By Jennifer Guevin, 10 January 2007 08:50
NEWS
In one of the most anticipated gadget announcements in recent years, Apple has introduced the "iPhone", a mobile device that CEO Steve Jobs promised will reinvent the phone.
The Mac OS X-based iPhone is most akin to an iPod in design but allows users to listen to music, make phone calls, send text messages and email, surf the web, and take and upload photos, all using a wide touch screen and a single button. Apple plans to make the device available in the US in June, with a 4GB model going for $499 with a two-year service contract, and an 8GB model with the same contract for $599.
The iPhone was announced at Macworld during a two-hour keynote in which Jobs also announced the expected Apple TV, previously known by its code name "iTV", as well as a name change for the company.
He surprised many by continuing to refer to the new mobile device as the iPhone, a trademark that is owned by Cisco Systems. Apple has apparently been in discussions with Cisco over use of the iPhone trademark for some time but it is unclear what Apple's use of the name will mean for either company.
The device is 11.6mm thick - thinner than the Motorola Q and Samsung's BlackJack - and has controls on its side. It incorporates a wide, 160-pixel-per-inch touchscreen, a single "home" button, 2-megapixel camera, wi-fi capability and cellular service. The phone automatically switches from a cellular network to wi-fi if it detects a signal.
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The iPhone also comes loaded with Apple's Safari web browser and fully incorporates Google's search and mapping services. Users can make phone calls directly from Google Maps. Phone service in the US will be provided exclusively by Cingular Wireless.
True to form, the company did not fail to consider consumers' habits with the product's design. A proximity sensor detects when the phone is brought to a user's face and automatically turns off what music might be playing and turns on the phone. An "accelerometer" switches the screen from a portrait to landscape format, allowing for easy toggling between the device's various functions.
The iPhone even reconsiders how consumers listen to voicemail - by allowing people to see all unheard voicemails and select which one to listen to using a technology Jobs called visual voicemail, which Apple developed with Cingular.
But Apple's iPhone isn't cheap, and some people who aren't on Cingular's network might be unable to switch without hefty penalties, said Samir Bhavnani, an analyst with Current Analysis. However, "it's a great first step" toward getting Apple established as a mobile-phone company, he said.
While the price tag might be out of range for many teenagers and their parents, Apple loyalists will probably be interested in the new iPhone, even though Apple has no phone expertise, said Chris Crotty, a consumer electronics analyst at iSuppli.
He said: "Apple has strong brands, and there is a perception that they are an innovator and that they make products that are easy to use."
With companies expected to sell more than one billion mobile phones and more than 200 million portable media players this year, Apple was wise to enter the market, according to Crotty, because "their iPod business is under threat more and more from music-capable phones".
It was unclear what effect the iPhone would have on the market share of existing mobile and handheld providers. Asked to comment on the Apple announcement, a Motorola spokesman said: "There's really nothing to say because the [Apple] phone is not out yet."
A Palm spokeswoman said the iPhone appeared to be targeting the consumer market rather than the business market at which similar products from Palm - like the $199 Treo 680 - are aimed.
Wall Street apparently likes the iPhone. The price of Apple shares increased 8.31 per cent on Tuesday and ended the trading day at $92.57.
Jobs also used his keynote to announce the Apple TV, a home networking device that he first mentioned at a product showcase in September 2006. The device lets users stream content from up to five computers, and "autosync" from one computer.
The $299 Intel-based device will have 720-pixel high-definition video and a 40GB hard drive to store up to 50 hours of video. It will use 802.11n, the new draft wi-fi standard. Apple began taking orders yesterday and will start shipping the product in February.
Finally, Jobs announced that the company is changing its name.
He said: "Today we've added to the Mac and the iPod; we've added Apple TV, and now iPhone. And the Mac is the only one you think of as a computer." To combat that, Jobs said, "we are dropping the 'Computer' from our name, and we will be known as Apple Inc".
CNET News.com's Elinor Mills contributed to this report
Jennifer Guevin writes for CNET News.com
Comments
There are 10 comments. Join the discussion
1. anonymous
The Mac OS X-based iPhone is most akin to an iPod in design but allows users to listen to music, make phone calls, send text messages and email, surf the web, and take and upload photos,
Wow
there have been mobile phones capable of this on the market for some time now at a fraction of the cost!!
Why all the hype about something that is already happening.
Give me a break.
2. William Ashmore
As a lover of aplle and Ipod I must say Battery life of 5 -16 hours you must be kidding makes the Mobile part of its description a joke.
3. Julian Nicholls
A 2G phone with a 16 hour battery life, what a joke. We'd be laughed out of the manufacturers' offices if we offered that to them.
How many people actually buy a phone anyway, I've had 8 or 9 phones in as many years and have never paid more than a £10 upgrade fee for a single one.
4. anonymous
16 hour battery Life (i am guessing this is on standby) - how about 16 Days on standby.
Can someone please give me one good excuse to buy (sorry waste money on) one as i can not think of one myself (being apple does not count).
5. lardy
with the exception of nokia's 6310, i've never used a phone that seems to have been even half-well thought out - it'll be fab to have all this in a device that's clearly geared around how people actually want to do things.
as for price, who cares? a decent phone & life organizer is probably the most useful device any of us own (or don't own if you take the word 'decent' into account). it's funny how much people spend on various stuff (cars that depreciate thousands per year, annual phone bills that run into many hundreds etc) but they'll still baulk at paying anything for a mobile device simply coz providers will hide the cost of a tat one in a contract & seemingly offer it for free.
good on you, apple.
6. Ponsonby Smythe
I think that we all need to get a life!
Whilst I applaud the Mac and the iPod - do we really need phones, internet access, email, search engines et al. ALL of the time.
How about getting a life - work at work - relax and enjoy life at home.
Do not be driven by ever expanding technology - 90% of which we do not need - or already have.
7. M Parker
When it says 5 hours Talk time that actually means 5 hours of talking on the phone (or watching video or web browsing), it's not the Standby time (this is not listed on the apple web site). The 16 hours refers to audio listening.
The 5 hours of talk time is actually well up there (even better) than many phones around today, for example the new Nokia N95, which tries to do everything that the iPhone is doing, will have a measley 2.5 hours of Talk Time (standby time of 215 hours)
8. anonymous
No mention of Standby Time yet...
I wonder why?
Lets face it, its one for the iPod fans, not for real business use.
9. anonymous
This product is really a Phone, think of it as a computer that can make calls, as well as "properly" trawling the web. As OS X is installed, just think of the business possibilities for the future (If other developers are allowed access). It certainly raises the bar for other manufacturers - they must be worried!. Apple 'will' make huge inroads into this market. Mainly because they hold the correct distribution channel for media content.
10. Chris Allen
Real Business Use... that is funny, I use the iPod for real business use all the time, in fact it has increased my net income over $500,000 in the last 8 months. As a tool of Production and Personal development the iPod is absolutely top notch. I guess if you are a cubicle hound and are working for the Man, then and iPod isn't for you, nor would an iPhone, but as someone who is in the business of becoming as effective as I can become, and as an entrepreneur and producer, this tool is fantastic. I can't wait till June 2007 till I get mine.