Monday, July 02, 2007

Things I would like to see in firmware updates

This third post is about the things that I would have liked to see on the initial iPhone but could be useful in updates. From my perspective they are minor.

Before I get into my top 2 plus one that seems to be common for others - there is a good post which compares the Nokia N95 which some people have suggested is the competition. That post on Scobelizer says the following - "The iPhone is superior in almost every way to the Nokia N95. The battery life is better. The contact management is better. The Web browser is better. The photo taking experience is better. The screen is better. The wireless management is better." The writer claims the only thing that keeps him on the N95 is a higher level of pixels on the Nokia device. He puts a comparison photo on the post to show the difference - looks to me like the iPhone photo could be easily color corrected in any photo program.

#1 - Print capability - this is a digital device, and thus most of what you will use it for is digital things but it would be useful to be able to print out some things. Currently, anything you create which you want to print (notes for example) gets emailed and then printed on your regular computer.

#2 - iRooster and other tune utilities - My favorite piece of software in the last couple of years was a small product called iRooster. iRooster I initially bought it because of the ad - turn your $3000 laptop into a $5 alarm clock. (Actually it is a $10 alarm clock because the software is $9.95.) What it does is allow you to use your tunes as an alarm clock - your laptop will wake up and play the song. The software is intuitive and bulletproof - with a couple of more features than just the alarm clock. Right now the iPhone only allows the iPod to be used as a music player. I would have liked (and expect relatively soon to see) an ability to apply different ring tones, especially sound files (my RAZR uses the Guiness characters to say - "your phone is ringing" - I expect that will be a simple fix.

#3 - Email for some users - I use a lot of web based mail and so am fine with the way the mail program works but some corporate users cannot access their home systems unless they are bounced in some way.

That is a pretty short list for a new device. I am sure there are things that will come up as I use it. But based on discussions with the developer community I expect that in six months many of the issues I have not thought of will be handled.

#4 - Other comments - Some have suggested that a removable battery and memory upgrade would be useful. I have commented on the battery issue earlier (I think it is a non-issue) but the upgrade depends on what one will use the device for - I think I will not drop my laptop - so memory here means simply that issues like being able to load my 80 gig iPod on to my phone is not an issue. But some quibblers might argue differently.

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