iPhone, Apple TV Headline MacWorld Keynote

Steve Jobs kept his audience rapt at the MacWorld keynote today. He rehashed the announcement of the iTV, now called Apple TV, and announced the iPhone, a revolutionary phone/ipod/wrist-computer that had MacWorld attendees sitting on the edge of their seats. Retailing for $499 (4 gig)/$599 (8 gig), it has to be seen to be believed. It uses a touch screen with a new form of input control, runs OSX and many standard applications, and connects to the internet via WiFi. It has a camera, functions as a movie player, a music player, and can send emails and photos in the middle of a phone call. From the Engadget coverage: "'[OSX] let us create desktop class applications and networking, not the crippled stuff you find on most phones, these are real desktop applications.' He's quoting Alan Kay - 'People who are really serious about software should make their own hardware.' 'So we're bringing breakthrough software to a mobile device for the first time.'" Seriously, go check this out. They're going to print money with this thing.

Leopard?

[davidoff404 (764733)]

The iPhone does indeed look cool, but I was kind of hoping to find out some new stuff about Leopard. Is it just me, or were there no announcements about the new version of OS X at all?

Re:Leopard?

[jsight (8987)]

That's not the reason. Vista has already been released to manufacturing, and there certainly would not be any significant changes between now and consumer availability (real soon now).

Re:Leopard and June 1

[Picass0 (147474)]

You might also notice the iphone doesn't ship until June. Sounds like the iPhone will run Leopard.

Re:Leopard and June 1

[JavaLord (680960)]

The two OS probably have as much as common as say, Windows XP and Windows Mobile

Yeah, I'm a bit skeptical of a full OS X install running on that thing. It would be pretty cool if you could get some type of desktop and actually write apps for the iPhone on the iPhone. I'm probably the only one in the world who would want a feature like that. :P

Also, for an 'all in one' type device, there is one thing it's missing. Games! I'm not sure what kind of games could work well on a touch screen outside of puzzle/card games, but hopefully there will be a few that run on there.

Re:Leopard and June 1

[Chode2235 (866375)]

Uh, Nintendo DS seems to indicate that touch screen games are highly sought after, and profitable.

Wireless, but still less space than a Nomad

[allanc (25681)]

Oh man, I was totally with them up until the prices. I was preparing to pull out my credit card and spend an extra few months in debt. But... $500 for a 4gig and $600 for an 8gig? My MP3 collection is 13gigs. I'd have to shell out $500 and I'd *still* have to carry around my iPod. Oh, and also, I'd probably also have to switch from T-Mobile to Cingular.

I'll wait for the next iteration.

Re:Wireless, but still less space than a Nomad

[codeshack (753630)]

Yeah, but soon it'll be the iPhone shuffle -- just hit a button and it calls one of your friends at random!

Re:Wireless, but still less space than a Nomad

[daviddennis (10926)]

I think Cingular and T-Mobile share the same network, at least in part, so you might actually be getting the same service.

Random access voice mail almost certainly required that they get the cooperation of a specific provider.

The price is a bit high. I'd guessed $499 but without a contract. They could certainly obliverate their competition if they were able to get it cheaper, but this is to the Treo or Sidekick as Final Cut Pro was to Adobe Premiere when it was introduced. In other words, it blasts the competition into smithereens.

I wonder if terminal and ssh are included somewhere in the device. Those nice Blackberry folks charge $95 for ssh and that would make up a lot of the price disadvantage if it was included in the Phone's MacOS X installation.

Finally, when I heard all the stuff that goes on that device, I would think you'd want a 30gb version. 4 and 8 gb of Flash almost seems like an insult for something that powerful. I suppose a hard drive would have made it too big and heavy, but still, people carry around hard drive based iPods just fine, and a hard drive iPod's not much different in size from the sidekick.

It's a pity consumers really love small ...

D

Re:Wireless, but still less space than a Nomad

[thegameiam (671961)]

Cingular and T-Mobile do not share the same network.

There are 4 major wireless networks in the USA currently:
Cingular
Verizon Wireless (CDMA)
Sprint/Nextel
T-Mobile

Cingular and T-Mobile do share the same network technology (GSM/GPRS), which might be what you're thinking of.

"Never seen a presentation like this before"

[zookie (136959)]

Even for those who cover all the MacWorld talks, this was BIG:

"People are rapt, everyone is actually literally leaning forward and on the edge of their seat. We've never seen a presentation like this before."

What you have really been waiting for.

[cloudkiller (877302)]

Just announced, Microsoft confirms the Plume. It's a phone that's 3 ½ inches thick, runs the full- blown windows vista, plays the new we-promise-it-will-always-play DRM'd music and has 9600 baud dial up modem, and has the ability to take and print pictures with optional ink and paper tray attachment. Welcome to the social, now where is everyone.

I've been waiting for that all day.....

Re:What you have really been waiting for.

[identity0 (77976)]

Microsoft's response was big and brown, but it wasn't a new Zune...

Alternate Name

[Lev13than (581686)]

"NewtonberrySP"

Covet, covet

[plover (150551)]

OK, where do I have to go to stand in line?

WITH Contract

[MindStalker (22827)]

Thats $599 WITH a 2 year Cingular contract.

ARG thats insane. Probably $899 by itself if even available.

The name

[moofdaddy (570503)]

CNBC is reporting that apple was in negotiations with CISCO over the name into last night. They're supposed to sign all the paper work today, but its still unclear who will own it and how much apple will pay.

CNET confirms it

[WidescreenFreak (830043)]

I didn't see anything on CNBC's web site, but CNET says that heard it directly from Cisco [com.com].

10:32--Cisco calls CNET News.com reporter with a statement about Apple's use of the term "iPhone" for its new product. "Given Apple's numerous requests for permission to use Cisco's iPhone trademark over the past several years and our extensive discussions with them recently, it is our belief that with their announcement today, Apple intends to agree to the final document and public statements that were distributed to them last night and that address a few remaining items we expect to receive a signed agreement today."

Insane hardware -- a few thoughts/concerns

[SilentChris (452960)]

I'm not really an Apple geek but that's some really insane hardware for the form factor. The price is hefty, but I'm impressed they packed in what they could to something that slim. It's going to be a hacker's wet dream.

A few small thoughts:

1.) No 3G. Wi-fi, Bluetooth, etc. are nice though.
2.) They push it as an internet device, with messaging/email/etc. but lack of a physical keyboard? I don't know. I mean, I know and you know we'll love it regardless, but will this really sway the Blackberry junkies?
3.) What is this thing really running? "OS X"? FreeBSD -- they mean that? I'd be curious also what the chips are (no way in hell is PortalPlayer powering graphics like this).

Very cool device. Should be impossible to find, but I'll get one anyway. :)

Not LAME!

[Prien715 (251944)]

Finally it has wireless and more space than a nomad! Truly unlame;)

(For those of you not in on the joke [slashdot.org])

Meanwhile, in Redmond

[bonch (38532)]

Ballmer is all out of chairs.

Name Change

[jivemonkey (776115)]

Not mentioned in the article Apple Computer, inc. has changed it's name to Apple, inc. Just a tidbit I thought I would mention.

An interesting time for Mac developers

[Chief Typist (110285)]

Since this new device runs OSX, it's a great time for those of us with Mac development experience. A whole new (and huge) market for our products.

Likewise, there's a new incentive for Windows-only applications to get ported to OSX so they can run on the iPhone.

Personally, I think that the term "revolutionary" gets used way too much. But in the case of the iPhone, it seems appropriate.

-ch

Just one more thing... it's an ebook reader.

[Catbeller (118204)]

My oldest dream. A real ebook reader.

Even if we get a simple text file display app, the ebook is finally here.

Beatles

[Ducon Lajoie (30475)]

Did anyone notice all the Beatles songs displayed during the keynote? That, and the name change to Apple inc., suggest to me that they came to an agreement with Apple records on the long-standing name and distribution issues.

Compare and contrast

[Klaruz (734)]

Oct 23, 2001: "No wireless. Less space than a nomad. Lame." [slashdot.org]

Jan 9, 2007: "Seriously, go check this out. They're going to print money with this thing." [slashdot.org]

Re:Compare and contrast

[Llywelyn (531070)]

So does this mean the iPhone is doomed?

Tech specs available at apple.com

[Dster76 (877693)]

Tech specs [apple.com]

If Slashdot hates it......

[by Anonymous Coward]

If slashdot hates it, this thing is going to be successful. I remember the ipod was also coldly received around here. The ipod demonstrated the huge disconnect between "expert" slashdot users and your everyday consumer. In short, slashdotters severely undervalue ease of use.

Exclusive with Cingular, probably necessary

[bstarrfield (761726)]

Much as I detest Cingular, Apple likely had little choice but to partner with one of the major cell phone carriers. Apple could, of course, had sold the iPhone without a SIM and had the customers install their own.

That would have been a marketing / tech support / and logistical mess, with different networks providing different data plans, features, connectivity, and even basic networks (GSM versus whatever the hell's out there). Partnering with Cingular makes life ever so much easier for Apple. Not only that, it prevents Cingular / ATT from partnering with some vaporware future Microsoft product that could steal Apple's thunder.

I'm not going to defend Cingular's horrific record. They're awful, no doubt. But all the wireless firms are awful right now. Given that Steve divested Apple of the awesome Imaging group, the nifty Newton, and other business units it would be surprising if Apple wanted to get into the cell phone provisioning business.

On another note, I'm already looking at how to rewrite a few Widgets to work on the iPhone...

Technical Specs

[benji_mouse (701467)]

From apple.com/iphone/technology/specs.html

Screen size          3.5 inches
Screen resolution    320 by 480 at 160 ppi
Input method         Multi-touch
Operating system     OS X
Storage              4GB or 8GB
GSM                  Quad-band (MHz: 850, 900, 1800, 1900)
Wireless data        Wi-Fi (802.11b/g) + EDGE + Bluetooth 2.0
Camera               2.0 megapixels
Battery              * Up to 5 hours Talk / Video / Browsing
                     * Up to 16 hours Audio playback
Dimensions           4.5 x 2.4 x 0.46 inches / 115 x 61 x 11.6mm
Weight               4.8 ounces / 135 grams

Oooh My...

[Greyfox (87712)]

I believe that's a nerdrection I feel coming on...

If the phone can run SIP software (And it looks like it's just OSX so it should be able to) then you could switch over to a "One handset to rule them all" setup. At home or anywhere else where there's wifi you can connect to an Asterisk server over sip. Otherwise default to cell. The problem then becomes how to terminate your Asterisk box into the PSTN. You could get a VOIP provider (Telasip works with asterisk and you can ask them to unlock your account so that you can change your caller ID.) Or you could terminate it into the PSTN with a digium card or a SIP gateway. In either case you can provide one phone number to your customers and have asterisk fail over to the cell if your main line doesn't pick up. If you use telasip for such endeavors you can spoof your customer's caller ID to the cell network so you even know who's calling.

Once you take control of your network endpoint in this manner the sky is pretty much the limit. Blacklist phone numbers, let your callers play hunt-the-wumpas, have a corporate-class voice responder, make free calls over enum or Dundi... pretty much anything you can think of can be done when you have that much control of your end of the phone network.

Price and Network Locking

[Thumper_SVX (239525)]

Well, first of all I like the device. I think it looks like exactly what I need to replace my aging MPX220... but probably not until next year.

Why? Well, first of all there's the issue of locking. OK, so I use Cingular... but I'll be damned if I'm going to sign another contract with them to get this phone for $599. That's not because I'm balking at the price... I don't like to be locked to a provider. The last 4 cellphones I've purchased were all unlocked GSM phones. I pay more for them, but I get to use them wherever and whenever I want. That way when I fly to England (which I'll be doing again this year) I can pick up a Virgin Mobile SIM at the airport (or more often in London... they're cheaper there) and just pay as I go with a UK phone number for the duration of my trip. Plus then I have my regular contacts, calendar and stuff with me (not to mention my eBooks).

I'm no on a contract with Cingular, but I stick with them today because they provide me decent coverage, decent service and don't really seem to care what kind of phone I attach to their network.

Now, to those who ARE balking at the price with a 2-year contract... well this is a smartphone. As such, compare it to smartphones, not to the standard handsets. Even devices such as the SLVR don't compare despite their limited music-playing capability because the Apple phone is going to be a smartphone in the same way that the current PDA phones are. It just runs OSX instead of Windows CE or Palm. The price is about in-the-range that you'd expect to pay. For an unlocked phone, expect around $200-$250 more.

Now will I pay $850 for the phone I want? Probably. I paid about $500 for my MPX220 and I've had it for two years so far. 3 years out of that investment I think is reasonable... given inflation over the last couple of years I think I can justify $850 for my next three-year investment in a decent cellphone. The fact that it'll replace my MPX220 and iPod Nano at the same time, as well as give me an OSX based system is just the icing on the cake for me.

My guess on CmdrTaco's opinion...

[supremebob (574732)]

More expensive than a Blackberry. Requires a two year Cingular service contract. Lame. :)

Re:Price to high

[vought (160908)]

So like you will $60 + month $40 for data $20 + for voice.

And those prices will be exactly the same in June because you can see the future.

Seriously - they'll be able to sell data in volume now. Price will drop or be bundled with voice.

This device makes data compelling for everyone else - not just Johnny Businessman. It is what the phone companies built the data networks for in the first place.

Re:Price to high

[GweeDo (127172)]

It was announced as exclusive to Cingular for at least two years.

Re:Price to high

[Danathar (267989)]

Who says you have to subscribe and use the phone function? How long do you think before it has skype running on it?

Re:Battery life?

[sRev (846312)]

Pretty sure he said 5 hours talk time and 16 hours of "just music" playback.

Re:Ownd

[vought (160908)]

Dear Motorola:

Thanks for taking so long with the 620. And for dragging your feet with the 603 . Oh - and the higher frequency G4s? Thanks for taking so long with that.

Hope your margins are more than RAZR thin!

Signed,

Apple, Inc.

Also out: Airport Extreme 802.11n

[vought (160908)]

Not anounced in the keynote, but Apple is shipping a mini/tv form-factor 802.11n hub. Appletv will have 802.11n.

Contracts

[goombah99 (560566)]

Most folks have 2 year contracts and at any given time half of them are less than 1 year in. Additionally bussinesses may have other sorts of contracts that employees must follow. Hence there's inertia in the system. Rich folks might take the bullet and eat the contract penalites on their current phone--after all if you're paying $600 for the phone plus paying a premium for the high level services like "visula voice messageing", and you probably have a wi-fi hotspot contract too, you're not going to care that much about a penalty price of a contract to get out of.

The rest of us won't or cant' switch (cingular is not so good in rural areas). So cingular for a few years then they let in the other players, the price drops and we unwashed get ours after all the bugs are worked out.

Some other thoughts
1) The use of WiFi and the ability to have ringtones and pictures that don't cost you 2 bucks a pop from the phone company is a daring move for Cingular. WiFi means that these can be Skype phones too. So Cingular has a window of opportunity before WiFi and wimax becom ubquitous to get these folks as loyal customers while they develope some sort of way to make people pay for wifi voip.

2) Second, this is actually great news for microsoft, palm, and everyone except balckberry. Since the iphone is cingular only there's going to be huge demand for this level of phonage tech for all the other phone services. They have to get these from some body. With apple having signed an exclusive deal with cingular the other 99% of the market will be crying out. The next generation Zune will likely look a lot like this plus it will propbably have a built in Wii controller for xbox

3) And speaking of Wii, The apple phone has built in blue tooth and accelerometers, plus all sorts of gripping hand input modes. I wonder if it can do absolute positioning in space--maybe with that camera on the back. if so then this woul dbe an awesome game controller. rig this the the iTV (not the wii) and apple is set. Now the price looks even cheaper since you already have the home computer--if it can do the wiii thing too well bite me. Of course you'll need a couple input devices..

Re:Contracts

[geoffspear (692508)]

It might not be so much an issue of Apple "letting in" the other wireless companies as the carriers not wanting a phone like this. I can assure you that nothing I've seen from Verizon Wireless makes me believe they'd ever be willing to sell a phone that's able to sync with a PC in any way. They'd sooner go bankrupt than let one of their customers rip MP3s from a CD and put them on their phone instead of paying Verizon $2 per track to download a crappy copy that can't be played on other devices. Your carrier may vary.

Re:Contracts

[Da_Biz (267075)]

...and, my roommate has this phone. It's certainly not bad, but Jobs' keynote speech really did hit the nail on the head on the awkwardness of this and similar phones.

My roommate's general comment: "it's really great, but one of the most difficult things to do with this phone is actually use it as one."

Re:Say what?

[Deep Fried Geekboy (807607)]

I suspect that this may turn out to be the 2007 equivalent of Cmdr Taco's infamous iPod post.

You got a Zune for Christmas, didn't you?

[Picass0 (147474)]

I'm sorry. I know it must be rough for you right now. We're all here for you.

Be careful talking about price

[ubernostrum (219442)]

Remember that Apple's been making buckets of money, for years, by selling things that either were or were perceived to be more expensive than the competition.

Re:Say what?

[DysenteryInTheRanks (902824)]

I love how people will gladly pay this and much more for a computer that does NOT:

*fit in the palm of your hand
*have a touchscreen
*have an OS redesigned around the touchscreen
*have a display
*make and receive phone calls
*deliver email the very second it arrives on the server

But package a computer -- a full blown one running Mac OS X -- into a tiny, shiny device, and people complain about a $600 pricetag.

Why?

Because the computer is SMALL.

Guess what? If anything, you should pay extra for that.

Just because your brain stem equates it with a Snickers bar, LG cell phone, TV remote control or Palm PDA due to its size does not mean its value is anywhere near as low.

Re: Unlimited data price

[by Anonymous Coward]

You are incorrect. I have Cingular, and have unlimited data. I send many many megabytes of data on my phone. I am charged $20 per month.

Re:Great phone, shitty provider

[plover (150551)]

Funny, I'm paying $20/month for unlimited GPRS data from Cingular. Just get the data plan on your phone. The plan doesn't care who's requesting data, whether it be the phone or the computer. You don't have to get a special "plan" for your laptop unless you're not smart enough to figure out how to interconnect them on your own.

Re:Intel CPU on Apple TV = cheap Linux/ mythtv box

[flipper65 (794710)]

Am I the only one who was right there with Jobs up until he announced the specs and ...........no tuner card???!!! So basically it's an airport extreme for video. I'm first in line for the phone, but Apple TV? meh

Well...

[ackthpt (218170)]

That gives you some time to save up for it, rather than put it on your iCreditCard