Off-topic: MacWorld 2007 - Steve Jobs Announces the Long-Awaited iPhone!

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January 9, 2007 · 💬 Join the Discussion
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This keynote just went down in history. Period.

Every self-respecting Railer loves Apple, so I’m sure everyone already knows: Steve Jobs’s keynote at MacWorld 2007 in San Francisco just wrapped up (17:07). The rumors over the past few days were enormous, no keynote was ever this anticipated, and Jobs did not disappoint. Details, transcript, and photos in Engadget’s live coverage.

Apple TV aside (the prototype, still called iTV back then, was shown at a special event in September 2006), the star of the show was the iPhone: an iPod, a phone, and an internet communicator, as Jobs put it, 3 in 1. The standards for cell phones and smartphones just went down the drain; Apple raised the bar to stratospheric levels. The list:

  • 4GB or 8GB of flash memory
  • 3.5" high-resolution screen at 160ppi

  • Just 1 button; everything else is the multitouch widescreen display with 3 sensors (proximity, ambient light, accelerometer). Want to zoom into a photo? Put two fingers on the screen and spread them apart!

  • Syncs with iTunes (music, videos, photos, contacts, calendars)

  • WiFi, Bluetooth 2.0, quad-band GSM+EDGE (in the US, via Cingular/AT&T)
  • 2 Megapixel digital camera

  • Runs OS X (!), and Safari was shown working as the browser. Integration with Google Maps, Yahoo Mail, POP3, IMAP. Goes well beyond BlackBerry

  • 5 hours of battery life, 16 hours audio-only
  • Accessories: earphones with an inline microphone (a quick squeeze of the button answers a call) and the smallest, most elegant Bluetooth headset I’ve ever seen

The prices are steep, but they match an exceptional device: US$499 for the 4GB model and US$599 for the 8GB, with a two-year contract. And starting today Apple Computer, Inc. becomes Apple, Inc.. Makes perfect sense: Apple products are already in our bedrooms (iMac), our offices (MacBook, Mac Pro), our cars (BMW, Audi and others), our living rooms (Apple TV), and our pockets (iPod, iPhone). Impressive, to say the least.

Apple shares closed the day up more than 8%, and Leopard didn’t even get a mention! The goal is 1% of a market of nearly 1 billion cell phones sold a year: something like 10 million iPhones by the end of 2008. The product launches in the US in June. I hope it gets here soon!

If anyone finds a download link for the keynote video (I’m hoping it hits BitTorrent soon), let me know!