Song of The Day: American Dream - Artist: Switchfoot

Well, the waiting and speculating is over. The Apple iPhone is real and it’s coming to a store near you soon. If the reports are correct it will be in June after FCC approval.

The keynote from Jobs is here.

It’s funny. I was in a Cingular store today around 10:30am EST looking at buying a Samsung Blackjack, a Blackberry Pearl, or possibly a Cingular 8525. The Cingular 8525 had nice features for a smart phone (e.g., WiFi, 3G) but it is a bit bulky for me at 6.21 oz and a little pricey at $399 with a 2-yr. contract and rebate. Since my current Treo 650 is too heavy for me at 5.9 oz, I decided against it.

The other phones were much lighter between 3-3.5 oz. and less expensive at approximately $199 with contacts and rebates. The Pearl was nice but without 3G. The Blackjack was nice but didn’t have a roller ball or camera flash. Neither had WiFi, which I thought I’d find useful. I’ve never been a big fan of Windows Mobile in the past; however, time has a way of making things better and better. Don’t really know enough about RIM’s OS although it seemed nice with the Pearl; Choices, choices, what is a consumer to do? Ultimately, I decided to wait and see what MacWorld would surface before delving into one!

Actually, I’m glad I did. With the tech specs, it’s a fairly light phone at 4.8 oz and packs a bunch of features like a 3.5″ wide screen, full-on OS X apps, a 2.0 megapix camera, and a “multi-touch” screen. Although it doesn’t support 3G, I wonder if it would even be missed (i.e., for me anyway). Still a bit pricey (i.e., $499 for 4G and $599 for 8B supposedly), but I may be willing to eat the cost given the features.

Not that this would take a lot of insight, but I think the approach is disruptive; it will eventually change the industry. To make all that hardware customizable software is awesome–as long as it all works well together. The mechanisms to view webpages and scroll almost have to be seen to believe :). Regardless, the approach is innovative, and seems imminent, as ease-of-use, flexibility, and faster turnaround prevails. From the keynote all signs are positive.

Oh yeah! One ‘07 prediction in the bag. I know. I know. There were other Nostadamus’s too.

We’ll see. I’ve decided to wait until June before making any final decision. My Treo 650 can suffice for a few more months. I am inclined to purchase one, but want to get a feel for it, etc.

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