is the iPhone more closed than before?

What didn’t they say at the iPhone 3G launch? What didn’t they clarify? And what as a user are my fears.

Is the walled garden more walled than before?

• While the iPhone now reaches every country with deals and a promised (max price $199 everywhere) the question becomes what’s the contract?
• Can I unlock it? Etc. Do I have to go to the iTunes store?
• Will the big players abuse my trust?

We know that Apple has convinced the carriers that there is no other phone that can take them into the 3G world with the same impact and into the new use cases. The proof is already there in browsing. Signing all these carriers is a big deal. That they are all salivating and about to push the iPhone globally as their number one phone is an almost certainty. It’s the biggest upsell opportunity they have had.

However, where does that leave us?

I’d like to find or see emerge an “iPhone User Rights” blog. One that looks at every program at every update to software and every change in terms / carrier terms and lets me know if I’m OK and what to watch out for.

What matters? What new features?
The “Apple Push Notification Service” is very cool! Did you see it coming? It means apps don’t run in the background but will be able to call for updates remotely. That’s a big deal and opens many new opportunities. This fills a missing piece for me.

Separately, I’ve been trying to use GPS on Nokias for almost two years. It’s never been very successful. By contrast the mapping feature on my iPhone just blows people away. So do satellite views of their house. I see huge potential and the products built around this capability will be revolutionary. Anyone in some form of meetup business needs to understand the impact.

I simply loved the games examples. When the iPhone can be my gaming steering wheel that is just so cool. (When they can stream eg bluetooth to the big screen TV…) The graphics were great and they will sell at 9.99.

The medical app they showed provided an interesting look into what can and will happen in business and professional environments. The business opportunities will be huge. Just need to get the video camera working on it.

What wasn’t talked about?
Apple said nothing about the price for an iPod Touch. Looks like $199 and no activation is a great way to get the kids either paying or later saying…. need this new plan and I’ll have this as a music gaming VoIP device now! So how will the iPod and iPhone pricing strategies work out?

They said nothing about VoIP. Well I didn’t hear anything and there are quite a few already available. Fring, Siphon, Sipgate, RF.com to name a few.

How do you feel about your old iPhone?
The new phone will be $199. I paid $499 plus a contract on the battery etc. That’s a big gap. No hope now of getting more than $100 for my iPhone. Should I feel ripped off? I’m not sure and in my case I don’t. I bought it to learn from it and I’ve had fair value on that score. I think I’m looking at a business model now that obsoletes my iPhone once a year. That surprises me but is ok at $200. Yeah the old one will continue to run just fine but I do want the GPS and 3G. The GPS I think I will learn from. However, as a phone it still misses out on the cameras and bluetooth streaming that I think should be there.

What do you think about the competition?
Well Garmin and the map services are in trouble. With a little suction cup my iPhone will be the perfect Navigation device. Why pay to have it preinstalled in your car? Maybe it should run my car too?

Nokia, well I’m worried about them. They have really pushed GPS into phones. They have better everything in terms of equipment. Yet each new version comes up short. They need to go touchscreen and quick. The benefits are now obvious. While I’ve seen some of their top end phones subsidized in Europe I think they are overpriced versus the promised $199 global price for the iPhone. It’s worth looking at the cost structure for the iPhone versus other phones.

Most of all I hope and wish this platform would trend to be more open. In the meantime the noise isn’t going to die down.