Apple Reinvents the Phone with iPhone
MACWORLD SAN FRANCISCO–January 9, 2007–Apple today introduced iPhone,
combining three products–a revolutionary mobile phone, a widescreen iPod
with touch controls, and a breakthrough Internet communications device with
desktop-class email, web browsing, searching and maps–into one small and
lightweight handheld device. iPhone introduces an entirely new user
interface based on a large multi-touch display and pioneering new software,
letting users control iPhone with just their fingers. iPhone also ushers in
an era of software power and sophistication never before seen in a mobile
device, which completely redefines what users can do on their mobile phones.
“iPhone is a revolutionary and magical product that is literally five years
ahead of any other mobile phone,” said Steve Jobs, Apple’s CEO. “We are all
born with the ultimate pointing device–our fingers–and iPhone uses them
to create the most revolutionary user interface since the mouse.”
iPhone is a Revolutionary Mobile Phone
iPhone is a revolutionary new mobile phone that allows users to make calls
by simply pointing at a name or number. iPhone syncs all of your contacts
from your PC, Mac or Internet service such as Yahoo!, so that you always
have your full list of up-to-date contacts with you. In addition, you can
easily construct a favorites list for your most frequently made calls, and
easily merge calls together to create conference calls.
iPhone’s pioneering Visual Voicemail, an industry first, lets users look at
a listing of their voicemails, decide which messages to listen to, then go
directly to those messages without listening to the prior messages. Just
like email, iPhone’s Visual Voicemail enables users to immediately randomly
access those messages that interest them most.
iPhone includes an SMS application with a full QWERTY soft keyboard to
easily send and receive SMS messages in multiple sessions. When users need
to type, iPhone presents them with an elegant touch keyboard which is
predictive to prevent and correct mistakes, making it much easier and more
efficient to use than the small plastic keyboards on many smartphones.
iPhone also includes a calendar application that allows calendars to be
automatically synced with your PC or Mac. iPhone features a 2 megapixel
camera and a photo management application that is far beyond anything on a
phone today. Users can browse their photo library, which can be easily
synced from their PC or Mac, with just a flick of a finger and easily
choose a photo for their wallpaper or to include in an email.
iPhone is a quad-band GSM phone which also features EDGE and Wi-Fi wireless
technologies for data networking. Apple has chosen Cingular, the best and
most popular carrier in the US with over 58 million subscribers, to be
Apple’s exclusive carrier partner for iPhone in the US.
iPhone is a Widescreen iPod
iPhone is a widescreen iPod with touch controls that lets music lovers
“touch” their music by easily scrolling through entire lists of songs,
artists, albums and playlists with just a flick of a finger. Album artwork
is stunningly presented on iPhone’s large and vibrant display.
iPhone also features Cover Flow, Apple’s amazing way to browse your music
library by album cover artwork, for the first time on an iPod. When
navigating your music library on iPhone, you are automatically switched
into Cover Flow by simply rotating iPhone into its landscape position.
iPhone’s stunning 3.5-inch widescreen display offers the ultimate way to
watch TV shows and movies on a pocketable device, with touch controls for
play-pause, chapter forward-backward and volume. iPhone plays the same
videos purchased from the online iTunes Store that users enjoy watching on
their computers and iPods, and will soon enjoy watching on their widescreen
televisions using the new Apple TV. The iTunes Store now offers over 350
television shows, over 250 feature films and over 5,000 music videos.
iPhone lets users enjoy all their iPod content, including music,
audiobooks, audio podcasts, video podcasts, music videos, television shows
and movies. iPhone syncs content from a user’s iTunes library on their PC
or Mac, and can play any music or video content they have purchased from
the online iTunes store.
iPhone is a Breakthrough Internet Communications Device
iPhone features a rich HTML email client which fetches your email in the
background from most POP3 or IMAP mail services and displays photos and
graphics right along with the text. iPhone is fully multi-tasking, so you
can be reading a web page while downloading your email in the background.
Yahoo! Mail, the world’s largest email service with over 250 million users,
is offering a new free “push” IMAP email service to all iPhone users that
automatically pushes new email to a user’s iPhone, and can be set up by
simply entering your Yahoo! name and password. iPhone will also work with
most industry standard IMAP and POP based email services, such as Microsoft
Exchange, Apple .Mac Mail, AOL Mail, Google Gmail and most ISP mail
services.
iPhone also features the most advanced and fun-to-use web browser on a
portable device with a version of its award-winning Safari web browser for
iPhone. Users can see any web page the way it was designed to be seen, and
then easily zoom in to expand any section by simply tapping on iPhone’s
multi-touch display with their finger. Users can surf the web from just
about anywhere over Wi-Fi or EDGE, and can automatically sync their
bookmarks from their PC or Mac. iPhone’s Safari web browser also includes
built-in Google Search and Yahoo! Search so users can instantly search for
information on their iPhone just like they do on their computer.
iPhone also includes Google Maps, featuring Google’s groundbreaking maps
service and iPhone’s amazing maps application, offering the best maps
experience by far on any pocket device. Users can view maps, satellite
images, traffic information and get directions, all from iPhone’s
remarkable and easy-to-use touch interface.
iPhone’s Advanced Sensors
iPhone employs advanced built-in sensors–an accelerometer, a proximity
sensor and an ambient light sensor–that automatically enhance the user
experience and extend battery life. iPhone’s built-in accelerometer detects
when the user has rotated the device from portrait to landscape, then
automatically changes the contents of the display accordingly, with users
immediately seeing the entire width of a web page, or a photo in its proper
landscape aspect ratio.
iPhone’s built-in proximity sensor detects when you lift iPhone to your ear
and immediately turns off the display to save power and prevent inadvertent
touches until iPhone is moved away. iPhone’s built-in ambient light sensor
automatically adjusts the display’s brightness to the appropriate level for
the current ambient light, thereby enhancing the user experience and saving
power at the same time.
Pricing & Availability
iPhone will be available in the US in June 2007, Europe in late 2007, and
Asia in 2008, in a 4GB model for $499 (US) and an 8GB model for $599 (US),
and will work with either a PC or Mac. iPhone will be sold in the US
through Apple’s retail and online stores, and through Cingular’s retail and
online stores. Several iPhone accessories will also be available in June,
including Apple’s new remarkably compact Bluetooth headset.
iPhone includes support for quad-band GSM, EDGE, 802.11b/g Wi-Fi and
Bluetooth 2.0 EDR wireless technologies.
iPhone requires a Mac with a USB 2.0 port, Mac OS X v10.4.8 or later and
iTunes 7; or a Windows PC with a USB 2.0 port and Windows 2000 (Service
Pack 4), Windows XP Home or Professional (Service Pack 2). Internet access
is required and a broadband connection is recommended. Apple and Cingular
will announce service plans for iPhone before it begins shipping in June.
Learn More About iPhone
To learn more about iPhone, please visit Apple.com or watch the video of
the iPhone introduction at www.apple.com/iphone/keynote.
Apple ignited the personal computer revolution in the 1970s with the Apple
II and reinvented the personal computer in the 1980s with the Macintosh.
Today, Apple continues to lead the industry in innovation with its
award-winning desktop and notebook computers, OS X operating system, and
iLife and professional applications. Apple is also spearheading the digital
music revolution with its iPod portable music players and iTunes online
store.
