This post was not planned, but I have to write about it. The only reason I am not buying the iPhone 4 is the price. Today, watching the Apple presentation from 1st of September, got another confirmation. The new iPod Touch 32GB, that even Steve Jobs calls an iPhone without the phone and seems to have the exact same hardware of the iPhone, costs (in Italy) 309 Euros. The iPhone4 on the other hand 32GB costs 779 Euro, so 479 Euro for the Skyworks SKY77541/42 GSM module. That's why I hate marketing people: they decide. If they say the product will sell for that much that will be the price, but if you pass on the excitement of having a "cool" gadget you realize it doesn't worth the money. So I guess I will buy an iPod Touch for development and debugging.
P.S. Microsoft should be careful and react fast cause they are completely loosing a market on which they had some shares (that would be the PDA without a phone). The devices are still widely used (especially for restaurants) and will be used for gaming, apps. The iPod Touch is not only music anymore. Again Microsoft will have to choose a name for the OS because Windows Phone 7 without a phone it would be Windows 7 :) which is not the best choice. They've changed so many time the name of the mobile OS so one more won't count. Anyway a Windows Phone 7 without a phone makes a lot of sense to me
NAMASTE
There is also the GPS inside iPhone4. Anyway doesn't justify 479 Euro of difference.
ReplyDeleteThere are a couple of things besides the cell phone chip set and GPS receiver that contribute to the cost -- there's the chunky 5MP camera on the iPhone, the special glass backing, the noise cancelling mic on top and, the biggest factor I suspect, a battery that is around 40% bigger (because the 3G radio really saps the battery).
ReplyDeleteThat doesn't totally account for the massive jump in price, but it probably accounts for a lot of it. Also, I guess the phone companies appreciate having the ability to subsidize the phone in a meaningful way (to sell contracts).
Thanks for the details Adrian. I'll buy the iPod for development and WP7 for phone use and development.
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