Apple launches the iPhone

Apple unveiled its hugely anticipated bid to take a bite out of the multi-billion dollar global mobile phone market yesterday with a "revolutionary" sleek, one-button device that combines iPod, internet and phone and will cost around £250 pounds ($499).

"Once in a while a revolutionary product comes along that changes everything," said Steve Jobs, Apple's CEO, as he demonstrated the iPhone to whoops and cheers from a 4,000-strong audience at Macworld in San Francisco. "Apple is reinventing the phone."

In keeping with Apple's signature sleek simplicity, the 3.5 inch screen takes up most of the front of the device with just a single button at the bottom that returns users to the home page.

Instead of the fiddly "plasticky" keyboards of most smart phones, Mr Jobs said, the iPhone does away with buttons. Instead it is operated by touching the screen with your finger, scrolling up or down through songs on the iPod function, for example, or typing out emails and text messages on the keyboard that appears when needed.

Read more at Telegraph.co.uk and BBC.co.uk

Video: Steve Jobs unveils the iPhone in San Francisco

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