Is Apple's forthcoming iPhone the

At the Macworld Expo yesterday, Apple, Inc. CEO Steve Jobs introduced the company's new iPhone, which is technically a smartphone but in reality is closer to an hand-held wireless computing platform with mobile phone capabilities.

I spent much of yesterday gushing about it. Here's much more information: Apple, The Unofficial Apple Weblog, Engadget, TechCrunch, Macworld and Time Magazine.

Cliff's Notes: Cingular-only GSM cell phone with EDGE data protocol, iPod, video iPod with widescreen video, IMAP/POP3/Blackberry-style email, SMS instant messaging, voicemail (selectable from a list, like email), video voicemail, tabbed Safari web browser, OS X operating system, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, syncing (through iPod sync) for audio/video/applications, 5 hours battery life for the phone, 16 hours audio, 2MP camera, touch-screen keyboard (one hardware button), iPhoto support. How much? $499 for a 4GB unit, $599 for 8GB, both with a two-year Cingular contract.

Is this the ultimate Realtor phone? Maybe. The wireless modem speed could be faster, and, apparently, Apple will forbid installation of third-party applications -- or at least third-party applications that don't have Apple's approval.

On the other hand, this phone has the potential to completely replace the Realtor's albatross, the laptop computer. The iPhone can handle every routine task of the cell phone, the Portable Digital Assistant and the laptop -- with two exceptions right now. Ideally, a Realtor should be able to work anywhere -- especially in the kitchen of a vacant house. The ideal mobile device(s) provide access to all the tools available back at the office. With a portable Bluetooth printer, the iPhone is almost a pocket-sized office.

What's missing? For most Realtors, the phone will not -- at present -- provide real time access to MLS listings, nor will it support computerized forms software if that software runs as a stand-alone application, rather than as a vertically-integrated web-based application. Wishful thinkers can busy themselves hoping for third party hardware add-ons such as GPS systems or electronic lock-box keys.

But there is so much power in the iPhone, compared to other devices, that the course of action for Realtors seems very clear to me: Get busy right now bugging your MLS provider and your computerized forms vendor to support the iPhone via their web sites. Apple projects a June release date, so there is time for your mission-critical web vendors to get their acts together.

Realtors are right on the cusp of being able to carry ninety percent of their work load in a purse or a pocket. It's worth the time to make sure our vendors -- whom we pay a lot of money -- get this right...

-- Greg Swann, BloodhoundBlog

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