iPhone is a Reality

Capping literally years of speculation on perhaps the most intensely followed unconfirmed product in Apple’s history — and that’s saying a lot — the iPhone has been announced today. Yeah, we said it: “iPhone,” the name the entire free world had all but unanimously christened it from the time it’d been nothing more than a twinkle in Stevie J’s eye (comments, Cisco?). Sweet, glorious specs of the 11.6 millimeter device (that’s frickin’ thin, by the way) include a 3.5-inch wide touchscreen display with multi-touch support and a proximity sensor to turn off the sensor when it’s close to your face, 2 megapixel cam, 4GB or 8 GB of storage, Bluetooth with EDR, WiFi that automatically engages when in range, and quadband GSM radio with EDGE. Perhaps most amazingly, though, it somehow runs OS X with support for Widgets, Google Maps, and Safari, and iTunes (of course) with CoverFlow out of the gate. A partnership with Yahoo will allow all iPhone customers to hook up with free push IMAP email. Apple quotes 5 hours of battery life for talk or video, with a full 16 hours in music mode. In a twisted way, this is one rumor mill we’re almost sad to see grind to a halt; after all, when is the next time we’re going to have an opportunity to run this picture? The 4GB iPhone will go out the door for $499 on a two-year contract, 8GB for $599. Ships Stateside in June, Europe in fourth quarter, Asia in 2008.

9:46: Steve’s stressing about the keyboard being “in the way” of usual smartphones. The solution? A touchscreen interface.

9:47: The solution? A giant touchscreen interface. Multi-touch! You can do multi-gestures on the screen itself.

9:51: The iPhone syncs just like the iPod to your PC and Mac.

9:51: It syncs not only music, videos, but all your data! Bookmarks, email setup, contacts.

9:52: Just like an iPod.

9:52: Runs OSX

9:52: Thinner than any smartphone out there.

9:52: 160ppi

9:52: Controls on the side, volume, silent. The Back: 2-megapixel camera.

9:53: Top: headset jack, SIM, sleep-wake.

9:53: An iPod connector, just like the iPod (on the bottom).

9:54: Proximity sensor on the face, turns off the screen so your face doesn’t press the buttons.

9:54: Ambient light switch and accelerometer to switch from portrait to landscape.

9:55: Built-in speaker.

1. Widescreen iPod with touch control.

2. The Apple Phone.

3. Internet communications device.

All in one! It’s actually going to be called the iPhone!