RSSApple Goes for the Trifecta with iPhone
By Ed Oswald | Published January 9, 2007, 12:59 PM
AT MACWORLD In his keynote address at Macworld in San Francisco Tuesday, Apple CEO Steve Jobs unveiled the oft-rumored and much-anticipated iPhone, although the device is somewhat different than what had been expected.
Instead of launching a separate widescreen ipod and iPhone, Apple has combined three different devices into a single one. The iPhone is a widescreen iPod, cellular phone, and Internet communicator in one device, and would be a true smartphone according to Jobs.
The phone only features one button, a "home" button, and a 3.5-inch screen capable of a 160 pixel-per-inch resolution. The entire device measures 11/16 inches thick. It is also compatible with the GSM standard. It will be available on the Cingular network.
The iPhone attempts to change the entire concept of the smartphone. Its interface would switch based on the application needed. Also, the input is simpler. "Nobody wants a stylus," Jobs chided. Instead, it would use multifinger gestures to control, a concept Apple has patented.
Other novel features: the capability to auto-detect whether it is held in portrait or landcape mode; a proximity sensor to turn off the display when held to the ear; an ambient light sensor to conserve power, and an accelerometer to turn on the device and the display.
The phone will run Mac OS X. "This phone is revolutionary," he added. "This is five years ahead of anything else." By running Mac OS X, desktop applications could easily be ported to the phone, Jobs said.
The phone features go on: quad-band GSM+EDGE, visual voicemail which allows you to see all voicemails at once and click those you want to hear, simplified navigation to allow for advanced features like conference calls with a touch of a button, and the capability to text message with several people in an iChat-like environment. On the Internet side, Apple has tapped Google to provide mapping functionality. In addition, it would be able to support both IMAP and POP3 e-mail account, and Yahoo has been selected to provide free push IMAP e-mail for the device. A full Internet browser based on Safari would be included, along with support for Dashboard widgets, Jobs said. Unlike other mobile browsers, the whole page would be shown, with gestures used to zoom in on the page as necessary. In addition, the viewing of multiple pages is possible through a coverflow-like interface, an innovation Jobs called "a revolution of the first order." In a self-congratulatory moment, Jobs showed the Mac stock widget, showing Apple's stock soaring in light of the iPhone news.
Pricing is set at $499 USD for the 4 GB model and $599 USD for the 8 GB model, with a 2-year contract from Cingular, which is the exclusive provider in the United States thanks to a multiyear partnership. Europe will receive the phone in the fourth quarter of 2007, with arrival in Asia coming next year.
Now we know what the next generation iPod will look like.
Score: 0
|Has anybody seen the online demo? It's actually quite intuitive to use. Makes me wish I had held off of my phone upgrade. Now I have to wait another 2 years.
Score: 0
|I bought a 30gb iPod from Heathrow airport last May because it was VAT free and that made it a good price. I love the iPod and I'm very interested in this iPhone as a concept, it's very interesting indeed. I would buy one at the right price but there is no way on God's earth that I will pay the prices quoted above. I have a feeling that the US phone market is a lot different to the UK & Europe phone market and if Apple think this iPhone will fly off the shelves over here at those prices, then they're in for a huge massive shock. Apple may be 5yrs ahead of the phone market in the US and yes it is somewhat innovative - combining the iPod with a phone that looks good and does what it says is a very appealing idea - but in phone terms, Apple is no way ahead of Europe or Asia. I wouldn't buy this yet at these prices - sorry Apple.
Score: 0
|Keep in mind the prices will likely drop quite quickly. I'm sure a big part of it is the display. Once the orders start rolling in, and manufacturing gets bumped up, I'd expect a drop in price.
Also keep in mind the pricing for current devices that include all or most of the stated feature-set. These have never been cheap devices. As folks seem to be thinking below, it's definitely not just a phone.
Score: 0
|With no iPhone for Europe and Asia until late this year and 2008 respective, Apple is missing out on the largest GSM markets on this planet, but at that price it is competing against a few budget yet slightly more expensive 3G/HSPDA PPC Phones already.
Score: 0
|Good point. Europe uses more wireless tech than anyone on the planet and Asia is coming. At $500, look for the people coming out of the store with them to be robbed at gunpoint! Besides, it looks like a Zune with fat-finger buttons.
Score: 0
|Yawn.....
Another iTrinket from Apple that has no business savvy or functionality.
May the iDrone masses enjoy.
Score: 0
|Yes, yes - now go back and play with the little kids.
Score: 0
|Cingular only. HAHAHA! DOA.
Score: 0
|tell it to their stock.
Score: 0
|I guess $500 isn't bad if you consider it is an iPod and an internet, multimedia capable phone. Costs about as much as the two devices combined and doesn't create a log jam in the pants pocket to carry.
Score: 0
|$500 for a phone and I highly doubt it it will last through the 2 years Cingular contract. None of the iPod I own last 2 years. Have the 4g and the video one. The 4g die exactly 1 year and 1 week. And the video die within a year.
Score: 0
|Strange... My 30GB iPod is about 4 years old now. No problems so far. Of course, it doesn't look as new/good as it did back then. Price seems reasonable compared to buying the devices separately.
Score: 0
|A phone that runs Mac software? That's a bet I'm not about to take.
No doubt it's REALLY affordable though.
$500? Seems like a steal..not.
Score: 0
|I thought it looked like an OK phone till I looked at the price
Score: 0
|Other sources are reporting the phone as being 4gb or 8gb, not 40 and 80.
Score: 0
|Thanks, Brad. Those sources include Apple, of course. Note correction above.
-SF3
Score: 0
|I'm ready to buy it :)
Simple and easy to use...Once again innovation while everyone else will be trying to catch up.
Score: 0
|After how two different ipods I own failed miserably after 18 months, and then the "refurb program" that apple charged me nearly $80 each to switch the battery got me two useless ipods that don't even switch on....
Let's just say they have a long way to go in the quality department to make me think I'd ever want a phone from them.
"This phone is 5 years ahead of anything...." -- what, did he find it in Japan? Or Europe? They're still 5 years ahead of us.
Score: 0
|Here's the word from Cisco on the iPhone aspect. Apparently Apple is in the process of licensing the term from Cisco and Cisco expects the contract to be signed today.
Score: 0
|I know what phone I'm buying next, hell yes.
Score: 0
|Ok so how is this different then my Palm Treo 650? I can go online, play all the MP3's I want, and of course is a phone. Not to mention it has 10000 programs you can download for it. I guess its different because there is a picture of an apple and it the word IPOD is there.
Score: 0
|Multi-Touch interface, perhaps? :-)
A radically new and more natural UI.
Score: 0
|My Cingular 8125 has a multi touch screen...
Score: 0
|Bigger included storage, for starters. Higher resolution screen. Quad-band support (AFAIK Treo is only tri-band?). IMAP e-mail - finally!
I'd be buying it if was delivered here for 3G networks. Only reason I don't have the Treo is it's not 3G. HSPDA would be even more attractive.
I think it's cheap for what it is - and I'd appreciate the convenience of just one device, not two or three in my pockets.
Score: 0
|Seems like Apple is, yet again, ahead of the competition. Any word on possible release date?
Score: 0
|By "ahead of the competition" you mean "at the same level or behind" then you're right. That Apple TV announcement was underwhelming, and this phone is as well. Nothing new feature-wise. But, somehow they'll have some slick interface, manage to market the hell out of those two things and kick everyone's butts.
Score: 0
|Comes out in June
Score: 0
|Worked for Nokia. Years behind in tech, but it was the preferred UI. Difference is, this isn't really behind in tech - there's nothing that could be considered the same as this. IMAP? How many phones do that at the moment?
Score: 0
|