iPhone features

Not since the introduction of the original Apple Macintosh has a product introduction been met with so much anticipation. The Apple iPhone is an elegantly designed information communicator forged from steel and silicon that runs pioneering software under Apple’s OS X in a Unix Kernel. The iPhone combines smart phone capabilities with a simple to use graphical interface projected on a large ‘multi-touch’ display. Apple has managed to create a Macintosh computer with mobile phone capabilities, bundled within an Internet enabled PDA and an iPod body.

1. Smart Phone
iPhone touch technology allows users to make calls by simply pointing to a name or number in an address book or by dialing through a touch pad keyboard. Contacts are automatically updated with other linked networked devices and voicemail is accessible through an email type list selection. IPhone’s features include: conference calling, a speakerphone, text and multimedia messaging. The iPhone’s proximity sensor detects when a user lifts the device near the ear and immediately turns off the display to conserve power.

The iPhone uses a quad-band (GSM 850/900/1800/1900) spectrum; utilizing 2.5G EDGE networks — a predominate standard used in Europe and parts of Asia. In the future it is expected that iPhone models will be truly 3G compatible since Apple’s American carrier Cingular, and potential European and Asian partners offer 3G compliant UMTS and HSDPA.

2. Wireless Internet Communication Device
The iPhone serves as a Wi-Fi enabled Internet device that utilizes Apple’s Safari browser to access: Internet email, web sites, online maps, and search engines. The device’s full web capabilities offer a rich HTML email client with imbedded images that syncs automatically with a Mac or a PC. iPhone provides Google Maps directions, free push Yahoo email message forwarding and Apple widget applications connectivity — Java based applets — that provide updated information on stock quotes, sports scores, weather reports, traffic conditions and other services. Auto Wi-Fi detection (802.11b/g), Bluetooth, GSM and Cingular’s EDGE network is also supported.

3. iPod
Think of iPhone as a 3.5-inch widescreen iPod with touch screen controls. Through the iTunes Library— including music, audio books, videos, TV programs, and movies — content is now accessible through a display interface rather than by thumb wheel menus. Videos, controls, previews, songs, lyrics and album artwork are presented directly to the screen. In the future, users should be able to directly access a movie or band’s video by pressing an onscreen order button.

4. PDA, Computer and Camera
Using Apple’s OS X running Widget’s Java based software, the iPhone is able to provide PDA features: appoint calendars, contact lists, photos, emails and documents, literally with a touch of a ‘virtual’ button. It should only be a matter of time before developers will come up with specific iPhone applications, even though Apple has not made any announcements. The iPhone runs Apple’s full-featured OS X, so in the future expect to see powerful applications to appear, especially as the world turns increasingly toward smaller mobile devices for a computing platform.

The iPhone’s built-in camera takes pictures at 2 MB resolution that can be stored in 4 GB or 8 GB flash memory cards or forwarded to a friend, family member or colleague. An internal accelerometer detects when the device is rotated and automatically changes the contents display appropriately. No mention of video capturing capabilities were given, but it can be assume from Apple’s dominance in video production and its portfolio of video capture patents that it is something they are looking into, especially as flash storage become cheaper.