The iPhone is an Internet-enabled multimedia mobile phone designed and marketed by Apple Inc. It has a multi-touch screen with virtual keyboard and buttons, but a minimal amount of hardware input. The iPhone's functions include those of a camera phone and portable media player (equivalent to the iPod) in addition to text messaging and visual voicemail. It also offers Internet services including e-mail, web browsing, and local Wi-Fi connectivity. The first generation phone hardware was quad-band GSM with EDGE; the second generation also adds UMTS and HSDPA.[30]
Apple announced the iPhone on 9 January 2007.[31] The announcement was preceded by rumors and speculations that circulated for several months.[32] The iPhone was initially introduced in the United States on 29 June 2007 and is in the process of being introduced worldwide. It was named Time magazine's Invention of the Year in 2007.[33] On 11 July 2008, the iPhone 3G was released and supported faster 3G data speeds and Assisted GPS.[30]
Screen and interfaceThe 9 cm (3.5 in) liquid crystal display (320×480 px at 6.3 px/mm, 160 ppi) HVGA touchscreen with scratch-resistant glass[34] is specifically created for use with a finger, or multiple fingers for multi-touch sensing. Because the screen is a capacitive touchscreen, bare skin is required; a stylus or a normal glove prevents the necessary electrical conductivity.[35][36][37][38]
Almost all input is given through the touch screen, which understands complex gestures using multi-touch. The iPhone user interface enables the user to move the content itself up or down by a touch-drag motion of the finger. For example, zooming in and out of web pages and photos is done by placing two fingers on the screen and spreading them farther apart or closer together. Similarly, scrolling through a long list in a menu works as if the list is pasted on the outer surface of a wheel: the wheel can be "spun" by sliding a finger over the display from bottom to top (or vice versa). In either case, the list continues to move based on the flicking motion of the finger, slowly decelerating as if affected by friction. In this way, the interface simulates the physics of a real 3D object. There are other visual effects, such as horizontally sliding sub-selections and co-selections from right and left, vertically sliding system menus from the bottom (e.g. favorites, keyboard), and menus and widgets that turn around to allow settings to be configured on their back sides.
The display responds to three sensors. A proximity sensor shuts off the display and touchscreen when the iPhone is brought near the face to save battery power and to prevent inadvertent inputs from the user's face and ears. An ambient light sensor adjusts the display brightness which in turn saves battery power. A 3-axis accelerometer senses the orientation of the phone and changes the screen accordingly.[39] Photo browsing, web browsing, and music playing support both upright and left or right widescreen orientations, while videos play in only one widescreen orientation.[citation needed]
A software update allowed the first generation iPhone to use cell towers and Wi-Fi networks to locate itself despite lacking a hardware GPS. The iPhone 3G includes A-GPS but also uses cell towers and Wi-Fi for location finding.
A single "home" hardware button below the display brings up the main menu. Subselections are made via the touchscreen. The iPhone utilizes a full-paged display, with context-specific submenus at the top and/or bottom of each page, sometimes depending on screen orientation. Detail pages display the equivalent of a "Back" button to return to the parent menu.
The iPhone has three physical switches on its sides: wake/sleep, volume up/down, and ringer on/off. These are made of plastic on the original iPhone and metal on the iPhone 3G. All other multimedia and phone operations are done via the touchscreen.
AudioThe iPhone's headphones are similar to those of most current smartphones, incorporating a microphone. A multipurpose button in the microphone can be used to play or pause music, skip tracks, and answer or end phone calls without touching the iPhone. The 3.5 mm TRS connector for the headphones is located on the top left corner. The headphone socket on the original iPhone is recessed into the casing and is narrow when compared to some headphone jacks, making it incompatible with most headphones without the use of an adapter.[40] The iPhone 3G has a flush mounted headphone socket.
Wireless earpieces that use Bluetooth technology to communicate with the iPhone are sold separately. It does not support stereo audio.
The loudspeaker is used both for handsfree operations and media playback, but does not support voice recording.
Composite or component video at up to 576i and stereo audio can be output from the dock connector using an adapter sold by Apple.[41]
BatteryThe iPhone features a built-in rechargeable battery that is not user-replaceable, similar to existing iPods, but dissimilar to most existing cellular phones.[42][43] If the battery prematurely reaches the end of its life time, the phone can be returned to Apple and replaced for free while still in warranty,[44] one year at purchase and extended to two years with AppleCare. The cost of having Apple provide a new battery and replace it when the iPhone is out of warranty is, in the United States, US$79 and US$6.95 for shipping.[45]
Since July 2007 third party battery packs have been available[46] at a much lower price than Apple's own battery replacement program. These kits often include a small screwdriver and an instruction leaflet, but as with many newer iPod models the battery in the original iPhone has been soldered in. Therefore a soldering iron is required to install the new battery. This is not the case with the iPhone 3G as it uses a different battery fitted with a connector.[47]
The original iPhone's battery was stated to be capable of providing up to seven hours of video, six hours of web browsing, eight hours of talk time, 24 hours of music or up to 250 hours on standby.[34] Apple's site says that the battery life "is designed to retain up to 80% of its original capacity after 400 full charge and discharge cycles",[48] which is comparable to the iPod batteries.
The iPhone 3G's battery is stated to be capable of providing up to seven hours of video, six hours of web browsing on Wi-Fi or five on 3G, ten hours of 2G talk time, or five on 3G, 24 hours of music, or 300 hours of standby.[28]
The Foundation for Taxpayer and Consumer Rights, a consumer advocate group, has sent a complaint to Apple and AT&T over the fee that consumers have to pay to have the battery replaced.[49] Though the battery replacement service and its pricing was not made known to buyers until the day the product was launched,[49][50] a similar service had been well established for the iPods by Apple and various third party service providers.
SIM card The original iPhone's SIM card slot shown as open, with ejected SIM card.The SIM card is located in a slot at the top of the device, which can be ejected with a paperclip or a SIM card ejection tool which is included with the iPhone 3G.[51] In most countries, the iPhone is usually sold with a SIM lock preventing the use of SIM cards from different mobile networks.
See also: iPhone SIM Lock removal
StorageThe iPhone was initially released with two options for internal storage size; either a 4 GB or 8 GB flash drive (manufactured by Samsung) model was available. On September 5, 2007, Apple announced they were discontinuing the 4 GB models.[52] On February 5, 2008, Apple announced the addition of a 16 GB model to the iPhone lineup.[53] The iPhone does not contain any memory card slots for expanded storage.
Included items and accessoriesBoth the iPhone and the iPhone 3G came with a series of included accessories and items when purchased.
Items common to both versionsAppropriate documentation Stereo headset with microphone Dock connector to USB cable (standard USB cable for connection) Cleaning/polishing cloth
Original iPhoneDock Standard USB power adapter
iPhone 3GSIM ejector tool Mini USB power adapter (U.S. model) Standard USB power adapter (European model)
SoftwareMain article: iPhone OSiPhone OS is the operating system that runs on the iPhone and iPod touch. It is based on a variant of the same basic Mach kernel that is found in Mac OS X. iPhone OS includes the software component "Core Animation" from Mac OS X v10.5 which, together with the PowerVR MBX 3D hardware, is responsible for the smooth animations used in its user interface. The operating system takes up considerably less than half a GB of the device's total 8 GB or 16 GB storage.[54] It will be capable of supporting bundled and future applications from Apple.
Like an iPod, the iPhone is managed with iTunes version 7.3 or later, which is compatible with Mac OS X version 10.4.10 or later, and 32-bit Windows XP or Vista.[55] The release of iTunes 7.6 expanded this support to include 64-bit versions of XP and Vista,[56] and a workaround has been discovered for previous 64-bit Windows operating systems.[57]
The iPhone's applications can not simply be copied from Mac OS X and have to be written and compiled specifically for the iPhone. Additionally, the Safari web browser supports web applications written with AJAX, which, by design, are platform agnostic applications.
ApplicationsSee also: iPhone SDK The photo display applicationThere are several applications located on the Home screen: Text (SMS messaging), Calendar, Photos, Camera, YouTube, Stocks, Maps (Google Maps), Weather, Clock, Calculator, Notes, Settings, and iTunes (store). Four other applications, docked at the base of the screen, delineate the iPhone's main purposes: Phone, Mail, Safari, and iPod.[58]
The YouTube application streams videos over Wi-Fi, 2G, or 3G after encoding them using the open H.264 codec, to which YouTube has converted about 10,000 videos. As a result, the YouTube application on iPhone can currently view only a certain selection of videos from the site.[59]
At WWDC 2007 on June 11, 2007 Apple announced that the iPhone will support third-party "applications" via the Safari web browser that share the look and feel of the iPhone interface. On October 17, 2007, Steve Jobs, in an open letter posted to Apple's "Hot News" weblog, announced that a software development kit (SDK) would be made available to third-party developers in February 2008. Due to security concerns and Jobs' praise of Nokia's digital signature system, it was suggested that Apple would adopt a similar method. The SDK will also allow application development for the iPod touch.[60] The iPhone SDK was officially announced on March 6, 2008, at the Apple Town Hall facility.[61] The SDK will allow developers to develop native applications for the iPhone and iPod touch, as well as test them in an "iPhone simulator". However, loading an application onto the devices is only possible after paying a Apple Developer Connection membership fee. Developers are free to set any price for their applications to be distributed through the App Store, of which they will receive a 70 percent share[62]. Developers can also opt to release the application for free and will not pay any costs to release or distribute the application beyond the membership fee. The SDK was made available immediately, while the launch of applications had to wait until the firmware update which was released on July 11, 2008.[63] This update is free for iPhone users and there is a charge for iPod touch owners.
Many third party Safari "applications" and un-signed native applications are also available.[64] The ability to install native applications onto the iPhone outside of the App Store will not be supported by Apple. Such native applications could be broken by any software update, but Apple has stated it will not design software updates specifically to break native applications other than applications that perform SIM unlocking.[65]
Apple announced the iPhone on 9 January 2007.[31] The announcement was preceded by rumors and speculations that circulated for several months.[32] The iPhone was initially introduced in the United States on 29 June 2007 and is in the process of being introduced worldwide. It was named Time magazine's Invention of the Year in 2007.[33] On 11 July 2008, the iPhone 3G was released and supported faster 3G data speeds and Assisted GPS.[30]
Screen and interfaceThe 9 cm (3.5 in) liquid crystal display (320×480 px at 6.3 px/mm, 160 ppi) HVGA touchscreen with scratch-resistant glass[34] is specifically created for use with a finger, or multiple fingers for multi-touch sensing. Because the screen is a capacitive touchscreen, bare skin is required; a stylus or a normal glove prevents the necessary electrical conductivity.[35][36][37][38]
Almost all input is given through the touch screen, which understands complex gestures using multi-touch. The iPhone user interface enables the user to move the content itself up or down by a touch-drag motion of the finger. For example, zooming in and out of web pages and photos is done by placing two fingers on the screen and spreading them farther apart or closer together. Similarly, scrolling through a long list in a menu works as if the list is pasted on the outer surface of a wheel: the wheel can be "spun" by sliding a finger over the display from bottom to top (or vice versa). In either case, the list continues to move based on the flicking motion of the finger, slowly decelerating as if affected by friction. In this way, the interface simulates the physics of a real 3D object. There are other visual effects, such as horizontally sliding sub-selections and co-selections from right and left, vertically sliding system menus from the bottom (e.g. favorites, keyboard), and menus and widgets that turn around to allow settings to be configured on their back sides.
The display responds to three sensors. A proximity sensor shuts off the display and touchscreen when the iPhone is brought near the face to save battery power and to prevent inadvertent inputs from the user's face and ears. An ambient light sensor adjusts the display brightness which in turn saves battery power. A 3-axis accelerometer senses the orientation of the phone and changes the screen accordingly.[39] Photo browsing, web browsing, and music playing support both upright and left or right widescreen orientations, while videos play in only one widescreen orientation.[citation needed]
A software update allowed the first generation iPhone to use cell towers and Wi-Fi networks to locate itself despite lacking a hardware GPS. The iPhone 3G includes A-GPS but also uses cell towers and Wi-Fi for location finding.
A single "home" hardware button below the display brings up the main menu. Subselections are made via the touchscreen. The iPhone utilizes a full-paged display, with context-specific submenus at the top and/or bottom of each page, sometimes depending on screen orientation. Detail pages display the equivalent of a "Back" button to return to the parent menu.
The iPhone has three physical switches on its sides: wake/sleep, volume up/down, and ringer on/off. These are made of plastic on the original iPhone and metal on the iPhone 3G. All other multimedia and phone operations are done via the touchscreen.
AudioThe iPhone's headphones are similar to those of most current smartphones, incorporating a microphone. A multipurpose button in the microphone can be used to play or pause music, skip tracks, and answer or end phone calls without touching the iPhone. The 3.5 mm TRS connector for the headphones is located on the top left corner. The headphone socket on the original iPhone is recessed into the casing and is narrow when compared to some headphone jacks, making it incompatible with most headphones without the use of an adapter.[40] The iPhone 3G has a flush mounted headphone socket.
Wireless earpieces that use Bluetooth technology to communicate with the iPhone are sold separately. It does not support stereo audio.
The loudspeaker is used both for handsfree operations and media playback, but does not support voice recording.
Composite or component video at up to 576i and stereo audio can be output from the dock connector using an adapter sold by Apple.[41]
BatteryThe iPhone features a built-in rechargeable battery that is not user-replaceable, similar to existing iPods, but dissimilar to most existing cellular phones.[42][43] If the battery prematurely reaches the end of its life time, the phone can be returned to Apple and replaced for free while still in warranty,[44] one year at purchase and extended to two years with AppleCare. The cost of having Apple provide a new battery and replace it when the iPhone is out of warranty is, in the United States, US$79 and US$6.95 for shipping.[45]
Since July 2007 third party battery packs have been available[46] at a much lower price than Apple's own battery replacement program. These kits often include a small screwdriver and an instruction leaflet, but as with many newer iPod models the battery in the original iPhone has been soldered in. Therefore a soldering iron is required to install the new battery. This is not the case with the iPhone 3G as it uses a different battery fitted with a connector.[47]
The original iPhone's battery was stated to be capable of providing up to seven hours of video, six hours of web browsing, eight hours of talk time, 24 hours of music or up to 250 hours on standby.[34] Apple's site says that the battery life "is designed to retain up to 80% of its original capacity after 400 full charge and discharge cycles",[48] which is comparable to the iPod batteries.
The iPhone 3G's battery is stated to be capable of providing up to seven hours of video, six hours of web browsing on Wi-Fi or five on 3G, ten hours of 2G talk time, or five on 3G, 24 hours of music, or 300 hours of standby.[28]
The Foundation for Taxpayer and Consumer Rights, a consumer advocate group, has sent a complaint to Apple and AT&T over the fee that consumers have to pay to have the battery replaced.[49] Though the battery replacement service and its pricing was not made known to buyers until the day the product was launched,[49][50] a similar service had been well established for the iPods by Apple and various third party service providers.
SIM card The original iPhone's SIM card slot shown as open, with ejected SIM card.The SIM card is located in a slot at the top of the device, which can be ejected with a paperclip or a SIM card ejection tool which is included with the iPhone 3G.[51] In most countries, the iPhone is usually sold with a SIM lock preventing the use of SIM cards from different mobile networks.
See also: iPhone SIM Lock removal
StorageThe iPhone was initially released with two options for internal storage size; either a 4 GB or 8 GB flash drive (manufactured by Samsung) model was available. On September 5, 2007, Apple announced they were discontinuing the 4 GB models.[52] On February 5, 2008, Apple announced the addition of a 16 GB model to the iPhone lineup.[53] The iPhone does not contain any memory card slots for expanded storage.
Included items and accessoriesBoth the iPhone and the iPhone 3G came with a series of included accessories and items when purchased.
Items common to both versionsAppropriate documentation Stereo headset with microphone Dock connector to USB cable (standard USB cable for connection) Cleaning/polishing cloth
Original iPhoneDock Standard USB power adapter
iPhone 3GSIM ejector tool Mini USB power adapter (U.S. model) Standard USB power adapter (European model)
SoftwareMain article: iPhone OSiPhone OS is the operating system that runs on the iPhone and iPod touch. It is based on a variant of the same basic Mach kernel that is found in Mac OS X. iPhone OS includes the software component "Core Animation" from Mac OS X v10.5 which, together with the PowerVR MBX 3D hardware, is responsible for the smooth animations used in its user interface. The operating system takes up considerably less than half a GB of the device's total 8 GB or 16 GB storage.[54] It will be capable of supporting bundled and future applications from Apple.
Like an iPod, the iPhone is managed with iTunes version 7.3 or later, which is compatible with Mac OS X version 10.4.10 or later, and 32-bit Windows XP or Vista.[55] The release of iTunes 7.6 expanded this support to include 64-bit versions of XP and Vista,[56] and a workaround has been discovered for previous 64-bit Windows operating systems.[57]
The iPhone's applications can not simply be copied from Mac OS X and have to be written and compiled specifically for the iPhone. Additionally, the Safari web browser supports web applications written with AJAX, which, by design, are platform agnostic applications.
ApplicationsSee also: iPhone SDK The photo display applicationThere are several applications located on the Home screen: Text (SMS messaging), Calendar, Photos, Camera, YouTube, Stocks, Maps (Google Maps), Weather, Clock, Calculator, Notes, Settings, and iTunes (store). Four other applications, docked at the base of the screen, delineate the iPhone's main purposes: Phone, Mail, Safari, and iPod.[58]
The YouTube application streams videos over Wi-Fi, 2G, or 3G after encoding them using the open H.264 codec, to which YouTube has converted about 10,000 videos. As a result, the YouTube application on iPhone can currently view only a certain selection of videos from the site.[59]
At WWDC 2007 on June 11, 2007 Apple announced that the iPhone will support third-party "applications" via the Safari web browser that share the look and feel of the iPhone interface. On October 17, 2007, Steve Jobs, in an open letter posted to Apple's "Hot News" weblog, announced that a software development kit (SDK) would be made available to third-party developers in February 2008. Due to security concerns and Jobs' praise of Nokia's digital signature system, it was suggested that Apple would adopt a similar method. The SDK will also allow application development for the iPod touch.[60] The iPhone SDK was officially announced on March 6, 2008, at the Apple Town Hall facility.[61] The SDK will allow developers to develop native applications for the iPhone and iPod touch, as well as test them in an "iPhone simulator". However, loading an application onto the devices is only possible after paying a Apple Developer Connection membership fee. Developers are free to set any price for their applications to be distributed through the App Store, of which they will receive a 70 percent share[62]. Developers can also opt to release the application for free and will not pay any costs to release or distribute the application beyond the membership fee. The SDK was made available immediately, while the launch of applications had to wait until the firmware update which was released on July 11, 2008.[63] This update is free for iPhone users and there is a charge for iPod touch owners.
Many third party Safari "applications" and un-signed native applications are also available.[64] The ability to install native applications onto the iPhone outside of the App Store will not be supported by Apple. Such native applications could be broken by any software update, but Apple has stated it will not design software updates specifically to break native applications other than applications that perform SIM unlocking.[65]
Software updatesMain article: iPhone OS version historyApple provides free updates to the iPhone's operating system through iTunes, in a similar fashion to the way that iPods are updated.[54] Security patches, as well as new and improved features, are released in this fashion.[66]
FeaturesThe iPhone allows audio conferencing, call holding, call merging, caller ID, and integration with other cellular network features and iPhone functions. Voice dialing and video calling are not supported by the iPhone, unlike most of the competing phones.
The iPhone includes a visual voicemail feature allowing users to view a list of current voicemail messages on-screen without having to call into their voicemail. Unlike most other systems, messages can be listened to and deleted in a non-chronological order by choosing any message from an on-screen list. AT&T, O2, T-Mobile Germany, and Orange modified their voicemail infrastructure to accommodate this new feature designed by Apple. A lawsuit has been filed against Apple and AT&T by Klausner Technologies claiming the iPhone's visual voicemail feature infringes two patents.[67][dead links]
A music ringtone feature was introduced in the United States on September 5, 2007. For a fee equal to the price of the song on iTunes, the user is allowed to create their custom ringtones. It is not yet available in all countries where the iPhone has been released. The ringtones can be from 3 to 30 seconds in length of any part of a song, can include fading in and out, can pause from half a second to five seconds when looped, and never expire. All customizing can be done in iTunes, and the synced ringtones can also be used for alarms on the iPhone. Custom ringtones can also be created using Apple's GarageBand software 4.1.1 or later (available only on Mac OS X)[25] and third-party tools.[68]
MultimediaThe layout of the music library is similar to iPods and current Symbian S60 phones, with the sections divided more clearly alphabetically, and with a larger font. Just like iPods, the iPhone can sort its media library by songs, artists, albums, videos, playlists, genres, composers, podcasts, audiobooks, and compilations. Cover Flow, like that on iTunes, shows the different album covers in a scroll-through photo library. Scrolling is achieved by swiping a finger across the screen.
The iPhone supports gapless playback.[69]
Like the fifth generation iPods introduced in 2005, the iPhone can play video, allowing users to watch TV shows and films. Unlike other image-related content, video on the iPhone plays only in the landscape orientation, when the phone is turned sideways. Double tapping switches between wide-screen and full-screen video playback.
The iPhone allows users to purchase and download songs from the iTunes Store directly to their iPhone over Wi-Fi with the iTunes Wi-Fi Music Store, but not over the cellular data network.[70]
Internet connectivity and accessibility Wikipedia Main Page on iPhone's Safari in landscape modeInternet access is available when the iPhone is connected to a local area Wi-Fi or a wide area GSM or EDGE network, both 2G standards. Steve Jobs stated in September 2007 that 3G would need to become more widespread in the United States and 3G chipsets would need to become much more energy efficient before inclusion in the iPhone.[36][71] The iPhone 3G supports UMTS and HSDPA, but not HSUPA networks. It is not clear whether it supports HSDPA 3.6 or HSDPA 7.2.[citation needed] By default, the iPhone will ask to join newly discovered Wi-Fi networks and prompt for the password when required, while also supporting manually joining closed Wi-Fi networks.[72] When Wi-Fi is active, the iPhone will automatically switch from the EDGE network to any nearby previously approved Wi-Fi network.[73] 802.1X is supported by the iPhone OS version 2.0, which is used by many university and corporate Wi-Fi networks.[74]
The ubiquitous Internet connection offered by the iPhone has been widely utilized by users. According to Google, the iPhone generates 50 times more search requests than any other mobile handset.[75] According to Deutsche Telekom CEO René Obermann, "The average Internet usage for an iPhone customer is more than 100 MBytes. This is 30 times the use for our average contract-based consumer customers."[76]
The iPhone is able to access the World Wide Web via a modified version of the Safari web browser. Web pages may be viewed in portrait or landscape mode and supports automatic zooming by pinching together or spreading apart fingertips on the screen, or by double-tapping text or images.[77] The web browser displays complete web pages similar to a desktop web browser and supports zooming by double-tapping the screen.[78]
The iPhone does not support Flash[79] nor Java technology[80].
Apple developed an iPhone application for accessing Google's maps service in map, satellite or hybrid form, a list of search results, or directions between two locations, while providing optional real-time traffic information. During the product's announcement, Jobs demonstrated this feature by searching for nearby Starbucks locations and then placing a prank call to one with a single tap.[81][82] Though Flash isn't supported in Safari on the iPhone, Apple also developed a separate application to view YouTube videos on the iPhone, similar to the system used for the Apple TV.
E-mailThe iPhone also features an e-mail program that supports HTML e-mail, which enables the user to embed photos in an e-mail message. PDF, Word, and Excel attachments to mail messages can be viewed on the phone.[83] Yahoo! and Google's Gmail[84] currently offer a free Push-IMAP e-mail service, similar to that on a BlackBerry, for the iPhone; IMAP and POP3 mail standards are also supported, including Microsoft Exchange[85] and Kerio MailServer.[86] This is currently accomplished by opening up IMAP on the Exchange server; however, Apple announced it has licensed Microsoft ActiveSync and will[update needed] fully support the platform on July 11, 2008 when the iPhone 2.0 firmware is released.[87][63] The iPhone will sync e-mail account settings over from Apple's own Mail application, Microsoft Outlook, and Microsoft Entourage, or manually configured using the device's Settings tool. With the correct settings, the e-mail program can check almost any IMAP or POP3 account.[88]
CameraThe iPhone features a built in 2.0 megapixel camera located on the back for still digital photos. It has no optical zoom, flash or autofocus, and does not support video recording.
The iPhone includes software that allows the user to upload, view, and e-mail photos. The user zooms in and out of photos by "unpinching" and "pinching" them through the multi-touch interface. The software interacts with iPhoto on the Mac and Photoshop in Windows. In version 2.0 of the iPhone OS, users can choose to allow location data to be embedded in the pictures producing geocoded photographs (geotagging).
OthersThe built-in Bluetooth 2.x+EDR supports wireless earpieces, which requires the HSP profile, but notably does not support stereo audio (requires A2DP), laptop tethering (requires DUN and SPP), or the OBEX file transfer protocol (requires FTP, GOEP, and OPP). The lack of these profiles prevent iPhone users from exchanging multimedia files with other bluetooth-enabled cell phones, including pictures, music and videos.
Text messages are presented chronologically in a mailbox format similar to Mail, which places all text from recipients together with replies. Text messages are displayed in speech bubbles (similar to iChat) under each recipient's name. The iPhone currently has built-in support for e-mail message forwarding, drafts, and direct internal camera-to-e-mail picture sending. However, it does not yet have capabilities for delivery reports, MMS, or copy/cut/paste.[89] Support for multi-recipient SMS was added in the January 2008 (v1.1.3) software update.
Text input Virtual keyboard on the original iPhone's touchscreen.For text input, the device implements a virtual keyboard on the touchscreen. It has automatic spell checking and correction, predictive word capabilities, and a dynamic dictionary that learns new words. The predictive word capabilities have been integrated with the dynamic virtual keyboard so that users will not have to be extremely accurate when typing—i.e. touching the edges of the desired letter or nearby letters on the keyboard will be predictively corrected when possible. The keys are somewhat larger and spaced farther apart when in landscape mode, currently only available using the Safari web browser. Not focusing more on texting has been considered a chief weakness of the iPhone, while at the same time others believe the virtual keyboard to be a bold step and a worthwhile risk.[90] The lack of a physical keyboard allows for the keyboard to be optimized for different applications and languages.
History and availabilityMain article: History of the iPhone iPhone quarterly sales iPhone availability around the world(Official): Available in 2007 Available in 2008 Available laterThe genesis of the iPhone began with Apple CEO Steve Jobs' direction that Apple engineers investigate touchscreens.[81] Apple created the device during a secretive and unprecedented collaboration with AT&T Mobility—Cingular Wireless at the time of the phone's inception—at a development cost of US$150 million by one estimate. During development, the iPhone was codenamed "Purple 2".[91] The company rejected an early "design by committee" built with Motorola in favor of engineering a custom operating system and interface and building custom hardware.
The iPhone went on sale in the United States on June 29, 2007. Apple closed its stores at 2:00 pm local time to prepare for the 6:00 pm iPhone launch, while hundreds of customers lined up at stores nationwide.[20] Apple sold 270,000 iPhones in the first 30 hours on launch weekend.[92] In 2007, 8 million iPhones were sold in the U.S. according to the Entertainment Software Association.[93] The original iPhone was subsequently made available in five other countries: Ireland, the UK, France, Germany, and Austria.
On July 11, 2008, Apple released the iPhone 3G in twenty-two countries, including the original six. Forty-eight more are expected to follow in the months afterwards.[1] The first iPhone 3G in the world was sold in Auckland, New Zealand to Jonny Gladwell, a 22-year-old student, at one minute past midnight NZST.[94] In the United States, purchasing the new phone will require signing a two-year provider contract with AT&T.[95] On the iPhone 3G release date in the United States, many units initially failed to activate because Apple's iTunes servers were overloaded.[96] Apple sold 1 million iPhone 3Gs in its first 3 days on sale.[97]
Specifications Size comparison between a first generation iPod nano, a first generation iPhone, and a fourth generation iPod, from top to bottom.Features common to both versionsScreen size: 3.5 in (89 mm) Screen resolution: 480×320 pixels at 163 ppi, with 3:2 aspect ratio Input devices: Multi-touch screen interface plus a "Home" button Built-in rechargeable, non-removable battery 2 megapixel camera Location finding by detection of cell towers and Wi-Fi networks Samsung S5L8900 (412 MHz[98] ARM 1176 processor, PowerVR MBX 3D graphics co-processor)[99] Memory: 128 MB DRAM[100] Storage: 8 GB or 16 GB flash memory Operating System: iPhone OS Quad band GSM / GPRS / EDGE: GSM 850 / 900 / 1800 / 1900 Wi-Fi (802.11b/g) Bluetooth 2.0 with EDR
Original model4 GB model (discontinued after two months) Size: 4.5 inches (115 mm) (h) × 2.4 inches (61 mm) (w) × 0.46 inch (11.6 mm) (d) Weight: 135 g (4.8 oz) Battery has up to 8 hours of talk, 6 hours of Internet use, 7 hours of video playback, and up to 24 hours of audio playback, lasting over 250 hours on standby.[34] Headphone jack (recessed) Digital SAR of 0.974 W/kg[101][102]
3G modelColor: Black (8 GB or 16 GB) or white (16 GB) Size: 4.5 inches (115.5 mm) (h) × 2.4 inches (62.1 mm) (w) × 0.48 inch (12.3 mm) (d) Weight: 133 g (4.7 oz) Headphone jack (non-recessed) Battery has up to 10 hours of 2G talk, 5 hours of 3G talk, 5 (3G) or 6 (Wi-Fi) hours of Internet use, 7 hours of video playback, and up to 24 hours of audio playback, lasting over 300 hours on standby.[28] Tri band UMTS / HSDPA: UMTS 850 / 1900 / 2100 Assisted GPS, with preference to location based on Wi-Fi or cell towers
FeaturesThe iPhone allows audio conferencing, call holding, call merging, caller ID, and integration with other cellular network features and iPhone functions. Voice dialing and video calling are not supported by the iPhone, unlike most of the competing phones.
The iPhone includes a visual voicemail feature allowing users to view a list of current voicemail messages on-screen without having to call into their voicemail. Unlike most other systems, messages can be listened to and deleted in a non-chronological order by choosing any message from an on-screen list. AT&T, O2, T-Mobile Germany, and Orange modified their voicemail infrastructure to accommodate this new feature designed by Apple. A lawsuit has been filed against Apple and AT&T by Klausner Technologies claiming the iPhone's visual voicemail feature infringes two patents.[67][dead links]
A music ringtone feature was introduced in the United States on September 5, 2007. For a fee equal to the price of the song on iTunes, the user is allowed to create their custom ringtones. It is not yet available in all countries where the iPhone has been released. The ringtones can be from 3 to 30 seconds in length of any part of a song, can include fading in and out, can pause from half a second to five seconds when looped, and never expire. All customizing can be done in iTunes, and the synced ringtones can also be used for alarms on the iPhone. Custom ringtones can also be created using Apple's GarageBand software 4.1.1 or later (available only on Mac OS X)[25] and third-party tools.[68]
MultimediaThe layout of the music library is similar to iPods and current Symbian S60 phones, with the sections divided more clearly alphabetically, and with a larger font. Just like iPods, the iPhone can sort its media library by songs, artists, albums, videos, playlists, genres, composers, podcasts, audiobooks, and compilations. Cover Flow, like that on iTunes, shows the different album covers in a scroll-through photo library. Scrolling is achieved by swiping a finger across the screen.
The iPhone supports gapless playback.[69]
Like the fifth generation iPods introduced in 2005, the iPhone can play video, allowing users to watch TV shows and films. Unlike other image-related content, video on the iPhone plays only in the landscape orientation, when the phone is turned sideways. Double tapping switches between wide-screen and full-screen video playback.
The iPhone allows users to purchase and download songs from the iTunes Store directly to their iPhone over Wi-Fi with the iTunes Wi-Fi Music Store, but not over the cellular data network.[70]
Internet connectivity and accessibility Wikipedia Main Page on iPhone's Safari in landscape modeInternet access is available when the iPhone is connected to a local area Wi-Fi or a wide area GSM or EDGE network, both 2G standards. Steve Jobs stated in September 2007 that 3G would need to become more widespread in the United States and 3G chipsets would need to become much more energy efficient before inclusion in the iPhone.[36][71] The iPhone 3G supports UMTS and HSDPA, but not HSUPA networks. It is not clear whether it supports HSDPA 3.6 or HSDPA 7.2.[citation needed] By default, the iPhone will ask to join newly discovered Wi-Fi networks and prompt for the password when required, while also supporting manually joining closed Wi-Fi networks.[72] When Wi-Fi is active, the iPhone will automatically switch from the EDGE network to any nearby previously approved Wi-Fi network.[73] 802.1X is supported by the iPhone OS version 2.0, which is used by many university and corporate Wi-Fi networks.[74]
The ubiquitous Internet connection offered by the iPhone has been widely utilized by users. According to Google, the iPhone generates 50 times more search requests than any other mobile handset.[75] According to Deutsche Telekom CEO René Obermann, "The average Internet usage for an iPhone customer is more than 100 MBytes. This is 30 times the use for our average contract-based consumer customers."[76]
The iPhone is able to access the World Wide Web via a modified version of the Safari web browser. Web pages may be viewed in portrait or landscape mode and supports automatic zooming by pinching together or spreading apart fingertips on the screen, or by double-tapping text or images.[77] The web browser displays complete web pages similar to a desktop web browser and supports zooming by double-tapping the screen.[78]
The iPhone does not support Flash[79] nor Java technology[80].
Apple developed an iPhone application for accessing Google's maps service in map, satellite or hybrid form, a list of search results, or directions between two locations, while providing optional real-time traffic information. During the product's announcement, Jobs demonstrated this feature by searching for nearby Starbucks locations and then placing a prank call to one with a single tap.[81][82] Though Flash isn't supported in Safari on the iPhone, Apple also developed a separate application to view YouTube videos on the iPhone, similar to the system used for the Apple TV.
E-mailThe iPhone also features an e-mail program that supports HTML e-mail, which enables the user to embed photos in an e-mail message. PDF, Word, and Excel attachments to mail messages can be viewed on the phone.[83] Yahoo! and Google's Gmail[84] currently offer a free Push-IMAP e-mail service, similar to that on a BlackBerry, for the iPhone; IMAP and POP3 mail standards are also supported, including Microsoft Exchange[85] and Kerio MailServer.[86] This is currently accomplished by opening up IMAP on the Exchange server; however, Apple announced it has licensed Microsoft ActiveSync and will[update needed] fully support the platform on July 11, 2008 when the iPhone 2.0 firmware is released.[87][63] The iPhone will sync e-mail account settings over from Apple's own Mail application, Microsoft Outlook, and Microsoft Entourage, or manually configured using the device's Settings tool. With the correct settings, the e-mail program can check almost any IMAP or POP3 account.[88]
CameraThe iPhone features a built in 2.0 megapixel camera located on the back for still digital photos. It has no optical zoom, flash or autofocus, and does not support video recording.
The iPhone includes software that allows the user to upload, view, and e-mail photos. The user zooms in and out of photos by "unpinching" and "pinching" them through the multi-touch interface. The software interacts with iPhoto on the Mac and Photoshop in Windows. In version 2.0 of the iPhone OS, users can choose to allow location data to be embedded in the pictures producing geocoded photographs (geotagging).
OthersThe built-in Bluetooth 2.x+EDR supports wireless earpieces, which requires the HSP profile, but notably does not support stereo audio (requires A2DP), laptop tethering (requires DUN and SPP), or the OBEX file transfer protocol (requires FTP, GOEP, and OPP). The lack of these profiles prevent iPhone users from exchanging multimedia files with other bluetooth-enabled cell phones, including pictures, music and videos.
Text messages are presented chronologically in a mailbox format similar to Mail, which places all text from recipients together with replies. Text messages are displayed in speech bubbles (similar to iChat) under each recipient's name. The iPhone currently has built-in support for e-mail message forwarding, drafts, and direct internal camera-to-e-mail picture sending. However, it does not yet have capabilities for delivery reports, MMS, or copy/cut/paste.[89] Support for multi-recipient SMS was added in the January 2008 (v1.1.3) software update.
Text input Virtual keyboard on the original iPhone's touchscreen.For text input, the device implements a virtual keyboard on the touchscreen. It has automatic spell checking and correction, predictive word capabilities, and a dynamic dictionary that learns new words. The predictive word capabilities have been integrated with the dynamic virtual keyboard so that users will not have to be extremely accurate when typing—i.e. touching the edges of the desired letter or nearby letters on the keyboard will be predictively corrected when possible. The keys are somewhat larger and spaced farther apart when in landscape mode, currently only available using the Safari web browser. Not focusing more on texting has been considered a chief weakness of the iPhone, while at the same time others believe the virtual keyboard to be a bold step and a worthwhile risk.[90] The lack of a physical keyboard allows for the keyboard to be optimized for different applications and languages.
History and availabilityMain article: History of the iPhone iPhone quarterly sales iPhone availability around the world(Official): Available in 2007 Available in 2008 Available laterThe genesis of the iPhone began with Apple CEO Steve Jobs' direction that Apple engineers investigate touchscreens.[81] Apple created the device during a secretive and unprecedented collaboration with AT&T Mobility—Cingular Wireless at the time of the phone's inception—at a development cost of US$150 million by one estimate. During development, the iPhone was codenamed "Purple 2".[91] The company rejected an early "design by committee" built with Motorola in favor of engineering a custom operating system and interface and building custom hardware.
The iPhone went on sale in the United States on June 29, 2007. Apple closed its stores at 2:00 pm local time to prepare for the 6:00 pm iPhone launch, while hundreds of customers lined up at stores nationwide.[20] Apple sold 270,000 iPhones in the first 30 hours on launch weekend.[92] In 2007, 8 million iPhones were sold in the U.S. according to the Entertainment Software Association.[93] The original iPhone was subsequently made available in five other countries: Ireland, the UK, France, Germany, and Austria.
On July 11, 2008, Apple released the iPhone 3G in twenty-two countries, including the original six. Forty-eight more are expected to follow in the months afterwards.[1] The first iPhone 3G in the world was sold in Auckland, New Zealand to Jonny Gladwell, a 22-year-old student, at one minute past midnight NZST.[94] In the United States, purchasing the new phone will require signing a two-year provider contract with AT&T.[95] On the iPhone 3G release date in the United States, many units initially failed to activate because Apple's iTunes servers were overloaded.[96] Apple sold 1 million iPhone 3Gs in its first 3 days on sale.[97]
Specifications Size comparison between a first generation iPod nano, a first generation iPhone, and a fourth generation iPod, from top to bottom.Features common to both versionsScreen size: 3.5 in (89 mm) Screen resolution: 480×320 pixels at 163 ppi, with 3:2 aspect ratio Input devices: Multi-touch screen interface plus a "Home" button Built-in rechargeable, non-removable battery 2 megapixel camera Location finding by detection of cell towers and Wi-Fi networks Samsung S5L8900 (412 MHz[98] ARM 1176 processor, PowerVR MBX 3D graphics co-processor)[99] Memory: 128 MB DRAM[100] Storage: 8 GB or 16 GB flash memory Operating System: iPhone OS Quad band GSM / GPRS / EDGE: GSM 850 / 900 / 1800 / 1900 Wi-Fi (802.11b/g) Bluetooth 2.0 with EDR
Original model4 GB model (discontinued after two months) Size: 4.5 inches (115 mm) (h) × 2.4 inches (61 mm) (w) × 0.46 inch (11.6 mm) (d) Weight: 135 g (4.8 oz) Battery has up to 8 hours of talk, 6 hours of Internet use, 7 hours of video playback, and up to 24 hours of audio playback, lasting over 250 hours on standby.[34] Headphone jack (recessed) Digital SAR of 0.974 W/kg[101][102]
3G modelColor: Black (8 GB or 16 GB) or white (16 GB) Size: 4.5 inches (115.5 mm) (h) × 2.4 inches (62.1 mm) (w) × 0.48 inch (12.3 mm) (d) Weight: 133 g (4.7 oz) Headphone jack (non-recessed) Battery has up to 10 hours of 2G talk, 5 hours of 3G talk, 5 (3G) or 6 (Wi-Fi) hours of Internet use, 7 hours of video playback, and up to 24 hours of audio playback, lasting over 300 hours on standby.[28] Tri band UMTS / HSDPA: UMTS 850 / 1900 / 2100 Assisted GPS, with preference to location based on Wi-Fi or cell towers
