Apple announced in their 2007 Q3 sales report and conference call that they sold 270,000 iPhones in the first 30 hours on launch weekend.AT&T reported 146,000 iPhones activated in the same time period. Apple anticipates selling their millionth iPhone in the first full quarter of availability,and 10 million by the end of fiscal 2008.
Release
On June 28, 2007, during an address to Apple employees, Steve Jobs announced that all full-time Apple employees and those part-time employees that have been with the company at least one year would receive a free iPhone. Employees received their phones in July after the initial demand subsided.
On June 29, Apple closed its stores during the hours between 2:00 and 6:00 PM local time to prepare for the iPhone launch. Meanwhile, hundreds of customers lined up at stores nationwide until each stores re-opened their doors to sell the first devices.
There were some concerns with service and plans provided by AT&T. The iPhone is only available for those who subscribe to a two-year AT&T service plan unless they have poor credit, in which case they can use a pre-paid plan. There is no way to opt out of the data plan and thus people who do not want to use the iPhone's web capability may find the fee superfluous.The iPhone cannot be added to an AT&T Business account, and any existing business account discounts cannot be applied to an iPhone AT&T account.One report also indicated that iPhone could not be added to an existing AT&T consumer account if it had been ported from Cingular at the time of the BellSouth-AT&T merger.
The AP reported also that some users were unable to activate their phones due to what AT&T reported was "high volume of activation requests were taxing the company's computer servers."
Early estimates by technology analysts estimated sales of between 250,000 to 700,000 units in the first weekend alone, with strong sales continuing after the initial weekend.[90][91] As part of their quarterly earnings announcement, AT&T reported that 146,000 iPhones were activated in the first weekend. Though this figure does not include units that were purchased for resale on eBay or otherwise not activated until after the opening weekend, it is still less than most initial estimates. It is also estimated that 95% of the units sold are the 8Â GB model. The iPhone could be released in the Asia-Pacific region sometime in 2008.
The first advertisement for iPhone, titled "Hello," aired during the 79th Academy Awards on February 25, 2007 on ABC. The ad features clips from several notable films and television shows over the last seventy years, showing iconic characters answering telephones and saying "hello" or a similar greeting. The iPhone is shown at the end with the caption "Hello. Coming in June."
The commercial was created by TBWA\Chiat\Day, Apple's ad agency since CEO Steve Jobs' return to the company in 1997. TBWA's Media Arts Lab will continue to handle all upcoming advertising for iPhone, much as it has for iPod.
On June 3, 2007, Apple released four advertisements that announce a June 29, 2007 release date, and which concluded, "Use requires minimum new 2 year activation plan."; the footnote has since been removed from all four of the ads.A fifth ad featuring YouTube was released on June 21, 2007. All five advertisements feature a voice over describing various iPhone features, demonstrated on-screen. The song "Perfect Timing (This Morning)" by a band called Orba Squara plays in the background.
The genesis of the iPhone was Jobs' direction that Apple engineers investigate touch-screens. At the time he had been considering having Apple work on tablet PCs. Many have noted the device's similarities to Apple's previous touch-screen portable device, the Newton MessagePad—like the Newton, the iPhone is nearly all screen. Its form factor is credited to Apple's head of design, Jonathan Ive.[Comments made by Jobs in April 2003 at the "D: All Things Digital" executive conference expressed his belief that tablet PCs and traditional PDAs were not good choices as high-demand markets for Apple to enter, despite many requests made to him that Apple create another PDA. He did believe that cell phones were going to become important devices for portable information access, and that what cell phones needed to have was excellent synchronization software. At the time, instead of focusing on a follow-up to their Newton PDA, Jobs had Apple put its energies into the iPod, and the iTunes software (which can be used to synchronize content with iPod devices), released January 2001. On September 7, 2005, Apple and Motorola released the ROKR E1, the first mobile phone to use iTunes. Jobs was unhappy with the ROKR, feeling that having to compromise with a non-Apple designer (Motorola) prevented Apple from designing the phone they wanted to make. In September 2006, Apple discontinued support for the ROKR and released a version of iTunes that included references to an as-yet unknown mobile phone that could display pictures and video. On January 9, 2007, Jobs announced the iPhone at the Macworld convention, receiving substantial media attention, and on June 11, 2007 announced at the Apple's Worldwide Developer's Conference that the iPhone would support third-party applications using the Safari engine on the device. Third-parties would create the Web 2.0 applications and users would access them via the internet. Such applications appeared even before the release of the iPhone; the first being "OneTrip", a program meant to keep track of the user's shopping list. On June 29, Apple released version 7.3 of iTunes to coincide with the release of the iPhone. This release contains support for iPhone service activation and syncing.
The specifications as listed on Apple's website are:
An analysis of the iPhone's firmware has revealed that the main Samsung chip (designated S5L8900) contains an ARM1176jzf processor, together with a PowerVR MBX 3D graphics co-processor.
(A separate dock is also available which charges both the iPhone and Apple Bluetooth Headset.)
The initial U.S. release is offered in two configurations with two different prices: a 4Â GB model for US$499.99 and an 8Â GB model for US$599.99. In a deal concluded through secretive discussions which began in February 2005,AT&T Mobility is the exclusive carrier of the iPhone in the United States and will remain so until 2009 or later.The iPhone may be purchased with a two-year service plan with AT&T with plans ranging from US$59.99 to US$219.99 per month,or pre-paid month to month at a slightly higher rate.
Apple received FCC approval for the iPhone on May 17, 2007.Jobs announced that the iPhone will first be available in late June 2007 in the U.S., during the fourth quarter 2007 in Europe (O2 have reportedly been awarded the contract for the UK), September 2007 in South Africa, and in 2008 for Asia, Mexico, and probably the rest of the Americas. New television commercials for the iPhone began to air on June 3, confirming a release date of June 29, 2007.
Apple also announced that its goal is to capture 1% of the global mobile phone market, which would be approximately 10 million units being sold in the first full calendar year of iPhone availability. For comparison, Jobs announced that the Apple iPod commands 62% of the U.S. market share for MP3 players.
Apple has confirmed that software updates can be distributed to the iPhone device via iTunes.Security patches as well as new and improved features, such as a mobile chat client, Flash support, and voice recording, may be released in this fashion.The first iPhone software update was released on July 31, 2007.
The iPhone is compatible with Mac OS X version 10.4.10 or later, and 32-bit Windows XP or Vista. For each, the user must download the latest version of iTunes Version 7.3. The iPhone is not compatible with any 64-bit version of Windows such as Windows XP x64 or any 64-bit edition of Windows Vista.
iPhone lacks a number of other handheld features that have not already been mentioned and are common in competing devices, including 3G support, voice dialing, voice recording, instant messaging, a memory card slot, MMS, tethering, A2DP, common Bluetooth file transfer (OBEX), GPS capability, copy and paste, native games, and support for MP3 files as ringtones. However, some of these features can be utilized by un-official means.
The iPhone's headphones are similar to those of current iPods, but also incorporate a microphone. Calls can be answered and ended by squeezing a bud, toggling the microphone. The 3.5Â mm TRS connector for the headphones is located on the top left corner (as seen from front upright). Wireless earpieces that use Bluetooth technology to communicate with the iPhone are sold separately. The headphone jack is recessed and as a result many standard stereo headphone jacks require an adapter to work correctly, although some users have successfully modified existing jacks by cutting away several millimeters of rubber at the base of the jack to allow them to fit.[citation needed]
The loudspeaker is used both for handsfree operations and media playback.
The SIM card is located in a slot at the top of the device, and the device is activated through iTunes.
The iPhone features a built-in rechargeable battery that is not intended to be user-replaceable, similar to existing iPods. Once the battery reaches the end of its life time the phone will need to be returned to Apple and replaced for a fee.The cost of replacing the battery is US$79 and US$6.95 for shipping. The battery is stated to be capable of providing up to seven hours of video, six hours of web browsing, or eight hours of talk time (depending on configuration). The battery life for music playing is stated to be 24 hours.The battery also allows for up to 250 hours of standby time. 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."
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 get the battery replaced. In addition, the scheme and pricing was not made known to buyers until after the product was launched.
There are several applications located on the "Home" screen. The YouTube application streams videos over Wi-Fi and/or EDGE after encoding them using QuickTime's H.264 codec, to which YouTube has converted about 10,000 videos. They are expected to convert the entire catalog by Fall 2007. As a result, the YouTube application on iPhone can currently only view a certain selection of videos from the site. Also, because YouTube displays videos using Flash, the iPhone can only view videos through the YouTube application as opposed to accessing the website using Safari.
At WWDC 2007 on June 11, 2007 Apple Inc. announced that the iPhone will support third party "applications" via the Safari web browser that share the look and feel of the iPhone interface. The applications must be created in Ajax or JavaScript to maintain device security. The iPhone cannot officially install full programs from anyone but Apple,although Steve Jobs has hinted that future third party applications are in development.Enthusiasts have demonstrated the possibility of unauthorized native code with a simple "Hello, World" program,as well as a fully functional terminal emulator.
Analysts also claim that iPhone lacks any type of firewall, which some experts claim is posing a data security risk.It is not confirmed by Apple or by independent analysts that used the actual device for tests that it doesn't have a firewall. Daniel Eran writes: "Dulaney doesn't know if the iPhone has a firewall, has no reason to suggest that its installation of OS X wouldn't offer a firewall, and offers no reasons why a mobile device would need a firewall anyway."
Apple has confirmed that an optimized version of the Mac OS X operating system (without unnecessary components) runs on the iPhone, although differences between the operating system (OS X) running on Macs and the iPhone have not been officially explained. As iPhone's CPU is an ARM processor, the version of OS X that runs on iPhone differs from the desktop version in that code written in high-level programming languages is compiled to, and code written in assembly language is written in, instructions from the ARM instruction set architecture (ISA) instead of the x86 and PowerPC ISAs that the Mac version of OS X uses.
The operating system takes up about 700Â MB of the device's total 4 or 8Â GB storage. It will be capable of supporting bundled and future applications from Apple.
Apple intends to offer a smooth method for updating the iPhone's operating system, in a similar fashion to the way that Mac OS X and iPods are updated, and touts this as an advantage compared to other cell phones.
Widgets, similar to the ones available in Mac OS X v10.4's Dashboard, are included on the iPhone. They include Stocks and Weather widgets.
The iPhone's version of OS X includes the software component "Core Animation" which is responsible for the smooth animations used in its user interface. Core Animation has not yet been released for Macs, but will be part of Mac OS X v10.5.
The build of OS X on at least one iPhone is "OS X 1.0 (1A543a)", as seen in a crash log for the MobileMail application.The application apparently runs as the superuser.
The iPhone also features an HTML e-mail program, which enables the user to embed photos in an e-mail message. PDF, Microsoft Word, and Microsoft Excel attachments to mail messages can be viewed on the phone. Yahoo! is currently the only e-mail provider offering 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. The iPhone will sync e-mail account settings over from Apple's own Mail application, Microsoft Outlook and Microsoft Entourage, or can be manually configured using the device's Settings tool. With the correct settings, the e-mail program can check many IMAP or POP3-enabled web based accounts such as Gmail, .Mac mail, and AOL.
The iPhone has built-in Wi-Fi, with which it is able to access the World Wide Web (through a wireless network) via a modified version of the Safari web browser. The iPhone is also able to connect to the web through AT&T's EDGE network, but is not able to utilize AT&T's 3G/HSDPA network; Steve Jobs mentioned at the Keynote presentation that 3G support would be a future feature of a new version. The use of the EDGE network instead of 3G has been criticized by analysts. When the user is not in a Wi-Fi hot spot, the iPhone's network connection will use the older EDGE network, which, before the launch, reviewers found that the EDGE network was "excruciatingly slow," with the iPhone taking as long as 100 seconds to download the Yahoo! home page for the first time. Immediately before the launch the observed speed of the network increased to almost 200Â kbit/s.[15] This is probably due to the new "Fine EDGE" upgrades AT&T has been making to their network prior to the launch.[16] There has also been some criticism stemming from the iPhone's inability to download iTunes content wirelessly.
The web browser displays full web pages as opposed to simplified pages as on most non-smartphones. The iPhone does not support Flash or Java technology.[7][18] Web pages may be viewed in portrait or landscape mode and support automatic zooming by "pinching" or double-tapping images or text. The iPhone also has Bluetooth 2.x+EDR built in. It works with wireless earpieces that use Bluetooth technology.
An agreement between Apple and Google provides for access to a specially modified version of Google Maps—in map, local list, or satellite form, optimized for the iPhone, which also provides 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. Google's ownership of YouTube means that viewing videos on the website can be achieved on the iPhone through a specialised application built into the system.
