iPhone
The Apple iPhone is a multimedia/internet-enabled phone announced by Apple CEO Steve Jobs during the keynote address at the Macworld Conference & Expo on January 9, 2007. The iPhone has a scheduled US release date of June 2007, (later outside the US) and will be available from the Apple Store and from Cingular Wireless. iPhone has a planned launch price of US$499 for the 4 GB model and $599 for the 8 GB model, based on a two-year service contract.
The iPhone's functions include those of a camera phone, a multimedia player, mobile telephone, and internet services like e-mail, text messaging, web browsing and wireless connectivity. iPhone input is accomplished via touchscreen with virtual keyboard and buttons. The iPhone is a quad-band GSM phone, though Jobs mentioned in his keynote that Apple has a "plan to make 3G phones" in the future. Apple has filed over 200 patents related to the technology behind the iPhone.
History
The genesis of the iPhone was Jobs' direction that Apple engineers investigate touch-screens. At the time he had been considering having Apple work on tablet PCs. Many have noted the device's similarities to Apple's previous touch-screen portable device, the Newton MessagePad. Like the Newton, the iPhone is nearly all screen, and likewise its form-factor is credited as well by Apple to their head of design, Jonathan Ive. Comments made by Jobs in April 2003 at the "D: All Things Digital" executive conference expressed his belief that tablet PCs and traditional PDAs were not good choices as high-demand markets for Apple to enter, despite many requests made to him that Apple create another PDA. He did believe that cell phones were going to become important devices for portable information access, and that what cell phones needed to have was excellent synchronization software. At the time, instead of focusing on a follow-up to their Newton PDA, Jobs had Apple put its energies into the iPod, and the iTunes software (which can be used to synchronize content with iPod devices), released January 2001. On September 7, 2005, Apple and Motorola released the ROKR E1, the first mobile phone to use iTunes. However Jobs was unhappy with the ROKR, feeling that having to compromise with a non-Apple designer (Motorola) prevented Apple from designing the phone he wanted to make. In September 2006, Apple discontinued support for the ROKR and released a version of iTunes that included references to an as-yet unknown mobile phone that could display pictures and video. On January 9, 2007, Jobs announced the iPhone.
Features
Multi-touch screen
The 3.5-inch (8.9cm) display (320×480 px at 160 ppi) touch screen is specifically created for use with a finger, or multiple fingers for multi-touch sensing. No stylus is needed, nor can one be used, as the touch screen requires bare skin to operate.
The display responds to three sensors: a proximity sensor that shuts off the touchscreen when the iPhone is brought close to an ear (to save battery power and to prevent accidental contact with the user's face and ears from triggering phone features), an ambient light sensor that adjusts screen brightness and saves power, and an accelerometer, which senses the orientation of the phone and changes the screen accordingly, albeit in only one 90 degree direction.
A single frontal hardware button brings up the main menu. Subselections are made via the touchscreen. The iPhone utilizes a full-paged display, with context-specific submenus at the top and/or bottom of each page, sometimes depending on screen orientation. Detail pages display the equivalent of a "Back" button to go up one menu.
The iPhone has three hardware switches on its sides: sleep/wake, volume up/down, ringer on/off. All other multimedia and phone operations are done via the touch screen.
For text input, the device implements a virtual keyboard on the touchscreen. It has automatic spell checking and predictive word capabilities.
The photo album and web page magnifications are examples of multi-touch sensing. It is possible to zoom in and out of objects such as web pages and photos by respectively "unpinching" and "pinching" them, that is, placing two fingers (usually thumb and forefinger) on the screen and moving them farther apart or closer together as if stretching or squeezing the image.
The iPhone varies from common desktop interfaces by using a direct manipulation model of scrolling. Where a typical desktop GUI achieves scrolling by using a scroll-arrow to push a view-window down and thus the content itself up (or the reverse, clicking up to move content down), the iPhone interface enables the user to move the content itself up or down by direct touch.
Scrolling through a long list works somewhat like the list is pasted on the surface of a wheel, you can "give the wheel a spin" by sliding your finger over the display. After you lifted your finger from the display the "wheel continues spinning" for a short moment before coasting down. So the Iphone seems to simulate the physics of a real object, which, it is thought, should give a very natural feel to the whole process. At the moment however it is difficult to say how far Apple has taken this idea.
The UI also features other visual effects, such as horizontally sliding sub-selections and co-selections from right and left, and vertically sliding system menus from the bottom (e.g. favorites, keyboard).
Phone
The iPhone allows conferencing, call holding, call merging, caller ID, and integration with other iPhone features. A playing song fades out when the user receives a call. Once the call is ended the music fades back seamlessly.
The iPhone will include a Visual Voicemail feature in conjunction with Cingular which allows users to view a list of current voicemail messages onscreen, without having to call into their voicemail. Voicemail messages will play when selected by the user. Cingular completely reworked their process design around voicemails to accomodate this feature from Apple.
E-mail messages are presented chronologically in a mailbox format similar to Mail, which places all text from recipients together with replies. Text messages are displayed in speech bubbles (similar to iChat) under each recipient's name.
Camera
The iPhone features a 2 megapixel camera with video and software that allows the user to upload, view, and e-mail photos. The user zooms in and out of photos by "unpinching" and "pinching" them through the Multi-touch interface. The software will interact with iPhoto on the Mac.
iPod
The layout of the music library differs from previous iPods, with the sections divided more clearly alphabetically, and with a larger font. The Cover Flow, like that on iTunes, shows the different album covers in a scroll-through photo library. Scrolling is achieved by swiping a finger across the screen.
Like the fifth generation iPods introduced in 2005, the iPhone can play video allowing users to watch TV shows and films. Unlike other image-related content, video on the iPhone plays only in the landscape orientation, when the phone is turned sideways. A two-fingered tap is used to switch between wide-screen and full-screen aspect ratios.
Internet
The iPhone has built-in WiFi, with which it will be able to access the Internet (through a wireless network) via the Safari browser. The iPhone will also be able to connect to the Internet through Cingular's EDGE network but will not be able to utilize Cingular's 3G/HSDPA network at launch. The web browser displays full web pages as opposed to simplified pages as on most other phones. Web pages may be viewed in portrait or landscape mode and support automatic zooming by "pinching" or double-tapping images or text. The iPhone also has Bluetooth built in and works with wireless earpieces that use Bluetooth 2.0 technology and for file transfer.
An agreement between Apple and Google provides for access to a specially modified version of Google Maps — in map, local list, or satellite form, optimized for the iPhone. During the launch of the product, Jobs demonstrated this feature by searching for nearby coffee shops and then placing a call to one with a single tap.
The iPhone also features an HTML e-mail program, which enables the user to embed photos in an e-mail message. Yahoo! will be providing a free Push-IMAP e-mail service similar to that on a BlackBerry; IMAP and POP3 mail standards are also supported, including Microsoft Exchange. The email program Outlook for Windows cannot be synchronized with the iPhone for the time being. There is no enterprise email connectivity unless it supports IMAP push.
OS X
Apple has confirmed an optimized, full version of the OS X operating system (minus unnecessary components) will run on the iPhone, and is expected to take up "considerably less" than 500MB, and capable of supporting as-yet undetermined bundled and future 1st and 3rd-party applications. Differences between the operating system (OS X) running on Macs and the iPhone have not been officially explained. Third party applications are currently limited to a "controlled environment".
Apple intends to offer a smooth method for updating the iPhone's operating system, in a similar fashion to the way that Mac OS X and iPods are updated, and touts this as an advantage compared to other cell phones.
Widgets, similar to the ones available in Mac OS X v10.4's Dashboard, are included on the iPhone. The examples given in the Macworld 2007 keynote were Stocks and Weather widgets.
The iPhone's version of OS X includes the software component "Core Animation" which is responsible for the smooth Animations used in its user interface.
Other
The iPhone features a built-in battery that is not intended to be user-replaceable, similar to existing iPods. The battery is capable of providing five hours of video, web browsing, or talk time. The battery life for music playing is 16 hours. It is unknown how long the batteries will last in sleep mode.
There will be new headphones which are similar to those of current iPods, but which incorporate a microphone. Calls can be answered and ended by squeezing the microphone. Wireless earpieces that use Bluetooth technology to communicate with the iPhone will be sold separately.
The loudspeaker is used both for handsfree operations and media playback.
The iPhone has the ability to synchronize with Apple's iCal (for calendar and notifications), Address Book (for phone numbers), and iTunes. Windows users will be limited to iTunes synchronization.
Pricing and availability
Jobs announced that the iPhone will first be available in June 2007 in the U.S., during the fourth quarter 2007 in Europe, and in 2008 for Asia. The initial U.S. release will be offered in two configurations with two different prices, based on a 2-year phone service contract: a 4 GB model for US $499 and an 8 GB model for $599.
Apple also announced that its goal is to capture 1% of the global mobile phone market, which would be approximate 10 million units being sold in the first full calendar year of iPhone availability. For comparison, Jobs announced that the Apple iPod commands 62% of the U.S. market share for MP3 players.
In a deal concluded from secretive discussions beginning in February 2005, Cingular Wireless will be the exclusive carrier of the iPhone in the United States and will remain so until 2009. The iPhone may be purchased only with a two-year service plan with Cingular.
iPhone trademark
On September 3, 1993, Infogear filed for the U.S. trademark "I PHONE" and on March 20, 1996 applied for the trademark "IPhone". "I Phone" was registered in March 1998, and "IPhone" was registered in 1999. Since then, the I PHONE mark has been abandoned. Infogear's trademarks cover "communications terminals comprising computer hardware and software providing integrated telephone, data communications and personal computer functions" (1993 filing), and "computer hardware and software for providing integrated telephone communication with computerized global information networks" (1996 filing). Infogear released a telephone with an integrated web server under the name iPhone in 1998. In 2000, Infogear won an infringement claim against the owners of the iphones.com domain name. In June 2000, Cisco Systems acquired Infogear, including the iPhone trademark. On December 18, 2006 they released a range of re-branded Voice over IP (VoIP) sets under the name iPhone.
In October 2002, Apple applied for the "iPhone" trademark in the United Kingdom, Australia, Singapore and the European Union. A Canadian application followed in October 2004 and a New Zealand application in September 2006. As of October 2006 only the Singapore and Australian applications had been granted. In September 2006, a company called Ocean Telecom Services applied for an "iPhone" trademark in the United States, United Kingdom and Hong Kong, following a filing in Trinidad and Tobago. As the Ocean Telecom patents use exactly the same wording as Apple's New Zealand application, it is assumed that Ocean Telecom is applying on behalf of Apple. The Canadian application was opposed in August 2005 by a Canadian company called Comwave who themselves applied for the trademark three months later. Comwave have been selling VoIPdevices called iPhone since 2004.
Shortly after Steve Jobs' January 9, 2007 announcement that Apple would be selling a product called iPhone in June 2007, Cisco issued a statement that it had been negotiating trademark licensing with Apple and expected Apple to agree to the final documents that had been submitted the night before. On January 10, Cisco announced it had filed a lawsuit against Apple over the infringement of the trademark iPhone, seeking an injunction in federal court to prohibit Apple from using the name. More recently, Cisco claimed that the trademark lawsuit was a "minor skirmish" that was not about money, but about interoperability. On February 2, 2007, Apple and Cisco announced that they had agreed to temporarily suspend litigation while they hold settlement talks, and subsequently announced on February 20, 2007 that they had reached an agreement. Both companies will be allowed to use the "iPhone" name in exchange for "exploring interoperability" between Apple's products and Cisco's iPhone.
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