Incoming Apple iPhone

 

 

Heads exploded around the tech world today after
Apple CEO Steve Jobs finally announced the long-awaited Apple iPhone during his
Macworld 2007 keynote in San Francisco.

The iPhone, as Jobs proudly dubbed the device to
thunderous applause (take that Linksys), will be three devices in one: a
cell phone, a wide-screen iPod with touch controls, and an Internet
communications device.

We haven't gotten to hold an iPhone yet, but we're
just as excited as the next person to finally write down our first thoughts, and
we won't sleep until we get our hands on one. Check back near the product's June
release date for our full review.

 

 

Availability

 

Release : June , 2007

Distributor: Cingular (soon to be AT&T) and Apple stores.

Price
:  $499 (4GB ) ,  $599 (8GB)

Design

 

Touch screen, all the time.

With only one hardware control (a "home" key), iPhone's real estate is
dominated by a huge, 3.5-inch display.

Resolution of 320x480x160 pixels per inch .

The "smart" screen shifts automatically to a landscape orientation when you
start to play a video.

One giant touch screen controls the phone, and no stylus is needed . Use
your fingers to type messages and e-mails on an onscreen keyboard - onscreen
typing will be faster than on a standard smart-phone keypad

Of
course, such a large display makes for a large phone: the iPhone measures
4.5x2.4x0.46 inches.

Weight (4.8 ounces) ,  mostly standard for a handset of this size.

The slim profile is noteworthy as well.

iPhone is thinner than both the Motorola Q and the Samsung BlackJack.

 

Features

Quad-band (GSM 850/900/1800/1900) world phone,  the iPhone's data support
tops out at 2.5G EDGE networks. Considering the multimedia-friendly feature
set, the omission of any 3G compatibility is a bit bizarre, particularly
since Cingular now offers UMTS and HSDPA.

Visual Voicemail displays all the messages you have in a list, similar to an
e-mail in-box.

It's closely related to the highly rated iPod music player iPod.

In
short, the iPhone is sure to offer an easy-to-use media playback interface,
and the breadth of content offered by iTunes

The iPhone offers a standard 3.5mm audio jack, which will work with all
mainstream stereo headphones.

One thing is for certain: the 3.5-inch wide-screen display is much better
for full-length movie viewing than the 5G iPod's comparatively paltry
2.5-inch screen.

Apple's new partnership with Paramount really helps to fill out the movie
category in iTunes.

iTunes content and video load on the phone via a USB computer connection--As
far as we know there are no wireless downloads--and the iPhone comes with an
iPod connector.

 

Other features:

 

Runs on Mac OS X

2-megapixel camera

A
photo-management tool that rotates the display for landscape photos (like
with videos)

Support for Google Maps

Conference calling

Speakerphone

Text and multimedia messaging.

 

Connectivity:

 

Stereo Bluetooth

Wi-Fi (a huge plus)

POP3 and IMAP4 e-mail

Safari Web browser.

The free push Yahoo e-mail app looks especially cool since we won't have to
wait for syncing with a PC.