The summer of 2007 saw the introduction of the new generation of mobile multimedia interactive cell phones with the release of Apple's iPhone. Crammed into a package only 4.5" inches and weighing less than 5 ounces, the Apple iPhone offers users so many features the company offers video tutorials to help customers learn all the things it can do for them.

Contained just within the phone functions are such pro-business features as call conferencing and merging, hold feature, caller ID and the ability to integrate with other cell networks. The iPhone offers voice mail listings without having to access the actual Voicemail and one can pick and choose between calls rather than have to move through them sequentially.

Due to the popularity of ringtones, it was only a few months before Apple upgraded to ringtone functions. By partnering in this feature with iTunes, users can custom design their own ringtones from purchased songs through the iTunes network or the Apple GarageBand software. These ringtones can then be used not only to alert one to an incoming call but can be associated with specific alarm and notification features as well.

Text messaging has been made easier with the implementation of a virtual keyboard on the touch screen. For increased accuracy the texting program includes such aids as predictive word capabilities coupled with automatic spell check and correction and a dictionary that allows you to add words as needed to help it understand topic related jargon, names and special purpose words and phrases. The virtual keyboard has been made a bit larger than previous attempts at this virtual technology and, with two-way orientation, is at its best in landscape position.

As well as superb telephonic utilization, the Apple iPhone has the capability to access e-mail clients through both IMAP and POP3 servers. Both Yahoo and Gmail offer a program for access from the iPhone and by mid 2008 are planning to upgrade to sync with both Apple's mail application but with Microsoft ActiveSync to connect with Microsoft Outlook and Entourage. The e-mail capabilities include HTML acceptance for graphical e-mail that can include digital photographs and graphics and can embed pictures in outgoing mail as well. Portable Document Files (PDF) as well as Word and Excel documents can be attached and viewed on the iPhone screen.

With a picture being sometimes more informative than any amount of verbal description, the iPhone does have a two megapixel digital camera onboard and the output can be copied directly to an e-mail. The iPhone does not, however, offer video camera functions.

The Apple iPhone was originally released with the Subscriber Identification Module (SIM) card locked into the AT&T network exclusively. However it did not take long for hackers to find a way to unlock the card for use on other networks and now nearly a fourth of the iPhones sold in the United States are not registered with the AT&T network. While originally designed to block the multimedia and web access functions without an authorized subscription; this too has fallen to the hacker's craft and various software programs and modification cracks have emerged to free the access to these features outside the AT&T network.

These features make the Apple iPhone a powerful business asset even without even beginning to discuss the many other multimedia and web accessibility features that have made the iPhone worthy of Time magazine's Invention of the Year award.