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Posted by: Denelle

I'm a few days behind in posting this news on here but in my defense I have to say that I am not the world's biggest tech junkie so while I knew it had been introduced, I wasn't fully aware of exactly what all was involved . . . until now.

This past week Apple unveiled the all new iPhone. A handy new gadget that incorporates all the functions of your cell phone, iPod (iPod video, no less) and PDA/hand-held computer into one device.




Most of the information available on Apple's site regarding the cool things this phone does is over my head with the tech-speak. So, I thought I'd highlight a few of the things that I (as a regular Joe) think are awesome:

1. No stylus needed. If you've ever used a PDA that needed a stylus you can appreciate that. The widetouch screen of the iPhone allows you to use your fingers to perform all of the functions you need. Just like in Star Trek. LOVE.IT.

2. When viewing a web page or other media, the iPhone automatically detects when you turn the phone from portrait to landscape:

then automatically changes the contents of the display, so you immediately see the entire width of a web page or a photo in its proper landscape aspect ratio

3. The iPhone can also detect when you lift it to your ear to use the cell phone function. It then turns off the screen so that you don't accidentally hit a button you didn't mean to and you save power. Likewise, it automatically adjusts the screen brightness to compensate for the light levels around you. Obviously, the phone is smarter than I am.

Say What?

Of course, as with all things that stand to change the way the world communicates and/or functions (*coughGooglecough*) controversy has already reared its head as Apple and Cisco Systems prepare to do battle over the name "iPhone".

Cisco filed a trademark for "iPhone" in 2000 and until earlier this week were in talks with Apple to be the manufacturer of the new device. Cisco's Lynksis division has been selling internet phones under the brand iPhone for over a year. Apple claims that their name refers specifically to a cell phone while Cisco's phones are internet based.

But CNN claims that the fight is really over the future of phones as we know them.

Here's where it gets interesting: Today cell phones and Internet phones are essentially different kinds of devices. One day soon, however, these two devices are going to be virtually indistinguishable - and that's the future Apple and Cisco are fighting over.

Most people use a regular handset to make calls at home, cell phones to make calls on the go, and special software or hardware to make calls on a personal computer. But as more calls move onto the Internet - a shift to technology called Voice over Internet Protocol, or VOIP - those distinctions are disappearing.

So whether or not Apple's iPhone remains the iPhone is uncertain.

However, it is certain that the entire "Geek-World" is, well, geeked-out, about this phone and will probably stand in line for 72 hours to get their hands on the first ones when they become available later this year (shoot, considering that they're going to retail for only about $500 I may stand in line for one - an iPod Video will run you $250 all by itself).

Need more proof?

The best quote I've read about this gadget (really, can we call it a phone? that just seems to limit everything it can do) comes from PVPOnline.com (which I actually read in the Chicago Sun Times): "Jesus has come back, and he's a phone now."

Yeah, I'd say they're over the moon.

Now me, I'll be excited when they come up with the thing they had on Star Trek and used in the sick bay that could perform surgery just by passing it over your body. No incision, no doctor to screw it up, a recovery time of a few hours. That's what I'm looking for.

The ball's in your court Steve Jobs. Get on it.