As for battery times, it is sad to see that hardly anything dramatic has happened in the UMPC/sub notebook battery scene in what close to five years now? Compare that with the mobile phone battery scene a decade and a half or so ago, it changed literally by the quarter.

Also I personally feel there are technical solutions that could be implemented to enable a full workday of battery time on the MIDs coming out in the near future. For me if it won’t fit in my pocket AND have a full workday’s battery time I might as well buy and use (a relatively easy and cheap to modify) EEE netbook for $299 and up (as I also did).

Not to try to be picky but the iPhone has a 3.5″ screen (your traditional VGA PDA 3.8″ or so) , the QWERTY mobile I used (Sidekick LX) has a 2.8″ screen (typically called 3″) at this size eve 0.5″ makes a big difference.

As for screen size I believe OQO has shown a very nice form factor though the thickness and weight could be slightly less, but point being that a 5″ screened device could really be pocketable but at the same have full potential as a “full OS” device, give the OQO a passive touch screen, a better battery time and maybe slightly less weight and I might just get one again. Oh and yes please cut the price in half

I will probably consider an iPhone 3G to replace my current smartphone (depending on compatibility with the bluetooth hands-free system built into my car). The alternative would be a Nokia GPS/HSDPA phone. But this will NOT replace my combination of phone and UMPC (in my case a 7″ model). It would still be phone (possibly Apple iPhone 3G) plus UMPC. Why? First of all screen size. For me a 3″ screen just doesn’t cut it for (extensive) mobile surfing, even with the Safari browser’s good zooming and multitouch UI.

The phone for me is the device that I always carry with me for calls, maybe SMS and the occasional web lookup and which is always on (no, not in a movie theatre).
I fully agree that a UMPC is usually not fully pocketable (which might be different with a 4.8-5.6″ MID if you’re not talking about a shirt pocket) and that the battery does not last as long as that of a modern smartphone (actually, this might even be debatable, no smartphone lasts a full day if it is constantly used for calls or browsing - most will die after 2-3 hours). But I don’t expect that from a 7″ UMPC anyway. And I believe that everybody reasonable enough to consider the current state of battery technology will agree.

The only thing that was compared here was the price for a voice/data contract in Germany for a subsidized iPhone with a voice/data contract for a comparable Nokia phone (which is about the same price as the iPhone if both are bought without a contract and you consider a Nokia Phone that is more comparable to the iPhone 3G like the N95 8GB). And the result is: The iPhone is more expensive.
And given the usage szenario I described even if I should go for an iPhone, Steve’s TCO calculation is actually wrong. Why? Easy, simply because you would still need an additional data contract for the UMPC or a second sim for the iPhone contract (if that’s even available with the “special offer”).
So if you compare, this should be done solely smartphone (iPhone) plus contract to smartphone (Nokia) plus contract.

http://gizmodo.com/5017957/iphone-clone-battlemodo-which-one-is-the-iphoniest

Which option do you think 99% of consumers would choose? Intel MIDs have an uphill battle here.

http://www.engadget.com/2008/06/18/htc-advantage-x7510-available-to-users-for-1-300/

Yes that was 500 Euros and not 500 USD sorry if that embarrasses someone.

Your last podcast indicated that the M528 would be around 750 USD. Are all the prices in your calculations Euros or?

Iphone special offer in Germany compares well to getting an N82 + flat rate data.

Lets take the T-Mobile special offer. 500MB + 50 minutes calls for 29 Euro and add an M528 + second sim.

A
Equipment N82=400, M528=650(estimate outright cost)
Voice+Data: 30 Euro (60 minutes + HTTP (unlimited) + second SIM)
(24mntsh) = 1050+(24×30)=1770
- residual value of goods @ 40%
= 1350
——

B
iPhone=170 Euros, Voice+Data: (50 minutes + 500MB per month) = 29 Euros per month

24mths = 170+(24×29)= 866
- Residual value of goods (40%) (est 200 Euro)
= 666
——–

If you dont get the special offer and want just 1GB of data per month, the iPhone is 1600 Euros over 2 years due to 70 Euro per month VOice+data costs.

Steve.

Steve, I think you’re right there are many other out there who appreciate the iPhone for what it is but at the same time acknowledges it’s fair share of weaknesses, and no I haven’t asked anyone to come here, I frankly don’t even visit any Apple / iPhone online site currently whatsoever

Quoting steve from above:
“The two devices are completely different and not comparable.”

The screen is too small and the lack of flash support are two key elements that stop it getting close.

It is however the best phone browser so far and does make simple internet access a pleasure on the go.

I also think that the M528 and iPhone ARE comparable devices. They both claim to have desktop grade browsing and extensive audio/video media playback capabilities. The main difference is that the iPhone can also make phone calls.

I think you have your VIHAnnes and hedelmä’s all mixed up!