The Apple (2G) iPhone Hype

The hype surrounding the Apple iPhone is now in full swing, but apart from the new ads and the information on the Apple site, not many details are currently available. It seems that very few people have actually used one. I'd certainly like to try one out, if only to see what the multi-touch screen and soft keyboard are like. They way the technology is presented in the ads, it all seems easy and seamless, as you would expect in an Apple ad. I must say that I love the idea of having mobile web, iPod and phone is one beautifully designed package. It seems like it's been a long time coming.

I do have some reservations about this first release. According to the tech specs, it's basically a GSM phone with Wi-Fi capability for wireless data. In the U.S. it will support Cingular’s EDGE network. I can understand the business reasons behind this decision but can't help but be disappointed that the first release will not be 3G. I could be wrong about that here in Australia, it'll be interesting to see what the network arrangements are in Australia when the iPhone is eventually released here. This is not going to be until next year I believe. It seems clear that it won't be running on a 3G network, unless Apple releases a different version here.

Considering the capacity of current iPods, it's also a little disappointing that the storage capacity is going to be 4GB and 8GB. Having said that, it's easy to forget that this is still great compared to most other mobile phones on the market – and it is a iPod.

In the interests of full disclosure, I need to say that I currently own a Nokia 7710. Telstra gave this to me in return for testing out a mobile tv service just before they launched their 3G network. I've also worked with Nokia (on some 3G marketing demos) in their FutureLab in Sydney, so I'm pretty attached to Nokia phones, even though their compatibility with Macs has always been a issue.

The crux of the matter for me is that I like Apple products, I've been buying them for years (and years), and I like Nokia phones. I'd love to be able to say I have no reservations about jumping in and buying an iPhone as soon as they are released, but at the moment I'm not so sure. I'd love to have a 3G iphone that syncs seamlessly with my Mac, but it looks like I might have to wait quite some time for that situation.

What are your thoughts on the iPhone?

Made of Japan

Made of Japan is a new site for Onitsuka Tiger. The site shows a hovering shoe made from a mosaic of images. The images link to various Japan related sites. The mosaic shoe changes its colour palette every time a new image is clicked, to reflect the colour palette of the image.

It's a nice simple concept (but not technically simple) and uses existing content in quite an inventive way. However, almost all of the links I followed were blogs by people visiting Japan for one reason or another, rather than Japanese sites. This may be part of the concept, but one blog was by someone visting China, and some blogs didn't seem to relate at all, like this one. Despite these anomalies, I still like the concept.

via Adverblog

Google Homepage Themes

Google has placed a Select theme link on the personalised homepage. The theme panel allows you to choose from one of six themes for your homepage. I'm sure there will me many other options to follow, surely even customisablle options.

These new theme options may seem like a minor event, but if you follow the thinking a little further down the road, is could lead to much more significant features in the future, such as branded themes. Many publishers around the world already offer this feature to advertisers on their homepages.

via Google Blog

Nokia Demos

Here are no less than 3 good, new interactive demos from Nokia. These are of special interest to me, as I worked on an interactive demo of 3G technology for them back in '02. They were a great company to work with.

Things have certainly moved on a lot since then, both in terms of mobile technology and the Flash demos themselves. Back in '02 I seem to remember that Flash MX (6) had been released not long before I started on the project, and it was finally possible to embed video into swf files. 3G technology was not widely available either, and not at all in this country.

Look how far things have come:

Great Pockets

The Internet Walk

The Passenger

Tomato in Sydney

On Thursday night I'm going to hear Tomas Roope from Tomato speak about how advertising is affected by the transitional phase of entertainment migrating from broadcast to a consumer controlled model. The talk is being hosted by AWARD. Roope is a well awarded guy, being the "the joint most successful entrant into D&AD's interactive awards".

It should be well worth attending. Tomato has been responsible for some great work over the years including for '90s film Trainspotting, the Design Strategy for Federation Square in Melbourne, Sony Branding, collaborations with great electro band Underworld, and much, much more.

UPDATE: Campaign Brief blog is reporting that Tomas Roope is going to join The Rumpus Room, a subsidiary of The Sweet Shop, to head up the company's UK office. Roope has been with Tomato for 10 years.

Pulse

At first glance this looks like a blog, but it's actually a Flash microsite for the Spanish premiere of the film Pulse.

Once you've hit the Open Video button and finished viewing the Flash movie, the site invites you to "scare a friend" by personalising it with your own text, voice or webcam live recording, and then to send it on to an unsuspecting friend.

I'd say they'd have to be a pretty good friend, or perhaps someone you actually don't like.

Moto Colors

Here's a playful new microsite from Motorola, to promote a new range of coloured handsets.

Walking on Nike Air

I dig the video integration and interactivity in this Nike Air microsite.

Forget the Film

Many times I find that the film titles are better than the film itself. Here's a site from Submarine Channel that's started to feature some of the great title sequences.

Thanks to miosite for letting me know about this new resource.

Grindhouse - Tarantino & Rodriguez

Tarantino and Rodriguez have teamed up to present Grindhouse. I'm sure you'll be hearing and seeing more about this dual project in the coming months!

A lot of the Flash microsite seems to be "coming soon" at the moment, but it looks like it's going to be worth another decent look when it's finished.

From the experience of the site, Hi–Res! in London must be working on it, although there's no reference to it on their (temporary html) company site right now. If it's not them, someone is borrowing heavily from them.

jjprojects Enters the Blogosphere

Pool: jjprojects

After long deliberation I've finally decided to plunge jjprojects into the blogosphere. Given the demands of my agency job and some of my other creative activities, I wasn't sure I'd have the time to post as frequently as I'd like, but I'll certainly do my best to make time.

After all, as a person fully involved in thinking about and creating digital media on a daily basis, I really feel it should be part of my life to keep a blog. I hope you find my future posts engaging. I plan to have fun writing them.