Come for the Ride…

I know I usually write about entrepreneurial stuff and in this case, the fact the new iPhone 2.0 software will support enterprise mail will be something very useful for startups and corporate users - Not to mention the iPhone in itself is pretty innovative which is why I’m a fan. However, somethings felt like they were missing from yesterday’s WWDC announcements… somethings that left me leaving unimpressed. Here are the top 4 things that should have been included.

1. Camera upgrade/Front facing camera. A number of people have mentioned that other phones in the industry carry a 5 mega pixel camera as the standard for their phones. If the iPhone 3G is supposed to the be the new standard, and if Reuters is adding an app that lets you submit news directly to them - then why are we still stuck with a toy camera? Maybe the pre-event hype got to me, but having two cameras on the phone, one for pics and the other for video chat should be the new standard. Having two cameras is not even something that’s really new, but allowing people to video chat over their phone would be a huge WOW factor. Also, most cameras have a mini mirror for people who like to take self portraits. Can we at least get the convexed Apple logo put on or something?

2. More storage! If various iPods are already hitting the 80+ gig mark and if the iPod Touch already has one at 32 gigs, why are we still stuck with a 16gig model as the top end model? If this truly is supposed to be a phone that will last us between now and the end of the Apple Care warranty, wouldn’t you want to offer a larger option especially if we’re now supposed to be installing apps, GPS stuff, possibly record video through apps, etc? Why make the mistake that Microsoft did with the Xbox 360 by only putting out 20gig harddrives to start? It just doesn’t make any sense.

3. Gimme some more for the $10 data plan hike! Okay, so it has been whispered that despite the cheaper purchase price for the iPhone 3G, people will end up paying for it through other means, like the mandatory 3G data plan which costs $30/month instead of $20/month. Seriously, yikes! First off, now that I think about it, I’m not even sure why I’m paying $20 for the existing data plan. EDGE is painfully slow which means I probably transmit all of less than 2mb a month on the at&t network. The majority of my browsing has been under the wifi umbrella which I already pay for through other means. So now that we may actually tramsmit data through the at&t network, we have to pay another $10 a month? If you want your users to pay for the network upgrades you’ve been working on, at least throw in unlimited texting into the plan or something to wow us. While we’re all fans of Apple, a lot of people are still holding out because the phone is tied to at&t. Maybe this change of heart will turn some people around - I know it’ll make me feel better about signing another 2 year contract.

4. More colors? Alright, I know this item is pretty weak. In all honesty, the iPhone 3G is pretty great and if certain features are missing, I’m sure a lot of it can be made up through software updates and applications. However, instead of treating the iPhone 3G as a computer and limiting it to the Mac black and white, why not treat it like the rest of the iPod’s and give users choices in colors? Again, not a huge change, but just enough to wow.

Even if we don’t get any of the upgrades mentioned above for another year or more, I’m hoping someone who has a lot of clout will at least push for a petition to get unlimited texting in the new data plan. While I am certainly not one close to hitting the texting limit, I just don’t like to feel like I’m being taxed every time I use it.

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