iPhone - From Announcement To Launch

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After the launch, from June 29th onwards...

June 28th

• Welcome to Planet Apple (feature article on BusinessWeek) - choice quote: "Consumers don't buy platforms".
• Britain's Vodafone rides high on iPhone hopes VOD.L stock climbed to 168.7p, highest in 5 years.
• Internal Apple Stevenote: iPhone, iPods with OS X, and "off the charts" Macs in the pipeline - Steve briefs the troops, on what is sure to have been a very interesting moment in Apple's history.

June 27th

• As the IPhone Launch Nears, the Wireless Industry Needs a Clue - no kidding?
• Consensus: The iPhone Scorecard - Valleywag condenses the initial reviews
  
• Testing Out the iPhone Walt Mossberg's column, wherein the following table was originally published
  
• The iPhone Matches Most of Its Hype - David Pogue, also starring on a hilarious video.
• Apple's iPhone: Revolutionary design with a few misses (San Diego Transcript column)

June 26th

With impeccable timing, the first reviews appear all over the press

• iPhone facts from the first reviews - a round-up
• At Last, the iPhone. - Levy, for Newsweek.
• Apple's iPhone isn't perfect, but it's worthy of the hype - includes a neat summary of tariff plans.
• The iPhone Is a Breakthrough Handheld Computer Walt Mossberg's review, probably the most quoted piece.
• Apple iPhone Hype Machine in Overdrive

As well as a few rumors

• Vodafone back in front as likely European network for iPhone.
• Investors pick up Vodafone over hopes of Apple deal.

June 25th

The Washington Post publishes a hilarious comic:

June 21st

• Apple posts the fifth iPhone ad - "Surprised"

June 20th

The Onion posts an iPhone infographic:

• Shaw Wu Predicts Cheaper iPhones Sometime Later - which took only 4 months to happen.

June 19th

• What is driving the iPhone hype? - doesn't think the iPhone will be revolutionary. Hmmm.
• Rumor: Nintendo Working on iPhone Games - probably the stupidest rumor concerning iPhone games, ever.

June 18th

• iPhone Delivers Up to Eight Hours of Talk Time - Apple announces revised battery life figures, AAPL climbs $3.
• How Big Will The iPhone Be? - BusinessWeek on the mad climb of AAPL.
• iPhone Europe negotations still underway

June 22nd

• iPhone Ringtone "Marimba" - Good-quality Marimba samples start appearing on the web, in "MP3":Audio/MP3 and other formats. (mind the "ActiveX":ActiveX junk on the page, though).

June 20th

• Apple's New iPhone - The Onion publishes the hilarious infographic above.

June 12th

• 5 ways iPhone will change the wireless biz.

June 11th

Steve announces that there will be no iPhone SDK at the WWDC keynote, and states that developers should focus on delivering Web 2.0 apps atop the Safari engine.

Extremely polarized debate erupts on the Internet.

• iPhone to Support Third-Party Web 2.0 Applications - Apple's PR.

June 8th

• iPhone Hysterics - a drop of perspective in an ocean of hype.

June 9th

• iPhone details uncovered in Sales Training Workbook - no MMS, no 'conventional' mobile service functionality other than SMS and EDGE data (which is, of course, unavailable when making a call). No GPS, either (of course, it was all wishful thinking).
• iPhone Details from AT&T's Sales Training Workbook - several scanned pages.

June 7th

• Lessons from Apple and The Third Act appear on The Economist.
• Apple publishes the fourth iPhone ad demoing the built-in Safari browser, with the best sales pitch possible: This is not a watered-down version of the Internet. Or the "mobile" version of the Internet. Or the "kinda sorta looks like the Internet" Internet. It's just the Internet.

June 6th

• iPhone: Using Cell Towers for Positioning? - Gruber speculates, and it doesn't work out very well..

June 4th

The TV campaign starts in the US, mentioning the June 29th release date. Everyone goes nuts again.

• iPhone Data to be Boosted by AT&T's Operation "Fine Edge" - capacity planning hits the mainstream.
• Rumor: Apple to release iPhone SDK at WWDC - yet more rumors that would not pan out.
• iPhone to get software development kit at WWDC?
• Zaprudering the iPhone commercials: email - people start poring over the TV ads.

June 2nd

• Why Apple won't sell 10 million iPhones in 2008 - one to remember.

June 1st

• iPhone SDK, iPhone SDK! Wherefore Art Thou iPhone SDK? - Gruber rounds up most of the speculation regarding third-party apps on the iPhone and gives it a thorough trashing.

May 29th

• Rumor: Quanta to produce iPhone with new design - another unreliable rumor.

May 28th

• Why you won't be buying an iPhone-like iPod anytime soon - of course, it took only four months for the iPod Touch to be launched (just goes to show you the accuracy of this kind of piece)

May 26th

• iPhone release date bingo: which date will be THE date? - this seems so silly with hindsight.

May 25th

• CNBC Says iPhone on June 20th (Plus Other Guesses with Unreliable Sources)

May 23rd

• Customers quietly queuing up for iPhones

May 21st

• AT&T eager to wield its iWeapon - in which the 5-year exclusive US distribution rights agreement is mentioned.

May 17th

• iPhone advertising awarded to agency behind iPod campaigns, TBWA.
• iPhone gets FCC stamp of approval
• FCC approval (via Slashdot)
• FCC "thinks different," grants approval to Apple iPhone.
• Study: Half of iPod owners open to iPhone as next mobile phone - otherwise meaningless except for it apparently being an European study. And even then...

May 16th

A landmark day. Engadget puts their foot in it, by posting a rumor stating that the iPhone and Leopard are both late. They try to redact the mess away, but Apple stock takes a dive (3%) - proof positive that the Hype cycle is completely out of control.

• My Take on Engadget's 4 Billion Dollar iPhone Mistake
• Fake Memo Roils Apple Stock; Investors Call for SEC Probe
• Engadget sends Apple stock plunging on iPhone rumor
• Apple Has a Worm! No, Wait... Cancel the Worm!
• Don't believe everything you hear: iPhone and Leopard NOT delayed
• False alarm: iPhone NOT delayed until October, Leopard NOT delayed again until Januar - redacted several times during the day.

May 15th

• Nokia hopes Apple iPhone will boost market

May 14th

• Apple still undecided about third-party iPhone development - of course, Steve soon settled that.
• AT&T: iPhone pre-sales will not be allowed
• Nokia says iPhone may boost pricier phones

May 11th

• T-Mobile pulling ahead in race to become European iPhone carrier - stuff I will never be able to confirm or deny.
• Apple iPhone: more secrets revealed - more speculation on third-party apps.

May 8th

• Apple: Huge iPhone Demand In Sight - more analyst input. Or output. Or whatever.

May 1st

• iOuija - a roundup of sales predictions of sorts.

April 25th

• iPhone good for business - the idiotic argument about whether or not the iPhone is suitable as a business phone, mostly led by people who (shockingly) have their own ideas about what business phones should look like.
• iPhone Q&A for AT&T employees - internal front line sales memos (or facsimiles thereof), the usual kind of generic info operators issue to their shops (which Infinite Loop picks up and mulls over)

April 19th

• Source: iPhone running into OS issues, won't meet demand. Ah well.
• Source: iPhone Either Getting Delayed or Will Have Thin Launch. Don't you just love the way "sources" make sites link to each other?
• Apple iPhone Non-News Posts Are Annoying - Gizmodo realizes their mistake.

April 18th

• Road to Apple/Cisco iPhone compatibility leading through VoIP?. Considering that the iPhone has EDGE as baseline connectivity when away from Wi-Fi, I rate this one as "pie-in-the-sky" material.

April 17th

• Apple seriously considering iPhone rebate, subsidy - report - mere rumors, basically, but not unfeasible considering the way the handset market works.
• iPhone in flux - trying to pin the donkey's tail, basically.

April 12th

• Apple announces that it had to re-allocate "key software engineering and QA resources" to the iPhone project, and that that will have an impact on Leopard's release date (now pushed to Fall 2007)

April 5th

• Balda: The iPhone's German Accent - BusinessWeek write-up on the German firm that manufactures the touchscreen

April 4th

• Steve Jobs talking on an iPhone tucked in his front pocket - or so they say.

April 3rd

• Comparing Apples to Apples. Statistics, which may or not be meaningless.

March 30th

• iPhone release allegedly "confirmed" for June 11, then not confirmed - don't you just love rumors?

March 29th

• Apple should pull the plug on the iPhone - Jonh Dvorak, being his usual spoilsport self.
• Apple's iPhone will be released on June 11 - and here begins the "it will be at the WWDC" saga. Thousands of Mac developers pay the exorbitant entry fee in hope of getting one for their troubles.

March 12th

• Vodafone to be iPhone’s European Carrier? - more rumors.

March 9th

• Apple may have trouble selling 10 million Phones in 2008

March 8th

• Beware Apple's iPhone Froth - Forbes tries to match apples and oranges, mostly glossing over the world outside the US.
• Palm Responds to the iPhone - by hiring people just as they start making open moves to sell the entire company. Consistency at its best.

February 26th

• Hey, Apple: Remember the Newton before releasing iPhone - by now, all other critics had caught up to this line.
• Goldman: iPhone to drive 'next big growth phase' for Apple - ah, analysts. Everything's big with them (see also Infinite Loop on this).

February 25th

• Apple airs the first TV ad during the Oscars - "Hello".
• iPhone rumors: earlier in Europe, 3G in early 2008, ringtones - title says it all.

February 22nd

• Apple and Cisco share iPhone name.

February 19th

• The iPhone Highlights The Difference Between Invention And Innovation - again, it's not what you do, is how you put it together.

February 17th

• How Steve Jobs Played Hardball In iPhone Birth - great background piece.

February 16th

• Battle for iPhone . . . Happy Ending? - an update on the trademark tussles.

February 9th

• Apple Embraces Casual Gaming - BusinessWeek on iPod games, Electronic Arts and speculation on iPhone ones.

January 29th

• Verizon kicked Apple out of bed over iPhone deal
• Impact of the Apple iPhone - a cogent analysis by Michael Mace.

January 25th

• Report: Apple iPhone Not a Smartphone - sanity then ensued as follows: "Precisely what we call it means little to the consumers that will ultimately be purchasing the product. Names and labels mean nothing; what really matters is the bottom-line functionality of a given device and its ability to meet specific end-user needs."

January 23rd

• "iPhone" searches outpace "iPod" searches - figures.
• Apple Turning Cell Phone Market Upside Down? - the rumors of Cingular heavily discounting service fees to acquire customers hit the proverbial fan.

January 19th

• The iPhone User Experience: A First Look - Tog weighs in on the UI paradigms underlying it with his usual panache (via Infinite Loop's summary).

January 18th

• You could call iPhone perfect - The Chicago Sun-Times echoes the overall impression of a "liquid" UI.
• Apple Ushers in Era of the Fluid UI - Om on the way UIs have become more fluid and context-aware.
• Apple may see 50 percent margin on each iPhone sale - "guesstimates" on the iPhone internals' cost. I still think they're vastly undervaluing the screen and that they have no idea of how phone hardware works.
• Will iPhone create a new dominant design in mobile user interfaces? - in which Christian Lindholm classifies "a phone" as "a one hand operated device which can be used while moving", a view I have long espoused when debating smartphones.

January 15th

• Apple iPhone Will Fail in a Late, Defensive Move: Matthew Lynn - only time will tell, but analysts ought to know not to stick their necks out too far either way...

January 14th

• 10 Ways The Nokia N800 Is Better Than Apple’s iPhone - again, people miss the point and do direct comparisons. My favorite is the "video conferencing", which is utterly non-standard on the N800.
• Want an iPhone? Beware the iHandcuffs - Ought to be tagged as "flamebait" as well (via Slashdot.
• Saturday Night Live Parody Video - two billion songs, twenty-minute battery life. Great parody.

January 13th

• Jobs: No Java for you - on the Java bloat angle.
• Ultimate iPhone FAQs List, Part 2
• Why can't you add software to the iPhone? Because of Windows. - again, Michael Mace makes sense, but not in the way you expect him to judging from the title.
• iPhone Mockups parodying it in several ways.
• Amazon.de iPhone Pre-Order Page - Eur. 999 for the 8GB model (via John Gruber).
• iPhone Not Running OS X - tagged as "wrong, troll, flamebait, lame, clueless", but linking to the Samsung ARM core documentation.
• Skin your WM5 Pocket PC to look like the iPhone, get sued by Apple - copycats beware. I hope they come up with a decent Pearl skin, though.

January 12th

• Cisco on brink of losing iPhone name in Europe
• Conan O'Brien Mock Commercial Video for the iPhone - via Gizmodo
• Cisco lost rights to iPhone trademark last year, experts say (via Engadget, a day later)

January 11th

• Top 7 iPhone Questions Steve Jobs Doesn't Want You To Ask - astroturfing at its best.
• What About the Apple iPhone Camera? - interesting speculation, considering nobody got their hands on the device yet.
• In Japan, barely a ripple - they've had this sort of thing for years, which isn't news to anyone in the business. But even they have trouble with UIs.
• Apple swipes Visual Voicemail from Citrix - more trademark stuff, dredged up by The Register.
• iPhone Countdown to June - The folding PDF is... amazing.

January 10th

Also known as "trademark lawsuit day".

• How Apple kept its iPhone secrets - think Manhattan Project, but with a virtual bang.
• Commentary from Mark Chandler, Cisco's SVP on the trademark issues.
• Cisco sues Apple over use of iPhone trademark
• Cisco's press release on the trademark infringment lawsuit.
• iLawsuit!
• iPhone Thoughts Part 2 - Russel Buckley weighs in.
• Apple iPhone (Hands-On) - via Hawk Wings.
• iPhone release date in the UK - unconfirmed, of course.
• Steve's devices - "It's hard to imagine the pleasure Steve Jobs must receive from singlehandedly upstaging the entire Consumer Electronics Show".

January 9th

Announcement day - All hell breaks loose.

• Steve Jobs on CNBC - Steve at his best.
• Nokia responds to Apple iPhone - 'it is a surprise that the iPhone is not 3G' - Nokia's rep at CES, upstaged by Steve
• Apple's New Calling: The iPhone -TIME magazine.
• Impact of the Apple iPhone - the most cogent article yet covering the mobile industry angle, by Rubicon Consulting's Michael Mace.
• iPhone: but what happened to the "will fail" prediction?
• Enter the iPhone: Apple finally releases long-rumoured iPod cameraphone - the Europe angle, wherein the importance of proper texting is explained.
• Finally, the iPhone - Carlo Longino weighs in.
• iPhone and the End of PC Era - Om Malik's opinion.
• Move On, Rumormongers: The iPhone Is Finally Real - Techdirt weighs in, with the first mention of the Newton.
• Some Hands-On Time With the iPhone - David Pogue's impressions.
• Apple iPhone: The Specs & Official Press Release - Notable content tie-ins: both Google and Yahoo search, Yahoo mail, Google maps.
• Stephen Colbert “Flaccid with Rage” over iPhone - via Apple Gazette. If it hits Comedy Central, you know you've got it made.

Previously, in the early years...