update Apple Computer has finally come clean on rumors about its much-anticipated mobile device.
At the Macworld Expo on Tuesday, the company officially introduced the "iPhone", a mobile device that CEO Steve Jobs promised will reinvent the concept of mobile phones.
The iPhone was announced during a two-hour keynote in which Jobs also announced other products, including the Apple TV--previously known by its codename "iTV"--as well as a name change for the company. The vendor is now known simply as, Apple.
The launch means Apple, popular for its Mac computers and iPod audio players, will be treading on new and unfamiliar ground as the company has never marketed a product in the highly-competitive handset market. The iPhone is expected to retail (with a two-year contract) for US$499 for the 4GB version, and US$599 for the 8GB model.
Jobs said that the company aims to sell 10 million iPhone units, or approximately 1 percent of the global phone market sales, by 2008.
But Apple fans in Asia will have to wait longer, though, as the phone will only make its debut in the region next year. The iPhone will be launched first in the United States this coming June, and in Europe in the fourth quarter of 2007.
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