The original iPhone was released on June 29, 2007. In the first month on sale (Jul 2007), it sold 2.315 million units. On July 11, 2008, the iPhone 3G was released which, hence the name, got upgraded with 3G wireless internet. On June 17, 2009, Apple released the iPhone 3GS which featured a compass and a 3.2-megapixel video camera. On June 24, 2010, a new version of the iPhone, the iPhone 4, was released. It has the Face Time-camera included, which is placed on the screen side and allows taking self-portraits while looking at the viewfinder. The Face Time-camera is less advanced than the back camera, but can be used for video-telephony, where the members of the talking can see each other on the screen. Additionally, it has an updated operating system that allows quicker navigation of all the features. This operating system is called IOS. The iPhone 4 also has more pixels (326 ppi; 960×640) on the screen than previous version of the iPhone, which makes all features such as pictures and videos look sharper. A minor upgrade to the iPhone 4 was the iPhone 4S. It came on October 14, 2011, and had a new feature called Siri, which is a voice activation system. Additionally, it is able to record videos in 1080p-FullHD-resolution, which is 2.25× times higher than 720p, so that each still frame from the video contains more details. This makes it possible to see smaller items on the footage in a sharper, clearer way. Additionally, it allows zooming into the video to see more details.
The iPhone 5 was released on September 21, 2012. The most noticeable change is its bigger 4 inch screen, which had the same pixel density and the same width on the short axis, but it was taller (1136×640 pixels). On September 10, 2013, two new iPhones called the 5C and 5S were announced. They were released on September 20, 2013. The iPhone 5S has a new unlocking system called Touch ID which reads your fingerprint. The iPhone 5C is a cheaper model of the iPhone 5S which is also the first iPhone available in different colors that aren't black and white. The internal hardware specifications (which means, capabilities) of the iPhone 5C are identical to the iPhone 5. Only the size of the battery has increased by 51 mAh, (1456→1507 mAh), and the design, which deviant from the Apple standard design language, which means, that it looks and feels distinguishable (different) than the other iPhones. Like iPhone 6, the design does not allow the iPhone 5C to stand like a domino stone.
The iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus were released on September 19, 2014. They both have bigger screens than the iPhone 5, measuring at 4.7 inches and 5.5 inches, respectively. The iPhone 6S and iPhone 6S Plus were released on September 25, 2015. They both come in a new color, Rose Gold.
The iPhone 7 and iPhone 7 Plus were released on September 16, 2016.
iPhone 8, 8 Plus, X, XR, XS, XS Max, 11, 11 Pro, 11 Pro Max, SE (2nd gen), 12, 12 Pro and 12 Pro Max were released in 2017, 2017, 2017, 2018, 2018, 2018, 2019, 2019, 2019, 2020, 2020, 2020, 2020 and 2020 respectively.
In most places, the iPhone is only allowed with carriers (cellphone service providers) that Apple has an agreement with. Someone who buys an iPhone also signs a contract with the carrier, which is an agreement to pay for their services. A mobile phone contract usually lasts for one or two years, and the person buying the phone pays the carrier every month. At first, they pay less than the iPhone is worth because they will pay the rest later through fees as part of their contract. The contract also says the iPhone may only be used on their network. However, some people do not like that, so they unlock their iPhone so it can be used with other carriers.
Other people "jailbreak" their iPhones to allow it to do more things. Apple does not allow many of these changes. In hopes of discouraging this, Apple voids the warranty when an iPhone is "unlocked" or "jailbroken." Though in August 2011 jailbreaking was declared legal.
Apple made a Software Development Kit for the iPhone, which lets people make their own software for it. However, the software cannot be sold without Apple's permission. The software that is made is sold at the App Store. More than a million of apps are available to buy.
Concert hall
A concert hall is a place where concerts of classical music take place. “Concert hall” can either mean the actual room where the concerts takes place, or the whole building. The hall where the concerts are held may have a “stage” (where the performers are) and there will be an “auditorium” where the audience sits.
Some concert halls are purpose-built. That means they were built to be concert halls. Other concert halls may have been something else many years ago, e.g. a Corn Exchange (a place where farmers used to sell their corn) and the building has later been changed into a concert hall. Purpose-built concert halls started about the beginning of the 20th century. At that time scientists began to understand the importance of good acoustics (somewhere where the sound was good).
Concert halls that are purpose-built usually have fixed seating (seats that cannot be moved). Some halls may have seats that can be moved, either by stacking them in small piles, or tiered seating that can fold up. This allows the hall to be used for other things, e.g. dancing.
A concert hall is usually a big hall: big enough for an orchestra to be on the stage. A small concert hall, designed for just a few performers (as in chamber music) may be called a “recital hall”.
Some concert halls are especially famous. In London there is the Royal Festival Hall on the banks of the river Thames, the Barbican Centre in the City (near St Paul’s Cathedral) and the Royal Albert Hall in Kensington which is used for other events as well. There is also a famous recital hall called the Wigmore Hall. New York has the Carnegie Hall, Vienna has the Vienna Musikverein with a beautiful hall called the Golden Hall where the famous New Year’s Day concerts are given. In Germany there is the Berliner Philharmonie in Berlin and the Gewandhaus in Leipzig. In Amsterdam there is the Concertgebouw (which means: "concert hall").
Madrigal
A madrigal is a special kind of song for a small group of people to sing. Madrigals were popular in the 16th and 17th centuries. This was the end of the Renaissance music and beginning of the Baroque periods. They started in Italy and became very popular for a short time in England as well as in France. The words of madrigals are always about secular (non-religious) things, e.g. about love.
When Italian composers started writing madrigals the kinds of songs they knew were the frottola, the motet and the French chanson (song). The first madrigals were for 2 or 3 voices, but later many madrigals were written for 4 or 5 voices. These voices might be single voices (one person to each part) or several people. Sometimes the lines would also be played by an instrument, but the madrigal is usually sung unaccompanied.
The madrigal was the most important secular form of music of its time. In Italy it was very popular between about 1550 and 1630. In England the madrigal period was about 1588 to 1620.
In 1533 a book called "Primo libro di Madrigali" (First Book of Madrigals) was collected and published by Philippe Verdelot in Venice. It made madrigals very popular. Jacob Arcadelt published several volumes of madrigals which were very important for their development. In 1588 in England Nicholas Yonge published a collected called "Musica Transalpina" (Music from over the Alps). These were Italian madrigals with translated texts. The madrigal suddenly became extremely popular in England and remained so until after 1620 when it gradually became less important.