“One of the most astonishing things about the new Apple iPhone, introduced yesterday by Steve Jobs at the annual Macworld trade show, is how Apple managed to keep it a secret for nearly two-and-a-half years of development while working with partners like Cingular, Yahoo and Google,” Peter H. Lewis reports for Fortune.
“Apple, legendary for the ferocity with which it safeguards new product announcements, had extraordinary challenges in keeping the iPhone under wraps for 30 months. Besides involving Cingular, Google and Yahoo, not to mention the unnamed Asian manufacturer, the project touched nearly every department within Apple itself, Jobs said, more so than in any previous Apple creation,” Lewis reports.
Lewis reports, “Although their applications will be crucial parts of the iPhone experience, neither Yahoo nor Google saw the actual phone until shortly before the keynote, Jobs said. The software development was done without needing to provide a hardware prototype. In some cases, Apple deliberately disguised software builds, known as ‘stacks,’ to keep programmers from seeing the actual interface.”
Lewis reports, “In the end, Apple decided to reveal the iPhone several months ahead of its official June launch because it could not keep the secret any more. Apple has to file with the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) for the permits needed to operate the iPhone, and once those public filings are made, Apple has no control over the release of that information. So, Jobs said, he made the decision to have Apple tell the world about its new phone, rather than the FCC.”
Lewis reports, “Phil Schiller, Apple’s head of marketing and one of the few Apple executives involved with the project from the start, said he had to keep the iPhone development secret even from his wife and children. When he left home for the official unveiling yesterday, Schiller said, his son asked, ‘Dad, can you finally tell us now what you’ve been working on?’ Jobs paused during the keynote to acknowledge the strain and sacrifices that the past months have brought not just for the employees who kept the secrets so well, but also for their families. ‘We couldn’t have done it without you,” he said, with obvious sincerity.'”
More in the full article here.
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The only thing really wrong with Apple’s iPhone is its name – January 09, 2007
Is Apple building ‘The Device?’ [revisited] – January 09, 2007
Analyst Bajarin: Apple’s iPhone and Apple TV are industry game changers – January 09, 2007
Time: ‘iPhone could crush cell phone market pitilessly beneath the weight of its own superiority’ – January 09, 2007
Analyst: Apple iPhone should be given its own category – ‘brilliantphone’ – January 09, 2007
Cingular to use Synchronoss Technologies’ platform for Apple iPhone – January 09, 2007
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Whatdaya mean its been kept secret?!! Maybe officially, but good God, its been nothing but rumored for the last year! Somebody talked, that’s for sure…
Check out Google news and see how many articles are floating around for this iPhone.
Last checked about 2200.
Check out the article count for B. Gates CES, 600.
OUCH, no wonder he’s so short when asked about Apple.
Snappy boy.
AMAZING JOB BY APPLE….to keep the design of this under such wraps is an incredible feat…people rumored everything, but no one had any idea it would be like this.
iPhone vs. LG VX9400 (announced at CES)
OK, yes, they kept the details secret, they kept the facts secret, but there were tens of thousands of uninvolved folk who were certain they knew the whole story – and were mostly right! We knew:
– large screen
– touch-sensitive screen
– no ‘hard’ keyboard
– iPod integration
– ‘social’
– internet access
Jobs spent over an hour describing the details so you can be sure we missed a few things.
Some of us thought there’d be a minimalized OSX inside. The rest said ‘no, that would be a disaster’. We were all ‘sort of’ right – Apple claims they got the whole thing in there.
Most of us knew there would be a way to view the screen in both directions, I don’t recall anyone guessing it would be automatic.
DLMeyer – the Voice of G.L.Horton’s Stage Page
my gripes with the iPhone:
– no 3G
– crippled WiFi (no over the air iTunes downloads)
– No removable battery
– same scratch prone back as iPod
– $499 for 4GB? are you kidding me?!!!
– Yes it runs OSX but don’t expect to write software for it and be able to install it on there (Apple warez only)
No thanks, I’ll hold out a little longer for the ZunePhone.
People expected a phone. They did not expect this much of a phone.
I am still waiting for productivity aps to be announced for the phone. The OS can handle it. Where are they?
Jovial is in denial how much “smart phones” cost.
Everything, everything we saw yesterday has been described countless times during the past year or so.
The only secret – Leopard is the last cat out of the bag. Apple is finished with Maintosh and has left the computer business.
How sad – brilliant computers, brilliant software (even with all the problems), tossed away because the world is overloaded with kids who can’t resist the siren song of Master Ringmaster Steven Jobs!
Maybe, but every rumour was based upon what everyone expected, not what they knew was coming. I could make a reasonable wishlist for practically any product and guess what it will have. Slick as it is, the iPhone is exactly what we expected from Apple.
Jovial,
3G is fine but they had to go GSM for worldwide compatibility.
Over the air iTunes is a potential change but it’s more easily hackable.
The removable battery is a non issue. Who really cares if the battery lasts five years?
Scratches? Get a case.
It’s not $499 for 4GB…the final price will be a bit lower when subsidized but compare it
realistically to other “smart” phones. It’s right in the same memory/price range, but has so much more.
I fully expect that other widgets will be available for it and that the API’s for creating them
will be available.
ZunePhone? That may be the best laugh I’ve had in a while.
If the Zune isnt’ the biggest, clunkiest, and yes silliest piece of hardware this decade
I don’t know what is. It’s a typical Microsoft product. Late, Slow, Over Designed, Under Powered,
with features no one will really use.
Silly,
Huh?
When the quad core Power Macs are announced soon (in keeping with Apple’s decision a few months ago not to use Macworld as the venue for ALL product upgrades… preferring instead to announce them individually just as they did with the ipod Nano, and Hi-Fi) you will understand what MDN’s idea of ’embrace and extinguish’ really means. It will be awhile until Dell and HP can catch up. In that interim CS3 will arrive,
Office 2007 for the Mac will arrive. iWork07 will arrive, iLife07 will arrive, the new xServe will arrive and the reasons for using and supporting the Microsoft platform will continue to decline.
Watch. All this will come to pass.
I love how PC tools like Jovial try to apply PC thinking to Apple products and end up looking like idiots.
‘We couldn’t have done it without you,” he said, with obvious sincerity.
Well then, now that you’ve done it, I sure hope you’re going to make their sacrifice wor$while.
As for what wasn’t shown, that’s still Top Secret.
@ Silly (and anyone else who is bemoaning the name change)
If Apple didn’t continue to make computers, then what, pray-tell, would they sell to connect and store all the downloaded songs, movies, etc. that people purchase from the iTS?
Sure won’t be a Dell or an HP. At least not in my house.
The Apple tree is growing. And fast. Don’t be left on the ground looking up – climb on!
People are so stupid.
You can’t compare this to just a 4GB iPod or just a phone.
Compare it to a Treo 750. Then come back here and say “sorry”.
@ Jovial:
You need to compare this phone to the existing phones out there. You will find that ounce-for-ounce, feature-for feature, there is no other phone out there like the iPhone.
It might sound pricey. However, like with any new gadget, it always comes with an initial high price. Over time, this will decrease as demand increases.
Just take a look at the RIM crackberries. Even though they have been out for sometime, their prices are still around $300-$600 depending on the carrier.
So, is the iPhone too expensive? It all depends on how you look at it. To me, this is right in line with what is being offered out there plus more.
Hope I got the spacing correct.
Just went to Palm’s web site and grabbed the Treo 750 specs. Made this chart with the minimal info that Apple has on the iPhone.
Specs iPhone Treo 750
Screen size 3.5 inches ?
Screen resolution 320 by 480 at 160 ppi 240 x 240 color TFT touchscreen
Input method Multi-touch
Operating system OS X Windows Mobile® 5.0
Storage 4GB or 8GB 128MB / 60MB persistent user storage
GSM Quad-band Quad-band, UMTS bands: 850/1900/2100
Wireless data Wi-Fi (802.11b/g) + EDGE + Bluetooth 2.0 EDGE + Bluetooth 1.2 + Infrared
Camera 2.0 megapixels 1.3 megapixel
Battery Up to 5 hoursTalk/Video/Browsing Talk time: up to 4 hours
Up to 16 hoursAudio playback
Dimensions 4.5 x 2.4 x 0.46 inches / 115 x 61 x 11.6mm 4.44″ x 2.3″ x 0.8″ / 111 x 58 x 22mm
Weight 4.8 ounces / 135 grams 5.4 ounces / 154 grams
I appoligize in advance if the columns don’t line up.
But rather interesting how it compares.
$400 with a two year agreement and after a $100. rebate. This is the pricing on the 700 since the 750 is not for sale yet.
This shows how important secrecy is to Apple’s success. Sure, iPhone rumors were floating around for at least the last 30 months (along with rumors about a tablet Mac and Disney buying Apple). But the details were secret. Some people were making good guesses, but it wasn’t inside information being leaked, so Apple’s competition had nothing solid to go on. Imagine if the details were known. Apple’s competition could have been working on their own version (not as good but probably less expensive) of the iPhone. That’s two and a half years; the competition could have beat Apple to market. Now, even with the five to six months of lead time, the competition cannot hope to have even a cheap imitation on the market for at least one year after the iPhone release. And by that time, Apple will have the new and improved version 2.0 ready.
Aaaaargg! lets try that this way.
iPhone
Screen size: 3.5 inches
Screen resolution: 320 by 480 at 160 ppi
Input method: Multi-touch
Operating system: OS X
Storage: 4GB or 8GB
GSM: Quad-band
Wireless data: Wi-Fi (802.11b/g) + EDGE + Bluetooth 2.0
Camera: 2.0 megapixels
Battery: Up to 5 hoursTalk / Video / Browsing – Up to 16 hoursAudio playback
Dimensions: 4.5 x 2.4 x 0.46 inches / 115 x 61 x 11.6mm
Weight: 4.8 ounces / 135 grams
Treo 750
Screen size: ?
Screen resolution: 240 x 240 color TFT touchscreen
Input method
Operating system: Windows Mobile® 5.0
Storage: 128MB / 60MB persistent user storage
GSM: Quad-band, UMTS bands: 850/1900/2100
Wireless data: EDGE + Bluetooth 1.2 + Infrared
Camera: 1.3 megapixel
Battery: Talk time: up to 4 hours
Dimensions: 4.44″ x 2.3″ x 0.8″ / 111 x 58 x 22mm
Weight: 5.4 ounces / 154 grams
$400 with a two year agreement and after a $100. rebate. This is the pricing on the 700 since the 750 is not for sale yet.
Phil conveniently left out the leashes and ball gags everyone had to wear.
The office Christmas party was a bit awkward.
Seriously, a Treo 650 this summer cost me nearly $500 when I was done. Including the sentence of a 2 year agreement. I’m wondering how I’m going to get out of that. Hopefully Apple will sell the iPhones that you can just put your SIM card in. These 2 year agreement things suck ass.
for the comparison
I’ve been one saying 8 GB is too small for my needs and I stand by that. Yes, it is enormously better than the Treo. Yes, it is great for
a PDA. My point is that it is too small for ME as and iPod, which Jobs repeatedly mentioned it is. While I do love my 4 GB Nano for exercise, I am one of those that feels entitled (thanks, Apple) to carry around all my music on my iPod. I still think it is a fantastic device, but on the iPod side, the capacity is not what I want. When will this screen be added to the pure iPod line if at all? Also, great screen, but still never gonna watch video on a screen that small. iChat, Google Maps, video voicemail – love ’em.
Since I do carry a PDA, the pricing comparison was very helpful. On this point – most phones are either discounted or partially subsidized by the carrier after time. Is there any less likelihood that this will happen here? Apple seems to be pushing Cingular more than usual to accomodate them.
Jovial doesn’t get out of the basement much..
MW ‘the’ as in doesn’t get out of ‘the’ basement
It has been widely reported that Apple will not allow for price subsidizing with the new phones. $499 & $599 are what you will pay.
The phone will not operate AT ALL without a subscription from Cingular (see Time article). Add the extra cost of a 2-year subscription.
This is not a PDA. You can’t compare the costs to a PDA. Enjoy your phone, suckers.