i Crown the iPhone!

Introduction

The iPhone revolutionized the mobile standards of today since it's announcement at Mac World 2007. Almost every other manufacturer's flagship device is set as an iPhone killer. It created hype and spin that were so thick, there was no way anyone could write an objective review until recently. This phone wasn't even officially released in Asia but several people already has one. A few months after it's release, the real attack of the clones bombarded the market; from mp4 players, radios, pda etc. I am one of the early adopters with this device so i got the early version 1.1.02 and the 8gb model. The device was jail broken so i get to enjoy all the features. :) So what's the fuss all about? Well, the multi-touch interface of the iPhone is a force to be reckoned with. I've never seen any other model that has redefined touch screen like the iPhone did. Web browsing, Cover Flow, Music, Videos everything is very sleek, graceful and streamlined. After 3 days of using this phone i fell in love with it already. It runs on a full Mac OS X with a high quality 2 megapixel camera encased in a stylish metal and glass that will wet your pants :) So is the hype worthy? read on.

Design / Build quality

Apple continues to amaze everyone with it's minimalistic but highly sophisticated and stylish designs through it's product line. It remains true with the iPhone. The device feels solid and sturdy and the screen is made of scratch resistant glass not plastic. It feels like you're holding a very luxurious device. The weight is tolerable for the materials used for this phone. The thickness is good too, enough to fit on a medium sized pocket. The 3.5 inches screen is a marvel, you can view photos and videos in their full glory. The screen reproduces colors that will make you drool. Though 8 gb of space is a bit low nowadays you can still fit in hundreds of music and photos plus several videos for your visual and aural delight :) I use mine mainly as a portable media player and as a presentation device for a small group meeting and as a phone too, haha.

Calling / Messaging

The iPhone has good call quality albeit a weak speaker. I always turn on the vibrate and ring mode to make it more noticeable whenever someone calls or sends a message. Searching for a contact is a breez with just a swipe of a finger. Everything is fluid. It's like you can throw all items on the screen with grace with its very cool animation and response time. Now, messaging is a different story. When i first used the messaging feature of this phone, it's was quite a challenge. The keys were a bit cramped for me so i usually click the wrong keys but thanks to it's auto complete feature its a big help for most instances. Unfortunately, in the local scene, the auto complete feature doesn't help much since most of us Pinoy are used to typing "short cuts" in text messaging in the most unusual way :) So typing on the iPhone continuously becomes a challenge. Unless someone comes up with a pinoy text dictionary then everything would be perfect. :) The phone produces a good tick sound whenever you press a key as a supplement of the lack of tactile feedback other mobile device has. I wonder if they will integrate haptics feedback ( haptics is a technology developed through Immersion's vibetonz tech. being used on touch screen phones that will make it vibrate whenever you touch a key to provide a good tactile feedback) on the iPhone like the one on the LG VIEWTY and Samsung Instinct.

Connectivity / Browsing / Multimedia

They say every super hero has an Achilles heel. The iPhone's connectivity feature is half baked and below par at todays standard. The GPRS is really slow for todays connected world and the bluetooth is virtually unusable because of the limited profiles it supports. Stereo bluetooth or A2DP which is becoming a standard is absent on the iPhone. Sending files over bluetooth is also a major let down. Wifi is a standard for flagship devices like this one. I know it's Apple's marketing strategy but at least they should have thrown in 3G as a standard. Phones today has HSDPA or 3.5 G which is several times faster than 3G. Well, Apple announced a 3G version on the 3rd quarter of this year so let's see how it will live up to our expectation.

Another let down is it's lack of video capabilities, mms and multiple sending for text messages. Though the phone produces good quality pictures on well lit environment, the quality drastically changes on low light situation. Even though i don't use mms i find the multiple sending of text messages or message forwarding very useful on Nokia phones. Good thing there is Nullrivers' apptapp installer for third party softwares and problem is gone. :)

iPhone has full featured safari browser and i have the best browser experience so far despite a connectivity challenge. Safari render websites with flying colors and you can control the web page with finger gestures; swipes and pinches. A wonderful experience so far. One small complaint is that it doesn't support Flash which is a major let down for web designers like me who loves animation and interactivity on the web :(

Multimedia on the iPhone is top-notch. Everything that you enjoyed on the iPod is on the iPhone too plus an extra multi-touch experience. A natural high for technophiles. From photos, music, podcast and movies, everything is above average.

Technophile's verdict

With a good arsenal of multimedia features encased on a stylish metal and glass cocoon, the iPhone still reigns king of the touch screens. Once you start to enjoy it's interface and hosts of features you'll start to forget it's short comings. This device is godsend.