Halfway through, he says:

When the first generation [of iPhone] came out I offered the view, based on my experience of releases and refinements in this field, that iPhone the Third would be The One. I still believe this to be true. Any wishlist for hardware and software improvements in v3.0 would be bound to hope for – nay demand – the following:

So, what did St Stephen of Fry wish for? And can 2023 iPhones and Android match His expectations?

Fry's Wishlist

1. Cut and paste. I mean come on!!

Yes! Inexplicably this was a Hard Problem™ for multiple devices. Even Windows Phone 7 launched without such basic text editing. The iPhone eventually got this in 2009.

2. iPhone version of Safari to be Flash capable.

No! In 2010, Steve Jobs published his "Thoughts On Flash" letter. He (correctly) described all the problems with Flash and why it would never be suitable for the iPhone.

You may not remember, but Flash was ubiquitous at the time. Symbian phones had (rudimentary) Flash players, as did early Android phones. That wasn't enough to save the publication format. Nor was there enough consumer pressure to force Apple into supporting it.

3. Video recording: iPhone should be like a Flip

Yes. It may surprise you to learn that the original iPhone couldn't record video! Nearly every cameraphone on the market could. But not iOS.

4. Upgrade of camera (xenon flash, higher res)

Yes. Again, the original iPhone had a 2MP camera and no flash - compared to the contemporary Nokia N95 which had a 5MP sensor, Carl Zeiss lens, and a flash. Nowadays the iPhone has more cameras on it than seems possible.

5. Front facing video camera for 3G video calls

Yes and no. Again, the first few iPhones had no FFC. It wasn't until 2010's iPhone 4 that it got the ability to do video calls.

But! Only via Facetime. I don't think the iPhone has ever supported the GSM specification for carrier video calling. To be fair, mobile networks repeatedly shat the bed in terms of pricing their calling options, so repeatedly had their lunch stolen by "Over The Top" services like Facetime and WhatsApp.

6. MMS

Ish? Because the aforementioned carriers decided to price MMS as a premium product, most users turned to WhatsApp or similar. But, as Fry predicted, iOS 3 came with MMS.

7. User file management capabilities

Steve Jobs suggested that users didn't understand filesystems. And, therefore, the app should manage its specific files. That's a design decision which iOS still embodies. While there are now some limited ways to manage files, you're mostly at the mercy of the individual apps.

Of course, in a self-fulfilling-prophecy, people who grew up with an iPhone don't understand how file systems work.

Android, of course, doesn't give a shit at will happily let apps crap all over the filesystem.

8. Bluetooth that is worthy of the name. File transfers between different phones and platforms is a minimum requirement.

Hahaha! No. In 2013, iOS 7 introduced AirDrop which made it possible to transfer large files quickly between iOS devices and other Mac devices. But there's no way to send Bluetooth files to the filthy scum who use Android. Ewww!

9. A memory card slot.

No. And fuck you for asking! If you fill up your device, just buy a new one!!!

To be fair, the latest iPhones do offer a terabyte of storage. And, nowadays, it is getting rarer to find an Android which will take a MicroSD card.

10. AM/FM radio. (Mobile TV too, why not?)

What, are you some kind of Communist who wants to listen to music for free?!?! Just buy your songs from iTunes like a normal person.

Although there were adapters for radio signals there was never any native support for free-to-air radio. Several Android devices support AM/FM and use a standard headphone cable as an antenna.

As for TV? There is a standard for mobile broadcast called DVB-H. But it was only ever supported by a few Nokia phones and never any Android devices.

11. Better (and removable) battery.

Better? Yes? Removable? Again, fuck you for asking. Buy a new phone or pay for an expensive replacement.

12. Built in projector (this prolly won’t come till V4, but you never know)

I love the idea of iPhone users having a high-intensity light source with which to dazzle people! Sadly, this technology never came to iPhone. There are a few Android devices with built-in projectors but it still remains a niche bit of tech. There are too many compromises around picture quality, power consumption, and heat to make it worthwhile.

13. Customisable glossary for Apple’s predictive text input system. BlackBerry has a superb autotext that allows BB units still to outperform iPhone when it comes to input.

Yes, eventually. Early iPhones let you add custom text shortcuts albeit with some truly atrocious hacks.

14. Email to be widescreen capable.

It is bizarre that early iPhones didn't let you use landscape orientation in some key apps. Thankfully, this is now possible. INNOVATION!

15. Attachable proprietary or third party peripherals: keyboard, projector (if not built in see wish 12), printer etc. Maybe not necessary if iPhone implementation of Bluetooth gets the kick up the arse it needs.

*sigh* Apple's proprietary Lightning port and strict licencing programme means that there are some peripherals. It isn't like Android where you can shove in an OTG cable and use basically any USB device.

Coda

After his main list, Fry says:

I would add to that list three demands that are more to do with the way Apple and the network companies limit the iPhone’s power.

Oh, this should be good…!

1. Jailbreaking to be tolerated – encouraged, even

I hear Jobs spinning in his grave just thinking about it. Those who violate the holy sanctity of the iPhone must be cast out!

To be fair, the main reason for jailbreaking back in 2008 was to enable 3rd party app stores. It will be interesting to see if recent anticompetitive investigations will reignite this debate.

Also of interest is the way that Apple adopted some of the customisations released by the jailbreak community.

2. Unlocking not to be hobbled by iTunes

Back in 2009, I was frustrated that iTunes was needed to set up an iPhone. Nowadays, you don't need a separate computer and unlocking is handled remotely.

3. Apps designers to be freer to innovate yet further.

Well, yes and no. There are lots of interesting apps. But if designers are too innovative, or not socially conservative enough, their apps won't get released.

Again, this is an excellent reason to require Apple to allow alternative app stores.

Verdict

Overall, Stephen Fry did a good job of predicting what Steve Jobs would eventually launch.

It's interesting to remember that it wasn't obvious that the iPhone would succeed. It launched without features which the rest of the industry had decided were essential, but which regular customers didn't seem to care for.

Would I love to see an iPhone with a projector, 3rd party app store, and a built-in TV tuner which can save video to an SD card, while I use my USB keyboard to shuffle files on the filesystem? Sure! But that's what Android is for.

At the time, I wrote:

The revenue share is 70/30. I really think MS have missed a trick here. It’s an “industry standard” price point because no one wants to get in to a price war. Increasing the share that goes to the developer would be an excellent way to convince wavering developers to adopt the platform.

Back in 2010, BlackBerry charged developers 30% as did Nokia Ovi, and HP's WebOS, app stores from Opera and Samsung charged the same amount, even the Amazon app store charged 30%. None have shifted their pricing in the last decade.

That's curious, isn't it? Surely a new entrant into the market - or one struggling to retain market share - would have picked a different revenue split?

What a coincidence that they all, independently, came to the conclusion that 30% was a fair and reasonable amount to charge developers.

In a healthy, competitive market, I would expect these companies to attempt to undercut each other. Sure, some of them offer incentives to large developers - and others offer promotions to smaller developers. But where's the price war to attract developers?

I doubt anyone has said "My favourite app is £1 cheaper on Android, time to ditch my iPhone and buy a Samsung!" But we know from the game console market that exclusive games drive purchases. Recently, Apple forced the removal of the popular "Dark Sky" app from Android - presumably because they wanted users to switch. Attracting developers and convincing them to concentrate on your platform doesn't rely on increased revenue share - but it sure can't hurt.

Obviously, I don't allege that they have acted as a cartel. I mean, just because Apple and Google colluded to suppress workers' wages, doesn't mean they've done so to suppress developers' income. A wide-ranging conspiracy to overcharge developers and pass those costs on to end-users seems unlikely. But I wonder why, in the last ten years, no one has challenged this seemingly arbitrary percentage.

And I wonder which app store will be the first to break ranks?

This is a non-exhaustive history, mostly drawing from my industry experience and drawers full of old phones!

Firstly (although not chronologically) special mention must go to… The original iPhone! Yup, in Infinite Loop's infinite wisdom, the very first iPhone had a recessed headphone socket which made it incompatible with virtually every headphone on the market. I'm sure there were incredibly compelling technical reasons for this decision, and was in no way influenced by Apple's fanatical desire to sell as many overpriced accessories as possible…

Nokia's POP port

For the longest time, Nokia smart phones used the POP port.

It was a mix of USB data, power, and audio - depending on which phone and cable you had.

Around the time of the N95, Nokia moved to allowing regular headphone jacks and standard USB sockets for data transfer. Power was still (mostly) via their proprietary barrel connector.

Oh, and a special mention to the Nokia N-Gage which had this abomination as its headphone cable.

Sony Ericsson's Connector

Ah, the FastPort. Unloved by all who used it. Fragile and expensive.

By Barbu doru CC BY-SA 3.0

The connector was stackable - meaning you could charge the phone while using the headphone port. Wonder if the new iPhone will look that cool?

Oh, there was also a subtly different variant which I think was incompatible.

BlackBerry's 2.5mm headset

Along with many other manufacturers, RIM's Blackberry used a 2.5mm headphone jack. That was pretty much their standard since the original phone-based Blackberry.

I'm trying to figure out when they switched to the 3.5mm jack. 2007's 8800 still had the 2.5mm jack as did 2009's 8350i

Curiously, 2008's Blackberry Storm had a 3.5mm headphone jack. I worked on the product when I was at Vodafone. I remember the switch of the headphone port causing lots of arguments about whether businesses would be prepared to buy new accessories and car kits. Although, by that time, the world was firmly in the grip of Bluetooth everywhere.

Samsung's many connectors.

As late as 2009, Samsung was pushing its 20-pin connector. This, of course, is not to be confused with Samsung's 18-pin connector.

Nor should you mistake it for their 10-pin connector.

Nor any of their bewildering array of other connectors.

HTC's Android extUSB

The very first Android phones - the HTC Dream and the HTC Magic - originally had no headphone socket!

There was a USB socket on the bottom into which an adapter could be fitted.

Crazily enough, the phone has a proprietary headphone jack, proving once and for all that HTC doesn't like you Endgadget 2009-02-17

The port was called extUSB and was backwards compatible with the then-standard micro-USB port.

This followed the same pattern as HTC's previous Windows Mobile devices. Routing everything through a single port makes a certain kind of sense. Fewer components, more space on the board, less chance of water getting in.

But you run into the problem of needing passthrough cables (as above) or relying on proprietary connectors.

…and so it goes…

Losing the headphone port on a phone isn't the end of the world. Yes, it's another gadget to charge - but fewer wires to break. Audio quality is unaffected. Battery life of your phone may take a small hit, but not too drastically.

Bluetooth headphones are cheap - with basic ones being just over a fiver Of course, you can spend stupid money on branded ones. £200 to you, buddy.

Or, for under a tenner, you can buy a Bluetooth adapter which will work with your existing headphones. See my 2010 review of the Jabra Clipper.

This is all a long-winded process to remove every port from the phone.

• Bluetooth for audio.
• WiFi for data.
• Bluetooth for peripherals.
• Qi for wireless charging.

Can it be done? Easily. Will customers buy it? Ah, that remains to be seen. Personally, I'm looking forward to doing away with a tangled mess of incompatible cables,

If I've missed out your favourite proprietary smartphone audio connector - please do let me know in the comments.

How well are they treated? Are they paid well? Are they trapped in a living hell where many of them feel the only way out is suicide?

Christoph Lutz

@lutzid

"achieve productivity or the sun will no longer rise." #foxconn slogan "motivating" their workers; fascinating talk by jenny chan #oxict4d

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This is the question posed by Dr Jenny Chan in her upcoming book Dying for an iPhone: The Hidden Struggle of China’s Workers which she talked about in Oxford earlier this week.

You can read for yourself some of the reports written about factory conditions of iPhone workers, including by Students & Scholars Against Corporate Misbehaviour. You can watch the BBC's Panorama programme Apple's Broken Promises.

I'm not particularly interested in discussing the veracity of the claims - nor whether this is a painful but necessary economic stepping stone. I'll be discussing the points raised in the discussion about how we might go about improving the lives of the people slaving away to produce our electronics. As with my blog post on Communist Robots, the views expressed are not necessarily mine and are deliberately unattributed.

Digital Inequality Research Group

@DIGOxford

2010 - 18 Suicides in Foxconn factory - translation from worker blog "death was to testify that we were ever alive at all" #oxict4d

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Firstly, it's worth noting that Apple and its partners are making progress on workers' right.

Apple has banned the practice of bonded labour - where new recruits are charged a fee - from its factories.

In its latest audit of factory conditions, the iPhone maker said that any such fee must be paid by its supplier and not the employee.

Apple began the audits following criticism of the working conditions in some of its factories.

"Apple bans 'bonded servitude' for factory workers" - BBC News 2015-02-12

Given that we believe Apple's suppliers - Foxconn - are deliberately mistreating their workers, what are our options for engendering change in these organisations? These are money-hungry companies desperate to cut every corner and bypass every regulatory edict in the face of overwhelming profit.

Programme in Comparative Media Law & Policy

@OxfordMediaLaw

"To meet demand for the #ipad, Foxconn violates #China's labour laws" - see undercover vid: bit.ly/1zyfEnD #oxict4d @ciigroup_oxford

---

Broadly speaking, there are 4 major routes to change.

Agitating For Change

Apple trades on its reputation. Its brand relies on customer loving Apple.

It is imperative that the voices of those who are suffering are heard by those who are funding the suffering.

This can be achieved via protests and other methods of consciousness raising - such as posting on social media, holding talks with concerned parties, and encouraging people to watch documentaries.

Pension Funds

Some of the largest investors in Apple are Teachers' Pensions. Chances are, if you have a pension, you're invested in Apple.

We outsource our morality to pension funds. We ask them to provide the best possible return on investment, and we close our eyes to how they do it. Perhaps we should be lobbying teachers - and our own pension fund managers - to insist that Apple and Foxconn behave more ethically. Would it lead to a lower ROI to pay people a living wage? Maybe. Or would a more generous attitude pay dividends by increasing sales?

Conflict Minerals

The mobile phone industry has a large problem with conflict minerals. In particular Coltan is regularly mined by corrupt warlords and used to finance ongoing wars.

There is hope though - regulators worldwide have enacted laws to curb the sale of conflict minerals. It's imperfect, but it's a start.

Continual lobbying of law makers and phone companies has helped improve the lives of tens of thousands of people. There's no reason why the same can't happen with Apple.

Unions

There are two approaches to unionising. The first is, somewhat obviously, getting the Foxconn workers into a strong and recognised labour union. This is not without its problems.

Digital Inequality Research Group

@DIGOxford

Can Foxconn workers organise and make voices heard? - Growing use of mobiles, workers posting online, threaten to commit suicide #oxict4d

---

Digital Inequality Research Group

@DIGOxford

Growth of labour grievances and arbitration as employees try to fight for rights - but still discouraged by costs of arbitration #oxict4d

---

Foxconn workers report that they are victimised and harassed for standing up for their rights. The unions which are afforded to them often report directly to their abusive bosses.

So, what other options are there? Ask Apple workers in the USA and Europe to stand in solidarity with the people who make the products that they sell. Would they be willing to agitate for change within Apple and also explain the problem to potential customers entering the stores?

In some cases, this has already happened - Apple Store employees join with protesters to make their displeasure known.

Organizers picket an Apple store in San Francisco - carrying placards showing the names and ages of the Foxconn suicide victims
Photo credit: Chinese Progressive Association San Francisco.

It's a big ask. And it leads us into the final problem.

Getting People to Care

It's really hard to get people to care. It's one of the hardest things about trying to get people to join a cause, any cause. There are so many worthy causes in the world and we can't devote our time or emotional energy to all of them. Inevitably, people choose causes which affect them directly.

For most Western consumers, China is too far away to worry about. If you think your own job sucks, you don't want to spend time thinking about the depravity, squalor, and misery of those who make your gadgets. And if it means those shiny electronic toys cost a few dollars more...

As I'm fond of saying, we often treat our phones with more intimacy than our lovers. We caress them, rub our cheeks to them, and whisper our most intimate secrets into them. How can we stare at a screen multiple times per day and have so little regard for the plight of those who assemble our devices?

It's Working

All these efforts are ongoing - and they seem to be making a positive difference.

Around the globe, Apple employees are united in bringing equality, respect for human rights and protection of the environment to the deepest levels of our supply chain. While we have made significant progress, gaps still exist, and there is more work to do. We know that workers are counting on us. We will not stop until every person in our supply chain is treated with the respect and dignity they deserve.

Jeff Williams, senior vice president of operations at Apple

My aesthete friends are always complaining about how cobbled together Android is. Because there is no overall owner, the UI is full of unintuitive quirks. That's a fair criticism - some parts of Android are incredibly shonky. But, to hear those in the gilded cage speak, iOS was delivered as the platonic ideal of what smartphone should be. It is perfect, and gets more... er... perfecter with every release.

That's horseshit.

I know that coming from one phone to another, you're bound to find things which don't work quite the way you expect. This is different though, there are such bone-headed flaws present throughout iOS that I can only conclude that Stockholm Syndrome has set in amongst its users!

Firstly, it's a relief not to have to use the accurs'd iTunes to set up your phone. But, there is a fly in the ointmet. To set up the phone, you must have a SIM in the phone.

Why? Seriously - why? Literally every other phone I've ever owned "just works" when you take it out of the box. Want to use Android or BlackBerry using WiFi? Fine. So, I stuck in a SIM and it got through set up. Guess what? The SIM was invalid - it didn't attach to any network. Well done, Apple - another pointless loop for customers to jump through to pacify your insane control-freakery.

The rest of the set-up process was predictably poor - despite setting my language as English, and knowing which country I'm in, the iPhone presented me with a country list starting with Afghanistan. That's a heck of a long scroll to get to the UK.

Still, initial impressions rarely count, do they? Let's look at what the rest of the experience delivers.

Well, the date on the icon is right - but the time is wrong. What's the point in that?

As it happens, there's a software update for the iPhone. I took a look at the details. Bizarrely, this link isn't clickable.

Great work - make it look like a link, but don't let anyone click on it. Good work there!

I went into music, there's nothing in there - other than this rather confusing pop-up. I assume "OK" should read "Music"?

But look - there's a handy little link to iTunes. Naturally, it doesn't work. You can click and click and click - there's no way to get to iTunes from this page.

Was this thing designed by a chimp?

Clicking around the App Store - which apparently has revolutionised the retail industry - I kept encountering this error. Top tip, Apple: don't offer me link to things I can't get.

The capitalisation on this seems really off to me. Still, attention to detail is for losers, right?

Now, on to my chief annoyance. The keyboard. I know Apple loves skeuomorphic interfaces, but this is ridiculous. Hit that shift key as often as you like - but nothing changes. Why? It's really annoying to have to look in the lower left hand corner every time you want to see if you've hit the shift key.

Oh, bonus fuckwittery, I spent a couple of minutes looking for the "opening quote" symbol. My problem or theirs?

Honestly, this post is boring even me. It's obvious that the famed Apple design is a bit shabby. I just don't get why everyone raves about it.

Every device has quirks - and the iPhone is no exception. Yes, we should strive for perfection in design - but people are so desperate that they are being seduced into the worship of false idols.

Apple is at an interesting nexus with its iPhone. It's hugely popular, vastly profitable, beloved by millions, and plagiarised by its competitors. The only fly in the ointment? It's just a little bit dull!

Dull is, of course, another word for consistent. Predictable. Comforting. Pick up an original iPhone and the newly released model and see if you can spot the difference in the user interface. Yes, the screen is nicer and the processor is faster - but the same basic grid of static icons have persisted throughout the last 5 years. The basic UI elements haven't changed a great deal since inception.

Customers love the fact that they don't have to learn a new set of icons and interactions. That one of the reasons that iPhone users are statistically unlikely to churn away from the platform. Not only do all their games, apps, music, and settings seamlessly transfer to the new device - so does their learned behaviour.

The problem that Apple now faces is how it will incorporate innovative new features into the iPhone without disturbing the existing paradigm of static icons and modal dialogue boxes. It has successfully manage to cram in Android's notification bar without too much trouble. Will it be able to add widgets, screen gestures, radial menus, lateral scrolling, and all the other UI tools which customers are learning to love on other platforms?

This was the problem that Nokia faced with Symbian. The Symbian UI was clean, uncluttered, simple and static - much like iOS. Customers bought Symbian phones in their droves because they appreciated the design consistency.

Then things changed.

The Internet became popular and all of a sudden Symbian users were bombarded by notifications "helpfully" asking them if they were really sure that they want wanted to connect to the Internet?

Notifications - for so long the preserve of SMS only - suddenly had to be extended to MySpace and Facebook.

Apps needed to run in the background to provide a constant source of information to the user.

The architecture and UI of Symbian just wasn't up to the job. Even the very latest - and possibly last - device, the N8, feels like a phone from 10 years ago with the modern features shoehorned in. Last year, Symbian was taken out to the woodshed and shot by Stephen Elop. It was a small mercy (and one likely to be visited on Elop by the Nokia shareholders before too long).

Is the iPhone about to reach that tipping point? Users with "unlimited" data plans are still forced to download certain large items over wifi. Users dissatisfied with the browser or the mapping apps are unable to set other apps to take over their duties. Power users are frustrated that they can't use better keyboards.

All little niggles, for now - and all straightforward to fix. But in fixing those problems, and modernising the UI, Apple risks alienating its core customers

The SIM is designed to do a number of things; encryption, address storage, hold SMS, etc.

Most importantly, it's designed to be swappable. With GSM, you can choose your phone and your network provider separately. Want the iPhone? Hate Three's network? Stick in a Tesco Mobile SIM. Love Vodafone? Think their range of phones is crap? Buy the phone and service separately.

It means carries and manufacturers don't have control of customer behaviour. This is a good thing and allows our form of free-market capitalism to flourish with increased competition.

The reason that Apple claim their iPhone needed a micro-SIM was that the space inside the iPhone was too cramped for a regular SIM. This is hogwash.

The size saved by the mico-SIM is miniscule. It was originally intended for small or embedded devices where space was at a premium. While the iPhone is a complex bit of kit, the SIM tray is already close to the size of the full SIM. It's simply not credible that the iPhone was unique and had to have a new SIM.

So what was the purpose?

Apple want to control the entire experience. You buy the Apple iPhone in the Apple Store. You download music and games from Apple's iTunes. You send messages over Apple iMessage and Facetime. They want a 100% Apple experience.

When the iPhone was limited to a single carrier per market, they also had that control over the networks. They could (and did) dictate how much the monthly tariff cost. How many minutes, texts, and MB an iPhone user would have. They even prevented the phone being sold to PAYG customers.

You may have thought you were on O2, but you were really on an Apple MVNO.

That has (mostly) changed now. You can get an iPhone and put it on any network, at any price point, with any services and wrest control from Apple. And they hate losing control.

The micro-SIM was their first move. Use a SIM which cannot be swapped with any other phone. Make it hard enough to get a normal SIM into an iPhone that most people won't bother. Yes, there are SIM cutters and caddies - this is an imperfect solution they foisted on to the marketplace. One which is backfiring as other manufacturers start using the micro-SIM.

Their next move is a phone with a "Virtual SIM" - Tomi Ahonen has a little bit of background - no physical SIM card to be swapped.

It's quite simple technically. You buy your iPhone, plug it into iTunes, and tell it which price-plan you want. You pay Apple directly and they update the iPhone's "Virtual SIM". Hey presto, you're on the network.

What network? Who knows! As far as you're concerned, you're on Apple. It may be Vodafone, it may be O2. And, at any moment, Apple could update the Virtual SIM and you'd be on T-Mobile.

I've Got A Bad Feeling About This

There are several reasons why the Virtual SIM is a dangerous idea.

• If you're unlucky enough to live in an area with bad reception from Orange? Too bad. All the people who matter live in cities with excellent reception...
• Reduced choice in price-plans.
• Zero competition in price.
• Security. Networks are very reluctant to give their encryption keys to Apple. Considering how easy it is to jailbrake an iPhone, this is wise.
• If or when Apple go bust - you may be left with a brick. There will be no way to update it.
• Roaming costs. Maybe Apple will do a deal with international roaming operators and reduce cost? If they don't, there's no way you can swap to a domestic SIM.
• Want to move your number to a disposable phone if you're going partying / sailing / camping? Tough. The number stays with the phone.
• When Apple decide to up their prices - you can't leave for another provider.
• Phone damaged? No easy way to move your number to another handset.
• I think you get the picture.

Luckily the operators kicked the proposal into the long grass. But I know that several parties are interested in Virtual SIMs - it's a zombie idea which will keep coming back unless we kill it with fire.

This is terrible for customers - but you can see why Apple love it so.

The Kindle Conundrum

I've used Apple as a convenient scapegoat here. They're not the only ones planning for a virtual SIM. In some ways, the Amazon Kindle was the first to try this strategy in the UK. As I've blogged about, the Kindle has a non-removeable SIM card. Well, you can remove it if you're handy with a screwdriver and don't mind voiding your warranty.

In this case, Amazon have an exclusive deal with Vodafone to provide worldwide 3G roaming on their network. If the SIM was replaced, the customer would have to pay the roaming bills.

The Kindle can only work with Amazon's services - all the browsing goes through their proxy - but that doesn't necessarily mean that it couldn't use a 3rd party SIM card. If you've no Vodafone reception or WiFi at home, it may even be worth your while paying O2 for a data-only SIM.

But the Kindle is sold as a single service. So it's acceptable. Barely.

Future Imperfect

I dread the future where devices are locked down like American CDMA phones. No choice other than what the manufacturer demands. Gone will be the days of choosing the right phone and the right price-plan. You'll take the service you're given and will have to put up with it.

For now, the operators are on the side of consumers against manufacturers. But it only takes one to start us down that slippery slope.

Terence Eden is on Mastodon

@edent

Prediction*: iPhone5 & Samsung Galaxy S 3 to have IDENTICAL hardware. Battle of the OS / ecosystems!

*Well, wishful thinking!

---

Wouldn't it be great if there was a proper show-down between the two major players? You could really compare which OS was best given the same hardware. Is iOS's camera software better than Android's when given the same lens and CCD? Which runs faster when CPU, GPU, and memory are identical?

According to WP-Life, Samsung's Galaxy S III will run both Android and Windows Phone 7!

Judging by the article, there will be some cosmetic changes - but the basic hardware will be the same.

What a show that will be! I think WP7 is a beautiful but flawed OS. Android is powerful, but struggles on anything less than excellent hardware.

One day - one glorious day! - we may see hardware which will accept any software. Imagine, just like a PC, being able to buy the hardware and then choose which OS you want on it. I've written about porting Android to Nokia hardware, and I run Ubuntu on my MacBook Pro.

A true ecosystem involves freedom to move between platforms without artificial restrictions.

I think I've found it...

My Photoshop skills are legendary!

Here are the things that I want - no one platform covers them all, so I've nicked the best bits from each.

Blackberry

Here's what BlackBerry provides that is missing on other phones.

Physical Keyboard

This is the big one. I've tried all of the touchscreen keyboards out there - nothing comes close to the physical click of keys.

I'm aware of a few Androids which have a keyboard - but they tend to be older models or underpowered and aimed at the teenage text market. The Dell WP7 phone has a keyboard, but appears to have been abandoned by Dell.

Start up speed.

You never really switch a BB off, it just sleeps. That gives it a phenomenal start-up speed. When you shut it down, it also tells you when it's planning to wake up - either due to an alarm, calendar, or because you set an "auto on" timer.

WP7 does have a very fast boot time - much speedier than that of Android. But there's no auto-on / auto-off feature.

Deep Twitter Integration

I can't believe no other phone has this. If I receive an email which contains a hashtag or @name, I can click on it and my Twitter client opens up. Same in calendar, documents, and (ISTR) web pages. Even if the text isn't linked it was clickable.

Spell Cheque & Auto Text

Spell checking is available on WP7 - but not to the same degree as BlackBerry. The auto-text feature on BB is brilliant, I can type a short code and text is automatically filled.

• dt - prints the current time & date, perfect for note taking
• sig - prints my standard contact details
• ht - (one I created) prints the hashtag of the event I'm following

Android

Android is my main device. It's not without its deficiencies - but here are the bits I wish others would copy.

Time of Day Email

Perhaps the best feature of the Samsung Galaxy S - and not something I've seen elsewhere. I can set a peak and off-peak schedule for my work email.

At 1800 during the week I stop getting work email - and it all comes through at 0800 the next morning. During the weekend, I get no work email. This is one of the major features which keeps me on Android.

FLAC and OGG

I've ripped all my CDs to FLAC. I hate the fact that I have to transcode all my music in order to listen to it on a portable device. All the high end Android phones I've tried play FLAC natively.

Open

I like the fact that I'm not tied down by the operating system. If I want to replace the lock screen, the email client, the web browser, I can. And I do.

If the device manufacturer abandons my phone, there's a huge hacker community who can keep it running.

WP7

I've not had the greatest success with a Windows Phone - but there are some elements that I love.

Interface

The Metro Interface is amazing. It's fast and fluid and generally really well laid out.

Camera

I found the camera to be very responsive - both at focussing and snapping. The integrated QR scanner was also a cut above the rest.

iOS

Media hype / Coolness

It's a little depressing that all the media and developer attention is focussed on a minority platform like iPhone. Just for once, I'd like a cool game like Whale Trail to come out first on something other than iOS.

Misc

• Lanyard hook. Ever since smashing my BlackBerry, I've worn a lanyard strap.
• Front facing camera. I'm the only one I know who likes video calling.
• Trackpad. Even the best touch screen can't get the fine grained accuracy of a touch pad.
• Removable storage. I like being able to choose how much I carry with me.
• Mass storage. I'm not always at a computer where I can install "media transfer" software. I just want to be able to plug in a USB lead and copy what I need.
• Call recording. Must admit - never had a phone that can easily do this. Always wanted it though!
• Removable battery. When the going gets tough, I don't want to have to be chained to a wall-wart. The ability to buy higher capacity batteries is also handy.

What Hath Thou Wrought?

Essentially, I've created Homer's Car - a monstrosity no one other than me could love.

So, tell me what would be in your perfect phone?

While undoubtedly cool, what amuses me about this game is why it has taken the gaming world so long to catch up with Symbian! Way back in 2003, I got my hands on the Siemens SX1. It was the first non-Nokia handset to be running Symbian. As well as "modern" features like GPS, web browsing, and apps - it also came with a very interesting game.

Mozzies

Mozzies was an award winning Augmented Reality game. Perhaps the first of its kind to make it in to a mass market phone. I can't find any videos of it - so here are some screenshots. From a presentation by Andreas Jakl.

As you can see, not markedly different to the iPhone / Star Wars game. Sure, the graphics have come a long way - but it's still just tracking movement through the camera and accelerometer, and then painting shootable "baddies" on the screen.

Seven Year Itch

What annoys me about Symbian is that it has all these amazing and innovative features and then squanders them. I've never seen another Symbian handset with Mozzies on it. You'd think that an award winning game like that would be on every Symbian handset.

Another example. The N95 was technically superior to the original iPhone. Yet Nokia dragged its feet on using the camera accelerometer to power the screen rotation. Barely any updates came out for the the N95 series - any hope of using that as a platform to beat the onslaught on smartphones was wasted.

I don't know whether it's Symbian or Nokia or someone else who is to blame. What I do know is that Symbian has lost any technical lead it may have had. And that's desperately sad.

The Dark Side

In researching this blog post, I came across a delightfully disturbing tale of a young man who had his phone smashed for playing this game.

Heriyono said: 'I was so engrossed with the mosquitoes, I became oblivious to my surroundings.

'Then, I saw through the phone, a figure behind the swarm of mosquitoes heading in my direction but I thought he was just passing by.'

Heriyono claims the man then shouted: 'Trying to take a photo of my girlfriend, is it?'

And he smashed the phone on the floor.

I do wonder how many more phones will be destroyed when people think they are being used to take photos. Or how many photographers will use game playing as a cover?

Perhaps it's time to make a video app which merely looks like you're playing a game...?

Nokia phones "running" Android

A few years ago, I coaxed my Nokia N810 into running a prototype version of Android - NitDroid. The project has been resurrected by Stephen Hyde at NITDroid.com.

This latest video shows the Nokia N900 running Android's FroYo.

Why Is This Useful?

Nokia coined the term "Mobile Computer" for its range of phones. Computers aren't hermetically sealed consumer devices. They allow the customer to modify both hardware and software. You would be understandably upset if the computer you bought last year wouldn't let you install the latest version of Windows, MacOS, or Linux. But that's the situation mobile phone customers are faced with today.

The Android G1 has been abandoned by HTC and T-Mobile - much to the chagrin of customers. The HTC Hero has only been grudgingly updated to Android 2.1. Nokia left the N800 and N810 to rot. Nokia regularly stops development of its "mobile computer" software even when the devices are in active use.

Mobile phone manufacturers exist to sell phones. They don't get any extra revenue for releasing new firmware. Indeed, the cost of developing, testing, and shipping new firmware is prohibitively expensive. Not to mention dealing with customer complaints when things inevitably go wrong.

We are finally in a position to change that mindset. Hackers (in the original sense of the word) are now able to create custom firmware for new phones. Take a look at the XDA Developer Forums. Almost every Android phone released can have an improved firmware running on it.

True, a significantly older phone may not have hardware capable of running bleeding edge code - but it's enough to give it a new lease of life.

I'd love it if Nokia updated the N95 8GB firmware. The hardware is still incredibly capable.

In these tough economic times, it makes perfect sense to focus efforts on software, rather than hardware.

Look at the PS3 or the Xbox 360. A single model with firmware updates to increase its functionality.

Rather than tooling up a factory for a 6 month run of hardware - phone manufacturers should be looking to keep churning out a limited number of models of high spec phones for years. As manufacturing efficiencies improve, the hardware becomes cheaper and - like the PS3 and Xbox - cheaper models can be produced.

The PS3 came out in November 2006. Nearly 4 years ago. Can you think of a phone released four years ago which is still in production - let alone receiving firmware updates? The original iPhone was released in 2007 - it got a firmware update earlier this year but won't be receiving iOS4. Also, you can't buy a new iPhone 2G. Apple aren't in the business of selling inexpensive hardware.

The Future

I predict - or rather, I hope - we will see the following pattern emerge. Either from Google or Nokia.

• An insanely expensive and over-spec'd phone will be released.  I expect in the £500 - £1,000 range.
• A public roadmap for its OS will be released - new features promised every 3-6 months.
• A guarantee that official firmware development will continue for at least 3 years.
• The OS will be sufficiently open to allow "homebrew" firmware to run.  Hackers will jump at it.
• The hardware will sell - poorly at first.
• As production efficiencies are found, the price will come down.  The hardware capabilities will stay compatible with older models.
• The firmware will progress based upon consumer need, manufacturer desire and what hackers manage to achieve.
• At around the 18 month mark, major new features in the firmware will be announced.  This keeps the MNO happy as they don't have to subsidise the cost of new hardware for customers coming to the end of their contracts.
• At the 2 year mark, the next hardware revision will be launched.  More memory and megapixels - cheaper price.
• If the hardware is still selling, expect others to follow.

The fly in the ointment for this is continuous manufacturer profitability.  Apple, I understand, gets a cut of call and text revenue.  Google gets a cut of apps sold.  Microsoft and Sony sell licences for releasing games on their platform.

Would this "super phone" have to sell firmware updates?  Would MNOs subsidise firmware rather than hardware?  Would customers part-exchange  an unfashionably old phone for the latest model?

Or will we be stuck with phones that are thrown on the scrap-heap by their creator in order to force us into buying the latest model?

One thing's for certain.  Where there are hackers - there will always be updates.

So it was with great mirth that I went along to a BizSpark event a few weeks ago. Microsoft were going to be showing off their latest "innovation" - Windows Phone 7.

I went along expecting to hate it and, instead, found myself curiously drawn to it.

Take a look at the emulator for an interactive demo.

I played with the demo hardware and software and had my expectations blown away.  I'll be honest - I expected crap.  I had horrible memories of the stylus oriented Windows Mobile 6.  The phone which would display an hourglass if you had the temerity to receive a phone call while playing solitaire.

Windows Phone 7 (WP7) was a million miles away from the old Microsoft experience.

Pros

The user interface is refreshingly simple and fun to use.  It's like nothing else I've tried before and I really think that Microsoft has outclassed both Android and Apple.

Pushing so much information to the homescreen really makes you want to use your phone constantly. iPhone only does this half-heartedly and Android does it without much animation or UI consistency.

App Store.  One excellent feature of the MS app store is the "Try Before You Buy" model.  Rather than a developer putting out a free, limited version and a "pro" version they can publish a single app.  They can restrict the features and functionality of the "demo" version until the customer makes the purchase. Or, after a set period of time, the demo version can become non-functioning. Or have reduced function.  Brilliant.

Gaming on this device will be huge. It looks like it will be simple to port games from the Xbox to WP7 - that gives it a great competative advantage. Tie in Xbox Live (or whatever it's called) and you'll get gamers buying the same game twice - once on the console and once on the phone.  The 3D power of the phones was stunning.

Cons

There are some serious shortcomings in the Windows Phone 7 vision of the future which Microsoft urgently need to address.

• Expand the development options.  If you want to write for Windows Phone 7, you'll need Windows installed on your computer.  Given that Android allows you to develop on Windows, Mac and Linux, it doesn't make sense to make developers buy a new operating system.  Especially as iPhone development is tied to Apple.
• Open it up.  I love the idea of integrating my phone with my Xbox live account - but I don't have an Xbox! Open it up so that my Wii or PS3 gaming experience can be pushed to the homescreen.
• The same goes for mail and IM - don't restrict it just to Exchange and MSN.  Openness is hard for Microsoft, but it will attract more customers to the platform.
• Have a firm, public roadmap for enhancements which all manufacturers stick to.  Android is currently being stifled by manufacturers like HTC who refuse to update the software on their customers' devices.
• Revenue share for developers needs to be better. At the moment it's the same 70/30 split being offered by Android and Apple.  It needs to be lower for two key reasons.

1. Attract developers to the fledgling ecosystem.
2. To avoid any accusations of a cartel.  To have all three major platforms "independently" converge on the same revenue share deal looks suspicious.

Now What?

I've played with the prototype hardware and I'm impressed.  The software is really good. Much better that Microsoft's usual standard.

It has to be.

Microsoft are betting their mobile future on this platform.  Win6.5 failed. Kin failed. They can't afford another high profile failure like this.  Mirosoft are putting their best people on this project and, as far as I can tell, are revisiting their Xbox strategy; SPEND SPEND SPEND.

By the time the phones launch (holiday season 2010) you won't be able to move without seeing an advert.  They will crank up their media machine to 11.  Just like the original Xbox, they will buy their way in to the market with a view that - like the Xbox 360 - the real prize is several years away.

I hope they succeed.  Not because I have any love for Microsoft, but because Nokia, Apple, and Google will all have to raise the quality of their software and hardware to compete against Microsoft's marketing expenditure.

I'm a Linux geek - and I think Windows Phone 7 is the best thing to come out of Redmond in a very long time.

Based on the evidence I've accumulated, mobile advertising is subject to a lot of hype and not a lot of professionalism.

Take this example as seen on my BlackBerry 9000.

Flickr iPhone Advert

First off the bat, it gets my phone wrong. It should be using the User Agent to determine which advert to serve.

Well, let's be a good consumer and click on it any way...

What the deuce?!

It has taken me to the Desktop version of the iTunes installation page - despite knowing I'm on a mobile!

What Should Have Happened?

• My phone requests the advert.
• Advertising agency serves up a device specific ad.
• I click on the ad.
• The ad server sees my User Agent
• For iPhone, it should automatically redirect me to the App Store
• For BlackBerry / Android / S60  etc, it should automatically redirect me to the native app store
• For everything else, it should automatically redirect me to http://m.flickr.com/

How Can It Go So Wrong?!

I'm making the assumption that this is an advert by flickr.  It may well be an advert by a third-party who have a (chargeable) app for iPhone.

Even if it is the latter - why are they advertising on BlackBerry?  Or, rather, why is their advertising agency wasting their marketing budget by showing an advert on a device which can't support the content?

Make Sure Your Advert Works

It's not rocket science.  If people can't get to your product, they won't spend money with you.  They'll also get a negative impression of your brand.

"Visit aitch-tee-tee-pee colon slash-slash edent dot tell... No... Tell. It's spelled TEA-EE-EL. Yes. Just one EL. No, I don't know why. Here, let me write it down for you on a little cardboard oblong..."

So, as you've guessed, I'm not the world's biggest fan. But I was "lucky" enough to win a free domain courtesy of TelReg. As I'm a freebie customer, I don't think it's fair of me to critique them in any way - but I'm sure going to critique the whole .tel idea.

First of all, why not take a look at the site. edent.tel. Go ahead, I'll wait.

Yeuch! What a dull looking site. There is, at the moment, no way to customise the look and feel, I can't even add my picture (not that it would make the site look much better...). I can, however, add some very limited information.

Now, I'm not a professional usability expert - but even I can point out the dull text, the huge dead space, the reliance on scrolling. Yeuch.

To make matters worse, there is a mobile version of this page. Seeing as most of the people to whom I'd give a business card will have a mobile phone, this makes sense. Let's take a look at it in two popular phones.

iPhone 3G.

BlackBerry Bold (9000).

Yeuch! Again, no panache, no style. Just dull dull dull text. You'd think that the .VCARD link would be the top link, wouldn't you? That would be a basic usability feature. But no.

As an aside, the iPhone can't even download the .VCARD. This is the fault of Apple.

But the .tel people shouldn't even offer a link to a phone they know can't support it.

Anyway. As I've said, I've got this free for a year. A few hours in and I can't see myself renewing it. If .tel can improve some of their basic flaws and improve their customer perception, I might reconsider.

I sort of like the idea. But I prefer SyncML sites. Take ZYB - (owned by Vodafone, who own me. Yes, I am biased) - if I give you my ZYB address, and we connect, whenever I change my address or telephone number it is automatically updated on your phone. Smart. And also pretty. Two things that .tel is not.

A quick review of MobileCampBrighton.

Brighton is such a delightful city that it's hard to begrudge it stealing one's Saturday morning lie-in. As I wandered the laines looking for The Skiff, I was worried about how successful this BarCamp event would be. It was the same weekend as the popular Convention on Modern Liberty and it was being held outside London. Added to my worries was the fact that I had convinced Vodafone to sponsor the event - if it didn't go well, it would be a personal and professional disappointment.

I needn't have been so worried.

This was the site that greeted me at the door. The Skiff began to fill up rapidly. One usually expect about a 30% drop off in participants - especially at a free event - but I think there were more attendees than were anticipated!

Usually BarCamps have several sessions running at once. The advantages being that more people can present and group sizes are manageable. However, this often leads to a bit of confusion as sessions finish at different times and a bit of heartache as one has to decide between two equally compelling talks.

Due to the relatively small number of participants, we managed to do all the presentations sequentially in the one room. This would not have been possible - or desirable - at a larger unconference, but here it worked beautifully.

The Sessions (Photo courtesy of Pixelm Image is BY-NC-SA.)

So, a brief run down of the talks I found memorable.

Ribot gave a talk on the "Emotion, Behaviour and Human Context" focusing on the power of sketches. As designers & developers, we often go for the big bang approach. Often it's more productive to paper prototype - it's faster and you'll be less emotionally attached to a "bad" idea. Some sketches.

Marten van Wezel gave us his experience of building successful communities. I'd never quite realised the strategies one needs to employ to keep a service pleasant for its users.

A good looking fellow called Terence Eden, basically rehashed his blog post about mobile contextual advertising and its inasivness. A good points to come out of the discussion was the need for VRM (Vendor Relationship Management). Something I'll be looking into closely.

Priya Prakash spoke about her research in to emerging market. This was an absolutley fascinating discussion about how different people use new technology. A choice quote was "if you want to see how people use technology, go to nail salons and cafes".

That most melifulous of speaker, Terence Eden snaked his way onto the board again to say "Fuck the iPhone (and not in a good way)". Regular readers will know of my distaste for Jobs' Toy, but this was a discussion about how the focus on cool new phones and gadgets basically ignored a large swathe of the population. While it's personally very exciting to develop for the cutting edge, we must not forget that the majority of people are on 18 month contracts and won't be able to get to our products for some time.

Tom Morris gave us his thoughts on making mobile applications and services more relavent by making them easier to develop. It's a good idea, but I still think the barrier to entry for programming (IDE, text commands, language paradigms) make it too hard for regular users to even think about programming.

Raul - a linguist - shared his experiences with how languages change to fit the digital landscape.

There were several other talks and I'll link to the Qik streams / videos when I find them.

The final event of the day was a "fastest text" competition. Marten van Wezel won Army of Two and Nik won Spore. Both prizes were generously donated by Jessica Gwyther, the Games Content Development Manager at Vodafone Group.

I really got a lot out of this camp - it's great to meet new people who aren't afraid to challenge your ideas.

You can view the back channel chatter on twitter (or Google's search for mobileCampBrighton if twitter is down...)

From a professional point of view, I felt that sponsorship was worthwhile. I got to demo our new products in front of a very intense audience and they gave great feedback. Hopefully I've left a good impression in participants minds about Vodafone and Betavine - if nothing else, they'll remember that Vodafone provides a decent lunch!

So, no post from me can end without criticism. This is no different, although it's aimed at organisers for all the BarCamps I've been to.

1. Time keeping is paramount. After the first session we were already running 45 minutes behind schedule. With some quick thinking from DanW and a bit of discipline from the participants we were able to finish on time without curtailing the programme of events. Every BarCamp should have a big clock on the wall or each presenting space to let presenters know how long they've got.
2. Organisers shouldn't feel afraid to call for order. It's really tempting to let intra-audience discussions flow freely. Indeed, I'm as guilty as anyone of talking vociferously when I should be listening. But organisers have two main jobs - keep everything running on time and stop presenters from being intimidated. I noticed that a few times the audience took over from a presenter and - except that's where it's the presenter's intention - it's a little ugly.

Overall - a highly successful MobileCamp. I can't wait for the next one!

The first - and last - Apple product I owned was a blueberry iMac.

I think it may have had an early version of OS X on it. It was fun enough, but I eventually replaced the OS with YellowDog.

Now I find myself in possession of a 16GB iPhone 3G. Nice! Or so I thought.

For various dull reasons, the iPhone is an unlocked Portuguese model. It was simplicity itself to set it to UK English and add my APN details etc. That's where the fun & simplicity stopped.

I thought I'd try the fabled AppStore. Download a few free apps and the like - and thus the nightmare of "The-One-True-Apple-Way" descended on me.

First of all, all the apps were priced in €. I would have thought me manually setting the phone to UK & having a UK SIM in there & being on a UK network would have convinced Apple to price things in £. Not so.

When I tried to download a free app I was told to enter my iTunes account information. This was problematic for two reasons 1) It was a free app. On every other device I've ever owned I can click on a free app and install it without giving away so much as an email address. 2) I don't have an iTunes account. As far as I can determine, there's no way to obtain one from the phone.

This is meant to be a super-duper converged smartphone but apparently it can't even handle a simple sign up process.

It turns out that the only way to get an iTunes account is to install the iTunes software. Again, this is problematic. 1) Not everyone has - or wants - a computer. Apple has drastically cut its user base for no reason as far as I can see. 2) Not everyone who has a computer has sole use of it. You might not be able to install iTunes on your work computer. If you & your family share a computer, how does iTunes handle multiple accounts? 3) How do you get the software? There's no CD in the box, the iPhone doesn't show up as a USB hard disk, so the software can't stored on there like the Huawei/Vodafone 810.

So, off to the website to download iTunes. It's nearly 70MB! How the 40% of people without broadband are meant to grab this I have no idea.

The installation process was another of Apple's famed usability triumphs...

I can't choose my native language - "English (British)". I can't even trust it not to break Outlook.

It spent ~20 minutes installing the software, agreeing to two separate EULAs, only to be greeted by this screen.

So much for my language preferences.

Oh well, let's ignore that. Let's sign up for an account.

Oh.

All the settings on my computer are set to UK, iTunes is set to English. My physical location is in the UK but I go through a proxy in Germany.

Would it be beyond the wit of Apple's usability guru's to add a "Choose Your Country" option? Apparently so.

It also turns out that Apple insist that their products look like OS X apps even when they run on Windows XP. Great, yet another interface language to learn. I'm sure that Apple's products are the most amazing in the world - but this looks out of place on my system. Why should I have to mould myself to Apple? Shouldn't they work for my needs? No, silly grasshopper, The-One-True-Apple-Way has one path that all must adhere to or face certain death.

At this point, I got bored. If was a paying customer, I'd be on the verge of returning the device.

I'm obviously missing the gene that makes me fall in love with Apple products. Or is the rabid Apple fanboism just an elaborate hoax? Come on guys, let me in on the joke...

May be I'll try again tomorrow.