Jobs unwraps the iPhone

[MarketWatch reports] "Apple Computer Inc. Chief Executive Steve Jobs on Tuesday unveiled the iPhone, its new touch-screen mobile phone that will be able to play music, surf the Internet and take pictures, among other features."

At the keynote, Jobs demonstrated the phone by pulling up the nearest Starbucks on Google Maps, then prank-calling the coffee shop and ordering 4,000 lattes, before hanging up -- to the roar of the crowd.

Cingular Wireless will provide the wireless service for the phone under an exclusive multiyear deal, the companies said.

Apple said that a phone with 4 gigabytes of storage will cost $499; the 8GB model will cost $599. It will be available in the United States in June, Europe in late 2007 and Asia in 2008.

The iPhone will be sold in the United States through Apple's retail and online stores, and through Cingular's retail and online stores. Several iPhone accessories will also be available in June, including Apple's new, remarkably compact Bluetooth headset.

The release of the iPhone represents another step in Apple's evolution beyond its Macintosh computer line. The Cupertino, Calif.-based company has revived its fortunes with its iPod media player.

"Apple is trying to do with mobile devices what it did with the computer market -- that's change the game," said Gene Munster, analyst at Piper Jaffray, which rates Apple shares outperform.

Signaling that direction, Apple said that it plans to change its corporate name to Apple Inc., dropping the word "computer."

Jobs also announced that Apple has sold more than 2 billion songs through its iTunes music store, and that it expects to reach 100 million iPod unit sales this year.

From CES: Nokia Launches Smart N76

Nokia, which has long shied away from releasing thin devices, has today announced its entry to the ever-crowded thin handset market with the new N76. Nokia states that it did not want to compromise on features just to shave thickness off the device, and as such, this 14mm (0.5") thick handset boasts some impressive specifications when compared to its rivals.

The new Nokia N76 runs the S60 v3 UI on top of the Symbian OS, and so includes all the smartphone features that users have come to expect from the company's Nseries. The folder design holds music control keys underneath the 160x128 pixel resolution external display, and conceals a 16 million color capable 2.4" QVGA resolution internal screen that can also be used in a landscape orientation. A 2.0 megapixel camera is present to satisfy the shutterbugs among us, with 26MB of internal memory and microSD memory expansion supporting up to 2GB cards to store all your photos and music. With UMTS 3G high-speed data and Bluetooth v2.0, the Nokia N76 should satisfy most on the connectivity front. Despite the feature list, the Nokia N76 tips the scales at just 115g (4.1oz).

The thin and attractive new Nokia N76 smartphone should be available during the first quarter of 2007, carrying an expected retail price of 390 Euros (approximately US$515).

MP4 Watch Review

[Palm 247 has been made a review] Brando sells an MP4 Watch for US$98 (1GB version) and US$138 (2GB version) and your first thoughts are probably "how can a video playing watch this cheap be any good?" Well, those were my thoughts as well until I tried one and now my opinion has changed somewhat.

In the box you get the watch, a USB cable, a surprisingly good pair of earphones, Driver CD, AC Adaptor and a user manual. The earphones have a 2.5mm jack which is an added bonus if you are searching for a good pair for your Treo or other 2.5mm jacked device- they really do sound very good. The box itself is quite cheap looking but the watch has a sporty feel to it with a rubberised strap complemented with silver hodlings. Another surprise is that the watch does not feel too big when on your wrist and at only 52g will be no more noticeable than a normal watch.

Once you have charged the watch up the fun really starts- the screen quality is way beyond what I expected from a watch and is as clear as any PDA or Smart Phone I have seen to date. 128 x 128 pixels does not sound like much but if you look at the image on the right you can see a rather impressive menu screen.

Pre-loaded on to my watch was a video and MP3 of Crazy Frog (you have been warned) and despite my loathing for the frog the sound and video quality are simply brilliant. They are not just brilliant because it is a watch- they are better than for example the quality of video on a Treo. I have no idea how they did it but I managed to watch two episodes of Without A Trace on this device and it felt no different to using my PDA.

Some of you will no doubt see this as a novelty item and I certainly did before I got it but I really do like it and can see it serving much use (if Brando hadn't kindly offered it as a prize in our Christmas Countdown so it's gone now...) The time and date display is also very sharp and it works like an old style LED watch in that you press a button to see the time- very retro which I am a fan of.

Would you believe that it is a voice recorder as well? This also worked well and with a record time of 8 hours you should be able to capture what you need whenever you need it. Formats catered for are MP1, MP2, MP3 and WMA for music and MP4 (NVX) for video. I found that charging it for about 1 hour would get me through the next day without issus- the battery is not great and if you play too much video you mayhave to re-charge but this watch is very small and I feel that they have done a good job with the battery in this product.

Conclusion

If you live in a country that does not use US$ you can get this watch for under £50 (due to the very poor US$ rate) and this is exceptional value. If this watch was $200 I would still say that it is good value for money, I genuinely would. A great product, with few faults at an outstanding price.

iHolic MP3 player with T-DMB support

[Newlaunches.com reports] "When you first see "i" in any product name you normally associate it with the iPod and take it for another accessory of the iPod, however this is not the case with iHolic released by Dacon technologies Korea. It looks like another fancy PMP but it supports DMB so you can watch real time TV programming anywhere. The iHolic has a large and vibrant 2.4 inch color display unfortunately it is not touch screen, upto 2 GB of internal flash memory, SD card slot for memory expansion and support for majority of audio and video formats. The iHolic does not support recording of DMB programming, but it does with a cradle and a remote control so you can sit back and watch your favourite show."