Apple eNews: January 18, 2007

	“I attended the iPhone launch event, and was able to use one for a little while,” relates Walter Mossberg (Wall Street Journal). “That’s too brief an encounter to allow me to write a proper review. But I can say that it has the largest and most beautiful screen I’ve ever seen on a cellphone, even though it’s incredibly thin. It felt great in my hand. It has a brilliant new user interface; the handsomest email program and Web browser I’ve ever seen on a phone; a full-blown iPod music and video player built in; and even a cool new voicemail system.”
	“As you’d expect of Apple, the iPhone is gorgeous. Its face is shiny black, rimmed by mirror-finish stainless steel. The back is textured aluminum, interrupted only by the two-megapixel camera lens and a mirrored Apple logo. The phone is slightly taller and wider than a Treo, but much thinner (4.5 by 2.4 by 0.46 inches),” enthuses David Pogue (New York Times). “The iPhone’s beauty alone,” he continues, “would be enough to prompt certain members of the iPod cult to dig for their credit cards. But its Mac OS X-based software makes it not so much a smartphone as something out of ‘Minority Report.’”
	“The iPhone breaks two basic axioms of consumer technology,” suggests Lev Grossman (TIME). “One, when you take an application and put it on a phone, that application must be reduced to a crippled and annoying version of itself. Two, when you take two devices—such as an iPod and a phone—and squish them into one, both devices must necessarily become lamer versions of themselves. The iPhone is a phone, an iPod, and a mini-Internet computer all at once, and contrary to Newton—who knew a thing or two about apples—they all occupy the same space at the same time, but without taking a hit in performance.”
	“The new hybrid phone, iPod and internet device demonstrated by Steve Jobs to sounds of oohs and ahs and cries of awesome from an enthralled audience of 7500, delivers on everything and more that users and media had been expecting,” points out iTWire’s Stan Beer. “Reinvent[ing] the phone and deliver[ing] again in style,” Apple unveiled “a mobile phone iPod that blows every other mobile device out of the water.”
	A day after Steve Jobs unveiled the Apple iPhone during his MacWorld keynote on Tuesday morning, I actually got my hands on one. For all of ten minutes. Ten minutes isn't much, but I can safely say that the iPhone is even more impressive than it appeared during the Jobs keyote. And that's saying something,” says Cade Metz (PC Magazine). “For the most part, it was an absolute revelation. Seeing the device in action is one thing—but actually using it is another. Each application is impressive in its own right, from photo-management software to the Safari Web browser, but it's the overall touch-screen interface that takes the breath away.”
	“Yes, I’ve touched it,” proclaims Macworld’s Jason Snell. And “let me tell you from personal experience, it’s much more impressive when it’s in your hand—or more to the point, when you finger’s running across its multi-touch screen.” As he points out, “the screen is remarkably responsive—I could sense no delay between when I pressed an on-screen button and when the phone responded to that finger press. I typed on its on-screen keyboard with my index finger, and after about a minute I felt that I was already well on my way to be a proficient iPhone typist.” Nonplussed, Snell “found it quite difficult to form complete sentences while I was holding the iPhone. In terms of gadget magnetism, its power cannot be overstated.”
	Just as tongue-tied was Bob LeVitus (MacObserver). Given the opportunity, LeVitus “tried it all—typing text messages, dialing, browsing, zooming, and more. And as much as I was sold on the iPhone when I walked out of the keynote, I was sold on it even more after using it for just 10 minutes. In a word, it rocks. It's light years ahead of any existing smartphone and the only one I've ever even considered buying.” And the bottom line? “The iPhone is, hands down, the coolest product I've seen from Apple since...well, since the Mac itself.”

If you couldn’t attend Macworld 2007 last week, you’ll want to check out our special Macworld 2007 website. It’s a veritable one-stop shop for Macworld coverage, including links to our photo gallery, press releases, and the keynote.

Every year, Macworld editors choose a handful of new products to highlight as Best of Show winners. At this year’s Macworld Expo, Apple TV and iPhone joined a stellar cast of honorees. What products were chosen? Read the article, watch the video, or both.

Seen the TV commercials for Nike+? Boasts Maria Sharapova, “I will run more miles than LeBron in January.” In fact, she says that she’ll “become LeBron’s waterboy” if she doesn’t keep her New Year’s fitness resolution. And what about you? Would you like to make your own Nike + fitness resolution?

Speaking of commercials, we’ve just posted three new TV commercials —Surgery, Sabotage, and Tech Support—on our Get a Mac website. Be sure to drop by and take a look. And don’t forget to send your friends, too.

Podcast Pick. Discover Magazine has begun a great new series called Vital Signs. Written by the doctors who themselves treated the patients whose “true medical mysteries” you’ll discover in each new podcast, Vital Signs appears weekly on iTunes.

The sixth season just got off to an explosive start, and you’ll already find all four current episodes of 24, Season 6 on the iTunes Store. Sign up for a Season Pass. and all four will download automatically; future episodes will download as they become available; and you’ll receive three bonus remix tracks of the 24 theme song.

Found an article you think a few dozen friends ought to read? Send them to the online version of Apple eNews.

Every week, developers release new products for us to enjoy. Like to see some of the more recent arrivals?

Apple eNews
January 18, 2007
Volume 10, Issue 1

We hope you thoroughly enjoyed reading this first issue of Apple eNews for 2007. You can expect your next issue on February 1. See you then.

Written and designed by Apple in Cupertino, Apple eNews is a free, bi-weekly email publication.

Event dates are subject to change. Some products, programs, or promotions are not available outside the U.S. Visit your local Apple site or call your local authorized Apple reseller for more information. Prices are Apple Store prices as of the date of this publication. They do not include sales tax or shipping charges, are subject to change, and are listed in US dollars. Product specifications are subject to change.

The ultimate digital device, iPhone delivers three breakthrough products in one beautifully svelte mobile phone that’s less than a half-inch thin and less than 5 oz. light.¹

Thanks to its new multi-touch user interface, pioneering new software, and advanced built-in sensors, iPhone lets you keep in touch; enjoy your music, video, audiobooks, and podcasts; and take full advantage of the Internet more easily and elegantly than ever before possible.

A quad-based GSM phone with built-in support for EDGE, 802.11b/g Wi-Fi, and Bluetooth EDR wireless technologies, the 4GB and 8GB models of iPhone will sell for $499 and $599, respectively, when they become available in June in the US. Carry your life in your pocket. With iPhone.

A revolutionary and magical product, iPhone makes placing a call, getting your voicemail, and browsing (or emailing) your photos a veritable no-brainer.¹ In fact, iPhone even makes it point-and-touch easy to conference another party into the conversation.

With automated synching—just like iPod—it’s never been easier to keep all your contacts up to date with those on your Mac PC, or Internet service. And iPhone even includes a robust SMS application with a predictive “soft” keyboard that corrects typos on the fly.

With iPhone, you can quickly browse through songs, playlists, albums, or artists (all the music, music videos, TV shows, or movies you take with you) with a flick of your finger. Then play whatever you care to hear—or watch—with a simple touch. It’s even the first mobile device to feature Cover Flow. Just rotate iPhone into landscape position and watch your album covers whiz by.

Thanks to its stunning 3.5-inch widescreen display, you’ll really enjoy watching TV shows, music videos, movies, and video podcasts on the go. Tap to toggle between fullscreen and widescreen. And just as it does for iPod, iTunes plays command central for iPhone, keeping your library synched and ready to go.

Providing a stellar Internet experience, iPhone delivers rich HTML email and pristine web pages unlike anything youve ever beheld on a mobile phone.¹ That’s thanks to Safari, which lets you see—and enjoy—web pages on iPhone just as they were designed to be seen.

And that’s not all. Powered by Mac OS X, iPhone easily syncs bookmarks from your Mac or PC and offers widgets for checking the weather, tracking stock prices, or calculating the tip. iPhone brings you free “push” IMAP email service from Yahoo!, and it can be easily set up to work with most IMAP and POP email services. And thanks to Google, you can search up a storm or zoom right in on the Eiffel Tower, Great Wall, or your own neighborhood.

^{1. This device has not been authorized as required by the rules of the Federal Communications Commission. This device is not, and may not be, offered for sale or lease, or sold or leased, until authorization is obtained.}

Like a DVD player for the 21st century, Apple TV connects easily to your home entertainment system. And that’s when the fun begins.

Startup iTunes on your Mac or PC, and it immediately becomes aware of the Apple TV you’ve just set up downstairs in the living room. iTunes lets you effortlessly sync the content of your choice (movies, TV shows, music, photos, podcasts, or all of the above) to Apple TV’s 40GB hard. Then just sit back, and enjoy.

Wait. There’s more. Not only can Apple TV stream movie trailers from apple.com; it can also stream content from up to five additional computers—like, for example, a friend’s MacBook Pro. Place your order now. The $299 Apple TV arrives next month.

Offering up to five times the performance and twice the range of its predecessor, the new AirPort Extreme Base Station—elegant in design and simple to use—is the first base station from Apple to embrace the new 802.11n Wi-Fi standard.²

With its superb new setup utility, setting up a secure and blazing-fast network’s as easy as setting up an iMac. In five minutes or less, you’ll be surfing the web, chatting, sending email, exchanging photos, and sharing printers and/or hard drives. And wait till you see how easy it is to set up guest accounts for visitors or limits for children (i.e., no web access after 9:00 pm).

The perfect wireless solution for the home, school, or workplace, Apple’s AirPort Extreme Base Station supports both the Mac and PC, costs just $179 and ships next month.

^{2. The AirPort Extreme Base Station is based on an IEEE 802.11n draft
specification and is compatible with IEEE 802.11a, IEEE 802.11b, and
IEEE 802.11g. Actual Performance will vary based on range, connection rate, site conditions, size of network and other factors. Range will vary with site conditions.}

Thanks to Paramount Pictures, iTunes customers now have even more feature films from which to choose.³

Take, for example, Star Trek. You can, of course, purchase and download the entire first season of the classic television show, Star Trek: The Original Series, from the iTunes Store. And now—from Star Trek I: The Motion Picture to Star Trek IX: Insurrection—you can purchase Star Trek movies, as well.

Paramount Picture also delivered such hot properties as Zoolander, School of Rock, The Italian Job, Mean Girls, Coach Carter, Lemony Snicket’s: A Series of Unfortunate Events, Lara Croft Tomb Raider: The Cradle of Life, Chinatown, and Breakfast at Tiffany's. And even more feature films come to iTunes in the weeks ahead.

^{3. TM & Copyright © 2007 by Paramount Pictures. All Rights Reserved.}