Apple Announce iPhone & More

It's been a busy day for many bloggers at CES ... I guess there are a lot of excited tech heads in Vegas, however in San Francisco, Steve Jobs finally released details about the new iPhone and a whole bunch of other kit. I have to admit, the new iPhone is a sexy looking piece of kit. It appears that they have done their usual job of creating a product which will create a great deal of interest. The new device uses a technology called multi-touch, which allows users to work the interface without a stylus, using finger gestures for enhanced functionality.


The iPhone is also a Widescreen iPod, with touch controls that let the user browse and use their music and media by easily scrolling through entire lists of songs, artists, albums and playlists with the flick of a finger. The included Cover Flow app looks great, on the demos I've seen on their website and in the Footnote Speech.



It also features a version of OS X, designed by Apple for the iPhone and can sync data from a PC or Mac, enabling users to call contacts in their address books by simply touching their names.

Other features include:
Edge transfer technology.
Bluetooth 2.0 (I wonder if this has A2DP support).
802.11b/g Wi-Fi.
A 2 megapixel camera.
Proximity sensor for using the phone near your ear.
Ambient light sensor which adjusts the illumination for use under different lighting conditions.
An Accellerometer which detects and adapts the display based upon the units orientation.
Safari based web browser.
A rich email client, Google Maps Support and Widgets.

I must congratulate Apple on what they're achieved in the iPhone, it does indeed look great. However, Apple have erred in providing no support for 3G and again the ridiculous oversight of not facilitating the use of interchangeable batteries. So what happens if my battery fails ... do I really have to send the iPhone to a service centre? Come on guys get your act together and follow the lead of other manufacturers with this one capability at least. The other problem I have with the iPhone is with the size of the keys on the virtual keyboard ... they seem a little small, we don't all have dainty little fingers. Even so, I will probably try one...

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 US$499 and an 8GB model for US$599, and will work with either a PC or Mac.


Other Apple News
iTunes hits 2 billion song Mark, 50 million TV shows, Paramount adds its movies to iTunes. AppleTV explained in depth. Apple Computer, Inc. becomes Apple Inc. Visit Apple to watch the Keynote Address.

I've reposted this from Kickstartnews because of the photo capabilities of the unit ... nice user interface, shame about the storage capacity though ... 8 Gb is not nearly enough. What I really want is a micro tablet, something which sits between this beauty and the capabilities of a tablet pc. I'm guessing that when this get released, the market will be flooded with useful accessories. Come on, Steve and gang put a 30 gig drive in there at least.