I wasn’t going to blog about the iPhone announcement as, well, it didn’t really interest me. About the only feature that I think is ahead of other manufacturers is the high resolution screen – not much higher than the latest HTCs, though, and not AMOLED, but none-the-less impressive.
Here’s what developers said about the “revolutionary” FaceTime feature on the new iPhone…
“FaceTime is the feature that will really take the iPhone to the next level for me,” said Vincent Ganneau of Haploid.
“Everybody has been talking about face to face chatting for a long time,” said Sean Vosen of Vokal.
“This changes everything in terms of what we can provide, what people can do, the reach, the speed and who can use these devices. It has blown me away.”
Wow. What is this amazing new feature? It’s video calling. Something I had on my phone years ago.
Except FaceTime (poor name) only works across iPhone 4s. And on Wi-Fi. And on the same phone network. Unlike my chunky old 3 mobile which would work on the 3G network to any other 3G connected phone.
Or have I missed something?
Sorry, distracted by the chance to have a rant about a product that isn’t actually revolutionary. New iPhones often have a single feature that’s new, but everything else is old hat but re-packaged. And the iPhone 4 is more of the same.
No, what I was going to write about was something that has been mentioned before on BBC blogs, and even on the BBCs own Feedback radio programme.
Everytime Apple launch a new product, the BBC go to town with what amounts to nothing more than full page ads for Apple. So, a new product has been launched – it’s evoltunary rather than revoluntary.
But where’s the BBC page about the HTC Desire or HTC Evo? The HTC Desire has already been declared to be an iPhone killer and the HTC Evo advances that further with a front facing camera (yes, HTC beat Apple to it), 8 mega pixel rear facing camera with twin flash and the ability to create WiFi hotspots.
But there’s nothing on the BBC site.
Indeed, the last time HTC had more than a glancing mention, it was when they were suing, yes, Apple. I could be cynical and say that it probably only got a mention then because of who they were suing… but I won’t 😉
Seriously, BBC? Unfortunately, they hide behind the fact that these Apple events are incredibly popular and is, therefore, in the interests of the public.
However, the Apple fan-boy who is desperate to read about the latest Apple product launch is not the majority. And when this level of publicity does nothing for Apple except promote their product, then the BBC should be re-thinking its policy.
Maybe stick a page about it in the technology section and leave it as that. Oh, and make sure you cover other big product launches too.