Anticipation and Context:

Steve Jobs opens by expressing his anticipation for this special day, a moment he has been looking forward to for two and a half years. He talks about the significance of revolutionary products that have the potential to change entire industries. Jobs cites the introduction of the Macintosh in 1984 and the iPod in 2001 as such products, underlining Apple’s role in driving technological shifts.

Unveiling of the iPhone:

He sets the stage for another transformative moment by announcing that Apple is introducing three revolutionary products, only to reveal that these are not separate items. They are part of a single device—the iPhone. With a widescreen iPod, a revolutionary mobile phone, and a breakthrough internet communications device all in one, the iPhone promises to be another industry-changing product.

Critique of Existing Smartphones:

Before diving into the details, Jobs takes a moment to critique the then-current landscape of mobile phones, specifically smartphones. He argues that while these devices may be ‘smart,’ they are not user-friendly. To make his point, he references a hypothetical “business school 101” graph, placing regular cell phones and smartphones on axes of ‘smartness’ and ‘ease of use.’ Smartphones, he argues, are smarter but harder to use than regular phones.

The iPhone’s Unique Position:

He concludes by stating Apple’s ambition to break the existing paradigm. The iPhone aims to be both smarter and easier to use than any other mobile device, a “leapfrog product.” It is presented as the future of mobile devices, an embodiment of multiple functionalities in one sleek, easy-to-use package. Jobs asserts that with the iPhone, Apple is going to “reinvent the phone.”

The presentation encapsulates Apple’s vision of fusing smart technology with user-friendliness in a single device, aiming to revolutionize the mobile industry once again.

Need for a New UI:

Steve Jobs highlights the need for a revolutionary user interface in smartphones. He criticizes existing smartphones like the Motorola Q, Blackberry, Palm Treo, and Nokia E62 for their static keyboards and control buttons, which are not customizable or adaptable to different applications or future innovations.

Shift to a Dynamic UI:

Jobs describes how computers resolved similar issues two decades ago with bitmap screens and pointing devices like a mouse. He reveals that their solution for mobile devices involves eliminating physical buttons in favor of a large, touch-sensitive screen.

Introduction of Multi-Touch:

He announces the development of a groundbreaking new technology called multi-touch. Unlike earlier touch technologies, multi-touch is highly accurate, ignores unintended touches, and allows for complex multi-finger gestures. He asserts that this technology is foundational for the iPhone’s user interface.

Software Breakthrough:

Beyond the interface, Jobs describes the iPhone’s software as revolutionary, claiming it to be five years ahead of any other phone. The device runs on OS X, bringing desktop-level power, multitasking, networking, and security to the mobile platform.

Hardware-Software Harmony:

Citing industry pioneer Alan Kay, Jobs emphasizes the importance of designing hardware and software together. He states that this integrated approach has enabled the development of breakthrough software for the iPhone.

Syncing with iTunes:

Jobs explains that learning from the iPod led them to use iTunes for seamless syncing of media and data between the iPhone and PCs or Macs. The system can sync music, videos, contacts, calendars, and even email settings, offering an easy user experience.

End Note:

Overall, Jobs presents the iPhone as a revolutionary product that redefines user interfaces and software capabilities in mobile devices. His emphasis is on adaptability, integration, and user-centric design.

Design Focus:

Steve Jobs emphasizes the meticulous design of the iPhone, describing it as “wonderful for your hand.” He highlights its 3.5-inch high-resolution screen (160 pixels per inch) as the “highest resolution screen” they’ve ever shipped. The device also stands out for its simplicity, featuring just a single “home button” on its front that serves to navigate users back to the home screen.

Physical Dimensions:

Jobs points out that the iPhone is extremely thin, with a thickness of just 11.6 millimeters, making it thinner than any other smartphone on the market at the time. It also has some side controls including a ring/silent switch and volume controls.

Hardware Features:

The back of the iPhone hosts a 2-megapixel camera. The top includes a 3.5mm headset jack compatible with iPod headphones, a SIM card tray, and a sleep/wake switch. The bottom features a speaker, microphone, and a 30-pin iPod connector.

Advanced Sensors:

Beyond the visible features, the iPhone comes with three advanced sensors: a proximity sensor, an ambient light sensor, and an unspecified third sensor. The proximity sensor deactivates the display and touch functionality when the phone is near a physical object, like when it is held up to the ear, which conserves battery and prevents accidental inputs. The ambient light sensor adjusts the display’s brightness based on surrounding light conditions, enhancing user experience and saving power.

This segment reflects Jobs’ focus on blending form and function, achieving a device that is not only aesthetically pleasing but also highly functional and user-friendly.

Multi-Function Device:

The device is described as an iPod, a phone, and an internet communicator. Jobs focuses primarily on the iPod function, emphasizing how the touchscreen allows users to “touch their music,” which provides an intuitive way to interact with their media library.

Touch Interface and Scrolling:

Jobs showcases the touch interface for scrolling through a music library. Users can navigate playlists, artists, and songs by simply using their finger to scroll, adding to the device’s ease of use. The UI also includes a “rubber banding” effect when reaching the end of a list.

CoverFlow and Album Art:

Coverflow, a feature to visually scroll through album art, is introduced for the first time in an iPod. The high-quality display enhances the look of the album art. Users can flip the album art to see song lists and assign star ratings.

Video Capabilities:

The device has the ability to play widescreen videos and offers on-screen controls. Users can view feature-length movies with high-quality visuals, boasting 160 pixels per inch on the display.

Intuitive Usability:

Jobs emphasizes the importance of an intuitive user experience, citing a story where an internal demo led to the comment, “You had me at scrolling.” The device aims to revolutionize not just phone functionalities but also media consumption through its enhanced iPod features.

Jobs’ presentation underlines the innovation involved in integrating the iPod into the iPhone, redefining portable media consumption with its high-quality display, intuitive touch interface, and advanced features like CoverFlow.

Reinventing the Phone:

Steve Jobs starts off by saying that the aim is to “reinvent the phone.” He identifies the fundamental issue with existing mobile phones: the difficulty in making calls. Jobs points out that most people dial numbers every time they make a call because their contact lists are not adequately used or updated.

Enhanced Contact Management:

Jobs introduces a solution to the aforementioned problem by allowing seamless syncing of contacts between the iPhone and a user’s PC or Mac. This ensures that all contact numbers are easily accessible on the iPhone at all times.

Visual Voicemail:

Jobs unveils a feature called “visual voicemail” that promises to revolutionize the way we interact with voicemails. Unlike traditional voicemail systems where messages have to be listened to in sequential order, visual voicemail offers the flexibility to directly access the voicemails that interest you.

Technical Specifications:

The iPhone is described as a “quad-band GSM plus Edge” phone, indicating it adheres to popular international standards. Jobs also states that the company plans to adopt 3G technology in the future. The phone also features built-in Wi-Fi and Bluetooth 2.0 EDR, enhancing its connectivity options.

Key Apps and Features:

Lastly, Jobs mentions that he will showcase four main applications on the iPhone: the phone app, photos, calendar, and SMS messaging. He emphasizes that although these are features commonly found on phones, they are executed “in a very untypical way” on the iPhone.

Overall, the focus is on revolutionizing user experience by solving basic problems and adding innovative features, thereby setting the stage for a new generation of mobile phones.

Accessing the Phone App:

Steve Jobs demonstrates how easily one can access the phone application on the iPhone. With a single touch on the phone icon located at the lower left-hand corner, users can access the phone app, which comes with five main options: Favorites, Recents, Contacts, Keypad, and Voicemail.

Intuitive Contact Navigation:

Jobs emphasizes the ease with which users can navigate through their contacts. By simply scrolling through the list, a user can select any contact and view all their details—phone numbers, email addresses, and other information—in one unified interface.

Seamless Call Making:

Steve Jobs shows how making a call is as simple as touching the contact’s phone number. He makes a call to Johnny Ive to showcase this feature, demonstrating that all the contact information is conveniently displayed for the user to interact with.

Call Handling and Speakerphone:

Jobs showcases the phone’s speakerphone capability and how calls can be easily managed. He puts Johnny Ive on hold as he receives a second call, highlighting the iPhone’s user-friendly interface for handling multiple calls.

Conference Call Feature:

A conference call is initiated to show the ease with which users can merge multiple calls. With a simple touch, Jobs merges the calls of Johnny Ive and Phil, emphasizing how intuitive it is to create a conference call.

Switching Between Calls and Keynote:

Jobs further shows how easy it is to switch back to other tasks, such as his ongoing keynote, while managing calls. He ends the demonstration by taking Johnny Ive “private” and putting Phil on hold, seamlessly handling multiple tasks at once.

In summary, this segment focuses on showcasing the iPhone’s revolutionary call-handling features, underlining how these functionalities make the user experience intuitive and efficient.

Phone App Interface:

Steve Jobs highlights the phone app’s user-friendly interface, emphasizing the “favorites” feature that allows users to quickly dial their most often called numbers. He demonstrates how easily one can add or remove contacts from the favorites list, showcasing the app’s ease of use.

Visual Voicemail:

Jobs introduces the concept of visual voicemail, a collaborative feature that allows users to selectively listen to voicemails without having to go through them sequentially. He plays two example voicemails to demonstrate how straightforward it is to navigate.

Text Messaging (SMS):

Another feature Jobs presents is the SMS texting, which is designed to support multiple sessions. Users can have ongoing conversations with different people and be alerted of new messages. He demonstrates typing on the innovative touch keyboard and asserts that it’s more efficient than traditional plastic keyboards on other smartphones.

Photo Management:

Jobs also emphasizes the phone’s photo management capabilities. The phone has a 2-megapixel camera and a highly intuitive photo app. Photos can be easily browsed by swiping, and the “pinch” feature allows users to zoom in and out. Additionally, any photo can be set as the device’s wallpaper with a few simple taps.

Reinventing the Phone:

Jobs concludes by summarizing the features he’s demonstrated—visual voicemail, SMS texting, and photo management—as a comprehensive package that reinvents what users can expect from a phone.

These elements collectively underscore Jobs’ key message: the iPhone is not merely a phone, but a highly interactive and user-centric device designed to simplify and enrich the way people communicate and manage information.

Email Functionality:

Steve Jobs emphasizes the revolutionary experience of “rich HTML email” on the iPhone. This is claimed to be the first instance of feature-rich email capabilities on a mobile device. The email service is highly compatible, functioning with any IMAP or POP email service, allowing users to maintain their existing email accounts.

Web Browsing:

Jobs states that the iPhone features a “real” web browser, specifically Safari. He contrasts this to other mobile devices that offer stripped-down, less capable web browsers. The Safari browser on the iPhone is described as the first fully usable HTML browser on a mobile phone.

Mapping Capabilities:

Jobs mentions that the iPhone includes Google Maps functionality, offering users access to maps, satellite images, directions, and traffic updates. This integration is designed to provide a seamless experience for the user.

Widgets:

The iPhone also includes widgets that provide quick updates for weather and stocks. Jobs highlights the phone’s capability to automatically switch between edge and Wi-Fi internet connectivity without manual intervention from the user.

Email Services:

Jobs takes a moment to delve deeper into the email capabilities, stating that the iPhone is compatible with most IMAP and POP3 mail services, including Microsoft Exchange and Yahoo Mail. He notes the advantages of IMAP for keeping all emails and folders stored on a server for accessibility from anywhere.

Yahoo Mail Partnership:

A significant announcement made is the collaboration with Yahoo Mail, described as the largest email service globally. Yahoo is offering free push iMap email to all iPhone users, allowing immediate email notifications similar to Blackberry devices.

Demo of Features:

Towards the end of his presentation, Jobs indicates that he will demonstrate these features, including how the email function operates in real-time with a Yahoo IMAP email account. This includes displaying inline photos and rich text, as well as the phone’s ability to recognize and dial phone numbers directly from an email.

Steve Jobs frames these features as groundbreaking enhancements that distinguish the iPhone from other mobile devices in terms of internet communication capabilities.

Email Capabilities:

The primary speaker, Steve Jobs, emphasizes the device’s capability to handle email in a user-friendly and efficient manner. The email system is presented as “real email” comparable to what you’d experience on a computer. The speaker mentions a full-screen view, split view, standard inbox, drafts, and various other folders. Furthermore, the system offers free IMAP email from Yahoo.

Intuitive User Interface:

Steve Jobs points out that the keyboard appears only when needed, simplifying the interface. The device also has an address completion feature, making it easier to send emails to contacts.

Web Browsing:

Another notable feature is the web browsing experience. The device uses Safari to offer a desktop-class experience, showing full websites rather than scaled-down or “wrapped” versions common on other mobile devices at that time. He demonstrates this capability by loading the New York Times and Amazon websites, emphasizing real-time loading and the ease of navigation through these sites.

Landscape Mode and Zoom:

The device offers landscape mode and intuitive controls for zooming into text. Double tapping on a section automatically scales it to fit the screen. This feature improves readability and navigability.

Multiple Web Pages:

The device supports opening multiple web pages simultaneously. Users can easily switch between these pages, offering a more efficient browsing experience.

Widgets:

Jobs showcases widgets that fetch real-time information from the web, such as stock market data and weather updates. He shows how users can easily switch between these widgets, customizing their experience.

Revolutionary Impact:

Jobs declares this device as a revolution of the first order in terms of bringing the real internet to mobile phones. He contrasts the web browsing capabilities with the limited experiences available on other mobile phones at the time, labeling it as a significant advancement in mobile technology.

Introduction of Google Maps:

Steve Jobs demonstrates the Google Maps application on the iPhone. The map initially displays North America, and he navigates to their current location, Moscone West. The process appears to be seamless, which highlights the application’s user-friendly nature.

Advanced Mapping Features:

Steve shows off the application’s advanced features by searching for Starbucks locations nearby. He not only finds a list but also places a call directly to a Starbucks through the app, humorously asking for 4,000 lattes before hanging up. He demonstrates zoom functions, such as pinching and double-clicking, to navigate around the map.

High-resolution and Satellite Images:

One of the standout features Steve reveals is the high-resolution satellite images integrated into Google Maps. He switches from the traditional map view to satellite imagery, which offers remarkably detailed images of notable locations such as the Washington Monument, Eiffel Tower, and the Colosseum in Rome.

Comprehensive Internet Features:

Jobs summarizes the iPhone as a “breakthrough internet communicator,” boasting features like rich HTML email, a real web browser, and Wi-Fi networking. He emphasizes the iPhone’s capability to access iMap, Free, Yahoo, and almost any other iMap and Popmail services, describing the technology for text input as “far better” than other phones.

Partnership with Google:

Steve Jobs wraps up by mentioning the close working relationship with Google. Apart from Google Maps, the iPhone also incorporates Google Search right into its browser. Jobs reveals that they have been working closely with Google to implement these features and then proceeds to introduce Google CEO, Dr. Eric Schmidt.

The overall theme is the iPhone’s revolutionary integration of internet services, specifically focusing on the transformative Google Maps application.