SAN FRANCISCO (CNNMoney.com) -- Consumers will finally get the chance to own an iPhone, a mobile phone that plays iTunes and surfs the Web, electronics maker Apple said Tuesday. The device will retail for between $499 and $599.
Company chairman Steve Jobs, speaking at the company's annual Macworld expo, called the iPhone, which will be available in June, a "revolutionary mobile phone" that will feature an iPod, phone and what he called an "Internet communicator."
Jobs also disclosed that Apple's (up $7.10 to $92.57) iTunes will sell Paramount films, and that the long-awaited AppleTV device to view downloaded videos will be available beginning in February.
The phone is rectangular, and the entire front surface is a touch screen. All of its functions are activated by touch, but when you bring your iPhone to your face, a proximity sensor will turn off the touchscreen so you don't accidentally face dial.
The phone, which runs the Mac OS X, will be able to download and play both music and movies. It will come in two models -- a $499 version with 4 gigabytes of memory and a $599 one with 8 gigabytes.
"This is a day I've been looking forward to for two-and-a-half years," Jobs told the crowd at San Francisco's Moscone Center.
Jobs was particularly enthusiastic about the iPhone's Web-browsing capabilities.
"It's bad out there today," says Jobs of mobile Web browsers. "It's a real revolution to bring real Web browsing to a phone."
As an example, Jobs called up The New York Times' Web site. The full page displayed, rather than the kind of special, oddly formatted, version that most smartphones show.
He then called up Google Maps to find a nearby Starbucks. He actually prank called it and ordered "4,000 lattes to go."
Despite all these bells and whistles, Jobs said the "killer app is making calls." The iPhone will operate on the GSM protocol, but won't have third-generation broadband initially. Jobs said that 3G capability is coming. It will also sync with the Mac's Address Book application.
Cingular, a unit of AT&T (up $0.13 to $33.94), will be Apple's sole U.S. partner. It's an exclusive multiyear agreement, which means no other carrier will be able to sell the iPhone through 2009.
In a move that could hurt BlackBerry maker Research in Motion (down $11.16 to $131.00), Apple will offer free push e-mail from Yahoo (down $0.34 to $27.58) on the phone device. RIM currently charges for its e-mail service.
Google CEO Eric Schmidt, Yahoo co-founder Jerry Yang and Cingular Wireless CEO Stan Sigman each appeared with Jobs at some point during the keynote.
While onstage, Jobs played a voicemail on the phone from former Vice President Al Gore, a member of the company's board, congratulating the Apple chairman on the new device. It was Gore who led the special committee which recently exonerated Jobs of wrongdoing in the company's options backdating controversy.
http://money.cnn.com/2007/01/09/technology/apple_jobs/index.htm?postversion=2007010917
Company chairman Steve Jobs, speaking at the company's annual Macworld expo, called the iPhone, which will be available in June, a "revolutionary mobile phone" that will feature an iPod, phone and what he called an "Internet communicator."
Jobs also disclosed that Apple's (up $7.10 to $92.57) iTunes will sell Paramount films, and that the long-awaited AppleTV device to view downloaded videos will be available beginning in February.
The phone is rectangular, and the entire front surface is a touch screen. All of its functions are activated by touch, but when you bring your iPhone to your face, a proximity sensor will turn off the touchscreen so you don't accidentally face dial.
The phone, which runs the Mac OS X, will be able to download and play both music and movies. It will come in two models -- a $499 version with 4 gigabytes of memory and a $599 one with 8 gigabytes.
"This is a day I've been looking forward to for two-and-a-half years," Jobs told the crowd at San Francisco's Moscone Center.
Jobs was particularly enthusiastic about the iPhone's Web-browsing capabilities.
"It's bad out there today," says Jobs of mobile Web browsers. "It's a real revolution to bring real Web browsing to a phone."
As an example, Jobs called up The New York Times' Web site. The full page displayed, rather than the kind of special, oddly formatted, version that most smartphones show.
He then called up Google Maps to find a nearby Starbucks. He actually prank called it and ordered "4,000 lattes to go."
Despite all these bells and whistles, Jobs said the "killer app is making calls." The iPhone will operate on the GSM protocol, but won't have third-generation broadband initially. Jobs said that 3G capability is coming. It will also sync with the Mac's Address Book application.
Cingular, a unit of AT&T (up $0.13 to $33.94), will be Apple's sole U.S. partner. It's an exclusive multiyear agreement, which means no other carrier will be able to sell the iPhone through 2009.
In a move that could hurt BlackBerry maker Research in Motion (down $11.16 to $131.00), Apple will offer free push e-mail from Yahoo (down $0.34 to $27.58) on the phone device. RIM currently charges for its e-mail service.
Google CEO Eric Schmidt, Yahoo co-founder Jerry Yang and Cingular Wireless CEO Stan Sigman each appeared with Jobs at some point during the keynote.
While onstage, Jobs played a voicemail on the phone from former Vice President Al Gore, a member of the company's board, congratulating the Apple chairman on the new device. It was Gore who led the special committee which recently exonerated Jobs of wrongdoing in the company's options backdating controversy.
http://money.cnn.com/2007/01/09/technology/apple_jobs/index.htm?postversion=2007010917
. Way to stick it to your customers.
