Apple's iPhone finally arrives

Apple announced a hybrid mobile phone and iPod device last night at the Macworld Expo in San Francisco.

After months if not years of eager anticipation, Apple's chief executive Steve Jobs finally revealed the iPhone to assembled members of the press and Mac fanatics. To screams from the crowd, Jobs demonstrated the device, which also has internet functionality.

The most striking thing about the iPhone is the lack of buttons - users will operate the device using the touchscreen. The screen itself is a 3.5-inch, widescreen format display, giving a better aspect ratio for watching films.

“iPhone is a revolutionary and magical product that is literally five years ahead of any other mobile phone,” said Jobs. “We are all born with the ultimate pointing device—our fingers—and iPhone uses them to create the most revolutionary user interface since the mouse.”

Users of the iPhone will be able to use a full qwerty keyboard on-screen to type text messages and the Visual Voicemail function allows you to look at your who sent voicemail messages before listening to them, so you can prioritise the most important messages.

It is a quad-band phone, so you will be able to use it internationally. It also features a 2-megapixel digital camera.

A proximity sensor will disable the touchscreen when the iPhone is held to the user's ear to prevent inadvertant touches while making a phone call.

Though speculation about the iPhone tended to focus on the fact that it was an iPod/mobile cross, Apple has emphasised the internet capabilities of its new baby. The iPhone is Wi-Fi enabled and designed to work with most industry-standard mobile email clients. A mobile version of Apple's browser, Safari, is built in.

The touchscreen will allow users to tap on an area of a webpage to magnify it, and you will be able to transfer your bookmarks from your PC or Mac to the device.

The iPhone won't be available in the US until June and isn't due to come to the UK until later in the year. The prices begin at $499 (about £260) for the 4GB version.

Analysts were quick to offer words of caution to temper the air of euphoria surrounding the announcement.

"The iPhone is not perfect... many European users will suffer the very slow GPRS browsing experience. We expect Apple to announce an HSDPA version for Europe and Asia-Pacific soon. The iPhone - like the iPod - does not have a removable battery; it also does not have an expandable memory," said Martin Garner of Ovum.

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