MacWorld Expo Keynote Wrap-Up: AppleTV and iPhone

Yes, it was an exciting time on January 9th at the MacWorld Expo in San Francisco, as Steve Jobs rolled out two new technologies that Apple has been working on during his keynote speech. Interestingly enough, this didn't include any new computer hardware or software releases (no new laptops, desktops, or any news on the next version of the OS software, code-named Leopard). Instead, Steve started with news about how well the iPod is doing around the world, and that 85 songs a *second* are being sold on iTunes. He also mentioned that TV shows are selling well, and that Paramount Studios have now come on board, joining the Walt Disney Company in selling full-length movies over iTunes.

He then moved into speaking about a technology that he briefly introduced this past fall called iTV (now officially launched as AppleTV). This is something that owners of big-screen TVs will enjoy. It's a square, smallish box that sits near your TV, and has all sorts of audio and video out, so you can connect it to your home theater sounds system and your big-screen HD TV. It has a 40GB hard drive in it, and its primary function is to take content from your Mac (music, movies, photos), and wirelessly broadcast it through AppleTV and onto your TV. It comes with a simple remote that allows you to, for example, get on your laptop/desktop, go to iTunes, browse and buy a movie online, then beam it to AppleTV, where you can then relax on the sofa while the movie plays on your big-screen TV. Same goes for listening to music through your stereo speakers, and showing cool photo presentations. Not bad, though this is something I would definitely wait for until you can afford a big-screen HDTV to justify the cost.

Then Steve moved on to the big announcement of the day. He slyly introduced it by saying "today, Apple is pleased to announce three new technologies that we think will change the world, and the industry. One is a new widescreen iPod with touch controls; one is a new mobile phone, and one is a breakthrough Internet communications device with email, web browsing, maps, and searching." Then he went on to drop the bomb. It was all in the same device. Today, Apple introduced the iPhone.

To describe it here would take multiple paragraphs, so please make sure to check it out online. But basically, it's a mobile phone (the carrier is Cingular) that is all one big screen that fits comfortably in the palm of your hand. There are no physical, plastic buttons on the phone, but instead, it uses a touch technology and menus displayed on-screen. It also is an iPod, ready to play songs from your iTunes connection, because it uses a dock to connect itself to iTunes just like your iPod does now. It can do email, and it can browse the web. It has built-in wireless available, that kicks in automatically whenever you're near a WiFi connection. You can browse web pages, check forecasts, view satellite maps, do Google searches, and more. All with a minimum of fuss to get to anything. It even has a built-in 2 megapixel camera on the back. They will begin shipping the phone this June, though both the Apple Store and Cingular stores. There will be two configurations at the start -- a 4GB and an 8GB version. I wouldn't be surprised to see larger hard drives on future versions. Prices will be $499 and $599, respectively, with a 2-year contract through Cingular. Check it out online...it's truly a breakthrough device.

AppleTV:
http://www.apple.com/appletv/

iPhone:
http://www.apple.com/iphone/

Keynote Address movie stream:
http://www.apple.com/quicktime/qtv/keynote/