Macworld 2007: iPhone at Last!
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While 99 percent of the tech world is sleeping off its collective hangover at CES in Las Vegas, a tiny but very important minority can be found in foggy San Francisco, where Steve Jobs has just announced the latest goodies to come from Apple Computer.
Speculation has run rampant over the last few months since Jobs' last affair, with predictions ranging from iPod phones to high-definition TVs with Apple branding. Here's what actually went down, starting with the big news that people will be chatting about for weeks to come.
Apple iPhone
Despite trademark concerns, it really is going to be called the iPhone, and here it is. An all-new interface makes this slim rectangle completely button-free. The whole thing is a touchscreen. 4GB or 8GB of storage inside for your music. Cingular EDGE (no 3G service!) for your phone calls. Wi-Fi. It actually runs Apple's OS X and can do all manner of "smart phone" tasks...which is either going to be very cool or extreme overkill for people who just wanted a phone that could also play music. How long will it be before we start getting emails with a "Sent from my Apple iPhone" tag at the bottom of them? (Yahoo! Mail is included on the device, by the way, along with all manner of internet capabilities.)
Other features include a 2-megapixel camera and a standard iPod jack. It's also crazy slim at under 12mm in thickness. Wanna watch a movie? Just flip it on its side and you have a nice widescreen display. No keyboard: A virtual one pops up when you need it. We'll see how well that works over time.
There are so many other features on this phone that I could easily do a gigantic five-part post on the thing. $499 or $599 depending on storage. Arriving in June.
AppleTV
Formerly known as iTV, Apple's miniature set-top media streaming device is finally coming out. (This was announced last year.) The new product includes component video, an HDMI connector, optical audio, 802.11n networking (which should help with the bandwidth issues I wrote about last time), and a 40GB hard drive. Looks nice! $299.
Get complete Macworld keynote coverage at Gizmodo. Thanks, Brian and co.!
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Ok thread stay because there's a iTv.
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Cisco to sue Apple over iPhone trademark
By Kevin Allison in San Francisco
Published: January 11 2007 00:10 | Last updated: January 11 2007 00:37
The celebration surrounding the launch of Apple’s new iPhone mobile handset was cut short on Wednesday after Cisco Systems, which owns the rights to the iPhone name, said it would sue Apple for trademark infringement.
In a statement issued after the close of trading on Wednesday, the world’s biggest maker of data networking equipment said it would seek an injunction to prevent Apple from brandishing the mark.
“Cisco entered into negotiations with Apple in good faith after Apple repeatedly asked permission to use Cisco’s iPhone name,” said Mark Chandler, senior vice president and general counsel, Cisco. “There is no doubt that Apple’s new phone is very exciting, but they should not be using our trademark without our permission.”
Cisco, which acuired the iPhone trademark through an acquisition in 2000, said said as recently as Tuesday that it had been in discussions and expected to reach a final agreement with Apple about the use of the iPhone name.
“Cisco’s trademark lawsuit is silly,” an Apple spokesman told the Financial Times. “There are already several companies using the name iPhone for VoIP. We are the first company to ever use the iPhone name for a cell phone and if Cisco wants to challenge us we’re confident we will prevail.”
Last month Cisco’s Linksys wireless networking division began shipping its own iPhone cordless handsets. The phones allow customers to make telephone calls both over the internet and over a standard fixed line connection.
The Cisco lawsuit marks the latest in a series of intellectual property troubles for Apple.
Last year, the maker of Macintosh computers and iPod personal music players agreed to pay $100m to settle a long-running patent dispute with Creative, a Singapore-based music player rival.
Apple also fought off a lawsuit by Apple Corps, the Beatles’ record label, which last year sought to stop Apple from using the Apple name in connection with its online music service. The company’s iTunes music software also faced challenges from governments in Europe last year, most notably in France.
Apple’s shares fell 0.7 per cent in after hours trading following news of the suit. They had climbed 4.5 per cent during regular trading, adding to a gain of more than 8 per cent on Tuesday after Steve Jobs, chief executive, unveiled Apple’s iPhone at the company’s annual MacWorld trade show in San Francisco.
Mr Jobs said on Tuesday that the company expects to ship the first of its iPhones to US customers in June.
Copyright The Financial Times Limited 2007