iPhone Atlas debuts

Later this month, Apple will ship the iPhone. According to executives, it's one of the most important product launches in the company's 30-year history -- a claim difficult to dismiss in light of already avid user interest and Apple's astounding success thus far with portable devices.

Here at TechTracker (the parent company of MacFixIt and VersionTracker), we've been giving the iPhone a lot of thought. How will we bring our existing readership coverage of the device? How will that coverage be integrated with our current offerings? Will downtown loitering laws prevent us from camping out in front of the AT&T Cingular store?

The more we thought, the clearer it became that the iPhone -- being a platform rather than a strict accessory -- requires a different approach than the iPod, which fits nicely into the MacFixIt troubleshooting as a spoke of the Mac-centered digital hub. New device platform: new tack.

So today we are launching a new resource for the yet-to-ship iPhone, dubbed iPhone Atlas. We have some ideas for types of content the site will deliver, and some plans for how elements will evolve once the iPhone actually lands in users' hands. However, more important than any speculation we can conjure regarding what prospective iPhone owners will want to read is what our current readers actually say they want. As such, we would love to garner your input on the following:

• Prior to the iPhone's release, what are your biggest concerns about the device? What dirty details you want to know about this stranger before taking it home?
• Which iPhone functions are the most exciting, and what do you want to know about their usage? Are you more interested in optimzing battery life or effectively pinch-zooming?
• In the same vein, which of the three primary functions (the Internet access device, iPod or phone) do you see getting the most use?
• Are you interested in the iPhone more as an entertainment device, a business device, personal communicator, or all three?
• What category of content are you most interested in? (News about the device and its ecosystem, Troubleshooting, Guides/How-Tos, Directories of iPhone-specific and iPhone-formatted sites, Software updates for iPhone, something else we haven't mentioned)?

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