Phones
Kevin Rose Eats Funny Red Pills Again, Predicts iPhone 3G
Posted by Jesus Diaz at 4:30 AM on March 25, 2008
After being absolutely wrong wrong wrong (WRONG) about the first iPhone, Digg's Kevin Rose has now settled down for the obvious: he says that the 3G version of the JesusPhone will have a camera on the front for video-conferencing with other 3G iPhone and Macintosh iChat users. Most probably, he is right about this, but not about the rest of his predictions:
Kevin also said that Apple has restricted background-running applications because they don't want competition to iChat from third-party applications made using the SDK. The fact is that, if they wanted to ban any direct competition to their own applications, they will simply not approve them for publication and get done with it, without affecting any other developer.
The truth, however, is much simpler than that: Apple hasn't hidden the fact that they are setting this limit to guarantee a flawless user experience, so the core functions of the iPhone are never affected by applications stealing CPU cycles in the background. And that's the whole story, really. Installer.app applications will still be able to run in the background, like many do right now (like Apollo.)
But regarding the video conference, yes, he's probably right. It's logical to expect this from Apple. In fact, most probably the 3G iPhone will have videoconferencing with any other 3G-based video-conferencing mobile phone out there, because they use the same h.264 encoding that iChat uses.
In other news, completely drunk sources report that Drew Curtis was heard saying that the next iPhone will be "really shiny." [Diggnation]

Comments (AU Comments · US Comments)
There are currently no AU comments for this post.
MrBlahBlah
Posted 8:18 AM 25/3/08
apple rumors exhaust me
MrBlahBlah
SneakerFiend
Posted 8:18 AM 25/3/08
@Way: LMFAO!
I wonder if its even worth buying a new iphone. 4G is already getting started for a couple of carriers there is no point in releasing a 3G iphone if by the time its released everyone is already used to 4G speeds with better or maybe still phones that cant compete but still have the 4G connectivity and that gives them the upper hand.
Why cant we see a Alienware phone??? or Voodoo Phone that'll give apple a real run for its money. Falcon Northwest Phone anyone??? lolx.
I agree the iphone may be one of the best phones and probably the most advanced but bottom line is there is no point releasing something that is already going to be obsolete.
When the 3G iphone comes out WiMax is going to be out and AT&T is going to be sharing its data coverage with Verizon and they're going to have a super network and T-Mobile is still gonna be stuck in the past with 3G but doing way better because the 3G bands arent going to be as clustered.
IDC about the iphone im not gonna get one because im not changing to AT&T any time soon. If it comes out for t-mobile i still wont get one because i dont want to be like the 500 thousand other people that have got the phone within the first 3 days of its release.
SneakerFiend
i4ni
Posted 8:18 AM 25/3/08
Let me know when the iPhone can do mms... w/o some bullshit workaround.
i4ni
uberfu
Posted 8:18 AM 25/3/08
@tivoupgrade: Because he's a big wig CEO [read old kid with much money] and you know how when a CEO speaks their mind - it must be important_ I would normally insert a Steve Ballmer - monkeyboy - moment here - but I'm lazy today_
Otherwise - Kevin Rose is a tool_
uberfu
freakshow1
Posted 8:18 AM 25/3/08
@bandit:
Works fine for me. And I am a business user. DateBK is joke and the previous versions was a convoluted mess.
freakshow1
flunkycarter
Posted 8:18 AM 25/3/08
I "predicted" this too... Check my post: [helloiphone.wordpress.com]
flunkycarter
atomicafro
Posted 8:18 AM 25/3/08
I'm waiting for the Kevin Rose, Adam Frucci, Justin Long ("I'm a Mac" guy), and Demetri Martin techno-hipster douchebag steel cage match. Nobody in the stands will be able to tell who is winning because they all look the same!!!!!!
There will be vintage t-shirts, fair-trade coffee, mac-books, small women's jeans, and smug looks given out to the first 200 people to arrive!
Saturday night.... BE THEREEEEEEEEE!
atomicafro
le12epilote
Posted 8:18 AM 25/3/08
I think 3G phones use h.263 codec
le12epilote
scoobydoo
Posted 8:18 AM 25/3/08
OK, so now we know that the 3G iPhone will NOT come with a front facing camera.
Rose put a lot of effort into his previous iPhone prediction, and actually managed to score a big fat 0.
scoobydoo
ParJoe
Posted 8:18 AM 25/3/08
@Camperton: Yeah...but I haven't posted there in a while. I'm not all that patient either :D
ParJoe
Mandatory_Field
Posted 8:18 AM 25/3/08
@akamomo: @R2B2: Thanks. This was one of the big things keeping me from considering a Touch. Now let's see if they fix multitasking :-)
Mandatory_Field
Andy S.
Posted 8:18 AM 25/3/08
Kevin Rose is such a worthless, clueless tool. Why does anybody ever listen to anything he says at all?
Andy S.
R2B2
Posted 8:18 AM 25/3/08
@Mandatory_Field: The iPhone runs apps under user 'mobile'.
R2B2
homersays
Posted 8:18 AM 25/3/08
Even once the iPhone can support UMTS and HSDPA, I still will not be owning one. Personally, I still will not be able to customize the phone the way I want and that alone is a true setback.
homersays
appleeinstein
Posted 8:18 AM 25/3/08
@Gofastmazda:
Actually, you can open Notes while you're on a phone call. Rather simple to do so, in fact.
If I'm on WiFi, I routinely surf the web or check maps while chatting with a friend. It's not that tough to do.
appleeinstein
SMG3er
Posted 8:18 AM 25/3/08
@ph15h:
Yes, he wasn't completely wrong about the iPhone in that he was correct about it having phone functions.
SMG3er
Camperton
Posted 8:18 AM 25/3/08
@ParJoe:
do you have cookies turned on?
Camperton
akamomo
Posted 8:18 AM 25/3/08
Mandatory_Field, they used to. I think the last rev changed this in prep for the SDK release, or it will be in the next, not sure. But I have read that it's been addressed.
akamomo
ph15h
Posted 8:18 AM 25/3/08
=/ For some reason, I just remembered the Screen Savers. Guess I'm dillusional. *cough*TSS>AOTS *cough*
Uh... He wasn't completely wrong about the iPhone, but he was wrong nonetheless. Let's wait and see.
ph15h
Gofastmazda
Posted 8:18 AM 25/3/08
The lack of 3G is a common complaint, but, honestly, it's not that big a difference in your web browsing. Many people make it out to be this huge deal while in actuality it's much ado about nothing.
The lack of MMS, the lack of copy/paste, the lack of being able to multitask (i.e. opening a note while on a phone call) are all much bigger problems operationally than the lack of 3G.
Gofastmazda
SchruteBuck
Posted 8:18 AM 25/3/08
I predict some really cheap first gen iPhones on ebay.
SchruteBuck
tivoupgrade
Posted 8:18 AM 25/3/08
Why do people seem to care whether Kevin Rose is right, or wrong about any of these things?
tivoupgrade
Mandatory_Field
Posted 8:18 AM 25/3/08
I heard/read somewhere that all apps run on the iPhone as root. Bad bad idea if it's true, and the main thing keeping me from a Touch now that the SDK is out (we can't get the iPhone in Canada). Can anyone confirm if that's true?
Mandatory_Field
James
Posted 8:18 AM 25/3/08
@newgalactic: TTT! Aside from 3g, that is THE utmost unacceptable flaw of the iPhone. I can't use my iPhone with my car/gps-receiver/computer/ like I can my 6 year old Sony Ericsson.
James
bandit
Posted 8:18 AM 25/3/08
This means they can't replace the default and utterly crappy Calendar application. I really wish I could use the phone for business appointments, but the interface is terrible and the features are lacking. If someone comes along with another Calendar app (such as the excellent DateBK for the Palm OS), it will be unable to run in the background and remind you of your appointments! Bad bad bad!
Hey, has anyone else noticed that if you run Stitcher (the streaming audio WebApp on Apple's site) that it runs an unusual background Quicktime process that stays active when you turn the iPhone to standby, or when you exit Safari (just like the iPod functionality) and adds a phantom icon to the main screen (you can tell because if you have exactly a full screen of icons, it gives you an empty second screen to flick to). This means background, stay-resident apps can be run right from Safari already. Weird.
bandit
ParJoe
Posted 8:18 AM 25/3/08
I'd have dugg it, but they changed their shit and I forgot my password. Screw digg.
ParJoe
Way
Posted 8:18 AM 25/3/08
I heard the 3G iPhone will feature a touchscreen. I look forward to it.
Way
lonewolf333
Posted 8:18 AM 25/3/08
Why is anyone listen to guy? He's a walking overdose waiting to happen.
BTW, your RSS feeds ain't working.
lonewolf333
Monty
Posted 8:18 AM 25/3/08
iPhone predictions are just so 2007.
Monty
newgalactic
Posted 8:18 AM 25/3/08
I wonder if the next iPhone will still have a hobbled Bluetooth Profile Stack.
If the 2nd iPhone can't do A2DP, OBEX, sync with any other device, then all Apple fans should be seriously apologetic to anyone they made fun of for using Vista.
newgalactic
Jesus Diaz
Posted 8:18 AM 25/3/08
@nutbastard: YES!
Jesus Diaz
Mandatory_Field
Posted 8:18 AM 25/3/08
Oh here's a good (obvious) prediction: I predict that many people will purchase a 3G iPhone....
Mandatory_Field
ILikeMacsWhatAboutIT
Posted 8:18 AM 25/3/08
The lack of 3G is what's been keeping me from buying an iPhone, how can anyone go from broadband to EDGE? It's like the analogy of doing it with Angelina Jolie, sure you could go back to regular girls, but you just know that it's better somewhere else.
ILikeMacsWhatAboutIT
gadgetchic
Posted 8:18 AM 25/3/08
riiiight...
gadgetchic
nutbastard
Posted 8:18 AM 25/3/08
we should digg this to the front page!
nutbastard
nycaviation
Posted 10:14 AM 25/3/08
@uberfu: As "bigwig CEOs" go, Kevin Rose is not very big nor is he particularly rich. Digg is not very profitable, so he probably makes a few bucks but he's not rich from it. Even if he ends up selling Digg for the reported $300M, chances are much of that will go to the VC's that financed him.
nycaviation
His_Shadow
Posted 10:14 AM 25/3/08
>newgalactic
>If the 2nd iPhone can't do A2DP, OBEX, sync with any >other device, then all Apple fans should be seriously >apologetic to anyone they made fun of for using Vista.
No. But we will feel sorry for you. How about that?
His_Shadow
JJ910
Posted 10:14 AM 25/3/08
I want my next iPhone to take my Dog out for a pee and give me a bath. Hmmmm . . . . . maybe that 36.8G.
Sorry to be a party popper . . .cant reveal my sources but 3G for iPhone cannot be supported for anotehr 24 months. Yes, there will be a "3G" phone for the ill informed suckers for marketing giberrish but that's not a real 3G phone.
You guys have been to Tokyo - who am I kidding? I know what I am talking about. How did we suddenly get 3G by teh way - we dont even have teh freaking network to support that bandwidth. I am still getting dropped calls in the middle of the city outside a huge cell tower.
JJ910
The Great Aussie Evil
Posted 10:14 AM 25/3/08
He was wrong on G4, and he's been wrong ever since
The Great Aussie Evil
jonahman2003
Posted 10:14 AM 25/3/08
i dont know about you, but I heard that the next iphone will have a clock (unconfirmed sources)
jonahman2003
keyser
Posted 10:14 AM 25/3/08
"The truth, however, is much simpler than that: Apple hasn't hidden the fact that they are setting this limit to guarantee a flawless user experience, so the core functions of the iPhone are never affected by applications stealing CPU cycles in the background."
u people really believe that? am i the only one who thinks this will force large corps to get licensing from apple? well pay apple really...
keyser
bandit
Posted 10:14 AM 25/3/08
@freakshow1: I strongly disagree. DateBk5 is fantastic and I still have a Palm Tungsten T3 that I lug around in order to use it instead of either my company's Blackberry or my iPhone. I wish iPhone had floating events, advance reminders, an alarm that was loud enough to hear (!), Week View, the ability to sync to Desktop and add/change appointments on the Computer instead, etc. Instead it's nothing more than a rudimentary calendar with the slick multitouch interface. Nearly useless for anyone who has multiple appointments to juggle.
bandit
Namarrgon
Posted 12:24 PM 25/3/08
"guarantee a flawless user experience" - riight. Why do people apparently keep believing this crap?
It's BS because iPhone's "full-blown OS" that Apple touted is perfectly capable of restricting the CPU cycles given to background apps. It's BS because most apps need very little CPU in the background anyway, and apps that do will be quickly uninstalled if users don't like that. It's BS because many, many users will happily overlook the occasional 10ms UI stutter if it means their iPhone will actually do what *they* want it to, rather than only what Apple says they want to do.
The only way to "guarantee" anything is to disallow *any* third-party code. But apparently that's not what most iPhone users want, hence the SDK. Why keep fighting it?
Oh btw, @Gofastmazda: 3G lets you keep accessing the Net while you're on a phonecall. It's worth it for that alone.
Namarrgon
aqtrans
Posted 12:24 PM 25/3/08
@SneakerFiend: An Alienware phone? What are you 12?
And you realize that a fraction of the country has 3G right now, and 4G will take at least 5 or so years to reach this widespread use.
aqtrans
jmpol82
Posted 12:24 PM 25/3/08
I'll bet you that you'll be able to make phone calls from anywhere outside your home. That would be awesome!
jmpol82
monofurioso
Posted 12:24 PM 25/3/08
So there'll be a camera on the front for video conferencing AND a camera on the back for shooting everything else besides yourself? I don't think so. Cost and Apple's design aesthetic would seem to preclude this.
monofurioso
redwingsmonk
Posted 12:24 PM 25/3/08
I predict that the iPhone will have a Vista Capable Sticker on it.
redwingsmonk
NormM
Posted 3:38 PM 25/3/08
@Namarrgon: There are a lot of things that were left out of the beta SDK API's that are expected eventually. It seems inevitable that some restricted background processes will be added. After all, Apple has a strong incentive to let developers make the iPhone as useful as possible: they get to sell more.
Restricting CPU cycles given to background processes isn't enough. As others have pointed out, the big power issue is avoiding having each background process separately turn on the radios whenever they want to communicate on the Internet. Background processes that need to do something online will presumably need to wait until the network is available (e.g., when the iPhone is checking mail).
NormM
brutek
Posted 3:38 PM 25/3/08
Come on Apple, let's see a MID with 800x480 display for browsing without wiping the screen all the time. Agree need Bluetooth fixed and copy/paste.
brutek
Barion
Posted 1:36 AM 26/3/08
Wait, this is what Kevin Rose left G4 to do? No wonder Sarah Lane left him*.
*please let it be that she dumped him and not the other way around.
Barion
podgedog
Posted 5:24 PM 26/3/08
who the f##k is Kevin Rose?
Don't answer that - don't really care.
podgedog
Vagabum
Posted 7:19 PM 26/3/08
...and it will have a Predator-like cloaking skin with freakin' laser beams for eyes.
Vagabum