The iPhone cometh

The iPhone was announced today

The front is a next gen multitouch screen (which I like)

(Go HERE for all the photos you want, must see!)

Some confirmed details about the iPhone:

* The phone is 11.6 millimeters thick with a 3.5-inch-wide touchscreen, a 2-megapixel camera, and integrates functions of Apple's popular iPod music and video players.

* The iPhone will cost $499 for a version with 4 gigabytes of flash memory, and $599 for an 8-gigabyte version. It will be available in the United States in June, in Europe in the fourth quarter, and in Asia in 2008.

* It runs a version of OS X, the same operating system that powers the company's Mac computers. It also has Apple's Safari browser for Internet surfing.

* The phone will operate exclusively in the United States on the network of AT&T's cellular unit, Cingular Wireless, as part of a multiyear agreement.

* The iPhone can also connect to the Internet using Wi-Fi wireless technology, and has Bluetooth, the short-range wireless technology used to support wireless headsets or link to other devices such as printers.

Top photo is an actual released iPhone image.

The second picture above is not a released iPhone image, it's a design study done last year by BenQ (see my article in October). BenQ is a design house currently in bankruptcy and, curiously, one group of investors trying to buy it out has Gil Amelio, Apple's last CEO, on the team. Combine that with the fact the above image is almost an exact match to the Apple iphone description as released. They are also the source of many of my comments about who would manufacture the phone, all of which turned out to be true.

A very nice article with more info: Link.