Hi Sammy. It was certainly a couple of very interesting days since the iPhone launch. One of the most hyped phone launches in history, and many reviews say it actually lives up to the hype! An article in today's New York Times - Chasing the iPhone, says that Asian phone manufactures are now playing catch up.
So, what are the major innovations in this cell phone? What will really change the market? To me, they are the amazing touch screen user interface, and the stunning web browsing. Having the entire phone as the display with an intuitive touch interface is a master stroke, and the ability to have a full web browsing experience with nifty touch zooming makes this a breakthrough internet device as Steve Jobs said. Of course the wide-screen video iPod features make it perfect match of iPod and phone as well.
These innovations will make a big impact on the cell phone market. I think we'll see full screen touch activated interfaces becoming much more common. This is where today's announcement of Palm delaying their new OS till 2008 is very interesting. Perhaps they notice this shift in the market and see Palm in a position to capitalize on it. To improve its touch screen interface and create an iPhone like device is a minor step for Palm. Some of us hoped that the Palm Foleo was going to be an innovative hybrid phone-internet-multimedia device - but Apple has stolen the show and many are saying they are changing the direction of the cell phone market worldwide. Let's hope Palm responds strongly in 2008.