Apple unveils iPhone; sucks to be Zune

After months of speculation, Apple finally unveilled the long in development iPhone, which blends the multi-media functionality of an iPod, with wireless internet and phone. I think I just heard Motorola and Nokia passing out.

Apple already has the iPhone up on their site. No word on price or Canadian carriers, but it appears Cingular Wireless will carry the GSM phone in the US. My money is on Rogers as the initial Canadian carrier.

Update: The phones will start shipping in June. A four-gigabyte model will cost US$499, while an eight-gigabyte IPhone will be $599. Prices will be probably be lower for those buyers who sign up for cellular plans.

• The beauty part of this device is that it's a touchscreen interface, and switches to a widescreen video mode. Bye-bye click wheel on the next round of iPods?


• The memory comes in either 4GB or 8GB, which puts it in the iPod Nano range. There appears to be an expandable memory slot on it too.


• Runs on OS/X platform, and you can sync it with iTunes on your PC or Mac.


• Safari internet browser, and syncs to your bookmarks on your PC or Mac.


• 2.0 MP camera


• Very very shiny


• It says 5 hour battery life in video playback or talk mode. Probably eats battery power like a monster.

On sale date hasn't been announced yet, likely pending Federal Communication approval. But damned if it doesn't look like the wait was worthwhile.

BoingBoing.net has on the spot coverage:

Width: 11.6mm. Runs OSX. Will be iPod + mobile phone + internet communicator. No bottom keyboard, but a screen that can shift. One button on front, 3.5" screen, 160 pixels per inch display. Jobs: "Multitasking, networking, power management, graphics, security, video, graphics, animation." Ambient light sensor. Accelerometer allows it to sense whether in portrait or landscape mode. View video, listen to music with iTunes... contact management, scroll through contacts... visual voicemail... Quad-band, WiFi, bluetooth, GSM / EDGE data.

Jobs: "What's the killer app? Making calls!," promises ease of use for initiating and receiving calls.... multi-session SMS messaging... widgets... push IMAP, like Blackberry... Safari web browser...

Sucks to be a Treo or Zune today.

Apple also announced their AppleTV module, which will allow users to stream digital media from their computer to their TV sets. It's priced on the site at $299 US.