When people refer to the iphone as a normal cell phone, its a bit offensive to the professional iphone user. It may have a couple of similarities of a normal cellular phone, like voice call and text, but that is where the similarities end. With its revolutionary touch screen controls and the actual iPhone software itself, it was not surprising that the release of the first version in 2007 created such a stir. When the downloadable apps came along a few months later and you could customise your iphone, it was no wonder that each release that followed was greeted like some sort of divine revelation.
What produced the huge sensation over the Apple iPhone when it emerged out was the brand new touch screen technologies, combined with the phone, texting and online capabilities that already existed in other devices, such as the Blackberry. But as development progressed, people began hearing iPhone application news, that is, news that they’d be able to design and style or download unique apps to customise their phones. This created a new ecstatic buzz even while people were still in love of the locked 07 version.
The iphones launch was not a global affair by any means. Of course its first release was in its own home, the United States, in June of 2007. Over the following months, the iphone was rolled out across much of Europe and the UK, as deals were reached with the companies that would have rights to be the official vendors. As the iphone distribution spread around the globe, the ques of people willing to pay a high price for the iphone did not falter.
Apple have used some very tactical marketing with the iphone, small upgrades to keep the device buzz alive and in great demand. The big difference among the 3G and 3GS versions was mainly one of performance and some additional video capabilities, but it was the leap in function between the 2007 Apple iPhone and the 3G version in 2008 that really pushed it over the top. Even with some issue over high prices, the ability to download useful apps has taken the concept of a simple mobile phone and lifted into another world entirely.
Most of the other cell phone manufacturers have tried to compete with Apples iphone, although it would be justified to say that it seems no one is capable of knocking Apple of its iphone perch at the present time..
A prime example could be HTC with the launch of Hero in 2009, which seemed to be their take on the iphone. It reportedly was going to compete with the iphone, but although there was quite a buzz about the HTC device, it never really hit the mark. With its Goole Android operating system and the opportunity to download thousands of apps it was looking fairly good for the HTC Hero. Unfortunately for HTC it was let down by a low spec hardware and painfully slow processor, along with several clumsy hardware buttons at the bottom of the screen that could be pressed in error, rapidly closing your session.
About the writer:
David Stuart is a self employed advertiser and marketer in the UK. Working from home he runs a small mobile phone insurance company on the net, offering device insurance cover such as mobile phone insurance right through to laptops and even iPad Insurance for apples newest offering.