iphone

The iPhone is a smartphone and multimedia player device announced by Apple Inc. CEO Steve Jobs during the keynote address at the Macworld Conference & Expo on January 9, 2007.^[1][2] The iPhone will support a camera phone, a multimedia player, mobile telephony, and several internet services like push IMAP from Yahoo!, text messaging, web browsing and wireless connectivity.

The iPhone will not include a built-in keyboard or keypad; input is 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,^[3] 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".^[4]

The iPhone has a scheduled release date of June 2007,^[5] 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.^[6] Apple has filed over 200 patents related to the technology behind the iPhone.^[7]

Apple's choice of the name 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.

Features

Multi-touch screen

The 3.5-inch 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 be used as it requires bare skin to operate.^[8] The photo album and web page manipulation is an example of multi-touch sensing. The control buttons for the phone have the ability to be reprogrammed to whatever control scheme the user wishes. To unlock the phone touch screen the user must slide a finger from left to right at the bottom of the screen.

The device uses a virtual keyboard made possible by the touchscreen. It features automatic spell checking and predictive capabilities. The virtual keyboard appears when needed and disappears when the user is finished typing.

Instead of a windowed desktop metaphor, the iPhone uses a Zooming User Interface. It is possible to zoom in and out of objects such as webpages 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 device also features 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.

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 on without delay.

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.

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 in iChat) under each recipient's name.

Camera

The iPhone features a 2 mega-pixel 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 communicator

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 unable to utilize Cingular's 3G network at launch.^[8] 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. Direct downloading of files from iTunes Store is not supported. The iPhone also has Bluetooth built in and works with wireless earpieces that use Bluetooth 2.0 technology and for file transfer.

The iPhone also features an HTML e-mail program, which also 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.

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.

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 within a single tap.

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.^[8] It is unknown how long the batteries 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. The email program Outlook for Windows cannot be synchronized with the iPhone^[8] for the time being. There is no enterprise email connectivity^[9] unless it supports IMAP push.

OS X

The OS X in iPhone is not officially known whether to be a full-fledged Mac OS X or a stripped down version, but Apple developers are stating that it is the Mac OS X kernel with some computer-only feautures taken out. For example, the Dock or Finder are not present in the iPhone; while Dashboard widgets, Java and Flash movies, Safari web browser, and Apple Mail email applications are all available.

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 was to capture 1% of the global mobile phone market (of some 1 billion units), which would approximate 10 million units being sold in 2008, 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.^[10]

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.^[11] The iPhone may be purchased only with a two-year service plan with Cingular.^[12]

iPhone trademark

Infogear originally filed for the U.S. trademark "I Phone" on September 3, 1993, and later applied for "iPhone" on March 20, 1996. Both trademarks have been registered in the United States since 1999. Cisco Systems obtained the iPhone trademarks after its acquisition of Infogear in 2000.^[13] The term has been used on the (Infogear) iPhone since 1997 and (Linksys) iPhone that was launched in December 2006. Cisco'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).^[14][15]

Cisco representatives stated on January 9, 2007, that their company and Apple had been in negotiations regarding the trademark and expected to reach an agreement about the name shortly,^[16] according to documents received by Apple's lawyers the night before the Macworld keynote event.^[17] Cisco has since announced it is suing Apple over the infringement of the trademark iPhone, seeking an injunction in federal court to prohibit Apple from using the name.^[18]

A separate U.S. trademark application for "iPhone" was filed on September 26, 2006, by a heretofore unknown entity named Ocean Telecom Services LLC, covering "handheld and mobile devices". The application claims a priority date of March 27, 2006 based on a trademark filing in Trinidad and Tobago, serial number 37060.^[19] Apple had previously filed under its own name for the "iPhone" trademark in Australia, claiming the same priority date and using the same Trinidad and Tobago application, indicating that, in all likelihood, Ocean Telecom is a front company for Apple.^[20]

Apple has made filings in various countries outside the U.S., including Australia, where a separate iPhone trademark was filed in 2002 and registered in 2005. In Canada, Apple and Comwave Telecom—which has provided an "iPhone"-branded VoIP service since 2004^[21]—have each applied for the trademark, in 2004 and 2005 respectively; Comwave has filed an opposition to Apple's application but both filings presently remain active.^[22] It is presently unclear whether Cisco owns any rights to "iPhone" elsewhere.

According to the WHOIS database, Apple owns the generally non-profit-organization–oriented domain name iphone.org (domain created 1999-12-06), Cisco owns the network-oriented domain name iphone.net (domain created 1998-01-28), and the Internet Phone Company LLC based in Santa Rosa, California owns the commercial domain name iphone.com (domain created 1995-08-24). Internet Phone Company LLC is a Voice over IP provider that is unrelated to Apple or Cisco. The site was hit with a surge of traffic following the Jobs keynote and was temporarily taken down.^[23] The URL iphone.org now links to Apple's web page.

The use of the name iPhone in secondary top-level domains is unclear. It was reported that, as early as November 2006, in some countries the relevant domain names are owned by individuals, including, for example, iphone.us and iphone.cn.

Specifications

• Processor? ARM architecture Marvell XScale processor^[24]
• Processor? Samsung^[25]
• Storage: 4 or 8 GB Flash memory, storing files and operating system.
• Screen size: 3.5 in (8.9 cm)
  • Resolution: 320×480 pixels
• Size: 115×61×11.6 mm (4.5×2.4×0.46 in)
• Weight: 4.8 oz (135 g)
• Operating System: a stripped-down version of OS X 10.5 "Leopard"
  • Safari web browser
  • A widget engine
  • Core Animation
  • Power Management
• USB connection port
• Plays AAC and MP3 audio file formats
• Plays H.264 video
• Graphical user interface
• Integrated WiFi (802.11b/802.11g), EDGE and Bluetooth 2.0 with EDR
• 2 megapixel camera
• iPod - music, video and photo functionality
  • iPod portion features Cover Flow interface and 3-D effects
• Multi-touch screen interface (the "Home" button is the iPhone's only physical front panel button)
  • On-screen QWERTY keyboard
  • Fingertip scrolling, pan, and zoom (through a technique called "pinching") functions
• Built-in rechargeable, non-removable battery with up to 5 hours of talk/video/browsing or up to 16 hours of audio playback.^[8]