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What is the iPhone you ask?
Well, the iPhone is a smartphone and multimedia player device. It was first announced by Apple Inc. CEO Steve Jobs during a keynote address at the Macworld Conference & Expo on January 9, 2007. The iPhone, more than just a mobile phone, will support a camera phone, a multimedia player, mobile telephony, and several internet services like push IMAP from Yahoo!, text messaging, web browsing, and other wireless connectivity.
But something's missing from this device! The iPhone will not include a built-in keyboard or a keypad; input will be accomplished via a combination of technologies, including a touchscreen with software virtual keyboard and buttons. Apple has confirmed an optimized but limited version of the OS X operating system will run on the iPhone, but further distinction between the operating system (OS X) running on Macs and iPhones has not been officially explained. Third party applications are currently limited to a "controlled environment".
The iPhone has a scheduled release date of June 2007, pending Federal Communications Commission approval, and will be available from the Apple Store and via Cingular. 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 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.
Apple's choice of the name "iPhone" has resulted in some controversy as Cisco Systems has asserted that they own the trademark to the name "iPhone". Cisco sells a line of Voice over IP telephones called "iPhone" under their Linksys brand. |
