At the Steve Jobs keynote speech at Macworld this morning PST, he announced "three revolutionary new products". An iPod, a phone, an internet mobile communicator. But turns out it's all one device: the fabled iPhone!
We'll have extended
analysis about this later today, but for now let's review the news. Here's the feature
list:
In terms of phone dimensions, iPhone is a quad-band GSM + EDGE phone (no 3G, notes Engadget). It has WiFi and Bluetooth 2.0.
Google CEO Eric Schmidt
and Yahoo co-founder Jerry Yang both made an appearance in Steve Jobs' keynote. Schmidt is an
Apple board member and had this to say:
"From a google perspective we've pushed very hard to partner with Apple and working with many many different data service -- Steve showed a little bit. It comes together seamlessly. This is the first of a whole new generation..."
Jerry Yang then said:
"One of the things we're going to be doing is launching some of our new services , Yahoo Go and One Search on this phone. Mail is a killer app on the phone, Yahoo is trying to redesign the web and email experience on mobile devices."
Steve Jobs said about the iPhone: "it's the internet in your pocket for the first time ever." He also called it "the ultimate digital device". A 4GB model will cost $499 and an 8GB model will retail for $599. It will be available in June in the US (on the Cingular network), Europe in the 4th quarter, Asia in 2008.
With a desktop-like UI and partnerships with two of the Big 3 Internet companies (Google and Yahoo), Apple is really upping the ante in the Mobile Web market. I think this will finally propel mobile Internet into the mainstream. Maybe 2007 will be the year of the Mobile Web after all!
Listed below are links to blogs that reference this entry: Boom! iPhone Rocks Tech World.
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Comments
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No 3G is exactly what I thought. Maybe the European version will have this since UMTS has been rolled out in those markets. The one thing that Apple normally does is go with the latest technologies (no floppy, Firewire, 802.11g, etc) so it surprised me that they didn't put in UMTS. Maybe this is because there are no networks in the US that support this standard (I'm not sure being a Kiwi).
Posted by: Glen Barnes | January 9, 2007 1:13 PMCingular, the carrier that Apple is going with does support UMTS AFAIK (I have an HSDPA phone), so the lack of 3G is a bummer
Posted by: Deepak | January 9, 2007 1:37 PMAnd so the game of turning hardware into software continues. This is one of the most amazing modern gadgets and it shows that Apple is capable of incredible discipline and boundless creativity. Go guys, go!
Alex
Posted by: Alex Iskold | January 9, 2007 1:52 PMAnyone care to explain to me how they got a full version of OS X running on a mobile phone? It seems amazing to me. Vista wouldn't run on a mobile phone surely? Microsoft have to release cut-down mobile versions of Windows for mobiles.
Posted by: Paul Watson | January 9, 2007 1:55 PMWhat I don't get is why I should want to sync my "contacts, calendars, photos, notes, bookmarks, email accounts..." through ITunes...
Posted by: Walter | January 9, 2007 2:07 PMIt's not so hard fitting in OS X - Microsoft does a similar thing with WinCE and you have Linux and *BSD for embedded devices. Don't forget that today's handheld devices have very powerful CPUs.
To me the iPhone seems like an iPod with phone functionality tacked on. How will you download music to fill up the 4/8GB? With slow GPRS, or find a hotspot somewhere? What about streaming mobile TV and video? That's not going to work even on the slightly faster EDGE.
Without server side support and other security features there's no way the iPhone will spell trouble for Blackberry. I think people are getting just a tad carried away over the iPhone... OK, it's made by Apple, but can we have a bit less adulation already, and more balance?
Posted by: Juha | January 9, 2007 2:15 PMPlease remove my all rights reserved pictures from this post. The photographs are available for license if you would like.
Posted by: Niall Kennedy | January 9, 2007 2:18 PMI'm not a big cell phone guy at all, but I want this one. Price is a bit more than I want to spend with my cell phone habits.
Posted by: Adam Jusko | January 9, 2007 2:20 PMExcellent!
Posted by: Emre Sokullu | January 9, 2007 2:31 PM@Walter,
Interesting point, I have to agree, that has not been done in a clean way.
Alex
Posted by: Alex Iskold | January 9, 2007 2:51 PMI'm sure that Douglas Engelbart appreciates Jobs taking credit for the mouse.
Posted by: Scott Trotter | January 9, 2007 2:53 PMAnd for everybody who now wants to change to Cingular but is stuck under contract, please checkout Cellswapper.com :)
http://www.cellswapper.com
(We just launched for general public)
Posted by: Team Cellswapper | January 9, 2007 3:08 PMNiall, as requested I've removed your photo (I only used one).
Posted by: Richard MacManus | January 9, 2007 3:09 PMI'm amped for this phone. However, I haven't seen too many people talking about the implications for Ajax-enabled websites.
It seems to me that this is the first device to come along which truly supports (X)HTML/CSS/JavaScript. That should open up some exciting possibilities for developers of web applications. Not to mention OS X, which is a boon for C/Objective-C developers.
Posted by: Jared Hanson | January 9, 2007 3:13 PMSteve Jobs said about the iPhone: "it's the internet in your pocket for the first time ever." Is it really, or is it actually Cingular/AT&T walled garden WiFi? More on that thought on the NextBlitz blog.
Posted by: gz | January 9, 2007 3:18 PM10 Big questions about the iPod phone:
Posted by: Tim | January 9, 2007 4:27 PMhttp://bla.st/site/blog/40/
Especially for those of us in unmentioned countries - how long, if at all will it take for the iPhone to become available in New Zealand (for example)?
Apple Newton II. I'm glad that I was right on the AppleInsider forum that Apple is on its track to "Apple Cell Computer". Vote for my project of the cell computer on Intel's Mobilitity Mod Challenge and we'll see and Microsoft Cell Computer too - I really enjoyed Bill Gates's "Connected experiences" at CES 2007.
Posted by: Michael Molin | January 9, 2007 5:06 PMThe link is -
Intel Mobile Mod Challenge 06
http://softwarecommunity.intel.com/isn/contestplatform/default.aspx
Posted by: Michael Molin | January 9, 2007 5:14 PMWhat a wonderful example of collaboration and innovation. The teams at both Apple and Intel should be proud. Congratulations.
Posted by: Maryann Iannitti | January 9, 2007 9:27 PMHi Richard,
Thanks for this. Good coverage
Some comments
a) >>> "(Safari) it's the first fully-usable browser on a cellphone." - I think Jobs said that? But thats not quite true. Others like Nokia and Opera have been having full web browsers for about a year now. Something which I have long talked about (in context of RIA, Ajax etc on mobile devices)
b) The real significance is:
The announcement is too Cingular centric - thus the jury is out on it's wider uptake
I cover this on my blog at
(The iPhone is extraordinary not because of it’s UI but because it’s the tail wagging the dog .. But the real question is: How many dogs can it wag?)
http://opengardensblog.futuretext.com/archives/2007/01/the_iphone_is_e_1.html
In a nutshell:
Posted by: Ajit Jaokar | January 9, 2007 11:55 PMThe iPhone is cool, sexy etc because it works closely with the one Operator where its launched(namely Cingular in the US). In that deployment, Apple seems to be the dominant partner rather than Cingular if you consider feartures like Visual voicemail (which is unlike the norm i.e. the Carrier is the more dominant patner in such relationships). The caveat is, as more Operators deploy the iPhone, either it becomes too complex or it becomes least common denominator
Thus, the jury is out still IMHO
See
http://opengardensblog.futuretext.com/archives/2007/01/the_iphone_is_e_1.html
kind rgds
Ajit
MediaVidea analyzes 8 important issues related to iPhone and Apple's future course of direction.
Posted by: pramit | January 10, 2007 1:55 AMhttp://mediavidea.blogspot.com/2007/01/apples-iphone-8-important-issues.html
Most importantly, Is iPhone a revolution?
Am I the only to wonder the following? what do you do of all the fancy web applications if you're in wifi coverage??? No 3G means ANYTHING is going to take ages to download...
Posted by: julien | January 10, 2007 8:24 AMAm I the only to wonder the following? what do you do of all the fancy web applications if you're not in wifi coverage??? No 3G means ANYTHING is going to take ages to download...
Posted by: julien | January 10, 2007 8:25 AMAs with all great hardware, this immediately creates demand for appropriate software: social networking software able to find friends as cool as the phone you're now using.
Posted by: Ron Davison | January 10, 2007 10:03 AMCheck out iPhoneTopsites.com for the best up and coming iPhone sites on the web.
Posted by: Andy | January 14, 2007 8:37 AMHave Yahoo and Google worked together before on something like this?
Posted by: keesj | January 16, 2007 2:50 AMiPhone is available with Cingular ONLY!? And what if I am stuck under contract with a carrier OTHER than Cingular but still want a iPhone?
Well, the only solution I could fine was http://www.Cellswapper.com - they get you out of any cell phone contract!
Posted by: Roger Smith | January 17, 2007 4:28 AMiPhone is available with Cingular ONLY!? And what if I am stuck under contract with a carrier OTHER than Cingular but still want a iPhone?
Well, the only solution I could fine was http://www.Cellswapper.com - they get you out of any cell phone contract!
Posted by: Roger Smith | January 17, 2007 4:28 AM