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Apple introduces iPhone
Engadget ^ | Jan 9, 2007 | Chris Ziegler

Posted on 01/09/2007 10:18:35 AM PST by AnotherUnixGeek

Capping literally years of speculation on perhaps the most intensely followed unconfirmed product in Apple's history -- and that's saying a lot -- the iPhone has been announced today in collaboration with Cingular. Yeah, we said it: "iPhone," the name the entire free world had all but unanimously christened it from the time it'd been nothing more than a twinkle in Stevie J's eye (comments, Cisco?). Sweet, glorious specs of the 11.6 millimeter device (that's frickin' thin, by the way) include a 3.5-inch wide touchscreen display with multi-touch support, 2 megapixel cam, 8 GB of storage, Bluetooth with EDR, WiFi, and quadband GSM radio with EDGE -- and amazingly, it somehow runs OS X.


TOPICS: Computers/Internet
KEYWORDS: apple; iphone; ipod
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To: Star Traveler
I understand very well the form factor and power considerations for this type of device, but I have a 30 Gb iPod and with its drive, it is about a half inch shorter than the iPhone and only about 1/10 of an inch thicker.

I believe without too much more overall size (and I would take the additional 1/10 inch thickness overall), they could have a 30 Gb iPhone and the battery to power it...but I will be happy to take a 20 Gb flash version if it comes out first.

For the device to have enough overall memory to act as a cell phone, camera, PDA, music player, video player, wireless internet, wireless email, etc., etc...I just believe 6-8 Gb is going to end up being too small.

Just my own opinion.

241 posted on 01/10/2007 3:36:43 PM PST by Jeff Head (Freedom is not free...never has been, never will be (www.dragonsfuryseries.com))
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To: paulat

You said -- "Spiffster...brand name, link?"

Well, I was curious, too, so I looked around and found this review of this one and another brand. So, take a look at --

http://playlistmag.com/reviews/2006/08/videoglasses/index.php

Regards,
Star Traveler


242 posted on 01/10/2007 3:40:02 PM PST by Star Traveler
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To: null and void

You asked -- "Oh???? What does Apple Records have to say about that???"

Apple (the Beatles) lost their case again Apple (the computer)...

Regards,
Star Traveler


243 posted on 01/10/2007 3:41:48 PM PST by Star Traveler
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Comment #244 Removed by Moderator

To: Star Traveler

Thanks, ST!!! Sounds like they're not ready for prime-time yet, but I sure will be looking for the next generation in a year or two!


245 posted on 01/10/2007 3:47:23 PM PST by paulat
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To: Star Traveler

Swear to heaven...I only hit "Post" once... ;)


246 posted on 01/10/2007 3:48:36 PM PST by paulat
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To: Izzy Dunne

I fail to understand the "wonderfulness" of being able to watch television on a tiny, 1-inch screen. Is it the technology that is such a thrill, or is it that these people cannot stand to be without their tv shows? If it is the later, they really need to get a life!


247 posted on 01/10/2007 3:49:30 PM PST by Muzzle_em (A proud warrior of the Pajamahadeen)
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To: Jeff Head

You said -- "For the device to have enough overall memory to act as a cell phone, camera, PDA, music player, video player, wireless internet, wireless email, etc., etc...I just believe 6-8 Gb is going to end up being too small."

Yeah, well I know for sure that I'm not going to be carrying around my photo, music and movie libraries around in this phone -- that's for sure. But, I can't do that with my 60 GB iPod. So, it doesn't work there either. I can only carry a "share" of what I've got (totally) even on my iPod. And likewise, I'm only going to be able to carry a "share" (albeit smaller) on the iPhone.

Regards,
Star Traveler


248 posted on 01/10/2007 4:07:49 PM PST by Star Traveler
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To: Star Traveler
...yes, but the larger the "share", IMHO, the better.

For me, 6-8 gb when it comes to music, video, pics, etc. is too small a "share". But, that's just me. I bet there is a larger capacity version coming at some point...and I am going to have to wait anyway for it to get onto Verizon or something that has better coverage than Cingular where I live here in Idaho. BUt I WILL ultimately get one.

Apple has will hit a home ruin with this exceptional device that is a true convergence device combining cell phone, camera, video, music, intenet, etc. I will turn four carry devices into one when I ultimately get one.

249 posted on 01/10/2007 4:13:58 PM PST by Jeff Head (Freedom is not free...never has been, never will be (www.dragonsfuryseries.com))
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To: Muzzle_em

You said -- "I fail to understand the "wonderfulness" of being able to watch television on a tiny, 1-inch screen. Is it the technology that is such a thrill, or is it that these people cannot stand to be without their tv shows? If it is the later, they really need to get a life!"

Well, for me, I try to watch and collect informational shows -- documentaries or news and other other such things. And, what is really neat to do -- is to take my iPod and plug it into someone else's TV to show them something recent. For example, there was this Marine (I believe) in Iraq that had a song that created quite a stir. And it got on the news. Michelle Malkin did a piece on it and I took the video off that site and put it on the iPod. And then, whenever someone didn't know about what happened there, I played the Michelle Malkin video piece. It was great. I didn't have to explain it and the song was right on the video.

For those who were not at a TV set when I was talking to them, I could play it directly on the iPod. So, it lends itself to a lot of this kind of stuff.

Then, I can record things that I'm not sure that I really want. And I have some "down time" in a waiting room or wherever. I can load a bunch of shows on the iPod and quickly scan and review them and decide to "keep" or "throw away" -- when I get back home.

And then, there are times when there are shows that I want to see, and I'm going to take the time when I've got down time and can't get back home. Instead of sitting around and twiddling my thumbs and killing time, I'll use the iPod and look at the show.

But, I don't do this all the time as I also carry my laptop around with me. So, I end up doing work on the laptop a lot of the time, with WiFi Hotspots. And then, when I get this phone -- that will make the perfect combination -- iPhone, iPod and iBook (soon to be MacBook Pro).

Regards,
Star Traveler


250 posted on 01/10/2007 4:16:09 PM PST by Star Traveler
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To: Star Traveler
You said -- "... but this thing is just too big."

Now, that's hilarious.


Hey, if you find this aspect of reality hilarious, so be it. People buy what they want - and what they want is smaller cell phones.
251 posted on 01/10/2007 4:25:50 PM PST by AnotherUnixGeek
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To: AnotherUnixGeek

You said -- "... and what they want is smaller cell phones."

You just watch the people snap up this iPhone in June. I'm betting they will run out of stocks. Then we'll see what the people want...

Regards,
Star Traveler


252 posted on 01/10/2007 4:35:40 PM PST by Star Traveler
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To: Muzzle_em
I fail to understand the "wonderfulness" of being able to watch television on a tiny, 1-inch screen.

Well, this is a 3.5-inch screen, so cheer up!

Is it the technology that is such a thrill

For me it is. I don't have a TV, and don't care to, but the ability to do it is amazing.

253 posted on 01/10/2007 5:10:50 PM PST by Izzy Dunne (Hello, I'm a TAGLINE virus. Please help me spread by copying me into YOUR tag line.)
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To: Jeff Head
I understand very well the form factor and power considerations for this type of device, but I have a 30 Gb iPod and with its drive, it is about a half inch shorter than the iPhone and only about 1/10 of an inch thicker.

Adding a radio transceiver adds a major battery drain. A typical cell phone already has a larger battery than an iPod, and a fraction of the useful life.

For the device to have enough overall memory to act as a cell phone, camera, PDA, music player, video player, wireless internet, wireless email, etc., etc...I just believe 6-8 Gb is going to end up being too small.

6-8 GB is already as much capacity as the top-end Nano, and more onboard memory than any PDA/Phone I've seen. So it's not a quantum leap, but it's certainly a big step forward.

254 posted on 01/10/2007 6:47:08 PM PST by ReignOfError
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To: Star Traveler
You just watch the people snap up this iPhone in June. I'm betting they will run out of stocks.

Oh, no doubt. I'll be one of those people snapping up the iPhone. But I'll buy it because I love hand-held devices like this and because I want a successor to the current iPod. I suspect that most buyers will buy it for one of these two reasons. The cell phone market will not be conquered by attracting such buyers, however - $500 and a 2 year commitment to Cingular for a phone that won't fit easily in a pocket are not marketing inducements.
255 posted on 01/10/2007 6:50:27 PM PST by AnotherUnixGeek
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To: Izzy Dunne

"But Steve just showed it finding itself on Google Maps, then finding a nearby Starbucks."



Heck where I live you can't swing a cat without hitting at least one Starbucks ;)


256 posted on 01/10/2007 6:51:37 PM PST by freedomlover (Sorry, a tagline occurred. The tagline has been logged.)
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To: AnotherUnixGeek

You said -- "I suspect that most buyers will buy it for one of these two reasons. The cell phone market will not be conquered by attracting such buyers, however - $500 and a 2 year commitment to Cingular for a phone that won't fit easily in a pocket are not marketing inducements."

I've got a six-year-old Nokia (a 3285 model) and it's been running fine for all those years. I've never seen the need to get rid of it (and I'm not rough on it). I've only had one major accident with it and that's when I fell off a bike and the phone took the worst of it. I replaced the cracked screen for about $25.

People that know me look at it and say, "Have you still got that old thing?" And yes, I do... But *now* is the first time that I've ever considered changing -- and it's going to be for a good reason. I figure that I've leap-frogged over quite a bit of stuff that wasn't necessary and now -- this is something that is going to be useful for just as long as I have this present phone (because of how far advanced this iPhone is). So, I'm looking forward to it.

Regards,
Star Traveler


257 posted on 01/10/2007 7:07:58 PM PST by Star Traveler
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To: Izzy Dunne; freedomlover
But Steve just showed it finding itself on Google Maps, then finding a nearby Starbucks.

Steve got to the Google map by using a preloaded address, not GPS. He then asked for Starbuck's locations in that area. I've seen no report that this device supports any GPS function.

258 posted on 01/10/2007 7:21:58 PM PST by Vermonter
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To: AnotherUnixGeek
Oh, I define "high-end" by price. It just seems to me that you're equating "low-end" with small size, which is a mistake.

Not the very cheapest phones, though a lot of that market has been given over to the pre-paid end. But the hottest phones aren't all that tiny, and the really tiny phones -- the ones smaller than a Zippo lighter when folded -- have pretty much disappeared from the shelves.

My read is that the trend is back the other way, that folks are willing to accept somewhat bigger phones in exchange for more features. You can only go so small and have a screen that's useful for games and text messages, which younger folks especially use a lot, let alone photos and video, which have been less quick to take off.

Again, you're mistaking small with cheap

Based on observation, not an assumption. I've been in a couple of Sprint stores and an Office Depot this week, and that's what I saw. The larger, more full-featured phones consistently cost more. And I think you're too blithe in leaving the price out of the equation -- your observation that people prefer small phones is inseparable from the fact that people like cheap phones.

I'm not at all convinced that Apple shares your views on who the iPhone is for - it seems clear to many analysts and also to laymen like me that Apple wants to leverage iTunes and it's dominance in legit music downloads to make serious inroads into the cellular phone market along with the music/ringtone accessories market. The size of their new offering is going to hamper the business they do with phone buyers.

I think the size is going to do a lot less to hinder widespread acceptance than the $600 price tag. Once again, I think Apple is adopting the strategy it used with the iPod -- establish cred with the hard-core early adopters, then expand the product line downward.

I think it would be foolish for Apple to try to take on Motorola, et. al. throughout the product line at once, but I wouldn't be surprised to see an iPhone Mini or iPhone Nano in a year or two -- a little less memory and a smaller screen in a flip-phone.

If I do want to watch a movie or browse the Web, I might note that the screen is too small for easy Web browsing or movie viewing and reach for the Macbook I also took with me. Like I said, the iPhone looks big to be comfortable as a phone, and such devices are often too small to be comfortable as tablets or video devices.

I don't see it as a competitor for a tablet PC or laptop, not in capability and certainly not in price range. But with Palm moving a half-million units a quarter, there's clearly a market for smartphones, one that I would expect Apple, on the strength of iTunes, to expand dramatically. And there are already plenty of folks who have, or want, an iPod, a PDA and a cell phone -- the iPhone is certainly smaller than all three, and significantly expands their capability.

As far as watching movies on a 3.5" screen goes, I rarely watch video on the Treo, but i use the browser fairly often. It's not an ideal device for that, but I don't want to try to hold my iBook in front of my face when I'm standing in line at the DMV. And Apple sells enough TV and movies through the iTunes store that there's clearly a market.

259 posted on 01/10/2007 7:47:11 PM PST by ReignOfError
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To: ByDesign
This is a very interesting question. It's a mobile version of the MacOSX, which uses PDF as a native file format, so expect a PDF reader/thin version of Acrobat for sure.

Since it's running Safari, I would assume it would have at least a basic PDF reader when it ships; within Safari, if not a stand-alone app.

Here's some things I expect, eventually:
iChat/Aim clients

No question. There are already freeware and shareware clients galore for OSX and Palm.

VIOP clients using the wifi (both lines on one phone...cool...)

That would rock. Might be a hard sell with Cingular, though, It's gonna depend on the pricing structure of the contract -- if VOIP is a way to use unmetered data instead of metered cell phone minutes, Cingular may put up a fight. OTOH, if VOIP works only via WiFi -- not over Cingular's network -- they might be okay with that.

Voice recognition [...] Some form of Ink, the handwriting technology, for finger gesture capture

I'd expect both of those early on, since they're already mature technologies that Apple owns. In fact, I believe that Apple developed Ink (improved from the Newton hw recognition) with the iPhone or another PDA in mind -- it doesn't strike me as a particularly useful thing to have on a desktop or laptop.

Some way to connect this to a MacBook or MacbookPro and let the laptop use it's internet connection. No more paying for wifi in airports.

Agreed. That's already widely available via Bluetooth on a lot of smartphones and even normal phones, and I can't imagine Apple bringing out a top-of-the-line device that can't do what lesser (and far cheaper) devices can. And for me, it's not even an issue of not paying for WiFi, but the ability to use it when WiFi isn't available -- in the park, at a highway rest stop, at my grandmother's house.

Anything Palm has, developers can make for this. Productivity (Quicken for iPhone? Sold!), communications, reference, games, the GPS in it opens up lots of possibilities...

Yup. 8GB will hold a lot of street-level maps, and the screen's a decent size for satellite nav. If there's any kind of adapter that would hook the iPoone to an iPod dock connector (or if it uses one natively), a lot of vehicles are already ready for it.

I use a PsP to watch movies on planes. This will replace it. In fact, I don't see any reason to take my laptop on a lot of trips, if I have this.

I don't see it as a laptop replacement, especially with only 8GB of memory -- I take a buttload of 8MP pictures on vacations, and upgraded my iBook to a 160GB drive. The interface looks great, but I doubt it will challenge a real keyboard for serious work. But even nerd that I am, I don't use the laptop much on vacation; an Phone with a bluetooth keyboard would probably do the trick for a lot of folks.

I'm hesitant about Cingular too, my Verizon contract is up in April, and I love Verizon, but hate the phones they have right now.

I don't know that much about Cingular, and I don't know what kind of contract terms they'll have for the iPhone, so I'll have to wait and see on that. I think one reason Apple went with them is that they're all GSM -- so Apple doesn't have to mess with different international versions in the early going, when they'll probably be selling as many as they can make. I've stuck with Print for years, despite some quirks, because I use my phone for data more than voice, and Sprint had the best data plan; we'll see what Cingular offers for the iPhone. Metered data would be a serious buzz-kill.

They're going to sell a lot of these. I'm sold already, the GPS feature in the Keynote sold me. The potential of this device is huge, what we know so far just scratches the surface! I was disinterested in the iPhone rumors up until today, but this went so far beyond my expectations...Apple did it again.

I just got a new Treo (a replacement from Sprint, so I didn't spend any real money on it), and with that big a price tag, I think I can find the patience to wait for the 1.1 release. Especially since I can't get one until June anyway. I was impressed that the actual device far exceeded what was on the rumor sites -- those folks have active enough imaginations that it's difficult to exceed expectations.

260 posted on 01/10/2007 9:29:00 PM PST by ReignOfError
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