Here comes the latest, hottest and most marketing hyped phone, the iPhone. Its from Apple, the makers of the oh-so-popular iPod, hence the similar naming moniker (!). The 4GB version retails at USD499 while the 8GB version is at USD599 (the same price as a 60GB PS3).
Now before you run out to get to the retail shops to get yourself one, its out in the US only. It requires a 2 year contract with AT&T, and if you dont activate the plan, your iPhone becomes a really expensive brick. And oh.... the ATT&T iPhone SIM card dont work with other GSM phones and vice versa, so you are pretty much stuck with activation.
So here's my take on the phone that has great features, but yet is lacking in some.
iPhone externals:
At 114mm x 61mm x 12mm, its fells right on the hands, and not bulky if placed in the trousers. On the top is an on/off button that doubles as a sleep mode button too. The same button will mute the ringer during an incoming call, while pressing it again will send the call to voicemail. Beside that, there is a recessed 3.5mm jack for the supplied stereo white headphones with button fro receiving calls and built in mic. Bad news as this allows only smaller headphones jacks to fit in the slot, meaning your more expensive Bose headphones may not fit in.
On the side is a volume control rocker as well as a ringer mute button (great for cinema goers), and on the bottom are a pair of speakers and the jack for sync dock or the USB battery charger. On the face, there is only one "home" button, that will bring you back to the top menu, irregardless how deep into the menu you are.
iPhone displays:
At 3.5 inches, the native of 480x320 pixel takes the whole front face of the phone's size translates into brilliant colors, sharp graphics, and fluid movements. Icons for phone menu, mail menu, Safari web browser and iPod functions are lined at the bottom of the menu, while other functions as camera, calculator and others are lined on top.
With no stylus, you handle the iPhone with your fingers which will lead to smudging of the face (much like the LG Prada). With some practice, you will get used to the onscreen keypad/keyboard and tapping numbers and messages will be easy.
iPhone features a multitouch screen that allows you to drag, scroll, slide and zoom (by pinching fingers apart). With built in motion sensors (Apple calls them accelerators), the display will orient itself depending on how you hold the iPhone. And with yet another sensor, the display will shut off when u put it to your ears to take a call.
Very cool stuff when you see it working.
iPhone's features:
iPhone only runs on EDGE for data. Its not even a 3G phone for the price you are paying it for. While it has WiFi support, no 3G means that you cant be using the iPhone for fast internet surfing outside a WiFi area. Which pretty much limits the phone's usage as a PDA or smartphone.
The phone book allows you to have 8 numbers per contact as well as emial and home addresses, as well as photo ID and polyphonic ringtone assignment. Yes, there is no MP3 ringtone feature either. Other standard functions as clock, calculator and notepad are available, but no voice dialling. It also has a document reader on board. It has Bluetooth 2.0 support, as well as SMS and email support for webmails as well as POP3 and IMPA4 servers, but no MMS.
It has a basic 2MP camera with no setting, no flash, no night mode, no self portrait mirror and you cant take videos with the camera, which pretty much limits it to just taking acceptable quality photos.
iPhone has a rated battery life of 8 hours talk time, 24 hours of music playback, 7 hours of video playback, 6 hours on Internet use, with standby time at 10.4 days. However, the battery is not exchangeable which means that you have to charge it every couple of days as you will surely use the multiple functions of the iPhone and not only one all the time.
The battery has an expected lifespan of 300-400 charges, upon which you will need to send it to Apple to change for a fee. I will prefer to have exchangeable batteries coz as a phone, its usually a more crucial part of life than an MP3 player like iPod, so i cant have the iPhone not alive while I drive to the nearest Apple center to have the battery changed.
Apple's Safari web browser works well as it displays webpages in its true form rather than the stripped down WAP format, but Safari does not support Flash or Java. Tap link to open new page, double tap to zoom in and out and moving your fingers around the page lets you pan the page. Very nice.
iPhone's iPod:
Within all the features and functions of the iPhone, the iPod function is the one most talked about. With all the features of a 5th generation iPod like music, video, podcast, playlist and content management via iTunes built in, the iPod function is a very much welcomed addition to the phone as opposed to having a simple media player.
Coupled with the iPhone's multitouch screen, the ablum artwork feature is a welcomed return to the iPod features. Scrolling thru your playlist while seeing the album artwork cover is very satisfying experience, similar to iTune's Cover Flow. Add to this is the ability to play the music via the built-in stereo speakers (although the sound is tinny and distorted) is also a welcomed addition.
Now, as with all features on the iPhone, there are bad news here too. Apple had removed option to drag and drop contents from iTunes library to the iPhone directly. You will be required to sync the phone every time you need new content on your iPhone. This severely limits the user friendliness of the iPod function, as the limited on board memory (4GB or 8GB) is share by the SMS/emails, phone book, photos, music and videos.
It also lacks an external memory support, and for a high end phone cum music player, it lacks A2DP bluetooth stereo support too.
Summary:
If you are looking at the iPhone for the smartphone features, it lacks 3G, replacable battery, MP3 ringtones, and features other mediocre functions. You will be better off with smartphones like O2 or Nokia N95.
If you are looking at it from the iPod features, it lacks the ease of drag and drop, no external memory and no A2DP bluetooth stereo support. You will be better off with the 5th generation iPod or could even wait for Apple to roll out its 6th generation.
However, if you are looking for a gadget that has both features (which will cover the shortcomings mentioned above), Apple iPhone is the heck of a cool looking gadget you will want to get.
Ratings: 7.5/10
For us here in Malaysia, lets see if Apple decides to launch it here in this region, eventually.
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