Sometoast, blah blah blah Apple has such a great interface.

No it really doesn't. The Ipod *gasp* has a horrible interface. It froze constantly and getting to where you actually wanted to go in the thing was a pain.

But then again it's a phone, I dont need a truely epic interface... Windows mobile, Treo, Blackberry all do it just fine. It's more preference than anything.

I want a truly epic interface on my phone. On my TV, my car... my fucking can of soup.

"Good enough" sucks.

someToast

bluemonq

willyshoo

they are 2 years, at least 1 behind without UMTS/HSDPA support!

It's a mistake!

Phone is brilliant, it's great, but without 3g it's a crap!

i know i speak as an european, who uses umts pretty ofthen, not as an american, who's got umts in few places all round country, but this will change, and this phone will become old very fast :/

Krystian Szczesny

cybergrunt

Me2

gkwbrown

http://www.engadget.com/2006/09/26/nokias-n95-smartphone-g...
http://www.nokia.com/nseries/index.html?lang=en&country=R1...

tmarios000

rml444

I'm thinking Apple has to have a larger capacity wide screen device coming, because:

1. I want it, really, really bad
2. 8gb is not enough for movies, and Apple is all about selling movie on iTunes
3. Steve can't be stupid enough to hand Cingular a lock on Apple's top of the line iPod

If, on the other hand, Apple fails to release a wide screen, large capacity iPod (with or without the phone), I hope Microsoft fills the gap. At that point, I'll be saying "Hello, Zune!"

MacManiac

ShabazOSU

gadgetophile is right -- what IS the processor?

OK so it's a blackberry with OS X -- bring on the widgets & "third-party" modules, and just to second DrD's comment, the only "innovation" here is the touchscreen -- but that's enough -- when I get in and rewrite the OS that screen becomes whatever I want it to be, a 320x480-pixel sandbox. Phone, internet, multimedia, video camera, word processing is just the tip of the iceberg, and with an updatable and customizable OS, this device could be very useful for years to come.

biggest problems: screen resolution and durability (what do I do when some/all of it stops working?) and the cost.

hari.seldon

Ok, now my rant can continue...
sexy.. maybe, practical... nope. I still think the form factor for a flash-based iPod is awfully big. Even with all the cool toys it has. For those folks who keep whining 'can I install apps?' Grow up, it's a freakin' phone. Jeez, I like convergence (I have a Treo). I also own an Ipod 30GB, a 4GB nano and a Zune. I think your music player should play music and your phone should make calls. Period. Who the **** needs all this stuff on a phone anyway. Enuf' ranting... The screen should be made of some mineral glass (like a watch) that would severely limit the number of scratches. It wouldn't help much with the face grease. Maybe it will come with a cleaning cloth. I am more concerned about using the device in cold climates. Since it's a touch screen, it probably uses skin resistance, which means no gloves. Not a huge issue but imagine trying to dial or use the other features. I also don't think the gp (general public, sorry) is willing to pay the $40 month to surf the web on a 3" screen. Well that's my 3 cents. Sad thing is I'll probably get it once it gets ported over to CDMA (Verizon, cough, cough) if ever...

justreboot

will it be locked to cingular if purchased over apple.com online store?

ipodee

Sorry this is not that time. Yes its more customizable to add in whatever you want, but really what are you going to do with it? Your going to use it to write SMS and email because the phone iteself doesn't actually do anything remotely innovative. So your going to use it to write, and with that it is going to drasticly slower than a Treo or a Blackberry.

Sometoast, blah blah blah Apple has such a great interface.

No it really doesn't. The Ipod *gasp* has a horrible interface. It froze constantly and getting to where you actually wanted to go in the thing was a pain.

But then again it's a phone, I dont need a truely epic interface... Windows mobile, Treo, Blackberry all do it just fine. It's more preference than anything.

As Time Magazine notes:

'it's not like Jobs invented voicemail, or text messaging, or conference calling, or mobile Web browsing. He just noticed that they were broken, and he fixed them.

Besides the obvious stupidity of thinking voicemail, text messaging, conference calling, are broken... how exactly are they broken? Jeeze you listen to new messages and push a button to delete it. So you can see who left it... is there a time where you are going to delete voicemails before you listen to it?

Text messaging broken!? LOL, caller > text message > input words > send... yea real broken... nice Time magazine, and the person who quoted it.

Conference calling.. "hold up babe someones calling", "hello oh yea.. whats up? hold on i gotta push this button. "yea we both here? sweet... you know I hope this Iphone comes out soon because i had to push like... 2 buttons to get you guys on here... jesus, I hate non Apple shit".

Web browsing on Mobile devices will always be broken... Yes it can be improved upon, which it has been quite rapidly in the last years. If they make a decent improvement onto it... i'll give em that. But im never at a movie or dinner and feel the need to post comments on a gadget site. So I dont see the big deal with browsing the internet on the phone.

I can't wait till I see someone with that phone, see their screen completely scratched and greased over. Has a couple chips in it, (everybody drops their phone). And then you look at his face while hes using it and its like someone kicked his puppy.

Maybe i'll rub it in and ask him how much he paid for hit and how much his service plan is. Then I will ask what made him buy it... and like any other person I have every talked to... once you push away the bullshit, it always comes down to...

I LIKE HOW IT LOOKS!!!!

/cry

there there its ok, look a computer isnt scary, we just need to get you off the fisher price one.

Judous

ozeira, name one other device that has the clickwheel. Hint, a round disk that tilts in four directions doesn't count. Sometimes patents work.

skierpage

someToast

The 200 patents are going to get as much respect from the patent office as the iPod did, which is not much.

Also, a smallish touchscreen is limiting because one's finger obstructs the output it is creating, and most people don't want to use a stylus.

ozeira

geeksquaddave

Right. Because up until now we've been using our noses, toes and prehensile... parts.

A touch screen on a phone is not revolutionary or innovative. They've taken numerous existing technologies, half-assed a few of them, churched-up a ten-dollar whore and sell it for heaps o' cash.

Given the form-factor and interface I'm not sure this is what I want pressed against my ear. That screen is going to be gunked up in short order. Facial oils, ear wax, finger prints, nicks and scratches...

I will admit, it is very shiny and pretty. Some of the specs are decent, but it's far too expensive and half-ass to be considered Teh Best Phone Evar. I actually chuckled when Jobs used the word "magical" as though it's powered by fairy dust and giggles.

The Apple fans expect to overpay, get shafted and look cool. The rest of us are gawking in disbelief. This is what everyone was waiting for?

I am truly underwhelmed.

ratnikh

You can fully customize the controls & keys for each application, and continuously develop new interfaces using software during the life of the product.

Your plastic keyboard on your Blackberry/Treo etc is going to find that a little hard to match isn't it.

I mean, you have your fixed keys, and that's it.

They take up space whether you need them or not for each app.

And you can't change them, update them, swap them out for non alphanumeric controls.

It's hardwired, 20thC technology - it's going to look stoneage in 5 years.

DrD

As Time Magazine notes:

'it's not like Jobs invented voicemail, or text messaging, or conference calling, or mobile Web browsing. He just noticed that they were broken, and he fixed them.'

That's the innovation - and the 200 patents of course

DrD

I have had windows mobile phones that do all this and more for years. Nothing here is new other than a scratchable shiny surface. Nothing like carrying my phone around in a $25 sock. There are literally thousands of apps available for windows mobile. Wake me when apple innovates something more than just buzz.

eineins

Just admit it, you all want it because it's "cool" looking

Judous

See there are many of us who do not use the camera, video, or web browsing, as all are comprimising. I don't need to have all that with me. There always laptop, IPod or phone, that are small enough and work fine.

WORST PART: We ALL drop our phones, it will no doubt NOT be covered just like Applecare does not cover dropping of laptops, I see this as no different. This is about as exciting as that silly Palm Pilot Blackberry.

Pass.

Dark13

"iPhone includes an SMS application with a full QWERTY soft keyboard"

Does anyone really like the idea of typing emails or sms on a SOFT keyboard!? Torture.

"iPhone is a revolutionary and magical product that is literally five years ahead of any other mobile phone," said Steve Jobs, Apple's CEO. "We are all born with the ultimate pointing device-our fingers-and iPhone uses them to create the most revolutionary user interface since the mouse."

LOL, yea five years ahead... if five years ahead had no 3G network.

Sorry folks, email calendar and all that fun stuff has been done for years ala Blackberry.

"iPhone also ushers in an era of software power and sophistication never before seen in a mobile device, which completely redefines what users can do on their mobile phones."

Cool looks doesn't revolutionize anything. One of the editors said that the reason Ipod revolutionized listening to music was because of its looks. Sorry the reason it was popular was because you can store all the music on one little device rather than carry around 100 CD's. This product doesnt make using a phone that much easier the way the Ipod did for music.

Seriously fan boys... including some editors, pull your head out of your ass.

As with the Ipod you know this display will be smudged and scartched within days of use, thereby making the "design" obsolete.

For a 600$ price tag you get a nice voicemail feature, a really nice display, and a lot of storage for a phone. I already have an MP3 player, I dont need a shoddy 8gb on my phone, I'll keep my Zune thanks.

Nothing on this phone makes it 600$ Just another over hyped, "cool" looking Apple product.

Judous

zamafir

Wait, I already have that.

Yawn.

douglaskarr

mthrndr

Well... in 2013*

*adjusted for the six years it took them to copy OSX

zamafir

illiniguy

APOLAUF

jcc123

Axtell, you may be right on price, but I think a lot of iPod users will look at this with its bigger screen and WiFi and think "For my (next) music player I'll pay the extra and ditch my unloved cellphone"? I'm amazed people currently are willing to pay more than $600 for the inconvenience of two devices and three earbuds.

And it has a 3.5 inch screen, bigger than any compact digital camera. It has no zoom and probably a so-so lens, but for taking snaps and showing them to people, it's pretty good (Even more so if it has video out.)

The value is there for lots of consumers.

skierpage

going to have to letterbox stuff down to 480x270

Which is a bit odd. Maybe it would have added to much size or cost to the device

Mag

jcc123

Anyone notice that the physical specs are exactly the same as the 5 Gen video iPod 30GB, except that it's longer? It also weighs the same. I don't know if I like somoethinbg as wide pressed up against my face.

jcc123

Then the next big question I have is: Can you install 3rd party applications? Can you run Java applications? Will there be a Skype client? Cingular is probably stopping that!

Also, can it stream radio and video?

But it will be cool to flash in front of friends ;-)

etxnija

Is the $599 (8gb) with or without a 2-year contract?

Will it act as a FrontRow remote?

Does it charge over USB?

Interesting that it requires USB; what kinds of file transfer/sync/iTunes can it do over WiFi and Bluetooth?

It's "Mac OS X", but what does that mean? What kind of apps will it run? Does it have full OS X with Inkwell support so it can run anything (very unlikely)?

I've said for years that there's no reason why a music player and a phone can share a housing without compromises. Apple did more than I expected, they advanced the phone side, a lot. Re-re-read the press release!

skierpage

It doesn't matter how slick the interface is, the american market just won't bear cell phones this expensive. It's a great win for cingular and getting apple exclusives for at least 2 years, but I am more than a little concerned about the pricing.

$500 for a 4gb/EDGE phone? For $300 (after rebate) I can have a blackjack with 2 gb card and UMTS/HDSPA.

This device needs to be a couple hundred dollars cheaper.

Axtell

ARM? TransMeta? VIA? How the heck are they running full (or even partial) OSX on a thing that small? Or are they playing with words and running a cut down Aqua shell on a cut down linux?

gadgetophile

jitrobug

I was impressed when the nano was announced but not enough to buy one. Having just bought a macbook I want one of these badly. Last thing Steve, PLEASE let it play back OGG or be able to add that functionality or this will finally be the things that forces me to transcode over 60GB of OGG to AAC.

Fluidity

On the plus side, this competition is bound to ensure that there are going to be phones with similarly great features and styling at a lower price within a year or so.

beyondmp3

moofer9

It will be fun to watch the likes of HTC and Motorola scramble to counter this thing. :)

mkrygeri

Oh, and curiouscomputer, it's possible that this has [somewhat crippled] GPS by triangulating cellular towers. Additionally, it probably has the ability to stream internet radio, at least with EDGE/Wifi.

Damn, now if only this got released for Sprint with EV-DO (or just imagine... WiMax!) I guess I'll stick to my year-old 3G Samsung A900.

hebrewbacon

cjdshaw

mrchampana

mrchampana

The UI is absolutely (Zune) killer, it blows me away. Very, very nice. Evertime I thought about Microsoft today I laughed my ass off.

I'll be trading in, 2-year contract or no. And why are people whining about the lack of support for other providers? I recently asked Cingular to provide the unlock code for my GSM Nokia, which they did. (I thought there was a recent law about this). So once you get your iPhone, just do the same.

Mekevorka

Pfft...

So I still need to have my ipod..."

hmm most popular ipod.. most popular ipod... what's the best selling ipod... Oh, 4gb nano, that would explain why we're seeing 4 and 8 gb sizes, that and a hd would make it twice as thick.

I've got a 40gb and i never carry it because i dislike carrying it and my 7370, thus, i'll be buying one... not because of the ipod functionality to be honest, but because the interface is the kind of interface i've been yearning for in a cell phone for four years.

zamafir

mrhammerstein

curiouscomputer

Is it 100% confirmed that isn't going to be one?

FrankTheTank

deadphotomac

planned obsolesce. way to go apple. I'll continue to surf the internet from my laptop using my 3g phone as a modem while people are fiddling with their scratched to hell iphones.

solareon

Unless ofcourse, Mr Rose has a habit of layin down dinosaur-sized poopy piles.

superbmtsub

Plus the battery life and storage space are leave a lot to be desired.

Pass until the 2nd or 3rd gen comes out. Hopefully the battery life and storage size will be better by then.

Zeyr

Kesh

Spyderdude

Personally it is a bit big for me to use as a phone and the features I am most interested in don't require the phone (Safari, iPhoto, Google Maps). I would be happy to use it as a WiFi "PDA". With more and more cities getting WiFi clouds I would love to have one as a sales tool with my photo and video portfolio and to have a device that can surf the "real" web instead of some WAP web would be cool.

What are the chances??? Not good I am sure but I can wish.

spacedog3k

bandit

Maybe someone will hack a mirror for the camera so you can use it with iChat.

I wonder how much of OSX is going into the device? It would be totally awesome to have a terminal window and a VPN client on the iPhone.

wezelboy

Sweet_Toof is a Fanboy.

Toneman

Toneman

Regardless, I love Apple, I love its products, and, of course, this phone. Pricey, but my lord, it's got it all. Finally a product (that's cutting edge and pricey) that my wife -wants-, rather than one I have to talk her into letting ME buy it. Woohoo.

Someone call me a fanboy.

Sweet_Toof

DucatiGuy

Mmmmm, bitch!

ibelli

Skorgu

lpranal

Nokia N95 is next in line for me.

AKIRAx29

spaceboy001

1.) when you are online- does it default to wifi unless theres nothing in range- or is it only through EDGE or whatever its called?

2.) does the screen look like its prone to scratches? I am picturing 6 month old iphones with barely legible screens due to constant touching/rubbing/scratching

3.) Does it have ichat/AIM? The SMS looks like the iChat interface but I didn't see any reference to it.

4.) what is the battery life for video play?

5.) Can it sync to your comupter wirelessly or through wifi? Can it go to the iTMS on its own?

6.)Does it work with existing ipod peripherals (speakers etc)

7.)How much of that 4GB or 8GB is taken up by the OS?

Dr. Paul Proteus

primetime4

EQC

for the 4 gig model:
- the cost is one arm

for the 8 gig model:
- one arm and one leg

(both require a 2-year commitment agreement with cingular, of course)...

Kricket

Pfft...

So I still need to have my ipod...

FunkyJ

Colonel35

D.L.

nzruss

koy

I'm excited about this. Plain and simple.

Burgundy Corningstone

saeder

Looks like Leo Laporte owes Brian Lam that apology back.

nzruss