Until now, I saw a lot of products claiming to be their competitors' "killers," but in most cases, they ended up only with "killer features," and disappointing behaviour in real life. This time, we're talking about an "iPhone killer." Another one? Well, this is not just "another iPhone killer" because, by the looks of it, it may just be "THE iPhone killer" a lot of people were waiting for, except those from Apple, of course. Today, it's not about technical specifications, it's about a head to head race, and the competitors are Apple's current iPhone, and Samsung's brand new "Instinct." Are you ready for the ride?


Before moving on with the article, I would like to thank the Marketing/Publicity team at M80 in Los Angeles for contacting us and providing the information we used for this article, namely the video comparison between the iPhone and the Sprint Samsung Instinct. Obviously, you can look at the movies and be amazed as I was, but I think some things need to be added, before ending our little chat here.

No matter how much some would like to see the iPhone buried, we should all be aware that the Sprint Samsung Instinct was announced about a month ago, while the iPhone as we know it could be already considered an "old" product. Considering the above, I think a comparison between the Samsung Instinct and the upcoming 3G iPhone would be more suitable, but I really don't know if Apple will manage to speed it up that much. Again, just look at the video comparison, saying anything else is pointless!

Anyway, nothing is perfect, and one of Instinct's weak points may be the storage capacity - only up to 8GB for now, but I am sure this can be solved pretty easy in the coming months with a minor product update, just as it happened with the iPhone.

If you didn't pay close attention to all the movies, then let me add that the feature list of Samsung's smart phone includes the now common touchscreen interface, 2.0MP camera with 2X zoom and camcorder, visual voicemail, GPS navigation and search, as well as advanced customization possibilities. Obviously, this is only the top of the iceberg...

Ladies and gentlemen, here you have it - the Sprint Samsung Instinct, a real iPhone killer! If it will also manage to be a "3G iPhone killer," that remains to be seen. Anyway, for now, we have no idea on pricing or availability, so you could do exactly the same thing as we do - keep your eyes on the Samsung Instinct official site, waiting for the pricing information to appear!

A few years ago, I stumbled into a very interesting product, called Schmap Player. To be more accurate, this was happening in mid-2006, when Schmap Player was only in its Beta stage, but I found it to be very interesting for a "1.0 Beta" software. Anyway, today it's not about Schmap Player, but about one of its followers - Schmap for iPhone, a very interesting solution for all those iPhone users that need to know their location and more than just that, an application which today is moving into the public Beta stage.


Before saying anything else, I would like to thank Donald McMillan for letting us know about the Schmap for iPhone a few days ago, just in time to give us a chance to play with the application before anyone else. Thanks a lot, Donald!

To find out more about Schmap for iPhone, you could visit the official page I just linked to, but until then, let me give you a few quick hints on what to expect from this program, all right?

As long as you keep your iPhone in a vertical position while running the program, you get a scrollable list of hot places around, but once you rotate the iPhone, you get to see those places right on the map! Even more, you can still scroll through the list, and the map will be automatically updated!


Next, you should know there are over 100 cities available worldwide, and the number will surely increase in the future. Once you have chosen your city, you can browse reviews and photos of all major sights, hotels, restaurants, galleries, parks, and so on. Obviously, the City Guides feature also works hand in hand with the "Rotate 'n Map" capability described above.

At last, there's a feature one can't live without - search. The Local Search feature of the Schmap software allows you to find anything in a certain area, and even call with a single click. From now on, being in a new city won't be a problem at all, because no matter the time and place, you'll always have a reliable source of information with you!

To enjoy all these features, just go to Schmap.com using your iPhone or iPod touch(I didn't mention it so far, but this application also works on the iPod touch...but you'll miss the one-click capability, of course!), and find new places in your city, or simply go on a virtual trip around the world. "Bon Voyage!"

We're conquering the space, that's clear. I am not talking about colonizing other planets, exploring distant galaxies and all that, because there's still a lot to do regarding the 3D space around us. For example, 3D remote controls! Yes, you read it right - Apple is on its way to create a 3D remote, similar to the controller currently available for Nintendo's Wii console!


Yesterday, the US Patent & Trademark Office published an interesting Apple patent generally related to a multi-dimensional 2D/3D remote control, able to employ both absolute and relative positioning detection techniques, for providing an ultimate on-screen position accuracy.

Basically, we're talking about a remote that will have a photosensor, an accelerometer or a gyroscope, providing you with the ability to zoom in on part of an image as you wish, by simply pushing a button!

If you think about the photosensor and accelerometer...you could easily arrive to the iPhone, of course! For now, nothing is official, but probably we may be able to use our iPhones as 3D remotes in the not-so-distant future, and if that happens, probably the iPod touches will also be up to this task...

At last, it seems the patent claims even more devices could qualify as such remotes, due to the fact that input could include a touchscreen (the iPhone and iPod touch, as we just said), as well as some sort of clickwheel, and that leads us to the iPod classic and Nano.

These being said, I guess we should add one more item to the list of expected Apple events for the summer, don't you think?

Do you have an iPhone? If not, do you want one? I am sure most people would give me an affirmative answer to that one, so let's move one step further. Even those having an iPhone will probably be interested in moving on and grabbing a 3G iPhone, and since you can have one for free, if you're talented enough, why not?


Well, here's the deal - all you have to do is design the next iPhone! Sounds really simple, but I assure you it's not. Anyway, if you're into the field, I am sure you'd be delighted to put your creativity to the test - if you also have enough time to spare, and you agree with the official rules of the contest, which I will quote a bit later.

Did I say "contest"? I sure did, so here you have the details...

The Design The Next iPhone, Win The Next iPhone Contest has just been announced by iLounge, formerly known as iPodlounge. Founded back in 2001, when the first iPods were just hitting the shelves, iLounge grew to become the leading source of iPod news, reviews, and tutorials.

Back to our contest...the most important rules are these:

- The Design the Next iPhone Contest ends on May 25, 2008 at 11:59PM Pacific Time.

- You must submit your name, a valid e-mail address, plus city, state, and country with each entry. No exceptions.

- No purchase is necessary to enter.

- Entries will be judged by iLounge. Do not enter if you can’t stand losing, and don’t disparage the winners.

- Winners will be announced in the Free iPod + iPhone Book 4 on June 1, 2008.

- You may submit as many entries as you want.

- This contest is open to U.S. and international residents.

- Must be 18 years or older to enter.

- By submitting, you agree that all art, photographs, and private information you submit are entirely yours at the time of submission, become the property of iLounge upon submission, and that you have not submitted and will not submit such images to any other contest.

- All taxes are the sole responsibility of the winners.

This is it, and I guess you already have figured out the main prizes...but here you go - there will be 6 prizes, and while the last 3 of them will only receive a $100 iTunes gift card, if you manage to reach one of the first 3 positions, you will receive a 3G iPhone, as soon as it becomes available.

Good luck to all those that are going to enter this contest!

I think it's very interesting to see that the 3G iPhone is on its way to a lot of countries, but Apple doesn't say anything about it, don't you agree? Today, we have a new country added to the list, and apart from that, we also have an unofficial rumor regarding the iPhone SDK, which seems to go global...


First on the list - the 3G iPhone and Austria. As you probably figured out, T-Mobile Austria, whose logo is pictured above, is Apple's chosen carrier for the 3G iPhone in that country. The best part is that we're not talking about rumors here - on Monday, T-Mobile Austria confirmed during a press conference that the 3G iPhone is going to arrive "shortly."

Even more, according to T-Mobile, Austria is going to be one of the few countries to serve as a testing ground for the upcoming mobile from Apple, and I think this is pretty interesting, because the device may arrive sooner than expected...

At last, we should note that the iPhone SDK is now available for everyone. How's that? Well, since now, the official iPhone developers site stated that "the iPhone Developer Program will initially be available to a limited number of developers in the U.S. and will expand to other countries in the coming months," and now that text was changed to "will initially be available to a limited number of developers during the beta period."

Quietly, it seems we're getting closer and closer to a new wave of major events from Apple. Can you feel it? There's something new and near in the air!