Apple iPhone might be revolutionary, but perhaps definitely not for wireless imaging

Apple's new iPhone looks like a beautiful device and it could indeed be a revolutionary cellular phone (see left), but it certainly doesn't appear to be is not so hot from a wireless imaging standpoint.  Indeed, the iPhone could be is a wireless imaging disappointment in some respects.

One reason for the disappointment is that for such a high-end gee-whiz handset, the iPhone's camera isn't such a big deal.  It's two megapixels (see below right).  That's nice, and most camera phones in the United States are still VGA or 1.3 megapixels.

Two megapixel camera phones are rare in the U.S., but it's certainly not revolutionary.  Verizon Wireless for months has been offering a 3.2 megapixel camera phone.  For many users, the iPhone's two megapixel camera might be just fine.

This depends, however, on the quality of the image.  Resolution is just one criteria.  The quality of the components and software makes a huge difference.  I've seen some VGA camera phones that do as good a job as 1.3 megapixel handsets.

No flash or cover

In addition, from what I've seen of the phone and viewed of the specifications, there doesn't appear to be a flash.  Granted, most camera phone flashes are rather poor, but they can make a difference in low lighting conditions. 

Also, it's possible to use a more powerful flash in a camera phone, such as a Xenon flash, that does improve the brightness of the lighting.

Another problem -- although this isn't such a big deal -- is there doesn't appear to be any lens cover.  I'm sure there will be many, many cases for the iPhone that will cover the lens, but how easy will it be to take a photo in such a case?

Camera phone lenses can get dirty and scratched when they aren't protected.

No zoom

The iPhone doesn't have any zoom capability.  To be fair, the digital zoom is almost always useless.  Except in rare situations when you can't get closer to the subject and the digital zoom software is good, you're much better off using an image editing program to do the equivalent of zooming.

The iPhone could have included an optical zoom.  The Nokia N93 (that I have on my desk, courtesy of being in Nokia's blogger program) has a 3x optical zoom.

Optical zooms make camera phones a bit bulkier and more expensive, and Apple is very concerned about style.  An optical zoom would make the iPhone larger/thicker. 

But optical zooms are the future of camera phones.

Video recording?

In addition, I haven't seen any specifications that indicate the iPhone can record videos.  During his presentation yesterday at the Macworld Conference and Expo, Apple's CEO Steve Jobs spent no time discussing the camera's capabilities and said nothing about video recording.

It's possible the phone can record video and it's just not listed in the specs.  I sent an e-mail to two Apple public relations people asking for clarification, but I'm sure they're so busy that I'm unlikely to get an answer quickly.

If the iPhone doesn't have video recording capability, that's pretty pathetic.  With all the excitement about camera phone videos and, more importantly, the genuine value of being able to record videos, for the iPhone not to have that ability is ridiculous.

But since I don't know for certain, I'll just to wait for some official word yea or nay.

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Update: The iPhone cannot shoot video recordings.  This was confirmed to me via e-mail by an Apple analyst relations executive.

I am flabbergasted.  That's absolutely ridiculous.  I can't imagine why Apple would eliminate that feature -- a feature that is not only fun and useful to have now but one that is becoming increasingly important as the world realizes the value of the "citizen videographer."

Does Apple think it is too difficult for users to shoot video?  Does it think it's an unnecessary frill?

Impressive as the iPhone appears, its lack of video recording makes it a wireless imaging dud.

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EDGE versus HSDPA

There has been a lot of discussion about the fact that the iPhone -- at least the first version for the U.S. is based on Cingular's GSM EDGE data protocol, not its much faster HSDPA (High Speed Downlink Packet Access).

During Jobs' demonstration at Macworld, he used WiFi -- not EDGE -- to demonstrate some of the features, such as Web browsing.  It would have been quite interesting to see the crowd's reaction when Web pages loaded v-e-r-y s-l-ow-l-y via EDGE.

EDGE is fine for sending and receiving text e-mail and it's often not bad for downloading Web pages.  But for Web pages that are graphic-intensive, it can takes minutes for a single download.

WiFi

Sometimes I've canceled the download because it was unbearably slow or the browser couldn't "digest" the page -- something iPhone's bundled Safari browser  is likely to be much better at doing.

If you're at a WiFi hotspot, it's the fastest way to go.  It's also possibly the the cheapest way if you're at a free hotspot or pay a modest monthly fee for unlimited service, such as from Boingo or T-Mobile.

We'll have to see what Cingular (see below) charges for data access on the iPhone.  Currently, it has an amazingly large number of confusing data plans.

Asymmetric rates

EDGE, like other cellular data protocols, is asymmetric so the download speed is faster than the upload.  Uploading a large photo, for example, could take a while.

This will depend on a variety of factors, such as the amount of compression of the file in the handset before it's uploaded.  Also, files may be uploaded in the background while you're doing other things with the iPhone so you wouldn't notice uploading a single large photo.

Photo organization

The specifications of the camera notwithstanding, the iPhone's software seems really nice, that is, duh, only to be expected given Apple's excellence in software.  The main photo album menu is clear (see left), you can view 20 thumbnails of photos on the large screen (see right) and it's easy to scroll through the images.

Photos look great on the 3.5-inch screen that has a resolution of 320 x 480 at 160 pixels per inch.

In addition, the images automatically reorient to a landscape or portrait mode depending on whether the handset is held horizontally or vertically.  You can also zoom in on images by using your fingers with sort of a "pincer" motion -- opening or closing your fingers to zoom out or in.

The finger taps are indicated on the photos by the white circles you can see on the screen.

Any image editing software?

It's also very easy to select a photo to use as a wallpaper, including positioning the image left/right, up/down and to zoom it in and out (see left).  You can see exactly how the photo will look before you set it to be your wallpaper image.

I don't remember seeing anything in Jobs' presentation or on the Apple Web site about any image editing software bundled with the phone.  With Apple's existing excellent, easy-to-use image editing software, I'd hate to find out that some software isn't bundled with the handset for such tasks as removing red eye, cropping, exposure, contrast, etc.

iPhone = iWon't

While much of the rest of the world is slobbering over the iPhone -- a handset that I, too, really like from what I've seen -- I cannot recommend it (at least based on Jobs' webcast and reading the specifications) for those of you who care about wireless imaging.

A cellular phone that can't record video is a crippled device.

If you care about wireless imaging, the iPhone isn't for you (unless you want it as a second phone).  The Nokia Nseries and the high end Sony Ericsson handsets with 3.2 megapixel cameras, video recording capabilities and basic image editing software are far superior as total wireless imaging devices.

Also, wireless imaging (for me at least) also includes mobile television.  That's another subject.

I'll write more about the iPhone in the very near future.

Comments

[Steve Ashby]

It is absolutely amazing that Apple, a company that has made its mark by emphasizing creativity, and more lately has been capturing fans by the ease of creating music, movies, and photo editing, would omit such features from what could be such a revolutionary product. I use a Sony-Ericsson K800i, and previously a BenQ-Siemens S88, and both have fantastic camera controls, but the K800i is nothing short of impressive for a phone as it is CyberShot branded. If Apple really wants to make an impression with iPhone, especially in Europe or many other parts of the world where cell phone markets are much more competitive than the US, they have got to do much better than this. I'll hold onto my K800i until Apple gets at least 3.2 MP, decent zoom, fill flash ability, movie recording and UMTS. Movies can remain on my iPod.

[Alan A. Reiter]

Hi Simon,

I realize the iPhone's strong point isn't its camera. I also realize that the iPod capability is one of the key selling points.

But I thought it was useful to discuss the camera phone capabilities since, after all, this is a camera phone weblog!

As for the camera phone being a gimmick, I'm afraid you're mistaken. If you read this weblog and also take a look at the Sprint camera phone weblog for which I write (http://www.sprint.com/photobility), perhaps you'll understand the value of a phone that can take still photos as well as videos.

For example, take a look at the article I wrote for the Sprint camera phone weblog about the power of videos. Here's the URL:

http://photobility.sprint.com/index.php/sprint/more/the_huge_impact_camera_phone_videos_2004_2006_and_beyond/

One last point: Based on the iPhone's initial specifications and its software, this is not a device aimed at business users. The iPhone could be a big hit with consumers (the consumers who can afford it!), but it's not good enough for business use.

Perhaps in the future we'll see better software solutions, such as real business e-mail push, etc.

Thanks very much for your comment.

[Simon]

Just to remember that Steve Jobs intorduced the iphone as three devices in one, NONE of which was a camera phone. the camera was obviously an after thought and not a subject that Steve dwelled on in his keynote. Instead the phone is appealing due to its safari web browsing capabilities, iPOD and its ease of use as a phone. This is the selling point of the phone. The market would be to ipod owners and the business market neither of which would rate a camera on a phone as a neccessary device (as much as a gimmick).... i think it looks great. We just have to remember that its the iphone.. a phone and an ipod foremost.

[Alan A. Reiter]

Hi Tom,

I have a Nokia N73, N93, N80 and N70 that Nokia has sent me to test. So certainly I know that Europe is ahead of the U.S. when it comes to higher resolution phones and high end phones in general.

I'm also aware of the capabilities of the high end phones from Nokia, Sony Ericsson, Samsung, etc.

I agree that as a wireless imaging device the iPhone pales in comparison with, say, the N93, which is why I said it was a "dud."

Perhaps I was a bit harsh, but based on current specifications, the iPhone certainly isn't the cellular phone of choice if you want the best imaging handset.

Of course, we have only seen what is, perhaps, version 0.8 of the iPhone. Specifications can change before the commercial launch.

Also, as we've seen with all of Apple's computers and consumer electronics and, indeed with the computer/electronics industry in general, products get more advanced as prices decrease.

The iPhone will offer a new user experience. I believe the phone could change the dynamics of handsets in the wireless industry on a global basis, although I have many, many questions that need to be answered.

[Alan A. Reiter]

Hi Ousama,

You have a ** great ** camera phone site.

I am deciding in which of weblogs to promote it!

[Alan A. Reiter]

Hi Martin,

As I wrote, the lack of video recording capability was confirmed to me by an Apple analyst relations executive. As a wireless data analyst, I contacted him!

It's possible that (a) Apple could decide to add video recording at the last minute or (b) the Apple guy was wrong.

But if you look at Apple's Web site at the iPhone "technical specifications" page you'll see there's no mention of video recording. Since Apple does a great job of highlighting its products' capabilities, I assume there is indeed no video recording -- at least not at the time I'm writing this.

As for photo editing software bundled with the iPhone, I wouldn't be a bit surprised if some software was included.

[Tom, Birmingham, UK]

I, like you, am also shocked that this phone cannot record video. It is crazy that Apple can claim this phone is ahead of its time without this feature. What about video MMS? Sending short videos as messages has been a regular pastime of mine since I had my Nokia 6600 almost 3 years ago!

Crazy!

ps. sorry for repeating some of your information in my last comment, just trying to reinforce the fact that better capabilities are already out there!

[Tom, Birmingham, UK]

You mention that 2 megapixel cameras are rare in the US, In the UK and the rest of Western Europe, the majority of new phones now have a 3.2 megapixel camere (eg. Nokia N73, Sony Ericsson K800i) with good flashes (actually flashes rather than a bright lamp) and with decent lenses (Carl Zeiss on the Nokias). The capabilities of these phones, especially the Nokia N-series (with video calling, mp3 player, 802.11g wireless capabilities, WCDMA etc. as standard), seems far beyond what the iphone will be capable of... and yet these are just standard for Nokia. The top-of-the-range models have OPTICAL zoom, and DVD-quality (VGA, 30 fps video capture), check out the Nokia N93.

Alright, the iPhone might look great, but it doesnt appear to have anything close to the imaging, data transfer and video capture capabilities that are already on the market!

[Ousama Abushagur]

Very Interesting write up I also did a write about the camera only and did my research and put up what the probably specs are based on the vendors Apple has chosen you can read it here

www.almanazir.com/almanazir/2007/01/what_about_the_.html

[Martin]

Thanks for your excellent post. If it is really true that the iPhone does not support video recording, then I would be very disappointed. That would be a smack to his statement that the iPhone is 5 years ahead of any other phone.

As to the picture editing capabilities, I am sure that Steve did not show off all the phone`s power, so as to have more information to feed to us before the phones are actually shipped.
Apple is good at that...