Apple Inc Unleashes iPhone
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Wondering why there's so much fuss about the iPhone? We check out the specs on Apple's hot new entry into the cell phone market, and the challenges the electronics maker faces as it sheds the "computer" part of its name and faces old and new rivals.
Every once in a while a truly groundbreaking product comes along. We are grateful to have been involved in a few of them Steve Jobs
After 30 months of rumors, half truths and no facts, Apple CEO Steve Jobs unveiled Apple's "iPhone" at the January Macworld Expo. There was no "save the best for last." Jobs spoke about Apple's long anticipated iPhone in the first hour of his keynote address. The release of the iPhone pushes Apples into warfare with other major smart phone makers, as well as mobile OS maker Microsoft, and seems likely to redefine the way mobile phones, handhelds and portable media players are viewed.
The iPhone is better than expected; this is really amazing considering that Apple fanatics expected a truly remarkable product. Apple has crammed this phone with literally "everything." We will look at the specs, the features and the services, the price and carrier, and finally the names "Apple Inc" and "iPhone."
Technical Specifications
Screen size - (8.9cm)
Resolution - 320x480 pixels
Memory - 4GB/8GB
Wireless - Quad-band GSM/Wi-Fi/Bluetooth
Camera - 2 megapixels
Battery life - 5 hours talk/16 hours' music playback
Size - 115 x 61 x 11.6mm
Weight - 135grammes
Operating System - OS X
The Apple iPhone features patented multi-touch touch screen technology, 4 GB and 8 GB memory, dual-band GSM, and supports Cingular's EDGE (enhanced data GSM environment) network, 802.11b/g Wi-Fi, and Bluetooth 2.0 with EDR, which links to Apple's new, remarkably compact Bluetooth headset. The built-in two megapixel camera has video capability. No other phone even comes close to the hardware specs in terms of size (4 GB and 8 GB).
The phone has an accelerometer, a movement sensor, which automatically detects when the user has rotated the device from portrait to landscape and changes the contents of the display accordingly. It uses no stylus, and boasts pinch and zoom capabilities to enlarge views.
With an MP3 player and the ability to view the World Wide Web with full functionality, this snazzy device should make Apple converts of those that didn't jump on the iPod bandwagon (Mac haters eat your heart out). If the stratospheric prices don't shoo potential fans away, the competition is about be eclipsed. Five hours of talk time and 16 hours for playing music make the Apple iPhone a record breaker in terms of battery power.
Cingular is actually going to have to upgrade their hardware to support the visual voice mail feature; in other words, the Apple iPhone is actually going to drag US telecom networks closer to the networks and services available in Japan and Korea (and the phone actually outpaces devices found there). It is likely that a group of enthusiasts in southeast Asia will queue up and buy the Apple iPhone when it does roll out there in a few months time (Steve Jobs says it will be available by June in the US).
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