About iPhones

Not only is the Apple iPhone one of the best-selling handsets of all time, but many people have hailed it as a revolution in the cell phone industry. The iPhone can best be described as a combination smart phone, MP3 player, and personal entertainment center. This amazing device has made waves all across the mobile industry, and has competitors struggling to catch up.

History

The iPhone was originally unveiled in January 2007 and was released six months later in the United States. It received a very slow international release, with more countries releasing local versions of the device throughout the remainder of the year. The device was heralded by media as a hot gadget. However, the iPhone's steep price point and outdated network made it less attractive to serious users. But then, when the iPhone 3G was released in mid-2008, the price was slashed in half and the native network was brought up to speed. This greatly helped the phone's worldwide penetration, catapulting it to the top-selling phone globally.

Types

There are two different types of iPhone: The original launch iPhone, and the iPhone 3G.

The original iPhone was available from the original launch of the handset in June 2007 to mid-2008. This handset featured 2G data speeds, and ran on a quad-band GSM while running EDGE to improve data transmission. This early handset was criticized for its slow download speeds and data transfers, and was phased out within a year.

The iPhone 3G was released in mid-2008 and was created to resolve two of the original handset's problems: price and network. The price for the 3G iPhone was slashed by half for the new model, and the network was brought up to speed. This increased the popularity of the iPhone.

Significance

The iPhone has significance for both the cultural realm and the cell phone industry. Culturally, the iPhone is somewhat of a "status" symbol, and has been identified as a "must-have" gadget by numerous publications and blogs. Because the iPhone is so popular, there is also tremendous social pressure for people to own an iPhone. It is also part of the "iPod revolution" that began several years ago when the iPod became a staple of modern audio technology.

The iPhone marks the shift in the cell phone industry from traditional cell phones to smartphones. The iPhone has already outsold the best-selling traditional cell phone, and the industry has responded by selling and marketing more smartphones rather than just regular phones.

Features

The iPhone has several key features that separate it from other smartphones. These include:

*Safari Web browser
*iPod Integration
*Native Youtube support
*Apple multi-touch functionality

Potential

Although Apple has stayed tight-lipped about what we can expect from the next iPhone, their upgrade cycle seems to offer hardware updates every 18-24 months. Many have speculated that there will be a new one by the end of 2009 with new features, and perhaps a scaled-back feature mode (much like the iPod Nano).

Resources

• Official Iphone Product Page