iPhone to feature glass surface, 8 hours of talk time

[AppleInsider]

Apple Inc. said Monday that its heavily-hyped iPhone device will feature a optical-quality glass surface and deliver significantly longer battery life than was originally estimated.

iPhone will feature up to 8 hours of talk time, 6 hours of Internet use, 7 hours of video playback or 24 hours of audio playback, the company said. In addition, the multi-functional device will feature up to 250 hours -- more than 10 days -- of standby time.

Apple also announced that the entire top surface of iPhone, including its vast 3.5-inch display, has been upgraded from plastic to optical-quality glass to achieve a superior level of scratch resistance and optical clarity.

"With 8 hours of talk time, and 24 hours of audio playback, iPhone’s battery life is longer than any other 'Smartphone' and even longer than most MP3 players," said Apple chief executive Steve Jobs, Apple’s CEO. "We’ve also upgraded iPhone’s entire top surface from plastic to optical-quality glass for superior scratch resistance and clarity. There has never been a phone like iPhone, and we can't wait to get this truly magical product into the hands of customers starting just 11 days from today."

iPhone, which introduces an entirely new user interface based on a cutting-edge multi-touch display, combines three products into one small and lightweight handheld device -- a revolutionary mobile phone, a widescreen iPod, and an Internet navigator.

"iPhone ushers in an era of software power and sophistication never before seen in a mobile device, which completely redefines what users can do on their mobile phones," Apple said in a statement.

The device will be available in the US on June 29, 2007 in a 4GB model for $499 (US) and an 8GB model for $599 (US), and will work with either a PC or Mac. iPhone will be sold in the US through Apple’s retail and online stores, and through AT&T’s select retail stores.

[ View this article at AppleInsider.com ]

[blue2kdave]

Originally Posted by AppleInsider

Apple Inc. said Monday that its hotly-hyped iPhone device will feature a optical-quality glass surface

Better start buying windex in bulk.

[studiomusic]

I think the Rolling Stones put it well...
Shatter!

[solipsism]

Originally Posted by studiomusic

I think the Rolling Stones put it well...
Shatter!

Crack, perhaps, though I imagine it's well tempered. As for shattering, I imagine that it's adhered to the plastic below which will prevent shattering.

[Buck]

It's amazing, they put every effort into making this phone. No wonder Leopard is so lackluster compared to all that iPhone buzz...

[coolfactor]

Originally Posted by Buck

It's amazing, they put every effort into making this phone. No wonder Leopard is so lackluster compared to all that iPhone buzz...

Hardly lackluster. Leopard is a giant leap forward for the Mac OS. There's only so much one company can handle at one time, though. I appreciate all the amazing work that Apple engineers are accomplishing, and in the timeframe they're doing it in.

The iPhone is going to rock. I just wish they'd include Canada in their launch.

[solipsism]

Originally Posted by Buck

It's amazing, they put every effort into making this phone. No wonder Leopard is so lackluster compared to all that iPhone buzz...

The iPhone OS is Leopard. Having more products running the same core OS will help refine and polish each subsequent revision. Sure, it won't in relation to many user-level apps, but the core functionality will surely benefit.

[waytogobuddy]

too cold for brittle glass in Canada; where's my plastic and ipolish!

[hdasmith]

Originally Posted by solipsism

The iPhone OS is Leopard. Having more products running the same core OS will help refine and polish each subsequent revision. Sure, it won't in relation to many user-level apps, but the core functionality will surely benefit.

Apparently not, there was a report about a month ago that said the iPhone is running an OS more like Tiger, with some Leopard additions such as core animation.

[britwithgoodteeth]

Originally Posted by studiomusic

I think the Rolling Stones put it well...
Shatter!

It's "shattered".

Originally Posted by solipsism

Crack, perhaps, though I imagine it's well tempered. As for shattering, I imagine that it's adhered to the plastic below which will prevent shattering.

Will there be a splash guard to protect it from being masturbated on by you?

[melgross]

Originally Posted by solipsism

Crack, perhaps, though I imagine it's well tempered. As for shattering, I imagine that it's adhered to the plastic below which will prevent shattering.

I was going to say the same thing. I am concerned that the glass won't survive a fall, but I'm hoping that it's thin enough to be flexible.

There are glasses that are flexible enough to roll up, if they are thin enough. But they are expensive. If Apple used that, you could poke it, and see it indent, without damage. I have some of that material here.

Let's hope,

[solipsism]

Originally Posted by hdasmith

Apparently not, there was a report about a month ago that said the iPhone is running an OS more like Tiger, with some Leopard additions such as core animation.

Do you have a link? I find it hard to believe that Apple would port Core Animation and the required frameworks to Tiger for the iPhone instead of merely using Leopard in the first place.

[melgross]

Originally Posted by coolfactor

The iPhone is going to rock. I just wish they'd include Canada in their launch.

I didn't think that was up to Apple.

Didn't Canada launch in 1869? Way ahead of the curve.

[melgross]

Originally Posted by waytogobuddy

too cold for brittle glass in Canada; where's my plastic and ipolish!

It will only be a few thousandths of an inch thick, and be bonded to the layer beneath. Cold won't affect the glass as much as the plastic layer, which won't be a problem anyway, unless you're above the Arctic Circle during winter.

Then all bets are off.

[ddelmonte]

probably a ton of 3rd party companies licking their chops with $60 iphone savers.. We will see.. I'm waiting to see how they do with real world use. I've dropped my Razr too many times to count and still hate it. Bloody thing won't break, but it doesn't work well anyway.

Also, I wonder if you can read or type on this new device in sunlight?

Or can you only make calls/search for food at night.

Dubious.

[racheryn]

iPhone: obviously the third of three prongs (+iPod +Intel) in Apple's massive initiative to attract people to their hardware/software solutions, hence the advertising onslaught. It looks cool, but rev. 1 isn't the one to buy. Be patient, folks.

iLeopard: I expect new "so-secret-they-couldn't-be-announced" features still to come, particularly within a couple of weeks of product launch. I like the mutli-platform OS approach, though. Smart.

Canada: launched in 1867 (but no word on when we'll be renamed iCanada).

[mrtotes]

if(4GB iPhone = $499 && 8GB iPhone = $599)
4GB flash = $100.

if (4GB Nano = $199 && 8GB Nano = $249)
4GB flash = $50

Ergo, iPhone 8GB = tidy little profit for Apple. Or is iPhone going to go to 8GB and 16GB models on release date?

[melgross]

Originally Posted by mrtotes

if(4GB iPhone = $499 && 8GB iPhone = $599)
4GB flash = $100.

if (4GB Nano = $199 && 8GB Nano = $249)
4GB flash = $50

Ergo, iPhone 8GB = tidy little profit for Apple. Or is iPhone going to go to 8GB and 16GB models on release date?

No, they won't be going to 8 and 16 Gb on release date.

The flash for the phone is very likely faster than the flash for the Nano, which isn't designed for computer-like speeds.

Check out the prices of different speed flash for cameras, you will see how it increases.

[disco]

I told everyone here about the switch to glass back in April, but no one really believed me.

Not everyone here speculates...

[vinney57]

Originally Posted by mrtotes

if(4GB iPhone = $499 && 8GB iPhone = $599)
4GB flash = $100.

if (4GB Nano = $199 && 8GB Nano = $249)
4GB flash = $50

Ergo, iPhone 8GB = tidy little profit for Apple. Or is iPhone going to go to 8GB and 16GB models on release date?

Different kind of flash.

[flinch13]

This is a heartening announcement. Unfortunately it doesn't make me any richer. It would take me a month to save up enough expendable income to buy an iPhone at the current price, and the data plan would eventually make me go bankrupt. If only they could just bundle a couple of years of service WITH the iPhone so that you didn't have to deal with paying bills. That would be awesome. Though I guess since it has wifi it wouldn't be all that bad.

In three years this will be cheap enough for me to afford it. IMHO, cell phones and telephone companies are in their infancy... there are some big changes coming, and if WiMax is as big as I think it will be, there's a good chance that everyone will just use skype in the future.

EDIT: I also think that the real killer app for this phone would be skype. Does anyone think this will happen?

[anantksundaram]

Originally Posted by disco

I told everyone here about the switch to glass back in April, but no one really believed me.

Not everyone here speculates...

You were right on. If it is any solace (since you sound a tad miffed), I have to tell you that the first thought in my head when I read this story was, "didn't some guy say this here some time ago?"

It might sound a bit contradictory, but if you posted more often, perhaps we might recall your contributions better!

[anantksundaram]

I guess it is not only the Canadians that are going to be suffering from iPhone-envy on the 29th. From today's Guardian newspaper, UK:
---

"There will only be one place to be, and it won't be Britain. When Apple's iPhone, lauded as the world's number one must-have product, goes on sale next week, Americans will be first in line and the rest of the world will be nowhere.

The sleek black gadget ... is attracting the kind of super-hype that money can't buy before its launch on 29 June. But descriptions such as 'The God Machine' only serve to pile on the agony for British fans, who will have to wait until around Christmas for its arrival.

'Everyone is desperate,' said Katie Lee, editor-in-chief of Shinyshiny.tv, a British gadget website aimed at women. 'The mania for Apple and the iPhone goes way beyond the US and people will be frustrated when they can't get one. I have absolutely no doubt that people will fly to America to get an iPhone.'

---

[addabox]

Originally Posted by disco

I told everyone here about the switch to glass back in April, but no one really believed me.

Not everyone here speculates...

Interesting. Reading your earlier post, the switch to glass was the least of it: you also heard tell that iPhone type multi-touch interface stuff was big for Leopard-- which doesn't appear to be the case, at the moment.

The glass info gives your source some cred, though, so maybe multi-touch is one of those "big things a-brewin" deals that just hasn't quite broken the surface.

I think we all expect some kind of broadening of the multi-touch concept through Apple's hardware; if you source is to be trusted it sounds like it might be sooner than later.

[melgross]

Originally Posted by addabox

Interesting. Reading your earlier post, the switch to glass was the least of it: you also heard tell that iPhone type multi-touch interface stuff was big for Leopard-- which doesn't appear to be the case, at the moment.

The glass info gives your source some cred, though, so maybe multi-touch is one of those "big things a-brewin" deals that just hasn't quite broken the surface.

I think we all expect some kind of broadening of the multi-touch concept through Apple's hardware; if you source is to be trusted it sounds like it might be sooner than later.

If that were true for Leopard, and the recent beta was "feature complete", then why wouldn't Jobs have mentioned it?

Or, why hasn't some developer "anonymously" mentioned it, as always seems to happen, as it did with the rez independence earlier?

[addabox]

Originally Posted by melgross

If that were true for Leopard, and the recent beta was "feature complete", then why wouldn't Jobs have mentioned it?

Or, why hasn't some developer "anonymously" mentioned it, as always seems to happen, as it did with the rez independence earlier?

I don't think it is true, for Leopard. I take the posters meaning to be that multi-touch is being taken very seriously inside Apple as a next-gen UI paradigm, suggesting (to me, at least) that there might be new hardware on the near horizon.

At least if the poster's source is to be believed, which, glass surface notwithstanding, is always a grain of salt type thing in my book.

[melgross]

Originally Posted by addabox

I don't think it is true, for Leopard. I take the posters meaning to be that multi-touch is being taken very seriously inside Apple as a next-gen UI paradigm, suggesting (to me, at least) that there might be new hardware on the near horizon.

At least if the poster's source is to be believed, which, glass surface notwithstanding, is always a grain of salt type thing in my book.

Unless the version of 10.5 we will be buying will support it, new hardware won't be able to either.

Unless you think they will release a separate software product, as they did with the Mighty Mouse.

[addabox]

Originally Posted by melgross

Unless the version of 10.5 we will be buying will support it, new hardware won't be able to either.

Unless you think they will release a separate software product, as they did with the Mighty Mouse.

Yeah, something like that. I have no idea of course, and can't really imagine what kind of "big iPhone" type thing would even be practical, I'm just speculating what might be going on, if the guy's "source" is on the up and up.

Of course, the simpler explanation is "he's not", but what fun is that?

[melgross]

Originally Posted by addabox

Yeah, something like that. I have no idea of course, and can't really imagine what kind of "big iPhone" type thing would even be practical, I'm just speculating what might be going on, if the guy's "source" is on the up and up.

Of course, the simpler explanation is "he's not", but what fun is that?

Well, his "source" could be him, attempting to make his speculation seem to be more reliable.

We all make guesses. Some of them come true, and some don't.

[addabox]

Originally Posted by melgross

Well, his "source" could be him, attempting to make his speculation seem to be more reliable.

We all make guesses. Some of them come true, and some don't.

True, but as guesses go, "the iPhone is going to switch from a plastic to glass screen" seems pretty specific and not really the kind of thing somebody makes up to have fun, seeings as it is sort of low key and not very sexy at all.

"Apple switching to matterless force field for iPhone screen", is more what you'd expect.

[solsun]

.. Sounds like he had a credible source, but i am a bit worried about how he said "engineers are concerned about the durability of the glass surface."

[BRussell]

Originally Posted by melgross

Unless the version of 10.5 we will be buying will support it, new hardware won't be able to either.

Unless you think they will release a separate software product, as they did with the Mighty Mouse.

But consider this: Even if Leopard has multi-touch built-in, how would Jobs have demonstrated it, without new hardware?

[addabox]

Originally Posted by BRussell

But consider this: Even if Leopard has multi-touch built-in, how would Jobs have demonstrated it, without new hardware?

Aha! Freaky new iMacs, ahoy!

[ftbotsb]

Still 11 days to release. The attention span of the media is about 5 days. We should see at least 2 more "Newsworthy" events that will bump iPhone to the top of the Tech News lists. I expect that one of the news items will be Reduced Instruction Set "Voice Control". If they've really done the collaboration with AT&T the way they say they have, expect to see the announcement of using AT&T Voice Recognition Back End Servers. In other words, the phone doesn't have to do it, some massive hive does it. Real 98% accurate speech to text dictation. This will be a premium package.

From the Basement of the Science Building.

[meelash]

Looking through that old thread is pretty funny: like this.

lol

Re: iphone switching to glass- they are working down to the wire here aren't they? Two weeks away, and they're just now doing testing on battery life, and completing a major component change? We'd better all cross our fingers that nothing goes wrong...

[mstone]

Originally Posted by meelash

iphone switching to glass- they are working down to the wire here aren't they? Two weeks away, and there just now doing testing on battery life, and completing a major component change?

Maybe they did change it back in April but saved the announcement until today to keep fueling the PR machine.

[addabox]

Originally Posted by mstone

Maybe they did change it back in April but saved the announcement until today to keep fueling the PR machine.

Which of course causes one to wonder if there are any other changes that they have waited to announce, to drive good press in these last few weeks.

[melgross]

Originally Posted by addabox

Which of course causes one to wonder if there are any other changes that they have waited to announce, to drive good press in these last few weeks.

I would think that at this time, it would be software related.

Now that we appear to have learned that it will be compatible both with Exchange, and possibly, Outlook as well, big questions, we might find other pleasant surprises.

But, that info didn't come from Apple.

[solipsism]

Originally Posted by mstone

Maybe they did change it back in April but saved the announcement until today to keep fueling the PR machine.

I'm with you on this one. I really don't think they are switching it up two weeks before they go on sale. It seems impossible that there would be a sudden change to production in China as there wold be no way to get them finished, shipped to the US and then reshipped to stores in time for the 29th. There should be millions stockpiled in warehouses ready to be shipped to local stores.

Is there anyway to tell if the ones seen in public have a plastic or glass screen?

[ftbotsb]

Originally Posted by meelash

Looking through that old thread is pretty funny: like this.

lol

Re: iphone switching to glass- they are working down to the wire here aren't they? Two weeks away, and there just now doing testing on battery life, and completing a major component change? We'd better all cross our fingers that nothing goes wrong...

Maybe I didn't make my point clear. This is nothing new. This is Media Manipulation. They didn't just switch to glass. The battery life didn't just suddenly get better. They knew about this all along. This is maintaining and generating a level of hype that no one else does better. Not even Hollywood.