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Alan Ball

Books:

Charlaine Harris Starring Anna Paquin

Stephen Moyer

Sam Trammell

Ryan Kwanten

Rutina Wesley

Chris Bauer

Mehcad Brooks

Anna Camp

Nelsan Ellis

Michelle Forbes

Mariana Klaveno

Todd Lowe

Michael McMillian

Jim Parrack

Carrie Preston

William Sanderson

Alexander Skarsgård

Deborah Ann Woll

Lynn Collins

Lizzy Caplan

Adina Porter

Michael Raymond-James

Stephen Root

Lois Smith

Allan Hyde Opening theme “Bad Things”

by Jace Everett Composer(s) Nathan Barr Country of origin United States Language(s) English No. of seasons 2 No. of episodes 21 (List of episodes) Production Executive producer(s) Alan Ball

Gregg Fienberg (Season 2) Running time approx. 55 min. Broadcast Original channel HBO Original run September 7, 2008 – present External links Official website

True Blood is an American television drama series created and produced by Alan Ball. It is based on the The Southern Vampire Mysteries series of novels by Charlaine Harris. The show is broadcast on the premium cable network HBO in the United States. It is produced by HBO in association with Ball’s production company, Your Face Goes Here Entertainment.^[1] It premiered on September 7, 2008.

The show’s second 12-episode season premiered on June 14, 2009. On July 30, 2009, HBO confirmed that a third season of True Blood will be released in the summer of 2010.^[2]Alan Ball has said that he plans to start shooting the third season before Christmas 2009.^[3]

True Blood details the co-existence of vampires and humans in Bon Temps (meaning “good times” in French), a fictional small northern Louisiana town. The series centers on Sookie Stackhouse (Anna Paquin), a telepathic waitress at a bar, who falls in love with vampire Bill Compton (Stephen Moyer).^[1][4]

The first season received critical acclaim and won several awards, including one Golden Globe.

Production

Development history

Series creator Alan Ball had previously worked with premium cable channel HBO on Six Feet Under, which ran five seasons. In October 2005, after Six Feet Under’s finale, Ball signed a two-year agreement with HBO to develop and produce original programming for the network. True Blood became the first project under the deal, after Ball became acquainted with Charlaine Harris‘ Southern Vampire Mystery books.^[5] One day, while early for a dentist appointment, Ball was browsing through Barnes and Noble and came across Dead Until Dark, the first installment in Harris’ series. Enjoying it, he read the following entries and became interested in “bringing Harris’ vision to television.”^[5][6] However, Harris had two other adaptation options for the books when Ball approached her. He said she chose to work with him, though, because “[Ball] really ‘got’ me. That’s how he convinced me to go with him. I just felt that he understood what I was doing with the books.”

The project’s hour-long pilot was ordered concurrently with the finalization of the aforementioned development deal and was written, directed and produced by Ball.^[1][5] Cast members Paquin, Kwanten and Trammell were announced in February 2007 and Moyer later on in April.^[7][8] The pilot was shot in the early summer of 2007 and was officially ordered to series in August, at which point Ball had already written several more episodes.^[1] Production on the series began later that fall,^[9] with Brook Kerr, who portrayed Tara Thornton in the original pilot, being replaced by Rutina Wesley.^[10] Two more episodes of the series had been filmed before the 2007-08 Writers Guild of America strike shut down production of the 12-episode first season until 2008.^[11] That September, after only the first two episodes of the series had aired, HBO placed an order for a second season of twelve episodes of the show, with production scheduled to commence in January 2009 for a summer premiere.^[12]

Opening title sequence

True Blood’s Emmy-nominated title sequence was created by Digital Kitchen, a production studio that was also responsible for creating the title sequence of Six Feet Under. The sequence, which is primarily composed of portrayals of the show’s deep South setting, is played to “Bad Things” by Jace Everett.^[13]

Conceptually, Digital Kitchen elected to construct the sequence around the idea of “the whore in the house of prayer”^[14] by intermingling contradictory images of sex, violence and religion and displaying them from the point of view of “a supernatural, predatory creature observing human beings from the shadows …”^[13] Digital Kitchen also wished to explore ideas of redemption and forgiveness, and thus arranged for the sequence to progress from morning to night and to culminate in a baptism.^[14]

Most of the footage used in the sequence was filmed on location by Digital Kitchen. Crew members took a four-day trip to Louisiana to film and also shot at a Chicago church and on a stage and in a bar in Seattle.^[14] Additionally, several Digital Kitchen crew members made cameo appearances in the sequence.

In editing the opening, Digital Kitchen wanted to express how “religious fanaticism” and “sexual energy” could corrupt humans and make them animalistic. Accordingly, several frames of some shots were cut to give movements a jittery feel, while other shots were simply played back very slowly. Individual frames were also splattered with drops of blood.^[14] The sequence’s transitions were constructed differently, though; they were made with a Polaroid transfer technique. The last frame of one shot and the first frame of another were taken as a single Polaroid photo, which was then divided between emulsion and backing. The emulsion was then filmed being further separated by chemicals and those shots of this separation were placed back into the final edit.^[13]

Eight different typefaces, inspired by Southern road signage, were also created manually by Camm Rowland for cast and crew credits, as well as the show’s title card.^[14]

Music

Gary Calamar, the music supervisor for the series, said that his goal for the soundtrack to the show is to create something “swampy, bluesy and spooky” and to feature local Louisiana musicians.^[15] Composer Nathan Barr writes the original score for the series which features cello, guitar, prepared piano and glass harmonica among other instruments, all of which he performs himself.^{[citation needed]} The main theme song is “Bad Things” by country music artist Jace Everett, from his 2005 self-titled debut.^[16]

Elektra/Atlantic Records released a True Blood soundtrack on May 19, 2009, the same day as the release of the DVD and Blu-Ray of the first season.^[17] Nathan Barr’s original score for True Blood will be released on CD in August 2009.

Both Nathan Barr and Jace Everett won 2009 awards from Broadcast Music Incorporated in the BMI Cable Awards category for, respectively, True Blood’s original score and theme song.^[18]

Viral marketing campaign

The premiere of True Blood was prefaced with a viral marketing/alternate reality game (ARG) campaign, based at BloodCopy.com. This included setting up multiple websites,^[19][20][21] encoding web address into unmarked envelopes mailed to high profile blog writers and others, and even performances by a “vampire” who attempted to reach out to others of their kind, to discuss the recent creation of “TruBlood”, a fictional beverage which is featured in the show. A MySpace account with the username “Blood”^[22] had, as of June 19, uploaded two videos;^[23] one entitled “Vampire Taste Test – True Blood vs Human”,^[24] and one called “BloodCopy Exclusive INTERVIEW WITH SAMSON THE VAMPIRE”. A prequel comic was handed out to attendees of the 2008 Comic-Con. The comic centers around an old vampire named Lamar, who tells the reader about how TruBlood surfaced and was discussed between many vampires before going public. At one point, Lamar wonders if TruBlood is making the world safe for vampires or from them. Several commercials featured on HBO and Facebook^[25] aired prior to the series premiere, placing vampires in ads similar to those of beer and wine. Some beverage vending machines across the US were also fitted with cards indicating that they were “sold out” of TruBlood. Thousands of DVDs of the first episode were handed out to attendees of Midnight Madness, a special screenings event of the 2008 Toronto International Film Festival. Blockbuster Video provided free rental of the first episode of True Blood several days before it was broadcast on HBO. The video had a faint promotional watermark throughout the episode.

On April 16, 2009, HBO released the first teaser poster for Season 2. The image uses a perspective technique that shows observers one of two images. ^[26] A minute-long promotional video advertising season two, which featured Bob Dylan‘s “Beyond Here Lies Nothin’“, was released via Entertainment Tonight in early May.^[27]

On September 8, 2009, HBO.com will begin selling Tru:Blood, the fictional drink that appears in the show. In real life, it is a blood orange carbonated drink, developed and manufactured by Omni Consumer Products, a company that specializes in defictionalizing brands from television and movies.

There is also a website for The Fellowship of the Sun, antagonists from the book series, featuring videos about hot-button issues such as becoming a vampire.

Plot

Following the creation of synthetic blood, vampires have progressed from legendary monsters to fellow citizens overnight. Sookie Stackhouse (Anna Paquin) is a telepath and waitress at Merlotte’s in the small Louisiana town of Bon Temps, owned by Sam Merlotte (Sam Trammell), a shapeshifter—though this secret is kept hidden. One night, Sookie meets Bill Compton (Stephen Moyer), a handsome 173-year-old vampire who has returned to Bon Temps following the death of his last remaining relative. As she cannot hear his thoughts, she finds it easy to be in his company and over the first season, the two become romantically involved.

Season one

The main mystery of the first season concerns the murders of women connected to Sookie’s brother, Jason (Ryan Kwanten). Maudette Pickens and Dawn Green are both strangled shortly after having been alone with Jason. Though Detective Bellefleur has little doubt that Jason is the killer, the town sheriff does not suspect him. Jason and Sookie’s grandmother is murdered shortly afterward. At the end of the season it is revealed that Arlene Fowler’s fiancé, Rene Lenier, is actually a man named Drew Marshall who created a fake identity, Cajun accent and all. He has been killing women he considers “fang-bangers.”

The first season also focuses on Sookie’s relationship with Bill and Sam’s relationship with Sookie’s friend Tara. Bill explains the rules of being a vampire to Sookie and, after he finds himself killing a vampire to defend Sookie, he is forced to turn a young girl, Jessica, as punishment. In the last episode of the season, this new vampire is left with Bill under his care. After Maudette and Dawn’s murders Jason becomes addicted to vampire blood and has a short relationship with another addict, Amy Burley, which ends when she is murdered by Drew. Season one ends with the discovery of a body in Detective Andy Bellefleur’s car in Merlotte’s parking lot. The first episode of season two reveals the body to be that of Miss Jeannette, the drugstore clerk who has given phony exorcisms to Tara and her mother.

Season two

Season two centers around the disappearance of the 2,000-year old vampire Sheriff of Area 9, Godric. Eric enlists Sookie’s and Bill’s aid in finding him. With Sookie and Bill in Dallas, a supernatural Maenad named Maryann causes mayhem in Bon Temps.

Cast and characters

Set in the small fictional town of Bon Temps, Louisiana, the main thrust of the show revolves around Anna Paquin as Sookie Stackhouse, a telepathic waitress. Her ability makes it difficult for her to form lasting human relationships. She is attracted to Bill Compton played by Stephen Moyer because she cannot hear his thoughts. He is a vampire recently returned home to Bon Temps after 150 years. Throughout the first season they grow close, with Bill becoming protective of Sookie.

Alexander Skarsgård plays Eric Northman, Sheriff of Area 5, an ancient and powerful Nordic vampire to whom Bill owes fealty. Eric disdains human life but is fascinated by Sookie and her telepathic powers.

Sam Trammell stars as Sam Merlotte, the owner of Merlotte’s, where Sookie works. He is a shapeshifter, often watching over Sookie in the form of a dog. Rutina Wesley plays Tara Thornton, Sookie’s best friend and a bartender at Merlotte’s. Tara grew up in an abusive home and has difficulty trusting others as a result. She has a brief relationship with Sam. Sookie’s brother, Jason, played by Ryan Kwanten, is a road crew supervisor for Bon Temps. After losing the girl he loves, he turns himself in for a string of murders which he did not commit and, while in jail, is recruited by the anti-vampire church the “Fellowship of the Sun”.

Tara’s cousin, Lafayette Reynolds, played by Nelsan Ellis, is the short order cook at Merlotte’s; he is also a drug dealer and gay prostitute. He sells Vampire Blood to Jason, but refuses to sell him any more after Jason takes too much at once. After his Vampire supplier goes missing, he is kidnapped by Eric and locked in a dungeon as a punishment for dealing and being implicated in the supplier’s disappearance.

Jim Parrack stars as Hoyt Fortenberry, a friend of Jason and Rene who works on the road crew. Sweet and good-hearted, he is the only person whose thoughts are consistently kind when Sookie eavesdrops. For the majority of the first season he is bossed around by his mother, but stands up to her after Jason leaves his comfort zone to be with Amy. Hoyt meets Jessica in the second season and expresses deep interest in her, even after finding out she’s a vampire. Carrie Preston stars as Arlene Fowler, a waitress working with Sookie. She has been married four times and is supporting two children from one of them. Toward the end of the first season she becomes engaged to her boyfriend Rene, but her happiness is short-lived after she discovers evidence implicating him in the murders.

Chris Bauer plays Detective Andy Bellefleur, a detective in Bon Temps who is regularly disrespected by the town’s citizens. He is assigned the investigation of the murders that occur during the first season, and is set on arresting Jason Stackhouse for the crimes. While he is initially praised for his actions, once the true killer’s identity is revealed, he begins drinking heavily. During one of his binges at Merlotte’s, the body of Miss Jeanette, a drugstore clerk who performs phony exorcisms, is left in his car, making him a suspect in her death. William Sanderson plays Sheriff Bud Dearborne, the town sheriff, and an old friend of Sookie’s parents. He doesn’t believe Jason is a serial killer and regularly scolds Andy for being unfair and biased toward suspects. He is currently investigating the murder of Miss Jeanette.

Allan Hyde portrays Godric, a 2000-year old vampire and Sheriff of Area 9 which covers Dallas,Texas. Although he has the appearance of a teenager, he is the most powerful vampire to appear so far. He is also Eric’s maker. He is kidnapped by the Fellowship of the Sun Church and kept prisoner in the church basement. Godric saves Sookie from being sexually assaulted by a church member named Gabe. Godric is released and lives to save the humans who wanted to kill him.

Reception

Critical reception of True Blood has generally been favorable, despite the fact that initial impressions were mixed. The New York Post critic wrote of the opening episodes: “If HBO’s new vampire show is any indication, there would still be countless deaths – especially among vampire hunters and the viewers who love them – because everyone would be dying of boredom. And so it is with HBO’s new series from death-obsessed Alan Ball, creator of the legendary Six Feet Under, whose new show True Blood, won’t so much make your blood run cold as it will leave you cold.”^[28]

Whereas USA Today concluded: “Sexy, witty and unabashedly peculiar, True Blood is a blood-drenched Southern Gothic romantic parable set in a world where vampires are out and about and campaigning for equal rights. Part mystery, part fantasy, part comedy, and all wildly imaginative exaggeration, [True] Blood proves that there’s still vibrant life — or death — left in the “star-crossed cute lovers” paradigm. You just have to know where to stake your romantic claim.”^[29]

By the end of the first season, True Blood had a score of 64 indicating generally favorable reviews on Metacritic, an aggregator of critical responses.^[30]

Ratings

The first episode of True Blood debuted at a very modest 1.44 million viewers compared to the network’s past drama premiers such as Big Love which premiered at 4.56 million, and John from Cincinnati which debuted at 3.4 million.^[31] However, by late November 2008, 6.8 million a week were watching: this figure included repeat and on-demand viewings.^[32] The season finale’s viewership was 2.4 million. True Blood has reportedly become HBO’s most popular series since The Sopranos and Sex and the City.^[33]

The second season premiere of the series on June 14, 2009 was watched by 3.7 million viewers, making it the most watched program on HBO since the series finale of The Sopranos. The total number of viewers for the season premiere, including the late night replay, was 5.1 million.^[34] The eighth episode of the second season (August 9, 2009) was seen by 4.43 million viewers, a new record for the series.^[35]

Awards and nominations

International distribution

DVD and Blu-ray releases

As of August 2, 2009, the first season DVD had sold over 1.2 million units, bringing in over $42 million in revenue.^[38]

See also

• Artificial blood
• Vampire films
• Vampire literature

References

External links

• True Blood Official site
• True Blood at the Internet Movie Database
• True Blood at TV.com
• True Blood Wiki an external Wiki

For the Internet appliance line, see Linksys iPhone.

iPhone
Manufacturer	Apple Inc.
Carrier	USA · AT&T Mobility UK · O2Germany · T-Mobile France · Orange
Available	USA · June 29, 2007UK · November 9, 2007 Germany · November 9, 2007 France · November 29, 2007
Screen	320×480 px, 3.5 in, color LCD
Camera	2.0 megapixel
Operating system	OS X (1.1.2)
Input	Multi-touch touchscreen
CPU	620 MHz ARM 1176[1]
Ringtone	iTunes Store via iTunes (U.S. only), custom creation using GarageBand 4.1.1[2]
Memory	Flash memory from 4 to 8 GB Currently 8 GB
Networks	Quad band GSMGPRS/EDGE Data speeds up to 220 kbit/s
Connectivity	Dock connector Headphone jack USBFireWire (charging only) Wi-Fi (802.11b/g) Bluetooth
Battery	Lithium-ion polymer battery[3]
Physical size	4.5×2.4×0.46 in (115×61×11.6 mm)
Weight	4.8 oz (135 g)
Form factor	Candybar Smartphone
Media capabilities	iTunes Wi-Fi Music Store iPod H.264 (YouTube)

iPhone is a multimedia, Internet-enabled mobile phone designed and marketed by Apple Inc. It has a multi-touch screen with virtual keyboard and buttons. The iPhone’s functions include those of a camera phone and a portable media player (“iPod“), in addition to text messaging and visual voicemail. It also offers Internet services including e-mail, web browsing, and local Wi-Fi connectivity. It is a quad-band mobile phone that uses the GSM standard, hence has international capability. It supports the Enhanced Data Rates for GSM Evolution (EDGE) data technology.

Following the success of iPod, Apple announced the iPhone in January 2007. The announcement was preceded by rumors and speculations that circulated for several months. The iPhone was introduced, first in the United States on June 29, 2007 with much media frenzy and then in the United Kingdom, Germany and France in November 2007. It was named Time magazine’s Invention of the Year in 2007.^[4]A new version of Apple’s iPhone is expected to be introduced in 2008 that is capable of operating on faster 3G cellular networks.^[5]

History

Main article: History of the iPhone

The genesis of the iPhone began with Apple CEO Steve Jobs‘ direction that Apple engineers investigate touch-screens. At the time he had been considering having Apple work on tablet PCs.^[6]

Comments made by Jobs in April 2003 at the “D: All Things Digital” executive conference expressed his belief that tablet PCs and traditional PDAs were not good choices as high-demand markets for Apple to enter, despite many requests made to him that Apple create another PDA. He did believe that cell phones were going to become important devices for portable information access.

On January 9, 2007, Jobs announced the iPhone at the Macworld convention, receiving substantial media attention,^[7] and on June 11, 2007 announced at the Apple’s Worldwide Developer’s Conference that the iPhone would support third-party applications using the Safari engine on the device. Third-parties would create the Web 2.0 applications and users would access them via the Internet.^[8] On October 17, 2007 Apple announced that an iPhone software development kit would be made available in February 2008^[9][10], allowing developers to create native applications that take full advantage of the iPhone’s application programming interface.^[11]

On July 25, 2007 Apple announced in their 2007 Q3 sales report and conference call that they sold 270,000 iPhones in the first 30 hours on launch weekend.^[12] AT&T reported 146,000 iPhones activated in the same time period.^[13] Apple anticipated selling their millionth iPhone in the first full quarter of availability,^[14] and anticipates selling 10 million iPhones by the end of their 2008 fiscal year.^[15] On September 10, 2007, Apple announced sales of 1 million iPhones.^[16] This was followed by Apple’s 2007 fourth quarter earnings announcement on October 22, 2007 which put total iPhone sales at 1.39 million with 1.12 million sold that quarter.^[17]

On November 21, 2007, T-Mobile announced it would sell the phone “unlocked” and without a T-Mobile contract, caused by a preliminary injunction against T-Mobile put in place by their competitor Vodafone. In Germany, a company is not allowed to lock the SIM card to itself.^[18] On December 4, 2007, a German court decided to grant T-Mobile exclusive rights to sell the iPhone with the SIM card locked, overturning the temporary injunction.^[19]In addition, T-Mobile will unlock the iPhone at the termination of a customer’s contract.^[20]

The iPhone normally prevents access to its media player and web features unless it has also been activated as a phone with an authorized carrier. On July 3, 2007, Jon Lech Johansen reported on his blog that he had successfully bypassed this requirement and unlocked the iPhone’s other features with a combination of custom software and modification of the iTunes binary. He published the software and offsets for others to use.^[21]

Features

The iPhone allows conferencing, call holding, call merging, caller ID, and integration with other cellular network features and iPhone functions. For example, a playing song fades out when the user receives a call. Once the call is ended the music fades back in. Voice dialing is not supported by the iPhone.

The iPhone includes a Visual Voicemail feature allowing users to view a list of current voicemail messages on-screen without having to call into their voicemail. Unlike most other systems, messages can be listened to and deleted in a non-chronological order by choosing any message from an on-screen list. AT&T, O2, T-Mobile and Orange modified their voicemail infrastructure to accommodate this new feature designed by Apple. A lawsuit has been filed against Apple and AT&T by a company called Klausner Technologies claiming the iPhone’s Visual Voicemail feature infringes two patents.^[22]

A ringtone feature, introduced in the United States on September 5, 2007, but not yet available in all countries where the iPhone has been released, allows users to create custom ringtones from their purchased iTunes music for an additional fee, the same price of a song. The ringtones can be from 3 to 30 seconds in length of any part of a song, can include fading in and out, can pause from half a second to five seconds when looped, and never expire. All customizing can be done in iTunes, and the synced ringtones can also be used for alarms on the iPhone. Custom ringtones can also be created using Apple’s GarageBand software 4.1.1 or later (available only on Mac OS X).^[23]

Apple has released a video explaining many of iPhone’s features through a series of demonstrations.^[24]

Multimedia

The layout of the music library differs from previous iPods, with the sections divided more clearly alphabetically, and with a larger font. Similar to previous iPods, the iPhone can sort its media library by songs, artists, albums, videos, playlists, genres, composers, podcasts, audiobooks, and compilations. Cover Flow, like that on iTunes, shows the different album covers in a scroll-through photo library. Scrolling is achieved by swiping a finger across the screen.

Like the fifth generation iPods introduced in 2005, the iPhone can play video, allowing users to watch TV shows and films. Unlike other image-related content, video on the iPhone plays only in the landscape orientation, when the phone is turned sideways. Double tapping switches between wide-screen and fullscreen video playback.

The iPhone allows users to purchase and download songs from the iTunes Store directly to their iPhone over Wi-Fi, but not over the cellular data network.^[25]

Web connectivity

The iPhone is able to access the World Wide Web via a modified version of the Safari web browser when connected to a Wi-Fi or an EDGE network. It is not able to utilize AT&T’s 3G or AT&T’s HSDPA network in the U.S.. Steve Jobs has stated 3G would need to become more widespread and much more energy efficient before it’s included in the iPhone.^[26][27] By default, the iPhone will ask to join newly discovered Wi-Fi networks and prompt for the password when required, while also supporting manually joining closed Wi-Fi networks.^[28] When Wi-Fi is active, it will automatically switch from the EDGE network to any nearby previously approved Wi-Fi network.^[29]

Before the launch, some reviewers found the EDGE network “excruciatingly slow,” with the iPhone taking as long as 100 seconds to download the Yahoo! home page for the first time.^[30] Immediately before the launch the observed speed of the network increased to almost 200 kbit/s.^[31] This is probably due to the new “Fine EDGE” upgrades AT&T had been making to their network prior to the launch.^[32]

The EDGE network benefits iPhone users by providing greater availability than 3G, as 3G continues its expansion to most major cities in the United States.^[33] Most countries outside the United States have very little EDGE infrastructure in place. For example, the United Kingdom‘s EDGE infrastructure amounts to less than 30 percent.^{[citation needed]} As a result, many users outside major cities will have to browse the Internet on GPRS, a much slower protocol.

The web browser displays full web pages as opposed to simplified pages as on most non-smartphones. The iPhone does not support Flash or Java technology.^[34][35] Web pages may be viewed in portrait or landscape mode and supports automatic zooming by pinching together or spreading apart fingertips on the screen, or by double-tapping text or images.^[36]

Apple developed an iPhone application for accessing Google‘s maps service in map or satellite form, a list of search results, or directions between two locations, while providing optional real-time traffic information. During the product’s announcement, Jobs demonstrated this feature by searching for nearby Starbucks locations and then placing a prank call to one with a single tap.^[6][37] Though Flash isn’t supported in Safari on the iPhone, Apple also developed a separate application to view YouTube videos on the iPhone.

E-mail

The iPhone also features an e-mail program that supports HTML e-mail, which enables the user to embed photos in an e-mail message. PDF, Microsoft Word, and Microsoft Excel attachments to mail messages can be viewed on the phone.^[38] Yahoo! is currently the only e-mail provider offering a free Push-IMAP e-mail service similar to that on a BlackBerry for the iPhone;^{[citation needed]} IMAP and POP3 mail standards are also supported, including Microsoft Exchange^[39] and Kerio MailServer.^[40] There is currently no search support.^{[citation needed]} The iPhone will sync e-mail account settings over from Apple’s own Mail application, Microsoft Outlook, and Microsoft Entourage, or manually configured using the device’s Settings tool. With the correct settings, the e-mail program can check many IMAP or POP3-enabled web based accounts such as Gmail, .Mac mail, and AOL.^[41]

Others

The iPhone features a built in 2.0 megapixel camera, without a flash, located on the back for still digital photos, but does not support video recording. It also includes software that allows the user to upload, view, and e-mail photos. The user zooms in and out of photos by “unpinching” and “pinching” them through the multi-touch interface. The software interacts with iPhoto on the Mac and Photoshop in Windows.

The built-in Bluetooth 2.x+EDR supports wireless earpieces (which requires the HSP profile), but notably does not support stereo audio (requires A2DP), laptop tethering (requires DUN and SPP), or the OBEX file transfer protocol (requires FTP, GOEP, and OPP).

Text messages are presented chronologically in a mailbox format similar to Mail, which places all text from recipients together with replies. Text messages are displayed in speech bubbles (similar to iChat) under each recipient’s name. The iPhone does not support message forwarding, drafts, delivery reports, instant messaging, MMS, multi-recipient SMS, or copy/cut/paste capability.^[42]

Interface

The display responds to three sensors: a proximity sensor that shuts off the display and touchscreen when the iPhone is brought near the face to save battery power and to prevent spurious inputs from the user’s face and ears, an ambient light sensor that adjusts the display brightness which in turn saves battery power, and a 3-axis accelerometer,^[43] which senses the orientation of the phone and changes the screen accordingly. Photo browsing, web browsing, and music playing support both upright and left or right widescreen orientations, while videos play in only one widescreen orientation.

A single “home” hardware button below the display brings up the main menu. Subselections are made via the touchscreen. The iPhone utilizes a full-paged display, with context-specific submenus at the top and/or bottom of each page, sometimes depending on screen orientation. Detail pages display the equivalent of a “Back” button to go up one menu.

The iPhone has three physical switches on its sides: wake/sleep, volume up/down, and ringer on/off. All other multimedia and phone operations are done via the touch screen.

The iPhone interface enables the user to move the content itself up or down by a touch-drag motion of the finger, much as one would freely slide or flick a playing card across a table with a finger. Similarly, scrolling through a long list in a menu works as if the list is pasted on the outer surface of a wheel: the wheel can be “spun” by sliding a finger over the display from bottom to top (or vice versa). In either case, the object continues to move based on the flicking motion of the finger, slowly decelerating as if affected by friction. In this way, the interface simulates the physics of 3D objects, giving it a real world feel.

The photo album and web page magnifications are examples of multi-touch sensing. It is possible to zoom in and out of web pages and photos by placing two fingers (e.g. thumb and forefinger) on the screen and spreading them farther apart or closer together, as if stretching or squeezing the image. As can be expected from multi-touch sensing, the two fingers don’t have to be from the same hand.

Text input

For text input, the device implements a virtual keyboard on the touchscreen. It has automatic spell checking and correction, predictive word capabilities, and a dynamic dictionary that learns new words. The predictive word capabilities have been integrated with the dynamic virtual keyboard so that users will not have to be extremely accurate when typing—i.e. touching the edges of the desired letter or nearby letters on the keyboard will be predictively corrected when possible. The keys are somewhat larger and spaced further apart when in landscape mode, currently only available using the Safari. Not focusing more on texting has been considered a chief weakness of the iPhone, while at the same time the virtual keyboard is a bold step and a worthwhile risk.^[34]

David Pogue of The New York Times and Walt Mossberg of The Wall Street Journal both tested the iPhone for two weeks and found learning to use it initially difficult, although eventually usable. Pogue stated use was “frustrating” at first, but “once you stop stressing about each individual letter and just plow ahead, speed and accuracy pick up considerably.” After five days of use, Mossberg “was able to type on it as quickly and accurately as he could on the Palm Treo he has used for years,” and considered the keyboard a “nonissue.” Both found that the typo-correcting feature of the iPhone was the key to using the virtual keyboard successfully.^[30][44]

Hardware

According to The Wall Street Journal, the iPhone is manufactured on contract in the Longhua, Shenzhen factory of the Taiwanese company Hon Hai.^[45] Conditions for workers at the factory have been a matter of controversy^[46].

Touch screen

The 3.5 in liquid crystal display (320×480 px at 160 ppi) HVGA touch screen topped with optical-quality, scratch-resistant glass^[47] is specifically created for use with a finger, or multiple fingers for multi-touch sensing. Because the screen is a capacitive touch screen, no stylus is needed, nor can one be used.^[48][26] Bare skin is a requirement; users wearing gloves would have to remove them to use the touchpad,^[49] unless they are wearing electrically conductive gloves.^[50]

The user interface also features other visual effects, such as horizontally sliding sub-selections and co-selections from right and left, vertically sliding system menus from the bottom (e.g. favorites, keyboard), and menus and widgets that turn around to allow settings to be configured on their back sides.

Audio

The iPhone’s headphones are similar to those of current iPods, but also incorporate a microphone. A multipurpose button in the microphone can be used to play or pause music, skip tracks, and answer or end phone calls without touching the iPhone. The 3.5 mm TRS connector for the headphones is located on the top left corner (as seen from front upright). Wireless earpieces that use Bluetooth technology to communicate with the iPhone are sold separately. The headphone socket on the iPhone is recessed into the casing, making it incompatible with some headphones without the use of an adapter.^[51]

The loudspeaker is used both for handsfree operations and media playback, but does not support voice recording.

With the iPhone firmware update 1.1.1, released in late September 2007, video can be output from the headset jack using a three-way jack plug. Component video at up to 576i and stereo audio can also be output from the dock connector using the Apple Component AV Cable.^[52]

Battery

The iPhone features a built-in rechargeable battery that is not intended to be user-replaceable, similar to existing iPods. If the battery prematurely reaches the end of its life time, the phone can be returned to Apple and replaced for free while still in warranty,^[53] one year at purchase and extended to two years with AppleCare. The cost of having Apple provide a new battery and replace it when the iPhone is out of warranty is US$79 and US$6.95 for shipping.^[54]

The battery is stated to be capable of providing up to seven hours of video, six hours of web browsing, or eight hours of talk time (depending on configuration). The battery life for music playing is stated to be 24 hours.^[47] The battery also allows for up to 250 hours of standby time. Apple’s site says that the battery life “is designed to retain up to 80% of its original capacity after 400 full charge and discharge cycles,”^[55] which turns out to be the same as for the iPod batteries. When the battery reaches only 80% capacity, it would be providing approximately 5.6 hours of video, 4.8 hours of web browsing, 6.4 hours of talk time, or 19.2 hours of music playing, depending on configuration.

The Foundation for Taxpayer and Consumer Rights, a consumer advocate group, has sent a complaint to Apple and AT&T over the fee that consumers have to pay to get the battery replaced.^[56] Though the battery replacement service and its pricing was not made known to buyers until the day the product was launched,^[56][57] a similar service had been well established for the iPods by Apple and various third party service providers.

SIM card

The SIM card is located in a slot at the top of the device,^[24] and the device is activated through iTunes.^[58] The iPhone does not contain a memory card slot.

The iPhone, like many other phones on contract, are locked to the service provider, such as AT&T, O2, Orange and T-Mobile.

Software

An optimized version of the OS X operating system (without unnecessary components) runs on the iPhone, although differences between the operating system running on Macs and the iPhone have not been officially explained in detail. The iPhone’s version of OS X includes the software component “Core Animation” from Mac OS X v10.5 which is responsible for the smooth animations used in its user interface. The operating system takes up considerably less than half a GB of the device’s total 8 GB storage.^[59] It will be capable of supporting bundled and future applications from Apple.

The iPhone is managed with iTunes version 7.3 or later, which is compatible with Mac OS X version 10.4.10 or later, and 32-bit Windows XP or Vista.^[60]

The iPhone’s CPU is an ARM-based processor instead of the x86 and PowerPC processors used in Apple’s computers. This means applications can not simply be copied from Mac OS X and have to be written and compiled specifically for the iPhone. Additionally, the Safari web browser supports web applications written with AJAX, which, by design, are platform agnostic applications.

Applications

There are several applications located on the “Home” screen: Text (SMS messaging), Calendar, Photos, Camera, YouTube, Stocks, Maps (Google Maps), Weather, Clock, Calculator, Notes, Settings, and iTunes. Four other applications delineate the iPhone’s main purposes: Phone, Mail, Safari, and iPod.^[61]

The YouTube application streams videos over Wi-Fi and/or EDGE after encoding them using QuickTime‘s H.264 codec, to which YouTube has converted about 10,000 videos. They are expected to convert the entire catalog by the third quarter of 2007. As a result, the YouTube application on iPhone can currently only view a certain selection of videos from the site.^[62] Also, because YouTube displays videos using Flash, the iPhone can only view videos through the YouTube application as opposed to accessing the YouTube website using Safari.

At WWDC 2007 on June 11, 2007 Apple announced that the iPhone will support third-party “applications” via the Safari web browser that share the look and feel of the iPhone interface. The applications must be created in Ajax or JavaScript to maintain device security.^[63] The iPhone cannot officially install full programs from anyone but Apple,^[64] although Steve Jobs has hinted that future third-party applications are in development.^[65][66] Dozens of homebrew applications are now available^[67], although they are completely unsupported by Apple. Such applications could be broken by any software update, but Apple will not design software updates specifically to break native applications other than applications that perform SIM unlocking.^[68]

On October 17, 2007, Steve Jobs, in an open letter posted to Apple’s “Hot News” weblog, announced that a software development kit (SDK) would be made available to third-party developers in February 2008. Due to security concerns and Jobs’ praise of Nokia’s digital signature system, it is suggested that Apple will adopt a similar method. The SDK will also allow application development for the iPod touch.^[69]

Software updates

Apple provides updates to the iPhone’s operating system through iTunes, in a similar fashion to the way that iPods are updated, and touts this as an advantage compared to other cell phones.^[70] Security patches as well as new and improved features, such as a mobile chat client, Flash support, and voice recording, may be released in this fashion.^[71]

The first iPhone software update, 1.0.1, was released on July 31, 2007^[72] to patch an exploit, discovered on July 23, 2007. It allowed hackers to take complete control of the iPhone via Wi-Fi connection or by luring a person to a website with that included malicious code. Once the hacker had control of the iPhone they could download the entire content of the iPhone, make phone calls, or turn the phone into a covert listening device.^[73]

The first full update, 1.1.1, was released on September 27, 2007. In addition to the iTunes Wi-Fi Music Store, this update also adds home button shortcuts and other features previously released in the iPod touch.^[74] The update significantly changed the iPhone’s software and improved stability of its applications. Unsurprisingly, such significant changes also made it incompatible with previous unsupported hacks for modifying the system software or installing third party applications.

The updates that have been released are:

1.0.1 – July 31, 2007

• Safari security update

1.0.2 – August 21, 2007

• Fixed Bugs

1.1.1 – September 27, 2007

• iTunes Wi-Fi Music Store
• Louder speakerphone and receiver volume
• Home button double-click shortcut to phone favorites or music controls
• Spacebar double-tap shortcut to intelligently insert period and space
• Mail attachments are viewable in portrait and landscape modes
• Stocks and cities in Stocks and Weather can be reordered
• Apple Bluetooth Headset battery status in the Status Bar
• Support for TV out
• Preferences to turn off EDGE/GPRS when roaming internationally
• New Passcode lock time intervals
• Adjustable alert volume

1.1.2 – November 12, 2007

• Battery charge level shown in iTunes
• International language & keyboard support
• Patched the TIFF exploit
• Adds custom ringtone field
• Fixed Bugs

Specifications

The specifications as listed on Apple’s website are:^[75]

• Screen size: 8.9 cm (3.5 in)
• Screen resolution: 320×480 pixels at 160 ppi
• Input method: Multi-touch screen interface (the “Home” button is the iPhone’s only physical front panel button)
• Operating System: OS X
• Storage: 8 GB flash memory (originally: 4 or 8 GB choice)
• Quad band GSM (GSM 850, GSM 900, GSM 1800, GSM 1900)
• Wi-Fi (802.11g), EDGE and Bluetooth 2.0 with EDR
• 2 megapixel camera
• Built-in rechargeable, non-removable battery with up to 8 hours of talk, 6 hours of Internet use, 7 hours of video playback, and up to 24 hours of audio playback, lasting over 250 hours on standby.^[47]
• Size: 115×61×11.6 mm (4.5×2.4×0.46 in)
• Weight: 135 g (4.8 oz)
• Digital SAR of 0.974 W/kg^[76][77]

An analysis of the iPhone’s firmware has revealed that the main Samsung chip (designated S5L8900) contains an ARM 1176 processor, together with a PowerVR MBX 3D graphics co-processor.^[78]

Intellectual property

Apple has filed more than 300 patents related to the technology behind the iPhone.^[79][80]

LG Electronics claimed the iPhone’s design was copied from the LG Prada. Woo-Young Kwak, head of LG Mobile Handset R&D Center, said at a press conference, “We consider that Apple copied Prada phone after the design was unveiled when it was presented in the iF Design Award and won the prize in September 2006.”^[81]

On September 3, 1993, Infogear filed for the U.S. trademark “I PHONE”^[82] and on March 20, 1996 applied for the trademark “IPhone”.^[83] “I Phone” was registered in March 1998,^[82] and “IPhone” was registered in 1999.^[83] Since then, the I PHONE mark has been abandoned.^[82] Infogear’s trademarks cover “communications terminals comprising computer hardware and software providing integrated telephone, data communications and personal computer functions” (1993 filing),^[82] and “computer hardware and software for providing integrated telephone communication with computerized global information networks” (1996 filing).^[84] Infogear released a telephone with an integrated web browser under the name iPhone in 1998.^[85] In 2000, Infogear won an infringement claim against the owners of the iphones.com domain name.^[86] In June 2000, Cisco Systems acquired Infogear, including the iPhone trademark.^[87] On December 18, 2006 they released a range of re-branded Voice over IP (VoIP) sets under the name iPhone.^[88]

In October 2002, Apple applied for the “iPhone” trademark in the United Kingdom, Australia, Singapore, and the European Union. A Canadian application followed in October 2004 and a New Zealand application in September 2006. As of October 2006 only the Singapore and Australian applications had been granted. In September 2006, a company called Ocean Telecom Services applied for an “iPhone” trademark in the United States, United Kingdom and Hong Kong, following a filing in Trinidad and Tobago.^[89] As the Ocean Telecom trademark applications use exactly the same wording as Apple’s New Zealand application, it is assumed that Ocean Telecom is applying on behalf of Apple.^[90] The Canadian application was opposed in August 2005 by a Canadian company called Comwave who themselves applied for the trademark three months later. Comwave have been selling VoIP devices called iPhone since 2004.^[87]

Shortly after Steve Jobs’ January 9, 2007 announcement that Apple would be selling a product called iPhone in June 2007, Cisco issued a statement that it had been negotiating trademark licensing with Apple and expected Apple to agree to the final documents that had been submitted the night before.^[91] On January 10, 2007 Cisco announced it had filed a lawsuit against Apple over the infringement of the trademark iPhone, seeking an injunction in federal court to prohibit Apple from using the name.^[92] More recently, Cisco claimed that the trademark lawsuit was a “minor skirmish” that was not about money, but about interoperability.^[93]

On February 2, 2007, Apple and Cisco announced that they had agreed to temporarily suspend litigation while they hold settlement talks,^[94] and subsequently announced on February 20, 2007 that they had reached an agreement. Both companies will be allowed to use the “iPhone” name^[95] in exchange for “exploring interoperability” between their security, consumer, and business communications products.^[96]

The iPhone’s touch interface has been compared by some media to the HTC Touch,^{[97][98][99][100]} which also features a touchscreen designed for fingers, although it can also be used with a stylus and lacks multi-touch. Another product that has been compared to the iPhone is the MyOrigo MyDevice, which was released in 2003, and like the iPhone, featured a touchscreen and accelerometer.^[101]

See also

• 300-page iPhone bill
• Information appliance
• iPod touch
• List of handhelds with Wi-Fi connectivity
• Technological convergence
• iPhony

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External links

Wikiquote has a collection of quotations related to:

iPhone

Wikimedia Commons has media related to:

iPhone

• Apple’s iPhone website
• AT&T’s AT&T Mobility iPhone website
• Telefónica’s O2 iPhone website
• Deutsche Telekom’s T-Mobile iPhone website
• France Télécom’s Orange iPhone website

v • d • e Apple Inc.
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Hardware products	Macintosh · iMac · Mac mini · MacBook · MacBook Pro · Mac Pro · Xserve
Accessories	AirPort · Apple TV · Cinema Display · iPhone · iPod (classic, shuffle, nano, touch) · Mighty Mouse · Xserve RAID
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Stores and services	ADC · AppleCare · Apple Specialist · Apple Store (online) · Certifications · Genius Bar · iTunes Store · .Mac · One to One · ProCare
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Annual Revenue: US$24.01 billion (24.3% FY 2007) · Employees: 17,787 full-time; 2,399 temporary · Stock Symbol: (NASDAQ: AAPL, LSE: ACP, FWB: APC) · Website: www.apple.com

Retrieved from “http://en.wikipedia.orghttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/IPhone“

Facebook is a social networking website, launched on February 4, 2004. Facebook was founded by Mark Zuckerberg, a former Harvard student. Initially the membership of Facebook was restricted to students of Harvard College. It was subsequently expanded to MIT, Boston University, Boston College, and all Ivy League schools within two months. Many individual universities were added in rapid succession over the next year. Eventually, people with a university (e.g .edu, .ac.uk, etc.) email address from institutions across the globe were eligible to join. Networks were then initiated for high schools on February 27, 2006 and some large companies. Since September 11, 2006, anyone 13 or older may join.^[2][3] Users can select to join one or more participating networks, such as a high school, place of employment, or geographic region.

The site has more than 58 million active users (including non-collegiate members) worldwide,^[4] with membership expected to surpass 60 million users by the end of 2007.^[5] From September 2006 to September 2007 the site’s traffic ranking increased from 60th to 7th, according to Alexa.^[6] It is the number one site for photos in the United States with over 60 million photos uploaded weekly.^[7][8]

The name of the site refers to the paper facebooks depicting members of the campus community that some U.S. colleges and preparatory schools give to incoming students, faculty, and staff as a way to get to know other people on campus.

Operations

The site is free to users and generates revenue from advertising including banner ads and sponsored groups (in April 2006, revenue was rumored to be over $1.5 million per week).^[9] Users create profiles that often contain photos and lists of personal interests, exchange private or public messages, and join groups of friends. The viewing of detailed profile data is restricted to users from the same network or confirmed friends. According to TechCrunch, “about 85% of students in [previously] supported colleges have a profile [on the site]. [Of those who are signed up,] 60% log in daily. About 85% log in at least once a week, and 93% log in at least once a month.” According to Chris Hughes, spokesman for Facebook, “People spend an average of 19 minutes a day on Facebook.”^[10] In a 2006 study conducted by Student Monitor, a New Jersey-based limited liability company specialising in research concerning the college student market, Facebook was named as the second most “in” thing among undergraduates, tied with beer and sex and losing only to the iPod.^[11]

Origins and expansion

Mark Zuckerberg

Wikinews has news related to this article:

Facebook’s funding

Mark Zuckerberg founded “The Facebook” in February 2004, while attending Harvard University, with support from Andrew McCollum and Eduardo Saverin. By the end of the month, more than half of the undergraduate population at Harvard were registered on the service. At that time, Zuckerberg was joined by Dustin Moskovitz and Chris Hughes for site promotion and Facebook expanded to Stanford, Columbia, and Yale.^[12] This expansion continued in April of 2004 when it expanded to the rest of Ivy League and a few other schools. At the end of the school year, Zuckerberg and Moskovitz moved out to Palo Alto, California with McCollum, who had a summer internship at Electronic Arts. They rented a house near Stanford University where they were joined by Adam D’Angelo and Sean Parker. Soon McCollum decided to leave EA and help with the development of Facebook and a companion website, Wirehog, full-time. In September, Divya Narendra, Cameron Winklevoss and Tyler Winklevoss, the owners of the social networking website HarvardConnection, subsequently changed to ConnectU, filed a lawsuit against Facebook, alleging that Zuckerberg had illegally used source code intended for the website they asked him to build for them.^[13][14] Also at that time, Facebook received approximately $500,000 from PayPal co-founder Peter Thiel in an angel round. By December, Facebook’s user base had exceeded one million.

2005

In May 2005, Facebook raised $12.8 million in venture capital from Accel Partners.^[15] On August 23, 2005, Facebook bought the domain name facebook.com from the Aboutface Corporation for $200,000 and dropped “the” from its name. At that time the site was overhauled, a change intended to make profile pages more user-friendly, according to Zuckerberg. Also that month McCollum went back to Harvard although he continued to serve as a consultant and returned to work on staff during the summers. As before, Hughes remained in Cambridge while he performed his duties as company spokesperson. Then, on September 2, 2005, Zuckerberg launched the high school iteration of Facebook, calling it the next logical thing to do. While initially described as separate “communities” to which users needed to be invited to participate, within only fifteen days most high school networks did not require a password to join (although registration with Facebook was still necessary.) By October, Facebook’s expansion had trickled down to most small universities and junior colleges in the United States, Canada, and the UK, in addition to having expanded to twenty-one universities in the United Kingdom, the entire Instituto Tecnologico y de Estudios Superiores de Monterrey (ITESM) system in Mexico, the entire University of Puerto Rico network in Puerto Rico, and the whole University of the Virgin Islands network in the U.S. Virgin Islands. On December 11, 2005, universities in Australia and New Zealand were added to the Facebook network, bringing its size to more than 2,000 colleges and more than 25,000 high schools throughout the United States, Canada, Mexico, the United Kingdom, Australia, New Zealand, and Ireland.^[16]

2006

On February 27, 2006, Facebook began allowing college students to add high school students as friends due to requests from users.^[17] About a month later, on March 28, 2006, BusinessWeek reported that a potential acquisition of the site was under negotiation. Facebook reportedly declined an offer of $750 million, and it was rumored that the asking price was as high as $2 billion.^[18] In April, Peter Thiel, Greylock Partners, and Meritech Capital Partners invested an additional $25 million in the site.^[19] In May, Facebook’s network extended into India, at Indian Institutes of Technology (IITs) and Indian Institutes of Management (IIMs). The following month Facebook threatened to seek costs of up to $100,000 from Quizsender.com for copyright infringement for allegedly copying the “look and feel” of Facebook.^[20][21] On July 25, new services were offered in the site that would potentially produce additional revenue. A promotion was arranged between Facebook and iTunes, in which members of the Apple Students group would receive a free 25 song sampler each week until September 30 in various music genres. The promotion’s purpose was to make students more familiar with and enthusiastic about each service as fall classes approached.^[22] In the early half of August, Facebook added universities in Germany and high schools in Israel, (Haifa, Jerusalem, and Qiryat Gat) to its network. On the 22nd of that month, Facebook introduced Facebook Notes, a blogging feature with tagging, embedded images, and other features, also allowing the importation of blogs from Xanga, LiveJournal, Blogger, and other blogging services. This newly added feature also included the common blog feature of allowing readers to comment on users’ entries. On September 11, 2006, Facebook became open to all users of the Internet, prompting protest from its existing user base.^[23] Two weeks later, Facebook opened registration to anyone with a valid e-mail address.^[24]

2007

On May 10, 2007, Facebook announced a plan to add free classified advertisements to its website, making it a competitor with established online companies such as Craigslist.^[25] This feature, known as Facebook Marketplace, went live on May 14, 2007; Facebook launched an API that allows the development of applications to be used on the site, known as Facebook Platform.^[26]

In June, the partnership begun the previous year between iTunes and Facebook continued, with the download service again offering free music samplers through the Apple Students group.

In July, Facebook announced its first acquisition, purchasing Parakey, Inc. from Blake Ross and Joe Hewitt. In August, the company was featured in a Newsweek cover story by Steven Levy in the magazine’s annual college edition.^[27] Facebook hired YouTube‘s former CFO Gideon Yu on July 24, 2007. Gideon Yu succeeded Michael Sheridan.^[28]

On September 25, 2007, it was rumored that Microsoft might buy a stake in Facebook^[29] and the rumor was confirmed a month later when Microsoft purchased a 1.6% share of the company for $240 million.^[30] An outright sale of Facebook is said to be unlikely as founder Mark Zuckerberg would like to keep it independent.

On November 7, 2007, Facebook announced Facebook Ads; a marketing initiative which includes a system for websites to allow users to share chosen information about their activities on the sites with their Facebook friends (Facebook Beacon);^[31] the capability of businesses to host pages on Facebook for various brands, products and services (Facebook Pages); a targeted ad serving program based on user and friend profile and activity data (Facebook Social Ads); and a service for providing businesses with advertisement analytic data including performance metrics (Facebook Insights). With respect to privacy, Facebook states that “no personally identifiable information is shared with an advertiser in creating a Social Ad,” and that “Facebook users will only see Social Ads to the extent their friends are sharing information with them”.^[32] Facebook Ads replaces the site’s previous Facebook Flyers program.^[33] On November 30, 2007, it was reported that Hong Kong billionaire Li Ka-shing had invested $60 million in Facebook.^[34]

On 5 December 2007, Mark Zuckerberg publicly apologized for the way that Facebook launched the Beacon system, saying “The problem with our initial approach of making it an opt-out system instead of opt-in was that if someone forgot to decline to share something, Beacon still went ahead and shared it with their friends.”^[35] Beacon can now be disabled through a new External websites section in Privacy.^[36]

Site features

The Wall

The Wall is a space on each user’s profile page that allows friends to post messages for the user to see. One user’s wall is visible to anyone with the ability to see their full profile, and different users’ wall posts show up in an individual’s News Feed. Many users use their friend’s walls for leaving short, temporal notes. More private discourse is saved for Messages, which are sent to a person’s Inbox, and are visible only to the sender and recipient(s) of the Message, much like email.

In July 2007, Facebook allowed users to post attachments to the wall^[37], whereas previously the wall was limited to textual content only.

Gifts

n February 2007, Facebook added a new gift feature to the website. Friends could send “gifts” — small icons of novelty items designed by former Apple designer Susan Kare — to each other by selecting one from Facebook’s virtual gift shop and adding a message. Gifts given to a user appear on the recipient’s wall with the giver’s message, unless the giver decided to give the gift privately, in which case the giver’s name and message is not displayed to other users. Additionally, all gifts (including private gifts) received by a user are displayed in the recipient’s “gift box” (right above their wall on their profile), marked with either the first name of the user (for public gifts) or the word “Private.” An “Anonymous” option is also available, by which anyone with profile access can see the gift, but only the recipient will see the message. None will see the giver’s name, and the gift will go in the recipient’s gift box but not the wall.Facebook users are given one free gift to give upon account signup. Each additional gift given by a user costs USD $1.00. The initial selection of gifts was Valentine’s Day themed, and 50% of the net proceeds (after credit card processing fees were taken out, etc.) received through February 2007 were donated to the charity Susan G. Komen for the Cure. After the month of February, the proceeds were no longer donated. Soon after, Facebook began making one new gift available each day, most of which had a limited supply or were available for a limited time.

With the advent of Applications came a way to subvert the required US$1.00 payment; however, the gifts in the “Free Gifts” application, created by Zachary Allia^[38], are not the same as the official gifts, as they are displayed in a different manner.

Marketplace

In May 2007, Facebook introduced the Facebook Marketplace allowing users to post free classified ads within the following categories: For Sale, Housing, Jobs, and Other. Ads can be posted in either available or wanted format.^[39] The market place is available for all Facebook users and is currently free.^[40]

Pokes

Facebook includes a “poke” feature which allows one user to send a “poke” to another. According to Facebook’s FAQ section on the Poke Feature, “a poke is a way to interact with your friends on Facebook. When we created the poke, we thought it would be cool to have a feature without any specific purpose. People interpret the poke in many different ways, and we encourage you to come up with your own meanings.” In principle this is intended to serve as a “nudge” to attract the attention of the other user. However while many Facebook users, as intended, use the feature to attract attention or say hello,^[41] some users construe it as a sexual advance.^[42] This interpretation of the feature inspired a popular Facebook group titled “Enough with the Poking, Lets Just Have Sex”, which, as of December 2007, has more than 340,000 members.

There are several applications such as “X Me” and “SuperPoke!”, that allow users to put any action in place of the word “poke.”

Status

The “status” feature allows users to inform their friends and the Facebook community of their current whereabouts and actions. Facebook originally prompted the status update with “User name is…” and Facebook users filled in the rest. However, on December 13, 2007, the requirement to start a status update with “is” was removed, and all status updates read “User name …”^[43] Status updates are noted in the “Recently updated” section of a users’ friend list.

Events

Facebook events are a way for members to let friends know about upcoming events in their community and to organize social gatherings.^[44]

Applications

On May 24, 2007, Facebook launched the Facebook Platform,^[45] which provides a framework for developers to create applications that interact with core Facebook features. Even games such as chess and Scrabble are available. As of 5 December 2007, there are more than 10,000 applications.^[46]

Third-party websites such as Adonomics, which provides application metrics, and blogs such as AppRate, Inside Facebook and Face Reviews have sprung up in response to the clamor for Facebook applications.

On July 4, 2007, Altura Ventures announced the “Altura 1 Facebook Investment Fund,” becoming the world’s first Facebook-only venture capital firm.^[47]

On August 29, 2007, Facebook changed the way in which the popularity of applications is measured, in order to give more attention to the more engaging applications, following criticism that ranking applications only by the number of users was giving an advantage to the highly viral, yet useless applications.^[48] Tech blog Valleywag has criticized Facebook Applications, labeling them a “cornucopia of uselessness.”^[49] Others have called for limiting third-party applications so the Facebook “user experience” is not degraded.^[50][51]

Primarily attempting to create viral applications is a method that has certainly been employed by numerous Facebook application developers. Stanford University even offered a class in the Fall of 2007, entitled, Computer Science (CS) 377W: “Create Engaging Web Applications Using Metrics and Learning on Facebook”. Numerous applications created by the class were highly successful, and ranked amongst the top Facebook applications, with some achieving over 3.5 million users in a month.^[52]

Facebook Video

During the time that Facebook released its platform, it also released an application^[53] of its own for sharing videos on Facebook. Users can add their videos with the service by uploading video, adding video through Facebook Mobile, and using a webcam recording feature. Additionally, users can “tag” their friends in videos they add much like the way users can tag their friends in photos. However, the Facebook Video Application does not allow sharing videos outside of Facebook. Users will not be able to export or download videos from Facebook. Despite this, a Greasemonkey Userscript was posted on Userscripts.org which allows both the downloading of Facebook Videos and the embedding^[54] of Videos on sites outside of Facebook’s website.

Technical details

Facebook Markup Language

Facebook Markup Language (“FBML”) is a variant evolved subset of HTML with some elements removed. It allows Facebook application writers to customise the “look and feel” of their applications, to a limited extent. It is the specification of how to encode your content so that Facebook’s servers can read and publish it, which you will need to use in your Facebook-specific feed so that Facebook’s system can properly parse your content and publish it as specified.^[55] You set the FBML for a profile box by calling profile.setFBML through the API. The FBML is cached on Facebook’s server until profile.setFBML is called again through a canvas page. The official FBML documentation is now hosted on the Facebook Developers Wiki.

The FBML will expand to something like this:

<input type="hidden" name="fb_sig_profile" value="1160"/><input type="hidden" name="fb_sig_user" value="1160"/>

<input type="hidden" name="fb_sig_session_key" value="b12d7f73fc47536b32e89e-1160"/>

<input type="hidden" name="fb_sig_time" value="1176705186"/>

<input type="hidden" name="fb_sig" value="773af1263c2b7bade7958e6b58d3152f"/>

The fb_sig value is generated using all of the other fb_sig_ parameters (but without the “fb_sig_” prefix included in their names) identically to how it is generated in the API authentication scheme. The fb_sig_user and fb_sig_session_key parameters will only be included if the user has a valid session with the application.^[56]

Infrastructure

For running its operations Facebook uses the software bundle known as LAMP.^[57]

Sale rumors

In 2006, with the sale of social networking site MySpace to NewsCorp, rumors surfaced about the possible sale of Facebook to a larger media company. Zuckerberg, the owner of Facebook, had already said that he did not want to sell the company and denied rumors to the contrary.^[58] He had already rejected outright offers in the range of $975 million, and it was not clear who might be willing to pay a higher premium for the site. Steve Rosenbush, a technology business analyst, suspected Viacom might.^[59]

In September 2006, serious talks between Facebook and Yahoo! took place for the acquisition of the social network, with prices reaching as high as $1 billion.^[60] In October 2007, after Google purchased video-sharing site YouTube, rumors circulated that Google had offered $2.3 billion to outbid Yahoo!.^[61] Peter Thiel, a board member of Facebook, indicated that Facebook’s internal valuation is around $8 billion based on their projected revenues of $1 billion by 2015, comparable to that of Viacom’s MTV brand^[62] and based on shared target demographic audience.

In September 2007, Microsoft approached Facebook, proposing an investment in return for a 5% stake in the company. Microsoft would pay an estimated 300 to 500 million dollars for the share. Other companies such as Google had also expressed interest in buying a portion of Facebook.^[63] On October 24, 2007, Microsoft announced^[64] that it had bought a 1.6% share of Facebook for $246 million^[65][66]

Use in investigations

Main article: Use of social network websites in investigations

The information students provide on Facebook has been used in investigations by colleges, universities, and local police. Facebook’s Terms of Use^[67] specify that “the website is available for your personal, noncommercial use only”, misleading some to believe that college administrators and police may not use the site for conducting investigations. However, there are settings on Facebook that allow a user to make his/her profile private (only people the user approves may see his/her profile).

Alcohol policy violations

There have been incidents where colleges and universities use Facebook to investigate underage drinking and violations of dry campus policies or discover them while investigating other incidents. For example, several Residence Community Advisors at Northern Kentucky University lost their jobs when pictures were discovered of them having drinks in a residence hall one night towards the end of semester.^[68] Many high schools have also begun to use Facebook to crack down on underage drinking and other illegal activities.

In response to the monitoring, some students have begun to submit “red herring” party listings.^[69] In one case at The George Washington University, shown at the now defunct CakeParty.org, students advertised their party and were raided by campus police. The police found only cake, no alcohol, and later claimed the break up had been triggered by a noise complaint.^[70][71]

Other investigations

• There have been several incidents where candidates in student government elections used Facebook for campaigning in a way that was not permitted by their campaign policies.^[72][73][74]
• At the University of Mississippi, a group of students were brought before the University’s Judicial Board in April 2005 and forced to remove a Facebook group that professed their love for a professor in a sexually suggestive manner.^[75]
• One Miami University student was arrested after he set a composite sketch of a rape suspect as his profile picture.^[76]
• At Morehead State University, a student was arrested because he allegedly posted a threatening message on Facebook.^[77]
• Others have been punished for rushing the football field at Penn State. (Many “I rushed the field” groups were created after the Nittany Lion football team defeated Ohio State in October 2005, and State College Police and Pennsylvania State Police used the groups to arrest those who they believed rushed the field in violation of school policy.)^[77]
• A Duquesne University student was punished for hate speech against homosexuals.^[78]
• Four Syracuse University students were reprimanded for harassing an instructor in a Facebook group and were threatened with expulsion, though the final result was academic probation.^[79] On the other hand, University of Louisville students who had created a Facebook group to complain about a professor’s teaching shortcomings helped lead to the dismissal of their targeted instructor in February 2006, and the students were not punished.^[80]
• In February 2007, following the hit-and-run death of freshman Carlee Wines, University of Connecticut campus police used Facebook to link the suspected driver, Anthony P. Alvino of Lindenhurst, N.Y., to the university.^[81] By following leads via Facebook, police learned of the connection between Alvino and his girlfriend, Michele A. Hall, a UConn student.^[82] Alvino was charged for the hit-and-run, while Hall was charged with helping cover it up and hindering prosecution.
• In April 2007, just days after the Virginia Tech shooting, a student at the SUNY College at Cobleskill who was from Sri Lanka was remanded into psychiatric care and suspended from college after posting a photo of himself on his profile with a vaguely threatening message underneath. This story became even more controversial as it grew across the news.^[83][84]
• It has been reported that staff at the University of Oxford have been looking at students’ Facebook pages in investigating poor behaviour. Staff have been searching through photos in an effort to root out poor conduct from students celebrating their exam results and graduation. The Oxford University Student Union has urged students to restrict access to ‘friends only’ in an effort to protect privacy.^[85]
• In July 2007 the University of Kent issued a strongly worded statement protesting that a group of students had created a hate page about a library employee, which the site quickly removed.^[86]

Other uses of profile information

Some employers look at Facebook profiles of prospective employees or interns. Information posted on Facebook is potentially accessible to employers with faculty or alumni accounts.^[87]

Information posted on the site is sometimes distributed publicly. Students who are related to politicians or other public figures have had screenshots of their profiles or photo albums taken and shared in an attempt to embarrass their relatives.^[88] After profile information was posted on Gawker and Wonkette, two popular weblogs, Facebook’s Chief Privacy Officer, Chris Kelly, sent the sites’ publishers cease and desist notices.^[89] Also, a group calling itself Performing Politics, Inc. publicly displayed the profiles of students at Yale who had made comments about homosexuality in an effort to show evidence of homophobia at the school.^[90]

In Wrentham, Massachusetts, State Senator Scott P. Brown (R) was invited to speak at King Philip Regional High School to talk about his position against gay marriage. During the speech, Brown read verbatim several posts attacking him from a Facebook group dedicated to a pro-gay rights history teacher. Often he included both verbatim profanity and the names of the students who wrote them.^[91]

Militant members of the Animal Liberation Front (ALF) in Britain have threatened students at Oxford who support the university’s proposed South Parks laboratory saying they are legitimate targets for attack. A counter-activist group called Pro-Test has warned students not to support the lab’s construction on Facebook as they believe ALF is monitoring the site.^[92]

After the death of a teenager under suspicious circumstances in July 2007, the Ottawa Citizen used comments from a Facebook memorial group in a slanderous manner to create a dramatic article on the front page city section showing the irresponsibility of the teen and his peers. The Citizen claimed that the teens thought they were supermen and were invincible and that they had no respect for the law. This sparked outrage amongst the users who wrote many letters to the editor of the Citizen, and the Citizen released an unofficial apology on the wall of the group.^[93]

According to Facebook’s privacy policy, Facebook reserves the right to release the information that users provide (including favorite movies, television shows, books, music, etc.) to organizations.

Facebook was used by reporters in the Hendrick Hudson Senior Prank Bomb case to contact the involved students. The reporters had a facebook profile and left messages encouraging them to talk to the press about the legal case at hand.^[94]

In October 2007, photos of an intern at Anglo Irish Bank, who was allegedly away at a “family emergency” in New York, were distributed around the office when it was discovered he had in fact attended a Halloween party.^[95]

Blocking of Facebook in Syria

In November of 2007, Facebook was blocked by the Syrian government on the premise that it promoted attacks on the authorities.^[96][97]. No comment was made from the government that blocked it, which has started a crackdown on online political activism in the past few months.

Responses

Schools blocking access

The University of New Mexico (UNM) in October 2005 blocked access to Facebook from UNM campus computers and networks, citing unsolicited e-mails and a similar site called UNM Facebook.^[98] After a UNM user signed into Facebook from off campus, a message from Facebook said, “We are working with the UNM administration to lift the block and have explained that it was instituted based on erroneous information, but they have not yet committed to restore your access.” UNM, in a message to students who tried to access the site from the UNM network, wrote, “This site is temporarily unavailable while UNM and the site owners work out procedural issues. The site is in violation of UNM’s Acceptable Computer Use Policy for abusing computing resources (e.g., spamming, trademark infringement, etc.). The site forces use of UNM credentials (e.g., NetID or email address) for non-UNM business.” However, after Facebook created an encrypted login and displayed a precautionary message not to use university passwords for access, UNM unblocked access the following spring semester.^[99]

The Columbus Dispatch reported on June 22, 2006, that Kent State University‘s athletic director had planned to ban the use of Facebook by athletes and gave them until August 1 to delete their accounts.^[100] On July 5, 2006, the Daily Kent Stater reported that the director reversed the decision after reviewing the privacy settings of Facebook.

Most school boards in North America that run elementary schools to high schools have the access to Facebook blocked.

Organizations blocking Facebook

Ontario government employees, MPPs, and cabinet ministers were blocked from access to Facebook on government computers in May 2007.^[101] When the employees tried to access Facebook, a warning message “The Internet website that you have requested has been deemed unacceptable for use for government business purposes”. This warning also appears when employees try to access YouTube, gambling or pornographic websites.^[102] However, innovative employees have found ways around such protocols, and many claim to use the site for political or work-related purposes.^[103]

The New South Wales Department of Education and Training has also blocked all users (students and staff) from accessing Facebook, as have many other government departments in Australia.

Facebook memorials

A notable ancillary effect of social networking websites, particularly Facebook, is the ability for participants to mourn publicly for a deceased individual. On Facebook, students often leave messages of sadness, grief, or hope on the individual’s page, transforming it into a sort of public book of condolences. This particular phenomenon has been documented at a number of schools.^{[104][105][106][107][108][109][110][111][112][113]} Previously, Facebook had stated that its official policy on the matter was to remove the profile of the deceased one month after he or she has died,^[114] preventing the profile from being used for communal mourning, citing privacy concerns. Due to user response, Facebook amended its policy. Its new policy is to place deceased members’ profiles in a “memorialization state”.^[115]

Additional usage of Facebook as a tool of remembrance is expressed in group memberships on the site. Now that groups are community-wide and available among all networks, many users create Facebook groups to remember not only a deceased friend or individual, but also as a source of support in response to an occurrence such as 9/11 or the Virginia Tech massacre in April 2007.

Customization and security

Facebook is often compared to MySpace but one significant difference between the two sites is the level of customization. MySpace allows users to decorate their profiles using HTML and CSS while Facebook only allows plain text. However, a number of users have tweaked their profiles by using “hacks.” On February 24, 2006, a pair of users exploited a cross-site scripting (XSS) hole on the profile page and created a fast-spreading worm, loading a custom CSS file on infected profiles that made them look like MySpace profiles.^[116] Notably, both users are now employed by Facebook. On April 19, 2006, a user was able to embed an iframe into his profile and load a custom off-site page featuring a streaming video and a flash game from Drawball. He has since been banned from Facebook.^[117] On March 26, 2006, a user was able to embed JavaScript in the “Hometown” field of his profile which imported his custom CSS.^[118] In each case, Facebook quickly patched the holes, typically within hours of their discovery. In July 2007, a user discovered a cross-site scripting (XSS) hole in the Facebook Platform that could inject JavaScript into profiles, which was used to import custom CSS and demonstrate how the platform could be used to violate privacy rules or create a worm.^[119] This hole took Facebook two and a half weeks to fix.^[120]

Legal challenges over concept rights

Lawsuit from Connectu.com

Founder of Facebook.com, Mark Zuckerberg, has been accused of illegally using both the concept and source code from competing site Connectu.com. In November 2003, ConnectU engaged Mark Zuckerberg, then a sophomore at Harvard, to complete the computer programming for their website. Upon joining the ConnectU team, Zuckerberg was given full access to the website source code. Allegedly, Zuckerberg intentionally hampered the development of ConnectU while using code originally intended for ConnectU in the development of Facebook.

Since its original filing in Massachusetts the lawsuit was dismissed without prejudice due to technicality on March 28, 2007, but was never ruled on. It was refiled soon thereafter in U.S. District Court in Boston, and a preliminary hearing was scheduled for July 25, 2007.^[121] Facebook asked the district court to dismiss the case. The attorneys representing Facebook referred to the allegations as “broad brush”, “false” and that they are unsubstantiated with evidence.^[122]

Aaron Greenspan & houseSYSTEM

Aaron Greenspan, a Harvard classmate of Mark Zuckerberg, claims that he created the original college social networking system, before either Facebook or ConnectU were founded.^[123]

Privacy concerns

Further information: Criticism of Facebook

There have been some concerns expressed regarding the use of Facebook as a means of surveillance and data mining. Theories have been written about the possible misuse of Facebook^[124] and privacy proponents have criticised the site’s current privacy agreement.^[125] According to the policy, “We may use information about you that we collect from other sources, including but not limited to newspapers and Internet sources such as blogs, instant messaging services and other users of Facebook, to supplement your profile.” However, some features—such as AIM away-message harvesting and campus newspaper monitoring—have been dropped and Facebook has since responded to the concerns. Facebook has assured worried users the next privacy policy will not include the clause about information collection and has denied any data mining is being done “for the CIA or any other group.”^[126] However, the possibility of data mining by private individuals unaffiliated with Facebook remains open, as evidenced by the fact that two MIT students were able to download, using an automated script, over 70,000 Facebook profiles from four schools (MIT, NYU, the University of Oklahoma, and Harvard) as part of a research project on Facebook privacy published on December 14, 2005.^[127]

Another clause that some users are critical of reserves the right to sell users’ data to private companies, stating “We may share your information with third parties, including responsible companies with which we have a relationship.” This concern has also been addressed by spokesman Chris Hughes who said “Simply put, we have never provided our users’ information to third party companies, nor do we intend to.”^[128] It is unclear if Facebook plans to remove that clause as well.

Third party applications have access to almost all user information and “Facebook does not screen or approve Platform Developers and cannot control how such Platform Developers use any personal information.”^[125]

In August 2007 the code used to dynamically generate Facebook’s home and search page as visitors browse the site was accidentally made public, according to leading internet news sites^[129][130]. A configuration problem on a Facebook server caused the PHP code to be displayed instead of the web page the code should have created, raising concerns about how secure private data on the site was. A visitor to the site copied, published and later removed the code from his web forum, claiming he had been served legal notice by Facebook^[131]. Facebook’s response was quoted by the site that broke the story^[132]

In the UK, the Trade Union Council has encouraged employers to allow their staff to access Facebook and other social networking sites from work, provided they proceed with caution^[133].

In September 2007, Facebook drew a fresh round of criticism after it began allowing non-members to search for users, with the intent of opening limited “public profiles” up to search engines such as Google in the following months^[134].

In November 2007, Facebook launched a new part of its Ads system named Beacon that published Facebook users’ activities on partner websites such as eBay, Fandango, Travelocity, and Blockbuster to their friends. Moveon.org created an online petition due to privacy concerns, and Facebook modified the service to some extent. However, privacy concerns have continued in the wake of a report by a security researcher at Computer Associates that noted that data on users’ activites is often still sent to Facebook, even if a user has opted-out on the partner site and logged out of Facebook.

Concerns were also raised on the BBC’s Watchdog programme in October 2007 when Facebook was shown to be an easy way in which to collect an individual’s personal information in order to facilitate identity theft.^[135]

Statistics

(Approximate numbers as of December 2007)^[4]

• Active users: Over 59 million
• Daily new user average: 250,000
• Page views: Over 65 billion per month
• Searches: Over 500 million per month^[136]
• Search index size: 200GB
• Largest countries: US, Canada, UK

Remaining top 10 countries in order of active users (outside of the U.S., Canada and UK): Australia, Turkey, Sweden, Norway, South Africa, France, Hong Kong.

• Largest networks: London, UK^[137]: 1,945,518^[138] and Toronto, Canada: 1,012,604^[139]
• Largest United States college networks: Ohio State University: 72,144^[140], University of Minnesota: 72,288^[141], Texas A&M University: 76,014^[142], Penn State University: 97,448^[143][144]
• Traffic rank: 7th^[6]
• Photos: 1.7 billion (which averages to about 44 photos per user)^[145]

On March 2, 2007, a poll conducted by eMarketer.com of American youths in the United States discovered Facebook was the most viewed site among all respondents with more females aged 17-25 (69%) visiting the site than males (56%).^[146]

In 2007, the word “facebook” came in 2nd on Merriam-Webster’s Words of the Year.^[147]

See also

• Social network service
• List of social networking websites
• Use of social network websites in investigations
• Beacon (Facebook)

References

1. ^ Arrington, Michael (2006). Yahoo’s “Project Fraternity” Docs Leaked. TechCrunch. Retrieved on 2007-06-06.
2. ^ Facebook: The Newest Fad in Marketing (HTML). Thinkubator: Facebook, the latest fad in marketing. Retrieved on 2007-07-25.
3. ^ http://www.facebook.com/terms.php
4. ^ ^{a b} Statistics. Facebook. Retrieved on 2007-12-05.
5. ^ Stone, Brad (2007-10-25). “Microsoft to Pay $240 Million for Stake in Facebook” (news).
6. ^ ^{a b} Related info for: facebook.com/. Alexa Internet.
7. ^ Doug Beaver (2007). Facebook Photos Infrastructure (html). Facebook Weblog. Facebook. Retrieved on 2007-05-30.
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67. ^ Facebook Terms of Use May 24, 2007
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Retrieved from “http://en.wikipedia.orghttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Facebook“

The Mercedes-Benz SL-Class is a series of luxury automobiles. SL, meaning “Sport Light”, or in German, Sport Leicht, first appeared on the 1954 300SL ‘Gullwing’ so named because of its upward-opening passenger doors.

1954 to 1962

Main article: Mercedes-Benz 300SL

First generation
Production	1957-1963
Engine(s)	1.9L I4 3.0L I6
Transmission(s)	4-speed manual
Wheelbase	2400 mm (94.5 in)
Length	4520 mm (178 in)
Width	1790 mm (70.5 in)
Height	1300 mm (51.1 in)

The 300SL roadster succeeded the Gullwing in 1957. The 4-cylinder 190SL was more widely produced with 25,881 units, starting in 1955. Cars of the open SL-Class were available as a coupe with a removable hardtop or as a roadster with convertible soft top or with both tops. Production for the 190SL and 300SL ended in 1963.

1963 to 1971

Main article: Mercedes-Benz W113

Second generation
Production	1963-1971
Platform	Mercedes-Benz W113
Engine(s)	2.3L I4 2.5L I6 2.8L I6
Transmission(s)	4-speed automatic4-speed manual

Next came the SL-Class 230SL, a new design with a low waistline and big curved greenhouse windows, and a Coupe Roadster whose distinctive roofline earned the nickname “pagoda top.” Around 1968 the engine received a displacement increase and the model became known as the 250SL. The last two years of production as the 280SL saw minor changes to switch knobs, and wheel trim rings became full hubcaps.

1972 to 1988

Main article: Mercedes-Benz R107

Third generation
Production	1972-1988
Platform	Mercedes-Benz R107
Engine(s)	5.5L V83.5L I6 4.5L V8 2.8L I6 3.8L V8 5.0L V8 4.2L V8 5.6L V83.0L I6
Transmission(s)	4-speed automatic 5-speed manual
Wheelbase	96.7 in (2456 mm)
Length	180.3 in (4580 mm)
Width	70.5 in (1791 mm)
Height	51.1 in (1298 mm)

• 350SL – 1971 – 1980
• 450SL – 1973 – 1980
• 280SL – 1974 – 1980
• 380SL – 1980 – 1986
• 500SL – 1980 – 1986

All updated 86-89 models have the advantages of the more modern 4 pot brakes larger discs and suspension derived from the W124 sedan. The body itself is built with a modern paint system designed to improve protection from rust.

• 300SL – 1986 – 1989 Base model was available as standard in a 5-speed manual although very few were sold. The SOHC 6 cylinder M103 considered by many to have handling advantages with its lighter engine.

• 420SL – 1986 – 1989
• 500SL – 1986 – 1989
• 560SL – 1986 – 1989 From 86 onwards the US, Japan and Australia received only this model.

1989

Fourth generation
Production	1989-2002
Platform	Mercedes-Benz R129
Engine(s)	5.0L 302 hp (225 kW) V86.0L 389 hp (290 kW) V12 3.2L 228 hp (170 kW) I65.0L 315 hp (235 kW) V8 3.0L 228 hp (170 kW) I65.0L 322 hp (240 kW) V8 7.3L V12
Transmission(s)	5-speed automatic 4-speed automatic 5-speed manual
Wheelbase	99.0 in (2515 mm)
Length	1997-2002: 177.1 in (4498 mm) 1989-1996: 176.0 in (4470 mm) 1992-96 V12: 178.0 in (4521 mm)
Width	71.3 in (1811 mm)
Height	1992-2002: 51.3 in (1303 mm) 1989-1991: 50.7 in (1288 mm)

Main article: Mercedes-Benz R129

The 1989 Mercedes SL base model was the 228 hp (170 kW) 3.0 L inline 6 300SL version. But it was the 322 hp (240 kW) 500SL (with a 5.0 L V8 engine) which made the most headlines. The specification was high, with electric windows, mirrors, seats and roof.

1994 saw a mild facelift for the SL, and the 300SL was replaced in Europe by the SL280 and SL320 (with 2.8 L and 3.2 L I6 engines). The SL500 continued with the same powerful engine. A 389 hp (290 kW) 6.0 L V12 SL600 topped the range in 1993.

The SL320 replaced the 300SL in the United States in 1995, but the SL280 was not offered. The 6-cylinder SLs were dropped from the US lineup in 1998, leaving just the V8 and V12. The SL500 got a new 302 hp (225 kW) 5.0 L V8 for 1999.

AMG

1999 Mercedes-Benz SL73 AMG

The extremely rare SL73 AMG was sold through AMG in 1995, and at 525 bhp it offered the most powerful V12 engine ever put into an SL up to that time. After a brief gap, the SL73 was offered again from 1998 to 2001, although the engine was slightly updated to be more reliable. The same 7.3 L V12 was later used by Pagani in the Zonda. A total of 85 SL73 AMG roadsters were built. The SL73 was briefly reintroduced in September 1999 following the SL’s end of life facelift and a limited number were produced up until December 2001. The facelifted SL73 is the car that appears in the picture (left).

The SL60 AMG was also extremely rare. Sold through MB from 1996 to 1998, it used a 6.0 litre V8 engine producing between 381 bhp and 384 bhp. AMG claimed a 0-62 mph (100 km/h) speed of 5.8 seconds. Its top speed was limited to 155 mph (249 km/h), but with the limiter removed, it was capable of approximately 185 mph (298 km/h). AMG later unofficially admitted that 0-60 mph was closer to 5.0 seconds and the engine produced between 405-410 bhp.

The SL55 AMG was sold through AMG in the R129 bodystyle from 1998 to 2001 in limited quantity. It was the predecessor of the production R230 SL55 AMG sold today.

Only about 300 cars in the SL-class were customized by AMG prior to 2003.

2001

Main article: Mercedes-Benz R230

Fifth generation
Production	2001-present
Platform	Mercedes-Benz R230
Engine(s)	5.5L 382 hp (285 kW) V85.4L 510 hp (380 kW) V8 5.5L 510 hp (380 kW) V126.0L 604 hp (450 kW) V12
Transmission(s)	5-speed automatic 7-speed automatic
Wheelbase	100.8 in (2560 mm)
Length	178.5 in (4534 mm)
Width	2005-present: 71.5 in (1816 mm)2003-04: 72.0 in (1829 mm)
Height	51.0 in (1295 mm)

As the new millennium approached, the SL was a decade old and customers were turning to more modern cars like the Jaguar XK8.

In 2001, an all-new SL (initially just a 5.0 L SL500 version) went on sale, boasting the “Vario-Roof”, an electric folding steel roof which had been seen on the smaller, cheaper SLK in 1997. A 5.0 L 302 hp (225 kW) V8 was optional, with a 5.5 L AMG V8 appearing in 2004′s SL55 AMG. V12 engines are available in the SL600 and the limited-production SL65 AMG.

2005

2007 Mercedes-Benz SL 550

The following Mercedes-Benz SL-Class Roadsters are offered Worldwide for the year 2005. Prices are listed in US, 2005 dollars.

• 2005 SL350 (Europe only)
  • 3.7 L (3724 cc) 18-valve V6 245 hp (182 kW) at 5,000 rpm 0 to 100 km/h (62 mph) 7.2 s

• 2005 SL500 Roadster
  • Driver-adaptive 7-speed automatic transmission with TouchShift control
  • Aluminum hardtop (automatic retraction: 16 seconds)
  • US$90,620
  • 5.0 L 24-valve V8 engine 306 hp (228 kW) at 5,600 rpm, 0 to 100 km/h (62 mph) 6.1 s

• 2005 SL55 AMG
  • Manual shift buttons
  • Sensotronic brakes with 8-piston front calipers
  • AMG Active Body Control suspension.
  • US$122,220
  • AMG supercharged 5.5 L (5439 cc) 24-valve V8 engine 497 hp (367 kW) at 6,100 rpm, 0 to 100 km/h (62 mph) 4.7 s

• 2005 SL600 Roadster
  • Active Body Control suspension
  • Sensotronic Brake Control with enlarged front and rear disks
  • Heated and ventilated multicontour seats
  • US$128,220
  • Twin turbocharged 5.5 L (5513 cc) 36-valve V12 engine 493 hp (367 kW) at 5,000 rpm, 0 to 100 km/h (62 mph) 4.7 s

2003-2006 Mercedes-Benz SL65 AMG

• 2005 SL65 AMG
  • 5-speed automatic transmission with AMG SpeedShift programming
  • AMG 8-piston composite calipers brakes
  • 19 inch dual spoke AMG wheels
  • US$179,720
  • AMG-built twin-turbocharged 6.0 L (5,980 cc) SOHC 36-valve V12 engine 612 hp (456 kW) at 5500 rpm while having 738 lb torque.

• 2005 SL400 CDI Concept Car (Prototype)

This model was introduced as a prototype in 2005 Geneva Motor Show

These are the specs of SL400 CDI : Engine : Diesel V8 (eight cylinder)

• • Displacement : 3996 liter
  • Valvetrain : 4 valves / cylinder, DOHC
  • Fuel feed : Commonrail Direct fuel injection
  • Aspiration : Twin-Turbo
  • Drivetrain : Rear wheel drive

Performance figure of SL 400 CDI :

• • Power : 315 bhp / 235 kW
  • Torque : 730 Nm / 538 ft·lbf
  • BHP/Liter : 79 bhp / liter
  • Top Speed : 250 km/h / 155 mph(electronically limited)
  • 0-100 km/h Acceleration : 5.7 s

Video Games

• The 2004 Playstation 2 game Gran Turismo 4 features the R129 SL500 and SL600, and the R230 SL500, SL55 AMG, SL600, and SL65 AMG.

• The Xbox 360/PC game Test Drive Unlimited features the SL65 AMG, only available with the roof retracted.

• The video game Need For Speed: Most Wanted features both the SL500 and the SL65 AMG.

• The 2006 video game Need for Speed: Carbon features the SL65 AMG.

• The video game Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas features a car called the Feltzer which is based on the R107 model.

References

The 2000 video game Driver 2 features cars based on the Mercedes-Benz R107 SL-Class in the Rio de Janeiro ‘level’.

Awards

The 2001 Mercedes Benz SL Class won European Best Interior Design award.

The Mercedes SL-Class won the coveted ‘Most Technologically Advanced Car of the Year’ award from AutoCar Magazine and CNBC TV.

The Mercedes SL-Class won the equally coveted ‘Best Designed Car of the Year’ awards from AutoCar Magazine and CNBC TV.

External links

• Official Mercedes-Benz page USA roadsters
• Official Mercedes-Benz page UK SL-Class
• official Mercedes-AMG page
• SL, SLC, SLR, SLK Forums
• SL Forums
• SL Images, Articles, Classifieds
• 300 SL image
• History, Pictures, Videos, Brochures etc.

Retrieved from “http://en.wikipedia.orghttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mercedes-Benz_SL-Class“

Categories: Mercedes-Benz vehicles | Luxury vehicles | Hardtop convertibles | Roadsters | Rear wheel drive vehicles