Apple Introduces What It Calls an Easier to Use Portable Music Player (2001)

Re:Apple Introduces What It Calls an Easier to Use Portable ... by mipoch on Tuesday October 25, 2016 @04:37AM (#12786232)

I am sorry but you're wrong. Nokia's high-end phones were costing similar money: " The launch price of the N95 was around €550 (about US$730, GB£370)." https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nokia_N95

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Re:Apple Introduces What It Calls an Easier to Use Portable ... by dchest on Tuesday October 25, 2016 @04:56AM (#12786325)

Indeed, plus:

What I really don't get is why Sharp/HP/etc. never made a PocketPC that had phone functionality built in)

There were many PocketPC-based smartphones (PDA-phones), even from HP and Sharp.

Also, many inexpensive phones could run third-party apps, albeit crappy Java ME-based.

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Re:Apple Introduces What It Calls an Easier to Use Portable ... by lmm on Tuesday October 25, 2016 @05:11AM (#12786404)

> There were many PocketPC-based smartphones (PDA-phones), even from HP and Sharp.

Really? I remember spending quite a while comparing specs before getting an ASUS A730W. I remember a few interesting-sounding Zauruses (Zaurodes?) that were never released in the west, but nothing I could actually buy.

> Also, many inexpensive phones could run third-party apps, albeit crappy Java ME-based.

True - but they really were crappy. Whereas my PDA ran real programs - it was relatively easy to port and build existing C++ code (the UI toolkit was different, but all UI toolkits were different in those days).

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Re:Apple Introduces What It Calls an Easier to Use Portable ... by dchest on Tuesday October 25, 2016 @06:00AM (#12786593)

Really?

HP had some iPAQ smartphones and Google tells me Sharp also produced something (for Japanese market). But yes, many manufacturers didn't make their devices available worldwide, so it depends on market. In Russia we had lots of Qtek/HTC devices.

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Re:Apple Introduces What It Calls an Easier to Use Portable ... by swiley on Tuesday October 25, 2016 @06:14AM (#12786637)

I had one of the "things sharp produced" that was actually released in the west. If it had a cellular modem in it and they still made it I would have never bought a smartphone.

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Re:Apple Introduces What It Calls an Easier to Use Portable ... by ulfw on Tuesday October 25, 2016 @06:09AM (#12786617)

I am sorry but he is not. The original iPhone sold for $499-$599 WITH contract. The N95 was about that much WITHOUT a contract.

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