Earlier this year I posted about Apple’s negotiations with Cisco for the rights to the trademarked name .
Tomorrow, June 29, the much heralded goes on sale with cellular service provided by .
Two iPhone models will be sold: a $499 version with 4 gigabytes of memory and an 8-gigabyte model for $599. Both have a touch-screen display (no buttons) and access to e-mail and the Web.
Here’s a compilation of the features culled from Apple’s iPhone site:
Introducing iPhone
iPhone combines three amazing products — a revolutionary mobile phone, a widescreen iPod with touch controls, and a breakthrough Internet communications device with desktop-class email, web browsing, maps, and searching — into one small and lightweight handheld device. iPhone also introduces an entirely new user interface based on a large multi-touch display and pioneering new software, letting you control everything with just your fingers. So it ushers in an era of software power and sophistication never before seen in a mobile device, completely redefining what you can do on a mobile phone.
Widescreen iPod
iPhone is a widescreen iPod with touch controls that lets you enjoy all your content — including music, audiobooks, videos, TV shows, and movies — on a beautiful 3.5-inch widescreen display. It also lets you sync your content from the iTunes library on your PC or Mac. And then you can access it all with just the touch of a finger.
Revolutionary Phone
iPhone is a revolutionary new mobile phone that allows you to make a call by simply pointing your finger at a name or number in your address book, a favorites list, or a call log. It also automatically syncs all your contacts from a PC, Mac, or Internet service. And it lets you select and listen to voicemail messages in whatever order you want — just like email.
Breakthrough Internet Device
iPhone features a rich HTML email client and Safari — the most advanced web browser ever on a portable device — which automatically syncs bookmarks from your PC or Mac. Safari also includes built-in Google and Yahoo! search. iPhone is fully multi-tasking, so you can read a web page while downloading your email in the background over Wi-Fi or EDGE.
High Technology
iPhone features the most revolutionary user interface since the mouse. It’s an entirely new interface based on a large multi-touch display and innovative new software that lets you control everything using only your fingers. So you can glide through albums with Cover Flow, flip through photos and email them with a touch, or zoom in and out on a section of a web page — all by simply using iPhone’s multi-touch display.
Intelligent KeyboardiPhone’s full QWERTY soft keyboard lets you easily send and receive SMS messages in multiple sessions. And the keyboard is predictive, so it prevents and corrects mistakes, making it easier and more efficient to use than the small plastic keyboards on many smartphones.
Apple will sell the combination cell phone, media player and wireless Web-surfing device with help from AT&T, the largest U.S. mobile-phone service, which said that more than 1 million customers have expressed interest in the device. AT&T is the only current service provider and has exclusive iPhone rights for two years.