IPhone

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The iPhone is a line of mobile phones developed by Apple Inc.. It has smartphone functionality, including a version of Apple's Safari web browser and e-mail, calendar and note-taking programs. As of July 11th, 2008, third-party programs can also be downloaded from Apple's App Store.

The iPhone includes iPod functionality for music and video playback. It employs a multi-touch screen for user input, and has no physical keyboard or numeric touchpad, although a keyboard can be displayed on-screen.

The original iPhone was released to brisk sales on June 29th, 2007, in the United States, and in some European countries later that year. A new model, adding a faster 3G mobile radio and GPS location services, was released on July 11th, 2008 in twenty-two countries, with forty-eight following in the months after.

Features

• 3G, UMTS/HSDPA (850, 1900, 2100 MHz), GSM/EDGE (850, 900, 1800, 1900 MHz), Wi-Fi (802.11b/g), Bluetooth 2.0 + EDR
• Audio formats supported: AAC, Protected AAC, MP3, MP3 VBR, Audible (formats 1, 2, and 3), Apple Lossless, AIFF, and WAV
• Video formats supported: H.264 and MPEG-4 in .m4v, .mp4, and .mov file formats
• 2.0 megapixel Camera, Assisted GPS, Accelerometer, Proximity sensor, Ambient light sensor

Marketing

On June 15, 2007, M:Metrics, a mobile market authority, released its April Benchmark survey. This survey found that 56% of British and 64% of American mobile phone users were aware of the iPhone. In the U.S., the first launch location of the smartphone, 14% of those who had heard about the iPhone said they would be highly interested in buying one. "This data confirms that the iPhone has sparked the imaginations of consumers and is not merely a topic of conversation among insiders and technology enthusiasts. 19 million Americans reported strong interest in purchasing an iPhone – an impressive figure, when you consider that the installed base of most high-end devices rarely approaches one million and respondents were informed of the price point as well as of the AT&T exclusive." - Mark Donovan, senior vice president and senior analyst, M:Metrics.

Sales

Apple sold 1 million 3G iPhones during the smartphone's opening weekend to customers in 21 countries. This news brought Apple's shares up 1.1% to $174.52 in New York. In the same weekend, the iPhone applications store, which sells software for the smartphone, had recorded 10 million downloads.