The day after Apple Inc. launched its new iPhone, Padmasree Warrior, Motorola Inc.'s chief technology officer, wrote on her blog on Motorola's corporate Web site that she is a fan of Apple's creativity and that she liked the cellphone's new look.
Then Ms. Warrior, whose company is the largest U.S. cellphone maker, began to find fault with the iPhone, saying it lacks "revolutionary or disruptive" technologies. "As worshippers come out of the heady, enthralling, grandstand production called Macworld, the hype settles and reality sets in," she wrote.
Following the largely positive response immediately after iPhone's announcement last week, business rivals such as Motorola and an array of other critics are starting to question some aspects of the product. The main flaw cited initially by critics was the pricing for the phone, which starts at $499 with a two-year service contract.
Wall Street loved the device, in development for more than two years. Investors pushed Apple's shares up by $7.10, or 8.3%, to $92.57 on the announcement news on Jan. 10.
The iPhone won't hit the market until June and few outside Apple have even held it in their hands, making much of the discussion theoretical at this point. Apple has seen it all before: When Apple's iPod digital music player made its debut in 2001, people criticized the device for being unoriginal before it turned into a hit with consumers.
Even so, the iPhone has become a popular topic. Detractors and fans are going toe to toe on online forums. Much of the latest criticism is zooming in on Apple's choice of technologies to use with the new phone and its decision to partner exclusively with AT&T Inc.'s Cingular Wireless, which is being rebranded as AT&T.
For example, the iPhone won't use the fastest wireless Internet connection available, relying on so-called second-generation, or 2G, rather than faster 3G networks now being rolled out by major wireless carriers. Because of this, industry experts expect features of the iPhone such as Web browsing and downloading not to be very fast.
Tim Cook, Apple's chief operating officer, said during a conference call with analysts yesterday the company is sold on Cingular's 2G EDGE network because "it's much more widespread and widely deployed in the U.S." Mr. Cook didn't comment on whether Apple will eventually support 3G but said, "Obviously we would be where the technology is over time." Some people refer to EDGE as 2.5G.
Slow downloading speeds could affect other built-in iPhone features, such as Google Map and Yahoo Mail applications, critics have said. Adam Sexton, the chief marketing officer of Groove Mobile, a start-up that helps carriers such as Sprint Nextel Corp. -- a rival of Apple partner AT&T Inc. -- to run their mobile music services, says that the network chosen by Apple is too slow to accommodate some content services.
An Apple spokeswoman said the company chose Cingular because "it's the best and the most popular carrier in the U.S." with 58.7 million customers. Cingular said it expects iPhone users not to rely solely on its wireless network but also to use the device at Wi-Fi hotspots -- short-range wireless Internet connections available at airports, hotels and coffee shops and even some cities. Wi-Fi networks offer much faster connection than standard wireless networks and even 3G networks.
Apple's exclusive partnership with Cingular as its U.S. service provider irks some customers of other carriers. The iPhone will be available to Cingular customers only when they sign a new two-year service contract. Cingular said it hopes the new handset will help it attract high-end customers who are also willing to pay extra to access the Internet and other entertainment content to be available on the iPhone.
Some bloggers said they are considering switching to Cingular from their current carriers because of the iPhone. In a response to an iPhone post on the widely read technology blog TechCrunch, a reader named Ken Rossi wrote, "I might have to figure out a way to get out of it to get my number moved to Cingular."
Cingular spokesman Mark Siegel said some of the negative comments regarding the iPhone are "a transparent attempt by our competitors to undermine one of the most significant developments ever in the wireless industry."
What will be missing from Apple's iPhone -- in spite of its cooperation with Cingular -- is Media Net, Cingular's wireless portal, where phone users can browse the Web and buy ringtones and games. Mr. Siegel declined to comment on what kind of features will eventually be available on the iPhone.
Regarding questions about whether iPhone users will be able to download ringtones, games or music over the air, the Apple spokeswoman said that the company hasn't announced that level of detail. But iPhone users will download music the same way they do on their iPod: By buying music on a personal computer then synching it to the iPhone. The spokeswoman declined to comment on the posting by Ms. Warrior on the Motorola site.
Ms. Warrior couldn't be reached for comment. Motorola has some experience dealing with Apple. Motorola's ROKR cellphone plays Apple's iTunes music, but it hasn't sold well and has been faulted by gadget watchers for its lack of memory capacity to store downloads.
A Motorola spokeswoman said Motorola will continue to make handsets with built-in Apple iTunes application. In response to iPhone's debut, she said, "we offer not just one phone, not just one partner -- but an entire ecosystem of music offerings."
Posts
