iPhone Bytes

In which I contemplate losing fingers, discover the significance of the number 0.09, and ponder the philosophical question of iLife and iDeath. That is to say, can the iPhone be killed?

Winter iPhone Blues
My first question for you is: how do you use an iPhone with gloves on? Considering the refreshing weather we had this past weekend in New England, I was faced with a choice no mortal should have to make—do I use the gloves or the iPhone?

Here’s a tip: between nifty gadgets and warm extremities, always choose the extremities. Some people are (seriously) recommending that you use your nose to control the iPhone.

Downloading in iPhone’s Safari
Now this is something I’ve wanted for ages—the ability to download pages and files on the Internet from Safari. That’s why we keep a fantastic developer community on the payroll here in Internet-land (for the low, low price of free)—to scratch our (technical) itch. The instructions are available courtesy of Erica at TUAW (who links to hackint0sh.org for details). Quite brilliant.

0.09%
No that’s not the iPod HiFi market share (they wish!); it is the percentage of users on the Internet that are using the iPhone to browse, according to Net Applications. That is more than Windows Mobile and Symbian combined. Of course, these kinds of Internet stats are enormously unreliable, but statistics that suit a journalist’s story are never to be questioned. Never!

Google Apps
Google has been putting out a lot of Mac-related—and especially iPhone-related—software and services lately. Google Calendar now looks really good on the iPhone, as does GMail and the Google home page.

The really interesting announcement from them, however, was a web site where they showcase all of their Apple-related free software. These are not “official” Google products, but little pieces of software that their employees have worked on. Telekinesis and iPhone Disk are especially interesting for iPhone users.

Attack of the iClones
iPhone clones (iClones!) are marching in to the market, as expected. Of course, the real question is when will the media start referring to them as “iPhone killers?” You know it is inevitable. Microsoft to launch iPhone killer, the headlines will scream. Followed by Microsoft to launch another iPhone killer. And so on.

Nokia, the iTunes Killer
Of course, the old “killers” are still on the loose. Nokia is simultaneously releasing an iPhone clone and taking on iTunes. The iClone is still on the drawing board, but the iTunes competitor is actually a pretty good idea. Nokia has partnered with Universal music to allow buyers of certain handsets to download music from any artist on the Universal catalog for free. Two catches, of course—it’s DRM-infected and the deal is only valid for a year.

Of course, the business model of this deal is a fantastic way of the future. Let service provider A (preferably) or device manufacturer B negotiate blanket deals with music publishers and let us consumers have an all-you-can-eat download-fest for as long as we are customers of A or B. This way, innovation in P2P and other technologies is not hindered and we all pay a one-time music “tax” to our service providers to download (from anywhere) in peace. Of course, that’s the topic for a future article.

Enough about the iPhone, already? Well, you can recall my tips from June about extraordinary ways to avoid the iPhone hype. Let me know if you succeed.