While recent Apple rumors have mostly fixated on Apple’s chance to remake print media with the mythical tablet/e-reader, the real story may come summer 2010 with the next iteration of the iPhone. And the iPhone 4G could have the biggest impact yet.
Verizon & LTE
The blogosphere is rife with rumors that Apple’s been flirting with Verizon and T-Mobile, as AT&T’s exclusive contract for the iPhone expires in 2010. Sure, bringing the iPhone to Verizon’s 89M wireless subscribers would more than double its addressable market in the US. It would also allow Apple to address what’s been commonly viewed as the iPhone’s biggest weakness– AT&T’s poor service. But an Apple/Verizon tie-up would also let them both showcase LTE, and its blazing fast bandwidth of 100Mbps down and 50Mbps up, as rollout begins in the first half of 2010. With speeds roughly double some of today’s fastest fixed line broadband connections, you’d see real mobile video conferencing and then some.
Your Phone As Your Wallet
The mobile wallet concept has been live in Japan since 2005; but, with word that Apple may be testing iPhones with integrated RFID and apps like Starbucks Card Mobile, the concept may finally be ready for an American debut. Of course Apple’s iTunes has quickly become the dominate payment method for digital products of all kinds, from music to movies to games to books. But with its 100M account holders, it may not just unseat PayPal and Amazon Payments online, Apple may be positioning the iPhone itself to become a dominant payment method in the real world.
TV Everywhere
While there’s been a lot of chatter this year about the transformation of television as we know it, Apple may be the first to give the consumer what they want in the form of a $30 a month service. No doubt, such a service would deliver on the promise of anytime, anywhere with a significant iPhone tie-in. Of course mobile TV is old hat for much of the globe; but, like so many products and services, once Apple puts its own spin on it, it’s reinvented all over again.
Really Fast Processing
Finally, as I previously noted, “…as smartphones become computers in our pockets, consumers will come to expect their interactions to be as fast as real computers. Even the latest and greatest still have a ways to go in meeting those expectations. Apple has already signaled their intentions to invest heavily in this endeavor with last year’s acquisition of P.A. Semi, and rumors already abound that next year’s iPhone could see the first multi-core processor…“
This smartphone is still getting smarter. You ain’t seen nothing yet.
UPDATE:
Two more items to keep an eye on… Maps and Music Subscription:
“Apple to Take iPhone’s Maps App to ‘the Next Level.’” MacRumors.com, 29 November 2009.
“Apple in ‘advanced’ acquisition talks with Lala.’” CNET, 4 December 2009.
So is the Tablet/E-reader dead then
Not at all. But for all the recent attention on that device, one shouldn’t forget there’s a lot more innovation still coming to the iPhone.