OK, so the iPhone, which appears in stores in the US tomorrow seems to be an amazing, game-changing device. But from what I’ve been reading in early reviews (especially on the Wall Street Journal and the New York Times, which posted a hilarious video review by David Pogue) there are a number of disappointments.

Some of the shortcomings of the iPhone where already known early on: lack of 3G support (only the EDGE network is supported), the lack of GPS positioning for the Google maps (my Nokia N95 has this great feature), a 2 megapixel camera (compare that to the 5 megapixel of the N95) and its closed policy of not allowing 3rd part applications to be installed (only ‘web apps’ are supported).

Now there are more disappointing details from the reviewers (who generally full of praise of the device):

No video recording (come on Apple, how can you not have video recording!)
No MMS (pictures can only be emailed)
No voice dialing (I am using this more and more on my Nokia)
No memory expansion slot
No Flash support in the Safari browser (damn it, even my son’s Wii supports flash, why not the iPhone!)
Only Apple can replace the battery for you!

For US users, one of the biggest complaints of the various reviewers was the quality of AT&T’s/Cingulars network and the slow speed of the EDGE data network.

Let’s see if Apple upgrades the iPhone when it comes out in Europe by the end of this year. So of the faults above can be solved via software updates (which Apple promised) but others can only be adressed by hardware improvements.

Also let’s see what Apple’s policy is on the Middle East. I feel Apple largely ignores the Middle East. But it has to remember that this region is big consumer of mobile phones. Nokia’s latest phones are available in the region as soon as they are released, which is great. Nokia’s Arabic support (in the browser for example) is very good. Yet I have a feeling the Apple will manage to ignore the Middle East and just focus on Europe.

Let’s wait and see..


Posted

in

,

by

Tags:

Comments

8 responses to “Some disappointing iPhone news..”

  1. Qwaider قويدر Avatar
    Qwaider قويدر

    Ok, you mentioned all the bad news… how about I mention one of the good news?
    Looks like The iPhone will be compatible with Microsoft Exchange, after all

  2. Ahmed Avatar
    Ahmed

    I got a similar feeling: they will simply ignore the whole region. Why Oh Why Apple? Why?

  3. O.Humeid Avatar
    O.Humeid

    still.. iphone rocks

  4. Magnus Avatar
    Magnus

    I think “No memory expansion slot”, “No Flash support in the Safari browser”, and “Only Apple can replace the battery for you”, were known before these reviews came out, but your points are all valid. I guess as cool as the iPhone may be, they couldn’t do everything with it. For me, I really hope it’s 3G when it gets here, and I can sign up for an unlimited data plan.

    I also agree that Apple Inc largely ignores the Middle East, but perhaps this will open their eyes.

    What suggestions does you and your readers have as to how we can get Apple more interested in the ME?

  5. bakkouz Avatar
    bakkouz

    And don’t forget also no games, and no mp3s as ring tones :)

  6. ahmad Avatar
    ahmad

    Your article was added to khabarieh:
    http://www.khabarieh.com

  7. Zec Avatar
    Zec

    Ahmed,

    Great review and thoughts. I agree with most you said. There’s too much lacking , as we know now, and it seems expectations were set too high even before touching iPhone.

    It could be missed opportunity to truly change the World. Yes, they changed forever user interface and industry will give them credentials, but so low on basic feautures is not tolerant ;)

    Yes,they could be ignoring Middle East and base it entirely to G8 countries which is not nice.

  8. Vick Avatar
    Vick

    Screw iPhone, I got HTC Touch a while ago, iPhone still isn’t available in Canada!

    Crapple has no innovative ideas. Windows Mobile AND HTC Touch came out WAY before iPhone.