Macworld 2007 Summary - Or “How I Learned to Love iPhone” :

Today marks the beginning of a new era at Apple Inc. For the pessimist that is perhaps reading this blog, you may notice the absence of “Computers” within the name I just mentioned. The Macworld keynote served as the alarm signifying the fundamental change that Apple as a company has undergone. Far beyond its “humble” personal computer beginnings, Apple impressively demonstrated its capability as a device creator by rolling out two all-new products that will go on sale within the next few months.

More after the jump…

The first up to bat was the newly-renamed “AppleTV”. AppleTV is the device that was demonstrated last year as “iTV” with a finalized name and feature specification. Featuring an 802.11b/g/n wireless card, and a 40GB hard drive in addition to what was previously specified, the AppleTV is poised to do a fantastic job of streaming your iTunes content to your big TV and sound system. An interesting note about AppleTV is that it seems to be specifically optimized to take advantage of widescreen televisions. AppleTV upscales video resolution from the iTunes store up to 720 progressive, and actually manages to keep the video quality very high in doing so. More than just movies and television programs from the iTunes store can be used with AppleTV. Your photos and music from iTunes are also able to be streamed straight to AppleTV, enabling you to see them in high definition, or listen to it with your audio system. Slated for a February release, the AppleTV will run for $299 in one configuration only.

The showstopper came with the announcements of a new widescreen iPod with touch controls, a revolutionary mobile phone, and a breakthrough Internet communicator – all as one single device. The iPhone unveiling took up the vast majority of the two-hour keynote, and for good reason. The amount of features and capabilities of iPhone were dizzying. Right from the outset, Steve Jobs made it very clear that iPhone was meant to be a step above anything in either the mp3 player market or the smart phone market.

iPhone is razor-thin, and very lightweight. Utilizing a new “multitouch” screen that allows recognition of multiple points of input on the screen, Jobs demonstrated how you could use iPhone to browse your iTunes library with the cover flow view, or an more traditional, albeit updated, sliding list of artists and playlists that are set up on the iPhone – all with the touch of a finger. The device is widescreen by default, and iPhone includes an accelerometer that automatically adjusts the iPhone’s display to landscape or portrait. Television and movie content are displayed in widescreen by default. The controls for all of the content appear on the screen while it’s running, whenever you need it.

Given the name “iPhone”, the obvious ramification of the device is that it is, in fact, a fully-fledged mobile phone and so much more. Navigation through your contacts list is handled much like the iPod playlist controls - with the slide of a finger. Choosing a contact to call is as simple as pressing their name and number on the screen. A virtual keypad can also be brought up as a calling option, for those stuck in the “last century”. While in a call, iPhone presents the user with an incredible array of in-call options that are all easily attained via the touchscreen. You can send pictures, merge multiple calls into one conference call, turn the speakerphone on and off, and so much more all while in a conversation with one person or multiple people.

The Internet communication function of iPhone has also been taken very seriously. Yahoo is providing all iPhone customers with free “push” email (meaning that email you get to your Yahoo account will automatically be sent to your iPhone). A full-fledged Mail application is included with iPhone, featuring everything you would expect from Microsoft’s Outlook or Apple’s Mail for the desktop, and not from a smart phone. Also included is a mobile version of Apple’s Safari web browser. Unlike practically every other mobile web browser, Safari browses the standard Internet that you and I use - not a WAP version. Apple also announced a partnership with Google to provide iPhone users with a version of Google Maps, which had some of the more interesting and revolutionary functions. It works almost the same as Google Maps that you see online, except utilizing iPhone allows a user to actually search for phone numbers in an area and call them directly. For even better navigation, iPhone can also use Google Maps’ satellite images almost as seamlessly as the standard maps.

As impressive as iPhone’s obvious features are, some of the most impressive technical achievements are things that can’t be seen so easily. iPhone’s base operating system is Mac OS X, which enables Apple and other software developers to create desktop-like applications for the phone. It even has OS X staples such as widgets and Core Animation. Wireless connectivity is of the utmost priority, with iPhone including Wi-Fi, Bluetooth 2.0 EDR, EDGE, and a GSM mobile phone signal. The tried-and-true iTunes will work behind the scenes as your synchronization program for absolutely everything to do with your iPhone. Literally everything about iPhone is revolutionary, including the price point. To get your hands on iPhone in the United States, you’ll have to get a 2-year contract with Cingular as well as pay $499 for a 4GB model or $599 for an 8GB model. Ouch. Even with a price point that inflicts massive damage on the customers, Apple will likely sell every iPhone it can produce when they roll it out in June alongside Cingular. Make sure you stay with TEK, as I’m certain you’ll be seeing a lot more of iPhone on it in the future.