Now that I have had an opportunity to see the iPhone at Macworld and read a few reviews, I thought I would voice my opinion on the Apple iPhone. I haven’t had the opportunity to use it, so I can’t really give an in depth review, but I’ll probably pick one up when they release in June and post an article on lightenment.com. So to tell you right off the bad my first impressions are good, otherwise I wouldn’t be willing to cancel my existing phone contract and pick up one of the new iPhones.
During Steve Jobs keynote at Macworld, I realized that Apple was offering many features that where not available on other phones. This made the iPhone unique in a very crowded market. Apple needed to do this in order to insure that all the research and development time was not for nothing.
One of those features is the release of a widescreen iPod. Up until now, Apple has used 4:3 standard aspect ratio in its iPod products. Most movies are best viewed in widescreen format as the director intended. The unique thing about the phone is the tilt feature which automatically detects the orientation of the phone, whether its portrait or landscape. Like the previous top of the line iPod, the iPhone plays videos, music, and views photos. Much of the interface uses cover flow similiar to that found in the latest version of iTunes.
Calling features seem pretty standard, but it seems as though conference calling is made very easy. I haven’t used the product so I don’t know for sure, but the interface appears to be much easier than phones I have used in the past. The visual voicemail is a feature I have yet to see in another phone. I’m pretty sure a feature like this heavy relies on the service provider and Apple has been able to accomplish this feature with Cingular. The chat style SMS feature seems pretty similiar to that on my Treo 650. I like that sort of interface as I can look back in a conversation or see what I previously wrote to someone. I’m eager to try out the on screen keyboard to see if it is any better than the push button style keyboard found in many smart phones. From the reviews people seem to like it, but I’ll have to see for myself.
I have been using Opera on my Treo 650 for quite a while now, but since I’m not on 3G or EDGE networking it seems slow to me. The interface seems like it needs to be refined some, because it’s hard to use. Because of that I hardly use it. It will be interesting to see if the mobile version of Safari found in the iPhone will be much better. Having built-in WiFi which is lacking on my Treo 650 seems like it would speed up internet connectivity when service is available. Email is probably the best interface I’ve seen on a mobile phone. It mimicks that on a computer and I think people will find it more comforting to use. While Blackberry does a pretty good job of email, I still wouldn’t send something any longer than a text message. Maybe the iPhone will optimize this and it will be a feature I will use more. That would keep me away from my computer longer, which is probably a good thing. I use Google Maps on my Treo and it works well, so I would expect Google Maps on the iPhone to be the same. It appears that it is more tightly integrated into the iPhone’s interface so I welcome the additional features. I really like using the Widgets on my computer. Some are handy so hopefully they will be just as handy on the phone.
Finally the iPhone is the only phone with multi-touch technology. The screen takes up almost all of the front panel. I think I’ll have to use it for a while before I can make any opinions. If it works, I’ll probably like the interface just fine. It looks like it has pretty good potential.
Overall, I have pretty high expectations for the iPhone. I’m hoping its worth the investment, and it’s a risk I’m willing to take. Apple has come out with some great products and I’m sure the iPhone and next generation iPhones will be the same.
