Announcement: Steve Jobs has announced at the 2007 Macworld conference in San Francisco a new breakthrough device from Apple Inc. - the iPhone. This sleek new device is a Widescreen iPod, GSM Phone as well as an Internet device running the FULL OS X operating system and a 2 megapixal camera.

Rarely is there a technology announcement which truly catches the world attention. The closest thing in recent years was the announcement of the Apple iPod having video capabilities in October 2005. Not only was that cool, but it ushered in a whole new era in technology - the video webcast or vlog. Rumors have swirled since then that there were no more breakthroughs for Apple to conquer - except for maybe the phone. That was until now.

In Jobs’ keynote presentation, the announcement was made how Apple had taken three proven devices - the iPod, the cellular phone and mobile computing, to not only the next level, but combined into one product - the iPhone.

On the iPod side, the specs are unbelievably sweet. The small tiny screen showing small tiny versions of Johnny Depp have now expanded to the full size of the unit with full blasting colour and a 3.5 inch screen. Navigation, the kingpin of Apple devices, is also a breeze with a new “multitouch” screen which you can “flick” you finger up and down to scroll VERY QUICKLY. Oh, and did I say there was NO stylus? That’s right, Apple has chosen to create this device in the image of no device before it - everything is manageable with a flick or a scroll of a finger. Flick through songs or full album art. You’ll find your song or artist just as fast as you did with your iPod. Amazing.

And the phone? Well, Jobs and company did the right thing by choosing the most popular technology in the world - GSM. Though it wasn’t fully announced whether it is a locked or unlocked phone (meaning if it was unlocked you could get it to work with your GSM SIM card right away!), the path of least resistance and most familiarity will mean “non-techies” will take the phone’s ease of use quickly - even if they don’t download podcasts. Another VERY cool feature is the sensors it has built in - it’s the only phone I’m aware of which will detect the fact the unit is up against your face (when you’re talking) and shut off the screen automatically to save battery life. Sweet!

The Internet features? Well it’s running a full OS X operating system - I repeat, the FULL operating system, and not a watered down mobile system like Windows CE / Mobile. This means it is essentially a full Mac computer in your pocket! To browse the Internet, a full version of Safari (naturally) is supplied (no word on the ability to install the Mac version of Firefox - yet!). Nothing but wow!