SAN FRANCISCO – If you’re at all involved in the communications field, you’re at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas. Cartt.ca has its CE editor there this week, for example.
But not Apple. It annually hosts Macworld at the same time as CES, kind of thumbing its nose at the other industry heavyweights who these days are trying hard to emulate Apple’s design, functionality and "cool" factor, especially when it comes to portable music players.
Today, Apple CEO Steve Jobs used his Macworld keynote speech to make official two new products that most industry observers were sure would be coming today, the Apple iPhone, which Cingular will launch in June and Apple TV, a new device that will let consumers transfer their media wirelessly from their PCs for viewing on their televisions.
Jobs saved iPhone’s announcement until the very end of his presentation on Tuesday and says the new device combines three products – a mobile phone, a wide screen iPod with new touch controls, and an Internet communications device with desktop-class e-mail, web browsing, searching and maps-into one small and lightweight handheld.
iPhone (pictured) will go to market with an entirely new user interface based on a large multi-touch display and new software. "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," says Apple.
"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."
The new handset (which we figure will be a much more durable package than the somewhat fragile iPod) allows users to make calls by simply pointing at a name or number on its screen. iPhone syncs all contacts from users’ PCs, Macs or Internet services such as Yahoo!
"iPhone’s pioneering visual voicemail, an industry first, lets users look at a listing of their voicemails, decide which messages to listen to, then go directly to those messages without list
ening to the prior messages. Just like e-mail, iPhone’s Visual Voicemail enables users to immediately randomly access those messages that interest them most," says the press release.
iPhone also includes an SMS application with a full QWERTY soft keyboard to easily send and receive SMS messages in multiple sessions. When users need to type, iPhone presents them with an elegant touch keyboard which is predictive to prevent and correct mistakes, "making it much easier and more efficient to use than the small plastic keyboards on many smartphones. iPhone also includes a calendar application that allows calendars to be automatically synced with your PC or Mac," adds the release.
iPhone also features a two megapixel camera and an advanced photo management application. Users can browse their photo library, which can be synced from their PC or Mac, with a flick of a finger and choose a photo for their wallpaper or to include in an email.
The iPhone is a quad-band GSM phone which also features EDGE and Wi-Fi wireless technologies for data networking. Apple has chosen Cingular, with over 58 million subscribers, to be Apple’s exclusive carrier partner for iPhone in the U.S.
Look for GSM carrier Rogers to get the product first here in Canada.
Jobs also used his keynote speech, to officially debut Apple TV, it’s in-home set top box (that isn’t a cable set top replacement or anything… yet) that will wirelessly let consumers deliver their iTunes content from their PCs or Macs to the televisions.
"Using Apple TV’s new interface, customers can quickly browse and view their entire collection of digital media from across the room using the simple and intuitive Apple Remote. Apple TV easily connects to almost all modern widescreen televisions, and will be shipping in February for just $299," says the release.
"Apple TV (pictured) is like a DVD player for the 21st century — you connect it to your entertainment system just like a DVD player, but it plays digital content you get from the Internet rather than DVDs you get from a physical store," said Jobs. "Apple TV plays the same iTunes content that users enjoy on their computers and iPods, so now they can even watch part of a movie in their living room, and watch the rest later on their iPod."
Apple TV has a 40GB hard drive to store up to 50 hours of video, 9,000 songs, 25,000 photos or a combination of each and is ca
pable of delivering high-definition 720p output. Apple TV comes standard with HDMI, component video, analog and optical audio ports. Using high-speed AirPort(R) 802.11 wireless networking, Apple TV can auto-sync content from one computer or stream content from up to five additional computers right to the customers’ TV without any wires.
The integration of Apple TV and iTunes lets American users choose from over 250 feature-length movies and 350 TV shows in near DVD quality; four million songs, 5,000 music videos, 100,000 podcasts and 20,000 audio books.
Unfortunately, there is precious little video available to consumers outside of the United States on iTunes, so don’t look for gangbuster sales of Apple TV units in Canada just yet.
Users can also enjoy their favorite music on a home entertainment system and view slideshows of their photo albums on a widescreen TV. Apple TV lets customers explore their entire media collection through its new interface. With the Apple Remote, consumers can browse through their favorite movies, TV shows, music and photos from up to 30 feet away.
