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It Was Seven Years Ago Today. Steve Jobs Introduces the iPhone at Macworld 2007 Keynote

Posted by Jeff Scott on January 9th, 2014

"An iPod, a phone, and an internet communicator. These are not three separate devices, this is one device. And we are calling it iPhone. Today Apple is going to reinvent the phone". - Steve Jobs, iPhone introduction Macworld Keynote, January 9th, 2007


It was a day that changed what we thought of Apple, Steve Jobs, and what a mobile phone could be. It's a day that changed my life forever as it launched me down the path toward a career reporting on these little trouser Macs. And it was, perhaps, Steve Jobs most awesome moment. Relive it below.

This Week at 148Apps, October 3-7

Posted by Chris Kirby on October 9th, 2011
+ Universal App - Designed for iPhone and iPad

To say that there were tumultuous ups and downs in the world of all things Apple and iOS this week is a colossal understatement. Suffice it to say, then, that the interest, anticipation and enthusiasm generated for Apple's upcoming iPhone 4s was sadly muted by the untimely death of Steve Jobs. While the print and television media have eulogized Steve thoroughly, 148Apps.com founder Jeff Scott posted a succinct and elegant send-off for the icon: "Personally I’d like to thank Steve for all he did and all he inspired. It should be obvious, but without what he created this site that I love and labor over wouldn’t be here. He will leave a void that may never be filled."

While Steve Jobs has passed, his company and its products continue to live and thrive, and the iPhone 4s is just the latest iteration of that product legacy. Jeff Scott asked the question on the minds of all iPhone owners - should I upgrade now? "Hate to start the rumor mill early, but there will, most certainly be, a next iPhone. And it could come out anytime between 6 months and 18 months from now. It will also likely be a major upgrade and a new form factor. Probably true LTE 4G as well. There, I said it. Rumor mill restarted.

Should you wait? Depends on what kind of user you are. If you are a tech geek, we both know you aren’t going to wait. If you are happy with sticking with a phone for a couple of years maybe you will wait for the next one.

But the iPhone 4S is a great phone. If you have an iPhone 3G or non-iPhone, this is the best time to get one. The jump from an iPhone 3G to an 4S will be huge. You won’t believe what you are missing."

Read the full discussion on 148Apps.com.

Over at our sister site, GiggleApps, reviewer Amy Solomon took a closer look at a new app for kids from National Geographic, WeirdButTrue. Solomon writes, "Very easy to use, the app is a random fact generator filled with interesting tidbits that kids and adults will enjoy. Each page has its own weird but true information, with bright colors and many vivid photos of related images used to illustrate what is being explained, and I also appreciate the creative use of fonts and design in general to fit the text onto the page in most interesting ways possible. These facts can be about animals, the human body, toys and other topics as the app has a plethora of information and it is great fun how varied sound effects are used per each page that in some way relate to the fact being presented."

Read the full review on GiggleApps.

That's it for this week, true believer, but keep watching our Twitter and Facebook feeds for news, giveaways and more. Join us here next week for another recap - same app time - same app station.

Steve Jobs Resigns as Apple CEO

Posted by Jordan Minor on August 25th, 2011

“I have always said if there ever came a day when I could no longer meet my duties and expectations as Apple’s CEO, I would be the first to let you know. Unfortunately, that day has come,” said Steve Jobs in the letter in which he announced his resignation as Apple’s Chief Executive Officer effective Aug. 24, 2011.

The board has already approved Jobs’ request to become Chairman of the Board as well as name former Apple COO Tim Cook as the new CEO. Ever since Jobs began battling pancreatic cancer, Cook has been running the day-to-day operations of the company, including briefly becoming CEO in 2004 when Jobs first announced that he had the disease.

Jobs, who had helped start the company in 1976 with Steve Wozniak, had previously left Apple in 1985 to form NeXT only to return in 1996 after an Apple buyout and ascend to CEO in 1997. During his tenure, the company had experienced success so great that they briefly had more money than the U.S. government.

Apple has also released a statement regarding Jobs’ resignation.

“Steve has made countless contributions to Apple’s success, and he has attracted and inspired Apple’s immensely creative employees and world class executive team. In his new role as Chairman of the Board, Steve will continue to serve Apple with his unique insights, creativity and inspiration.”

Apple Patents Anti-Sexting Service

Posted by Brad Hilderbrand on October 14th, 2010

Folks who use their iPhones to send naughty messages back and forth may be in for a rude awakening as Apple has recently filed an anti-sexting patent. Basically, the new feature would allow users to block "sexts" (text message containing sexual or otherwise explicit content), or any other content which they deem inappropriate. Users could also opt to have texts delivered, but with the explicit content filtered out before it reaches them.

"Systems, devices, and methods are provided for enabling a user to control the content of text-based messages sent to or received from an administered device," reads the patent application. "In some embodiments, a message will be blocked (incoming or outgoing) if the message includes forbidden content. In other embodiments, the objectionable content is removed from the message prior to transmission or as part of the receiving process. The content of such a message is controlled by filtering the message based on defined criteria."

The desire to clean up dirty language in text message falls right in line with Apple's anti-porn stance, but this new patent is nowhere near as Orwellian as some of the company's other policies. From the sound of things this will be an opt-in program, and will be aimed mainly at parents who want to restrict behavior of youngsters and teens who may be prone to sending flirtatious messages. In this case Big Brother Jobs isn't looking directly over your shoulder, but rather peering at you from across the way using binoculars and a series of mirrors.

[ via TiPb ]

Apple Keynote Coming Monday -- What Will We See?

Posted by Jeff Scott on June 4th, 2010

Tension is building for the Apple Keynote, an annual event to kick off the 2010 WWDC. Let's take a quick look at the things will will most certainly see, and some that we hope to see.

The Next iPhone

The worst kept secret in Apple history is the next generation iPhone. Most likely called the iPhone HD, this new design has people very divided. It's a more boxy design with an aluminum band around the middle and a ceramic/glass back. Some love the design while others hate it.

What we do know is that it has a higher resolution screen at 640x960 (4x the pixels of previous iPhones). This should provide for crisper text and in general a smoother look. The next iPhone will also apparently have a higher resolution camera on the back with a flash (finally!). The camera is reported to be an 8 MP camera that also does 720p HD video recording.

The big addition will be a front facing camera to enable video chat. This will, I'm sure, be a big impressive demo on Monday.

There are also, likely, things we don't know yet about the new iPhone. The device we've seen all over the place is likely holding some secrets back for Monday. There has been talk of the back responding to touch as well as the front. That could be interesting yet I struggle to figure out how it would be used.

Let's hope there are some secrets. Otherwise it will be really hard to Steve to present the new iPhone with his usual 'proud father' new device presentation style.

OS 4

We already know about OS 4, but there reportedly quite a few tidbits that we don't know about yet. Besides the release date of the final, there are likely features of the OS that we don't know yet.

In addition, we don't know how or when it will arrive on the iPad. If there are any iPad specific features, we'll hopefully hear about those on Monday.

Heading for the clouds

It's no secret that Apple has been working on cloud services for the iPhone and more broadly iTunes. The have been building a huge new data center on the east coast to support it. But the undertaking is huge. And I expect the keynote will be mainly focused on the iPhone.

Apple is rumored to be holding another event in June that might introduce cloud services and other such interesting services.

Mac Mini / Macbook Air / Desktop Macs

MacRumors is reporting supply shortages for the MacMini. This is generally an indication that a new version is coming. The timing seems logical that we might see updates to the MacMini and the rather aging Macbook Air and Desktop Macs.

Personally I think it's just about as likely that Apple will turf the Macbook Air as update it. Differences aside, the iPad has taken the glory of the small form factor away.

Apple TV

This hobby project is getting really old now. Theories are that Apple will be releasing an update, this time based on the iPhone OS, not OSX. This would be a fantastic feature as it would open the platform to all of the iPhone OS apps. Apps for TV! This would compete directly with Google TV. The question is, is this a good business to be in?

While I'd like to think that we'll see this Monday, I think it might be too early. But you never know.

We know one thing, this should be a very huge keynote. While we know a lot, we don't know everything. The questions that remain and possibilities are huge.

Check back Monday, we'll give you a few live blogs you can reference to follow the latest info from the keynote. In addition, we'll tweet a few of the highlights at @148Apps and post a full recap and commentary sometime after the event.

[ image credit: Engadget ]