open to installing apps, is there an emulator (what is the iPhone processor ?), and how productive you could really be with the UI and screen size constraints, etc ? But, why else is OS X in there ?
But my main point of posting to bump this thread. With the right application software (widget), and some sort of WiFi or blue-tooth to IR adaptor, this thing could out-pronto the Pronto, and for less money
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Brent
Quote:
Originally Posted by Kid Red /forum/post/0
This runs OS X, not windows, so no spread sheets for corporate types, no emailing million dollar deals and emailing pie charts, etc.
Correction, OS X runs MS Office X just fine.... Seems to me the real problems would center around whether it is open to installing apps, is there an emulator (what is the iPhone processor ?), and how productive you could really be with the UI and screen size constraints, etc ? But, why else is OS X in there ?
But my main point of posting to bump this thread. With the right application software (widget), and some sort of WiFi or blue-tooth to IR adaptor, this thing could out-pronto the Pronto, and for less money
Brent
1 - 5 of 5 Posts
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