[faust]

All this iPhone news is killing me, I might break down and pick one up now that youtube is the mystery app. I admit it, I'm weak.


From site:

YouTube Live on Apple TV Today; Coming to iPhone on June 29
Best YouTube Experience on a Mobile Device

CUPERTINO, California—June 20, 2007—Apple® today announced that iPhone™ users will be able to enjoy YouTube’s originally-created content on their iPhones when they begin shipping on June 29. A new Apple-designed application on iPhone will wirelessly stream YouTube’s content to iPhone over Wi-Fi or EDGE networks and play it on iPhone’s stunning 3.5 inch display.

In addition, Apple announced that YouTube is now live on Apple TV™. Users can download the free software update using Apple TV’s built-in software update feature, and then easily navigate through YouTube’s familiar video browsing categories or search for specific videos. YouTube members can also log-in to their YouTube accounts on Apple TV to view and save their favorite videos.

“iPhone delivers the best YouTube mobile experience by far,” said Steve Jobs, Apple’s CEO. “Now users can enjoy YouTube wherever they are—on their iPhone, on their Mac or on a widescreen TV in their living room with Apple TV.”

To achieve higher video quality and longer battery life on mobile devices, YouTube has begun encoding their videos in the advanced H.264 format, and iPhone will be the first mobile device to use the H.264-encoded videos. Over 10,000 videos will be available on June 29, and YouTube will be adding more each week until their full catalog of videos is available in the H.264 format this fall.

The combination of H.264-encoded videos plus iPhone’s built-in Wi-Fi networking, stunning 3.5 inch display, and custom YouTube application with its multi-touch user interface results in the best YouTube experience on any mobile device.

Pricing & Availability
iPhone will include the built-in Apple-designed YouTube application when it is available in the US on June 29, 2007 in a 4GB model for $499 (US) and an 8GB model for $599 (US). iPhone will be sold in the US through Apple’s retail and online stores, and through AT&T’s retail stores.

Apple TV users can download the free software update using Apple TV’s built-in software update feature.

Apple ignited the personal computer revolution in the 1970s with the Apple II and reinvented the personal computer in the 1980s with the Macintosh. Today, Apple continues to lead the industry in innovation with its award-winning computers, OS X operating system and iLife and professional applications. Apple is also spearheading the digital media revolution with its iPod portable music and video players and iTunes online store, and will enter the mobile phone market this year with its revolutionary iPhone.

Press Contacts:
Natalie Kerris
Apple
nat@apple.com
(408) 974-6877


Lynn Fox
Apple
lfox@apple.com
(408) 974-4300

[jondaapplegeek]

it seems like Apple are releasing a new bit of news about the iPhone every day or two - so between now and the 29th we could expect several other pieces of yet-unknown details appearing on the site! Damn not living in america!

[dmegatool]

[Off-Topic] I'm in America and there will not be an iPhone release on the 29th. USA != America. It's not even North America... Just wanted to say that. [/Off-Topic]

[neiltc13]

Will there even be enough bandwidth over-the-air to accommodate this?

[BuonRotto]

on topic: too bad the other video sites are effectively shut out , not having flash access. I understand the battery drain issue with flash, but so much on the web, not even video sites, use flash (the pros and cons of that being another conversation entirely) that a lot of the "real" web is effectively not there. My company's own website uses flash only, so it inaccessible on the iPhone. I just wonder how much frustration will set in with users with this.

PS: they still have 4 more slots in that home spot on the iPhone.

[jondaapplegeek]

Originally Posted by BuonRotto PS: they still have 4 more slots in that home spot on the iPhone.

thats one every other day then!

i'm going for one being .Mac related.

Sony Ericssons come with a 'remote' application (possibly others makes too) - would be cool if Apple made an application so the iPhone became a trackpad for your notebook - not sure what real-world use this would be though, especially with front row and apple remotes.

[BuonRotto]

...or a remote for your AppleTV/FrontRow Mac. But I don't think it has an IR port.

[DJ-Steve-Jobz]

All I can say is, kick...ass.

And also this, all you people out there suspecting iPhone as the next Newton, take a look at some YouTube video comments, people want this thing, and the price is no barrier once you see it running.

[faust]

I just called Verizon, seems my gf made a change to our plan so now I we are under contract till April 08.

$175 a line to cancel early, I'm starting to become very very tempted.

I need to find a way to combine the iPhone and the info on our YouTube gems thread.

[rasmits]

Apple sure is making a big deal about this You Tube thing. I'd rather it just had flash so I could watch it in the browser.

[kieran]

Is this that big of a deal?

I guess I'm just not caught up in the whole YouTube thing. I never go there, and usually only watch videos from there when they're embedded in another pages site.

I guess what I'm trying to say, is this something that will be used by a lot of people?

[rasmits]

Originally Posted by kieran23kk Is this that big of a deal? I guess I'm just not caught up in the whole YouTube thing. I never go there, and usually only watch videos from there when they're embedded in another pages site. I guess what I'm trying to say, is this something that will be used by a lot of people?

I have no idea. It seems silly to give You Tube such a prominent, front page position on the Apple TV and iPhone.

Maybe some people really do use it that much, but is it the majority? Seeing "You Tube" on the Apple TV main menu looks really ugly to me and it looks just as stupid on the iPhone.

What's next? A myspace button?

[CitizenTony]

I'm wondering that myself. I never go to YouTube unless I'm linked there, and even then I don't stick around or read the comments. Is this really such a feature to be placed in such a prominent spot?

Also, (if this is an OK place to ask) why does Apple say this -

With its advanced Safari browser, iPhone lets you see any web page the way it was designed to be seen

When, as I understand it, the iPhone won't support flash sites. Sadly one of my most visited sites seems to be built entirely in flash. Which kills their statement of this being the "real" internet.

This phone is cool, why 'stretch the truth' about it's abilities?

Originally Posted by rasmits What's next? A myspace button?

I hope not, for all the reasons I would have made against adding a YouTube button.

[Doxxic]

I like YouTube and I think it has huge potential once there will be more bandwith, more space to upload movies, a viable advertising model (?) and media production companies finding out how to use it.

At this moment, the iPhone could be the ideal hardware to watch it on. Because the screen is so small, it may not feel as much like you have too little bandwith. I also suppose that you don't expect that content is of the same duration as when you're watching content on a tv, sitting on a couch in your living room.

I love searching and watching old and new non-mainstream rock videos and comedians, stop-motion whiteboard drawing movies and artistic things like Lasse Gjertsen's movies. These are things that will never be shown on Broadcast tv.

[Doxxic]

Originally Posted by rasmits What's next? A myspace button?

I think social networking sites should be very keen on making their sites perfect for mobile phones. I'd say that around 5 - 10 years from now, people operate these sites mainly from their phones...

[datapusher]

Originally Posted by rasmits I have no idea. It seems silly to give You Tube such a prominent, front page position on the Apple TV and iPhone. Maybe some people really do use it that much, but is it the majority? Seeing "You Tube" on the Apple TV main menu looks really ugly to me and it looks just as stupid on the iPhone. What's next? A myspace button?

If Apple ever hooks up with Helio, that'll be their first priority.

I'm extremely curious to why Apple won't allow flash on the iPhone now. It seems like converting every file to h.264 is a very costly process. it would be more cost effective in the long run to just add the flash plugin to Safari. I wonder if it has to do with the 10mb memory issue. hmm.

[jondaapplegeek]

Originally Posted by datapusher I'm extremely curious to why Apple won't allow flash on the iPhone now. It seems like converting every file to h.264 is a very costly process. it would be more cost effective in the long run to just add the flash plugin to Safari. I wonder if it has to do with the 10mb memory issue. hmm.

They are doing it for AppleTV anyway, so I guess it serves as a double purpose.

[Brad]

Originally Posted by datapusher I'm extremely curious to why Apple won't allow flash on the iPhone now.

"Won't allow"? What makes you think Flash is even possible?

Remember: The Flash Player is a proprietary plugin from Adobe. Apple can't just conjure up a Flash plugin out of thin air. It takes a strong commitment from Adobe, too, and Adobe hasn't exactly been the model Mac OS X developer.

Flash could work on the Apple TV because the Apple TV is just a stripped-down Mac and existing Mac software works just fine on it. The iPhone, however, is a completely new device on a different CPU architecture on which Mac OS X has never run before. So, there is no existing Flash plugin to simply copy into place.

[torifile]

Originally Posted by Brad "Won't allow"? What makes you think Flash is even possible? Remember: The Flash Player is a proprietary plugin from Adobe. Apple can't just conjure up a Flash plugin out of thin air. It takes a strong commitment from Adobe, too, and Adobe hasn't exactly been the model Mac OS X developer. Flash could work on the Apple TV because the Apple TV is just a stripped-down Mac and existing Mac software works just fine on it. The iPhone, however, is a completely new device on a different CPU architecture on which Mac OS X has never run before.

True, but Adobe is hosting iPhone Dev Camp shortly after the iPhone's release so they are looking at doing a better job supporting the iPhone than they do OS X. We'll see what comes out of there but it's something.

[datapusher]

Originally Posted by Brad "Won't allow"? What makes you think Flash is even possible? Remember: The Flash Player is a proprietary plugin from Adobe. Apple can't just conjure up a Flash plugin out of thin air. It takes a strong commitment from Adobe, too, and Adobe hasn't exactly been the model Mac OS X developer. Flash could work on the Apple TV because the Apple TV is just a stripped-down Mac and existing Mac software works just fine on it. The iPhone, however, is a completely new device on a different CPU architecture on which Mac OS X has never run before. So, there is no existing Flash plugin to simply copy into place.

Awesome point as always. Thank you.
I also forgot about YouTube on Apple TV as well.

[rasmits]

I thought Flash 7 was the latest version that could be built by third parties, hence why the Wii / DS / PS3 / PSP browsers only support Flash 7.

So, Apple could add Flash to the iPhone, but it could only be Flash 7.

[Doxxic]

Originally Posted by torifile True, but Adobe is hosting iPhone Dev Camp shortly after the iPhone's release so they are looking at doing a better job supporting the iPhone than they do OS X. We'll see what comes out of there but it's something.

Seems like they were reluctant to build a Flash player for iPhone until now, and Apple has again given them with the stick...

[faust]

That is some display!

I have an important question that I need answered before I plop down $600 for this next week.

If I buy the 8GB version and then 3 months from now a bigger version comes out can I give the 8GB unit to my gf and have her number transfered to it while my number gets transfered to the bigger unit?

I read something about how users can't get to the SIM card so hence my question.

[chucker]

Originally Posted by faust If I buy the 8GB version and then 3 months from now a bigger version comes out can I give the 8GB unit to my gf and have her number transfered to it while my number gets transfered to the bigger unit?

You'll have to ask Apple or AT&T on that.

I read something about how users can't get to the SIM card so hence my question.

There's a slot on top. You can replace the SIM card. It's just not clear what exactly you can replace it with.

[faust]

Originally Posted by chucker You'll have to ask Apple or AT&T on that. There's a slot on top. You can replace the SIM card. It's just not clear what exactly you can replace it with.

Good to know, thanks.

Maybe I'll walk over to AT&T at lunch today.

[rasmits]

Originally Posted by chucker There's a slot on top. You can replace the SIM card. It's just not clear what exactly you can replace it with.

I'm not sure exactly what you're saying here. What else would you replace it with?

The SIM slot is open and accessible. I see no reason why you wouldn't be able to replace the SIM yourself, like every other GSM phone in the world.

[Doxxic]

Does this mean that I could theoretically go to the US, buy an iPhone with AT&T contract, go back to Europe and use the iPhone with my own contract and pay for an AT&T contract I don't use?

[torifile]

Originally Posted by Doxxic Does this mean that I could theoretically go to the US, buy an iPhone with AT&T contract, go back to Europe and use the iPhone with my own contract and pay for an AT&T contract I don't use?

Not if it's locked to AT&T.