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iPhone Nano To Be Launched By Christmas?

Posted by ScuttleMonkey on Mon Aug 04, 2008 04:11 PM
from the wild-rumor-mongering-is-good-for-the-soul dept.
Communications Portables (Apple) Hardware
the-s-dog writes writes to mention that while there have been many people wishing on a star for an iPhone nano, it seems that at least one UK news pub is confident that it will happen, and in time for this Christmas no less. Still completely unfounded rumor, but an interesting possibility. "Apple is about to launch a 'nano' version of the hugely successful iPhone. It is expected to be in the shops in time for Christmas. The product will be launched in the UK at up to £150 for pay-as-you-go customers by O2, the mobile phone group owned by Spain's Telefonica. 'This will be a big one,' said an industry source."
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Submission: iPhone Nano to be Launched by Christmas by the-s-dog (1305457)
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  • iPhone Slider (Score:4, Insightful)

    by e03179 (578506) on Monday August 04 2008, @04:12PM (#24472827) Homepage

    When does the iPhone Slider with QWERTY keyboard launch?

    • Insider knowledge... (Score:3, Funny)

      by Anonymous Coward
      The new iPhone nano will not include a qwerty keyboard, as the new form factor would not allow it. I'm posting anon for obvious reasons, but as an Apple insider I will inform you that there is "slider" technology -- you see, the new form factor is a closely-guarded secret because it will be the must-have gadget of all Apple fans: it's a butt-plug! Yes, the gadget which all Mac users secretly desire but were afraid to ask for. What did you think they wanted to do? Pick up WOMEN? The female Maccies could simp

    • Re: (Score:3, Interesting)

      by StreetStealth (980200)

      If Apple ever does offer an iPhone with a physical keyboard, it won't be a new version of the phone, and it definitely won't have hinges, slides, or latches.

      It will be an accessory. Most likely a minimalist Bluetooth-based slab that you set out on the desk.

    • iPhone Femto and iPhone Shuffle (Score:5, Funny)

      by goombah99 (560566) on Monday August 04 2008, @05:30PM (#24473835)

      iPhone Shuffle: Just drunk dials from your address list. Switch setting to dial in order or random.

      iPhone Femto: So small no one but smart people can see it. And you don't have to speak. You just imagine the conversation.

      • iPhone one-button (Score:5, Funny)

        by goombah99 (560566) on Monday August 04 2008, @05:34PM (#24473869)

        iPhone one-button: just a button and 15 digit numeric display. You dial it by setting it like you would a digital alarm clock. Just hold the button down while the digits count up, stop when it gets to the number you want to dial. If you miss, you gotta go around again.

    • Re:iPhone Slider (Score:5, Informative)

      by Fross (83754) on Monday August 04 2008, @05:43PM (#24473963) Homepage

      As soon as you try the current iPhone keyboard for more than 10 minutes and see it actually is REALLY good.

      As a long-time Treo 600/650 user I was really sceptical about not having a proper keyboard, but the fact is that I (and everyone I know who has tried it for a while) got used to it surprisingly quickly, 3 days at most I'd say, and now can type on it about as fast as I could my Treo. At first the predictive text (which I have to say is better than most) helped, but now I simply don't make that many mistakes.

      Comments implying it's unusable without a physical keyboard just perpetuate the fallacy that there is no other alternative. There's just stubborn people, the same ones who last generation refused to adapt to touch-tone phones, broadband, automatic gearboxes, digital synths, electric shavers, you name it. Welcome to being a Grumpy Old Man ;)

      • Re: (Score:3, Insightful)

        by bluemonq (812827)

        Had an iPhone for a 8 months. Sold it, got a Blackberry Curve instead. The problem with the keyboard is not that it's unusable. I can type out words with it: usable. The problem is the lack of feedback, which leads me to pressing much harder than I need to, which leads to sore thumbs after more than just a few text messages. And I don't like that clicking noise either.

        • Re:iPhone Slider (Score:5, Funny)

          by Yahweh Doesn't Exist (906833) on Monday August 04 2008, @08:24PM (#24475231)

          "Had an iPhone for a 8 months ... The problem with the keyboard is ... [it] leads me to pressing much harder than I need to, which leads to sore thumbs after more than just a few text messages."

          let me get this straight, you claim the problem with the iPhone is that 8 months was insufficient time for you to learn to stop pressing so hard that it causes you physical pain!?

          I don't think Apple is to blame for you having less capacity for learning than a pet.

          reductio: I have the same problem with silent desktop keyboards. there's no sound to let me know when to stop pressing so by the end of the day I'm just pounding my bloody fists through the table just to hear the click of my shattered bones rattling about.

          • Re:iPhone Slider (Score:5, Funny)

            by Yvan256 (722131) on Monday August 04 2008, @11:42PM (#24476377) Homepage Journal

            So it was you [photobucket.com] all along!

          • Re: (Score:3, Informative)

            by SerpentMage (13390)

            The lack of tactile feedback is actually as user interface issue. Humans do need tactile feedback as it is something that tells the mind to STOP pushing or doing something.

            By saying, "oh this is not Apple's fault, but your own" is being a typical Apple drone where if it does not work then something is wrong with you. Guess what people Apple is not the end, just another solution.

            BTW one of the reasons you need a keyboard is that a keyboard with its tactile feedback requires less accuracy than say a keyboard

      • P.S. I use touch-tone phones, I have had broadband for over a decade, my car has automatic transmission, there is a digital synth in the room I'm in right now, and I haven't used a safety blade to shave my face for at least 20 years.

        However, I still like tactile feedback so that I can push buttons without looking. That doesn't make me old and unadaptable, that just means I have a preference that a touch-screen device does not meet.

  • Oh, how user friendly! (Score:4, Insightful)

    by Major Blud (789630) on Monday August 04 2008, @04:15PM (#24472871) Homepage
    "One expert suggested the nano phone would have a touch wheel on the back and display on the front so that numbers would be dialled from behind." I can't even fathom how hard it would be to try to use something like this. If this were the case, it would mean that there is no touchscreen, otherwise you would just dial directly from the screen. This is a rumour that I expect will never come to fruition, given the current price of the 3G.

    • Re:Oh, how user friendly! (Score:5, Funny)

      by p0tat03 (985078) on Monday August 04 2008, @04:19PM (#24472945)
      Not to self: Never let financial market speculators design a phone. Clearly they are retarded in this respect.

    • Re: (Score:3, Insightful)

      by Vectronic (1221470)

      I dunno, depending on the size, position, etc. I could see that being really easy...

      Move finger/wheel up for higher digit, down for lower digit, one tap for "Next Digit" two taps for Dial, but it would work a lot better with a "real" wheel, like a mouse wheel where it has that resistance between each scroll/click.

      You could dial, while the phone is already next to your ear, dial without even looking at it, dial while looking at the screen (instead of it being covered by your finger) etc.

      • Re: (Score:3, Interesting)

        by PacoCheezdom (615361)
        Or, you could use a touch-wheel to dial a phone number like ... a rotary phone dial! It would be such a novel concept.

      • Re:Oh, how user friendly! (Score:5, Funny)

        by davidlowie (634713) on Monday August 04 2008, @05:14PM (#24473655)
        How about a dial with numbers 0-9 on it, with small holes next to each number. To input a particular number you would place the included stylus into the corresponding hole, then turn the dial clockwise until it stops. Upon releasing the stylus, the dial will return to its resting position, and your chosen digit will appear on the screen.
    • Geez...with the price drop, it isn't that expensive anymore.

      From what I see on the 'nano' version of the phone, from the description, why would anyone want one? Sounds just like a normal phone...not a smartphone, which is what makes the iPhone interesting. And smart phones can only get just so inexpensive....

    • I imagine whatever guy in the office came up with this rumour decided to throw in some of (Microsoft's?) "see-thru tablet PC" idea for good measure.

    • People really love this touch sensitive back idea. It seems like it would be a good contender for the worst UI ever. And seeing as how I can't think of a single successful device that uses that system....

    • Maybe apple is bringing back rotary dialing. You spin the click wheel on the back and the dial spins on the screen on the front. Hopefully it will make all the clicking sounds that those old phones did.

  • Move along, nothing to see here (Score:5, Insightful)

    by Sockatume (732728) on Monday August 04 2008, @04:15PM (#24472881) Homepage
    It's the Daily Mail, FFS. They're as gullible as they are deranged.

  • Au contraire, mon frere (Score:5, Funny)

    by Red Flayer (890720) on Monday August 04 2008, @04:20PM (#24472955) Journal

    'This will be a big one,' said an industry source."

    No. It will be a tiny, tiny, tiny one. One billionth the size of an iPhone. So small you will need a stylus the width of just a few carbon atoms in order to dial out.*

    It is, after all, an iPhone nano.

    *But that's ok, you can compensate for the tininess of your stylus by the smugness of owning the latest and greatest Apple offering.

    • So small you will need a stylus the width of just a few carbon atoms in order to dial out.

      Dude, next time you shrink yourself, make sure you hold on to the iPhone when you make yourself big again. After all, that instruction manual^W^W iPhone is irreplaceable!

      Now go put your red suit away.

  • So iPhone Shuffle is next? (Score:5, Funny)

    by tjansen (2845) on Monday August 04 2008, @04:23PM (#24472991) Homepage

    No display, and dials random numbers.

  • This might once have been possible (Score:4, Insightful)

    by StreetStealth (980200) on Monday August 04 2008, @04:27PM (#24473055) Journal

    Before Apple had announced the SDK, an iPhone Nano might have been a possibility. The mockups of an abbreviated Apple Touch interface floating around hint at the plausibility of getting the basics of the iPhone UI into a smaller package.

    Post-SDK, however, there's no way that's going to happen. The varying hardware feature set (camera, microphone, etc.) between the iPhone and iPod Touch are already diverse enough to make software marketing a bit dicey, but I can't see Apple introducing a major new variation to the UI for smaller screens along with a whole new set of targeting constraints for developers.

    Perhaps there is yet one way an iPhone Nano could exist: No App Store compatibility.

    • Sounds plausible to me. One of the big draws of the iPhone is its selection of apps, and they wouldn't want to cannibalise that. An iPhone Nano which just came with the iPod, phone book, and web browser features would be nice and distinct.

    • Re:This might once have been possible (Score:5, Interesting)

      by p0tat03 (985078) on Monday August 04 2008, @04:54PM (#24473411)

      The varying hardware feature set (camera, microphone, etc.) between the iPhone and iPod Touch are already diverse enough to make software marketing a bit dicey

      If you poke around the API you will find that Apple has included ways to check the existence of various hardware capabilities (as well as network connectivity). Presumably they've already thought about devices that support different hardware profiles. For example, it is ill-advised to try and initialize the camera without first checking if it is available.

      but I can't see Apple introducing a major new variation to the UI for smaller screens along with a whole new set of targeting constraints for developers.

      Doubtful they will, but the same UI will work at different resolutions and screen sizes. I suspect the people who have hard-coded the screen width into their apps will be screwed at SOME point.

    • Re:This might once have been possible (Score:5, Interesting)

      by LWATCDR (28044) on Monday August 04 2008, @05:10PM (#24473615) Homepage Journal

      One has to ponder the idea that the next IPod Touch might come with a camera and maybe a GPS.
      Why not make your touch your camera as well. A camera on a media player isn't any dumber than on a cell phone.

  • What it really needs is a bottle opener - seriously apple, get on it.

  • If it looks like it, and smells like it ... (Score:5, Insightful)

    by wpanderson (67273) on Monday August 04 2008, @04:30PM (#24473115)

    Techcrunch reckons this is bullshit meant to drive traffic [techcrunch.com]. I'm inclined to agree.

  • for the iPhone Flea [gizmodo.com]

    One song and 5 phone numbers - that's all I need.

  • This isn't news. It's rumor and speculation with absolutely no source cited. For shame, Slashdot...

  • In Other News (Score:5, Funny)

    by Chris_Rank (762224) <crankNO@SPAMpushhere.com> on Monday August 04 2008, @04:53PM (#24473405) Homepage
    Apple is also coming out with the iUnicorn 6G and (Now with Horn!) it will be ridable, require no feeding, able to fly, and it will shoot rainbows out of it ass while it cures cancer and AIDS in the onlookers below. Look for the iUnicorn 6G in Apple Stables starting this Christmas for a starting price of 299, 399 with glitter.

  • The Daily Mail?! (Score:5, Informative)

    by Peregr1n (904456) <ian.a.ferguson@gmail.com> on Monday August 04 2008, @05:04PM (#24473531) Homepage
    Oh for Christ's sake - when will Slashdotters learn, the Daily Mail is nothing more than a comic? I realise most contributors here are American and can't be expected to know the wide ranging differences between British news rags, but our tabloids like the Mail can be trusted as far as you can throw a UFO. If an 'inside source' really did leak this story, and nowhere else but the Daily Mail has reported it, it's because everyone else has laughed the source out of the door.

  • Viral advertising posing as news (Score:5, Informative)

    by spleen_blender (949762) on Monday August 04 2008, @05:47PM (#24474017)
    This "article" is advertising. Why the hell would you give apple free advertising on the front page. At least MS pays for a banner. Keep your guard up people, advertisers spend about as much money as the government on psychological studies of the public so they know how to get under the radar of most people.

    • Re: (Score:3, Interesting)

      by DerekSTheRed (1292084)
      I have a blackberry and my wife has an iPhone. I am very jealous of her iPhone. The speed of the internet alone makes me want to dump my blackberry and get a new 3G.

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