10 January 2007

Apple brings mobile search to the masses with the iPhone

Almost every Mac-enthusiast, blogger and industry analyst expected the iPhone, Apple's most closely guarded secret of recent months, to debut at Apple's 'Macworld' event in Las Vegas. But many did not expect to be as surprised with the final product as they were. The iPhone will be much more than an updated iPod with a few extra telephony features - in fact, the phone has been built from the ground up, with Apple's panache and renowned usability prominent in every area of the device.

The iPhone will feature a touch screen system, with no buttons to press to make calls. Apple have also reworked their Mac OS X operating system to work optimally with the device. Many features from OS X make a cameo, including Dashboard Widgets 'Weather', 'Calculator', 'Calendar' and 'Stocks'. Also included is a major mobile search addition - Apple's own Safari web browser.

Whereas internet access on mobile phones has been limited up to now, Apple has dedicated itself to providing users with a mobile web experience similar to that attainable on a PC or Mac. If the iPhone is turned to a horizontal position, it will display a webpage in a widescreen format, rather than the more squashed, elongated display that is typical in most mobile handsets.

The new mobile browsing experience may force the extinction of text-based pages - but all the existing guidelines for mobile search optimisation will certainly apply. Built-in Yahoo! and Google search will provide iPhone Safari users with easy access to information. High rankings and user accessibility will still be a high priority for web designers, especially if the iPhone proliferates the technology market as widely as the iPod.

The iPhone will access the internet through WiFi hot spots or via the Enhanced Data rates for GSM Evolution (EDGE) system. It will also use this system to download and sync email from most IMAP and POP systems, including Microsoft Exchange servers, Google Mail and Yahoo! Mail. The ability to sync with a PC is another of the iPhone's most widely touted features: users will be able to synchronise internet bookmarks, contacts, calendars, photographs and, of course, music so they can take their life with them everywhere and always stay connected.

The iPhone is expected to be on sale in the US as early as June, available exclusively through the Cingular Wireless network, and will cost $499 for the 4GB model and $599 for the 8GB model. It is scheduled to hit Europe in late 2007 and Asia in 2008.

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