iPhone Nano?

When it comes to the highly competitive smartphone market, it looks like Apple is trying to expand... by shrinking. From Bloomberg:

One version would be cheaper and smaller than the most recent iPhone, said a person who has seen a prototype and asked not to be identified because the plans haven’t been made public. Apple also is developing technology that makes it easier to use the iPhone on multiple wireless networks, two people said.

Chief Executive Officer Steve Jobs, who remains involved in strategic decisions while on medical leave, would use lower prices to widen the iPhone’s appeal and keep it from losing further ground to Android devices. Less expensive iPhones may also ratchet up pressure on Nokia Oyj, whose handsets are especially popular in Europe and some developing markets.

All I can say is: Meh. I have the iPhone4, bought after two years of using the iPhone 3G. For my taste, the iPhone4's "retina display" got the resolution just right so that you can fit enough on that small screen and have a comfortable, workable browsing experience. If they make the screen any smaller, it would be like going back to the 3G screen (similar to the 3Gs), and that means a less-than-stellar user experience by Apple's own standards. Prior to last June, I used my iPhone 3G for all kinds of things, but with far less emphasis on web-browsing; with the iPhone4, however, it is like having a portable computer in my pocket.

This idea of theirs, if true, is not like shrinking the MacBook Air to an 11-inch screen, which Apple has done quite handily, and methinks Apple may realize a bit too late that it has made a mistake. If some consumers want a "cheaper" iPhone experience, Apple should let them keep buying the older model at a cheaper price (as they do now with the 3Gs, just $49 in the US, down from $99 when iPhone4 first came out).

Anyway, if this is the big new iPhone-related item that is supposed to be coming out in late spring, I'll give it a pass. I am perfectly happy with my iPhone4 and can't imagine many non-software-related upgrades that would make me switch to a new iPhone5, whatever it may be.

Steve Jobs hold press conference to taunt
iPhone4 users that he has a white one and they don't.