Eight More Ideas for the Next iPhone

I asked you to "Keep those cards and letters coming" and you did. TSC readers have a gazillion ideas of what you'd like to see in the next iPhone -- rumored to be coming to Apple(AAPL) and AT&T(T) stores near you in the very near future.

On the heels of the iPhone 2 announcement -- and the upcoming release of the already-announced Google(GOOG) Gphone, Garmin(GRMN) nuviphone, Research In Motion(RIMM) BlackBerry Bold and Thunder, Sprint/Samsung(S) Instinct and SonyEricsson(SNE)Xperia - I came up with a list of 15 features:

3G data speeds. (It's rumored to be a 3G phone.)

VoIP - cheaper phone calls over Wi-Fi.

Corporate e-mail compatibility. Blackberry, Windows Mobile.

Smaller, lighter, longer battery life.

More memory. 24 or 32 GB to start with.

Lower prices. A no-brainer.

Better tactile (haptic) feedback. Good vibrations. Wouldn't it be nice?

GPS. With live mapping and travel directions.

Live TV services. AT&T offers this option on some other smartphones.

Live music/video downloads.

eBook reader. (iTunes could sell books too!)

Cut, copy and paste functions. (A large number of readers agree.)

Improved MMS. No logging into special AT&T Web sites.

Stereo Bluetooth and Bluetooth synching of data.

Red, pink, blue iPhones would be nice.

When I opened the floor to readers, many had their own ideas. Add to those today's write-in wish list.

More of What You Want on the iPhone

CD asks:

One addition and simple need ... a task list!!! My greatest desire for my iPhone is simply to sync my Outlook task list. There are online task lists now but when you're out of range of (AT&T's) EDGE network ... you're just out of luck. I want to keep my tasks resident of my iPhone and in sync with my Outlook. Come on Mr. Jobs ... is that too much to ask?"

CD uses his phone for business:

"I forward my business phone to my cell phone when out of the office and I want to be able to change the ring tone for calls that are forwarded to my phone... I don't understand why we haven't seen this on any phone or system yet."

Well, C, according to my friend Robin -- who is an iPhone super-user -- you can do that if all the numbers are being forwarded from a single phone number. But, you can't turn off the service during special hours unless you turn off your phone completely. But, I agree that Apple should make it easier to figure out how to do all this.

AW wants a better camera inside:

"Would like to be able to take movies with the camera. A 3 megapixel camera would also be nice."

I agree. Why not a 4, 5 6 or 7 megapixel camera built inside? Except for the additional price and complexity, of course.

A different CD writes:

"I recently bought my wife a digital frame and wanted to put some pictures off our phone on it. My Samsung (phone) was simple. Attach via Bluetooth, select the pictures and transfer them in one batch. Then I got to my wife's iPhone. Attached via Bluetooth to discover there is no way to move pictures from it in this way. Only way I could find is to email the pictures to myself. Each one had to be mailed individually. E-mail took FOREVER (as in minutes) even though I was attached to my local wireless network. I think the iPhone should offer at least what my Samsung phone does..."

I'm sure that you're not alone in wanting better connectivity for the next iPhone.

AVB says: "forget about Bluetooth synching... it's a phone that is always connected to the Internet via Wi-Fi and/or cell service. Why can't is synch automatically with my contacts and calendar...? Why should we have to do anything to make it synch? Seems so antiquated.

The reason manufacturers turn off high-speed phone data connections is because they waste valuable battery life when not in use. It's a very delicate balance. If Apple did what you asked, you would probably have to recharge your phone battery every eight hours or so. But, you're right. It would be nice.