Apple’s iPhone - What’s Missing?

It’s about time. Apple is releasing their iPhone in June, which should hopefully give other phone manufacturers a serious kick in the ass. This thing is going to sell like crazy, and should hopefully bring on a wave of nicely designed, intuitive, and useful phones.

The iPhone packs a lot into its diminutive case, which is almost as thin as the Moto Q, including Mac OS X, but what is it missing that would make this the killer gadget? Some suggestions, in no particular order:

GPS - This would make the Google Maps app included on the iPhone absolutely invaluable, and would position Apple to compete with Garmin and TomTom in the GPS space.
Two-way syncing - This wasn’t mentioned in the keynote, but I’m hoping that pictures and movies taken with the iPhone will be able to be imported into iPhoto. This would open the door to a few other things, including the possibility of being able to download podcasts and other iTunes Store content on the go. It has WiFi, so why not?
Instant Messaging - How was this not included? If they’re going to base features on the phone on “always on” connectivity, then what’s stopping them from including iChat or other instant messaging apps. Adium would rock on this thing.
Third-party Apps - So they’re saying that this thing is running OS X as its operating system, but obviously it’s a stripped down version, kind of like Windows Mobile. Will I then be able to drag and drop apps onto my iPhone just as easily as I can with my Mac? Skype, anyone?
iCal - Another curiously absent application not shown was iCal. I’m thinking that the iPhone will have to include it, and that it just hadn’t been totally fleshed out yet. Woops, I just missed it.
Wireless Sync - Wifi, check. Bluetooth, check. The option to wirelessly sync without a cable would be great, but I can’t see this happening. Ultimately, people are going to have to charge the thing, and while syncing is probably the best time to do it.

I’m delighted to see what they’ve done with this gadget though. It’s going to bring some much needed life into the mobile space. Any bets on how long it will take Microsoft to release a similar, yet highly marginalized version?

January 9, 2007 | Filed Under Uncategorized