Look! It’s a Phone, It’s an iPod, It’s a MacPhone!

A short editorial

On January 9, 2006 Apple CEO, Steve Jobs, introduced the much rumored Apple iPhone during his annual keynote at MacWorld San Francisco. As written on Apple website: “Introducing iPhone. Apple reinvents the phone.”

For the last 3 years Apple has been rumored to have been working on a phone-like device. Apple and Motorola introduced Motorola ROKR, an iTunes-enabled phone on September 7, 2005 and somewhat closed a chapter on the rumor. Motorola has since then released other iTunes-enabled phones such as RAZR V3 and KRZR.

Apple iPhone is a different breed compared to any iTunes-enabled phones. Its appearance resembles more like an iPod than a phone. There are other smart phones with touch screen, but Apple strives to make its iPhone to be a class of its own. Underneath its shell, Apple iPhone runs a variant of Mac OS X. Its capabilities make Apple iPhone more like a Mac than a phone.

Steve Jobs on his keynote said that Apple would like to capture 1% of Mobile Phone market, or about 10 million units. Should Apple be able to reach that goal, they would be shipping an additional 10 million of Mac OS X. It is a surprise that Apple didn’t call it “MacPhone”.

Apple iPhone is tentatively scheduled for release in June 1007.

http://www.apple.com/pr/library/2007/01/09iphone.html