iPhones and Smartphones

Introduction

Developed by Apple Inc., news of the very first iPhone was first released on January 9, 2007 and the product went on sale in June of the same year. Since then, Apple have been dominating and nurturing the smartphone market.

In the last quarter of 2008, Apple sold over 4.4 million 3G iPhones. In comparison to iPods (approximately 200 million of which have been sold since they were launched in 2001) this indicates wild success. This chapter of the Mobile Marketing 101 series discusses the iPhone and the supporting smartphone industry.

Key Terms and Concepts

3G	Third Generation of mobile communications systems. 3G networks enable network operators to offer users a wider range of more advanced services while achieving greater network capacity.
Accelerometer	A sensor which detects motion and inertia.
API	Stands for Application Programming Interface. The guidelines and protocols for a chosen application.
Bluetooth	A short distance wireless transfer protocol for connecting devices.
CFNetwork	The framework of network protocols for the Mac OS.
Emulator	Software which emulates a particular handset or model for software testing.
Flash	Technology used to show video and animation on a website.
FTP	Stands for File Transfer Protocol.
GPS	Stands for Global Positioning System. Satellite-based positioning technology that allows a GPS receiver to calculate its position anywhere on earth with great accuracy. Assisted GPS, however, uses the physical structures of the network provider to locate the device.
HTTP	Stands for Hypertext Transfer Protocol, a protocol used when browsing the World Wide Web.
IMAP	Stands for Internet Message Access Protocol, one of the two primary Email protocols.
iPhone	Apple's highly successful smartphone.
iPod	Apple's popular portable media player.
iTouch	Apple's multimedia player and digital organiser, offering functions beyond the iPod but without the telecomm features of the iPhone.
MMS	Stands for Multimedia Message Service. An extension on SMS, allows picture, sound or low quality videos to be sent on a wireless network.
OS	Stands for Operating System. The essential base software of a system.
POP3	Stands for Post Office Protocol version 3, a protocol for Email.
QWERTY	A full keypad, similar to the one found on computers.
SDK	Software Developer's Kit. The set of tools and information a developer needs to create an application. Smartphone The handsets have advanced capabilities and allow users to add applications to their phones. They usually have a QWERTY keypad and include 3G and WiFi capabilities.
Social Media	The media that is published, created and shared by individuals on the Internet, such as blogs, images and video.
Tethering	Connecting a device to the Internet, which otherwise cannot connect by itself, using a connected mobile device.
vCard	Virtual contact card on mobile devices.
WAP	Stands for Wireless Application Protocol. A technical set of communication standards for the way wireless devices (like cell phones) connect with the Internet.
WiFi	The wireless technology which is the current standard protocol for networking and connecting to the Internet.

A Closer Look at the iPhone 3GS

Now available in a variety of eclectic colours, the iPhone is still available in traditional black and white. It has also been made increasingly affordable with the drop in price associated with the release of newer models of the device. Demand for the product is still on the rise. 3.3 million iPhone units were sold between the June and December 2007 in the US alone, while AT&T only held 2 million contracts for the phones at the time.

44% of consumers looking to buy smartphones say they are interested in the iPhone, and 86% of these consumers have their eye on the iPhone 3GS as opposed to the cheaper versions.

The iPhone 3GS has only four physical buttons (alarm, volume, ringer volume and home), with primary control made available via the multi-touch screen, motion sensors and, when the device is in use, via the specialised iPhone earphones.

The language and character support for the iPhone 3GS is extremely advanced; so advanced, in fact, that it allows for manual, handwritten input of Chinese characters and even predictive text.

The advanced smartphone uses sensors detect when the phone is placed to the ear, and the touch screen capabilities are switched off, while the backlight is dimmed to reduce battery consumption.

Multimedia playback on the smartphone is becoming an almost seamless operation, playing more file types than before.

The supported audio formats include Advanced Audio Coding (AAC), protected AAC, MP3, MP3 Variable Bitrate (MP3 VBR), Audible formats (for audiobooks) Apple Lossless, AIFF and WAV. Supported video formats include H.264, .m4v, .mp4, and .mov, mpeg.

With full screen video and cover flow for music on landscape orientation and gapless playback, the iPhone provides a great user experience as well as access to multimedia.

Music can easily be used as ringtones, for a small additional fee if bought from the iTunes store. The music can be edited with iTunes or the GarageBand (desktop) software to make for a better notification tone.

The latest version of the hardware and software, the iPhone 3GS (the S for speed) has the following specifications and features:

600mhz CPU
256 MB RAM
OpenGL ES 2.0 graphics support
3 mega pixel camera (up from 2 mega pixels)
Camera now has auto-focus and ‘tap’ focus
VGA video recording at 30 frames per second (FPS)
7.2 Mbps HSDPA Internet connection
480 x 320 display resolution
3-axis accelerometer (motion input)
Digital compass (with Google Map integration)
Voice recording
Voice dialling and advanced voice control
Up to 32GB flash storage space
‘Spotlight’ search function
Full screen landscape video playback
Assisted GPS
Virtual QWERTY keyboard
Parental control on media
In-app purchases
Oleophobic (grease resistant) screen coating (reducing smears and improving touch navigation)
Multi touch screen navigation
Asynchronous network interactions (for increased data transfer speeds)
Allows for stereo Bluetooth headphones
Now has MMS features (if supported by the network service provider)
Copy and pasting capabilities added to the 3GS.
Can be tethered for use as a 3G modem, but is network dependent (not in the US, for instance)
Up to 3000 hours standby battery power
Support for POP3 and IMAP protocols
Supports 30 languages and over 40 keyboards layouts

Despite all these great specifications and features, Apple realise they simply can’t please everyone. There are some ongoing concerns with the iPhone that the smartphone community is hoping that Apple will address, provided the independent developers don’t get there first.

The lack of Flash/FLV video playback is among these concerns, as is the fact that the camera on the phone cant swivel to the front. The latter means that the phone does not make provision for video calls. There have been mixed reactions to the casing of the phone which, while previously comprising of a durable metal, is now made of plastic. Ostensibly, this adaptation was intended to increase reception. The devices are also locked into a network (for example, AT&T in the US) and only offer assisted GPS.

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