iPhone Mini

11th of Jan, 2007ce* in: ideas

Unless you have been living under a rock, you will know that Apple Inc. released details of it’s new iPhone at the start of this week. It is rather interesting, and well worth checking out http://www.apple.com/iphone/

So I got thinking over lunch with fellow “planters”; “what would make an iPhone mini?”.

I’m not going to even try to find any faults with the iPhone, comparing what it does and doesn’t do. Or even make jokes like the recent one on slashdot about the “iPhone shuffle” (which is quite funny none the less). I would like to seriously consider how Apple’s inventive way of stripping interface to it’s core components could apply to a device that has many features: the mobile phone.

Hard boiled, here are my ideas for the “iPhone mini”:

• no screen

  No screen is needed, read on to find out why…

• voice activated

  “call Oliver” spoken into the phone, will call Oliver or ask me into the earpiece which Oliver I should call. The phone vibrates, one presses the only button on the phone, “Oliver. R calling”, one accepts or declines verbally.

• sync

  The phone has bluetooth and automatically syncs with the address book on your Mac

• add new number

  “whats your number?” Don’t write it down, pick up your iPhone mini, click the only button on the device, say “add new number” and give the phone to your new friend, they say their number clearly into the phone, followed by their name and press the button. Next time you are near your mac it syncs and adds the new number to your main address book

• Verbal SMS

  This service already exists, I first heard about it when BT introduced the service some years ago. link Who needs to type when you can say your SMS? Also, press the button and say “read SMS” to get a list of SMS messages sent to you, could work with email too!

Thats about it, just musing. What features would you like to see (or not see) on the fictional “iPhone mini”?!

(For another take on the iPhone visit Oliver’s blog)

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