World awaits the iPhone with bated breath

The iPhone is a combination of a mobile phone with a widescreen iPod, with touch controls and an internet device. The question is - will it be worth the wait?

If you haven't yet heard of it yet, you must either be from Mars, or one of those people who never get excited about anything.

The iPhone, for those who are new to the game, promises to change the face of the mobile industry the same way Apple turned the MP3 player market inside out with its iPod music players.

Ever since Apple announced details of the product at its annual Macworld expo on January 9 in the US, the world has been abuzz about what the phone can and cannot do.

We will come to know what the phone can actually do only when Apple Inc. starts selling the iPhone in the US on June 29, a debut that will test whether the company's design success with Mac computers and iPod media players can carry over into mobile handsets.

The iPhone is expected to cost $500 (about Dh1,850) or $600 (about Dh2,208), depending on the amount of memory included.

According to preliminary reports available on the internet and in the media, there's a lot the phone promises to do. And it promises to do so in style.

Pushing ahead
According to details available, the iPhone will come with just one pushbutton. Most functions will be controlled by touching icons that appear on the phone's large video screen. You can instantly browse and access songs, pictures, videos, contacts and more.

Use your fingers to type messages and e-mails on an onscreen keyboard - Steve Jobs, co-founder and CEO of Apple, promises onscreen typing will be faster than on a standard smart-phone keypad.

With a tap of the finger, you will be able to open photos and move them back and forth with the swipe of a finger, zoom in and out and stretch the image across two fingers on the screen, scroll through a full size web page - and zoom in or out.

The same goes for songs and videos. And unlike other portable touch-screen devices, there's no need for a stylus to navigate. Apple has invented a new technology that accurately recognises touches from human fingers.

"It's far more accurate than any touch display that's ever been shipped," said Steve Jobs, in his keynote address introducing the product.

Winning features
According to reports, the screen is a handsome 3.5 inches, (nine centimetres), with a 320 x 480 resolution. This wide-screen display is much better for full-length movie viewing and features touch controls for play-pause, chapter forward-backward and volume.

Apple has also added an iPod to the phone, making it your ultimate music-on-the-go device - playing great quality music with easier controls. The touch controls vastly improve upon the iPod's scroll wheel, while an improved menu structure makes it faster and easier to find playlists, artists and albums.

The iPhone will be offered in four GB and eight GB capacities (flash memory), with a built-in microphone for audio recording and a standard 3.5mm audio jack, which will work with all mainstream stereo headphones.

The iPhone generation
The third module of the iPhone, the internet mobile communicator, with an intelligent user interface and Apple's Safari web browser pre-installed, permits full internet browsing. Sensors control screen brightness, adjust the picture when the device has been rotated from portrait to landscape, and measure how close the user is to the phone.

The iPhone even reconsiders how consumers listen to voice mail. "Wouldn't it be great if you had six voice mails, and you didn't have to listen to five first before listening to the sixth?" Jobs said in his keynote. With the Visual Voice-mail feature, you can do exactly that. The iPhone allows people to see all voice mails and select which one to listen to.

The accolades that greeted the iPhone's announcement were a sign that many believe the device will revolutionise the handset industry.

Great expectations
According to the results of a recent ChangeWave Alliance (a global research network of 10,000 business, technology and medical professionals) survey, nearly one in 10 respondents (nine per cent) say they are likely to buy the iPhone once it becomes available, while another seven per cent say they are likely to buy it as a gift for someone else.

These are big numbers, and if the iPhone lives up to expectations, the numbers will only go higher.

The iPhone after its June-end debut in the US, will hit Europe in the fourth quarter of the current year. Asia will have to wait until next year, so we in the UAE will also have to wait for some time. But then, if the iPhone gives as good as it promises, the wait will have been worth it.

Watch this space in 2008!