I am sure that there's noone that hasn't seen once or read -more than once- a presentation or review of this "gadget". Well, for sure Apple made the hottest and more desirable mobile device than covers everyone's needs: from the stylish to the techie and from business to fun, all can find a good reason to replace their previous mobile with an iPhone.
Being the happy owner of this device for about a month I can admit that I am captured by the way I am interacting with the device. It is actually "the world on my finger" kind of situation, where every function is run in this phone by a single finger (hmm actually not every; but I'll tell you about it further down). I have been the user of PDA's -those bulky and slow Microsoft based devices- fore several years, and I was used to touch-screen interaction; still iPhone made the way a touch-screen can be used much more easier, user-friendly and fascinating! Of course it can't be compared to PDA's -not even the HTC touch I owned for a couple of weeks- or even to single finger based LG Prada operation. iPhone is in a league of its own!
Design: the device is built to impress you from the moment you touch it. The 4/5 metal back with the "Apple" sign engraved, the absence of many buttons and the shiny metal around the screen give exactly what you'd expect from Apple. I am sure MOMA will start to built the "Apple" wing sometime shortly ;) The screen is brilliant and far beyond everything I have seen in such devices. Many people compare it to PSP (only) but for sure my PSP doesn't seem so "live" and "clear" from my perspective; for sure though it is the only device with a display close to the iPhone.
Phone: oh yes! let's not forget this is the initial reason it was made for (really???). Well, pretty much everything you expect from a phone is here: you have a dial-pad, the recent calls list, the speed-dial list and the contact list having all your contacts there. Sounds similar to what you already have, right? Well, iPhone introduces so many things that differentiate it, from the immediate scrolling of the contact list to the simplified way you can add and remove a contact, to add it in the speed-dial list or to modify it whenever you want. the most eye-capturing difference is the way the contacts are scrolling (and "bouncing" when reaching the end or the beginning of the screen), with the response to human touch to make even the biggest non-believer out there to accept the good work done on this aspect. SMS functionality is very easy (using in full the amazing text insertion interface) and the messages are displayed as a chat between sender and receiver.
iPod: as I have never used an iPod before, I can't compare it to the internal competition. Nevertheless I have used MP3 players from Sony and Archos as well as PSPs media for videos an I can say that the sound is clear and loud as you can expect from the brand that set up the standards for the market. Videos are smooth and similar to the UMD quality of PSP (I would give the same mark to both devices). For another time though, Apple is making a difference to the way your collection of songs is displayed on screen being able to scroll between the covers of your albums (if you bought the titles from iTunes store or you have inserted them in your collection). In addition this is the first place to notice the gyroscopic funtion of the device, while changing from vertical to horizontal position, changes the way tracks are displayed and the user interface!
Internet: iPhone uses Safari and I can say that although I checked if my favorite Firefox will ever become available, I hardly have any complaints. The manual insertion of the URL as well as from bookmarks is piece of cake and the display of the page almost as in your PC browser, and google search included in the top of the browser. Scrolling to any direction is done by fingers and you can zoom in - zoom out with the notorious two finger movement (damn! you have to use two for that!). The job being done in the web browsing is amazing too, since the focus and clarity of the page is so good that you can read perfectly well even in total zoom out in most of cases. Gyroscopic functionality is used here too, while switching from vertical to horizontal position automatically switches the way the web page is displayed on screen. Finally, you can use multiple web pages at the same time and the switching is much easier than in any smartphones I have seen up to now.
Productivity: for the most business users, features described up to now are good but how can they leave their handy e-mail "bricks"? Well, although not a "Blackberry" device you can have your e-mail via POP or IMAP access and many famous public e-mail providers like gmail and yahoo! are already included for fast setup. Calendar is complete and can be synchronized with outlook, clock includes a world clock functionality, notes are there as well as a simple calulator and finally a nice Stocks application getting real time data from Yahoo! (although set up for US as my device is based for US usage). Weather is also displayed the same way for various cities around the world and you also have a Maps application displaying the same way GoogleMaps and GoogleEarth.
Fun: iPhone comes with a 2Mpixel camera and you can see the photos you take, in the brilliant screen using the described zoom and gyroscopic functions here too. Final touch is the access to YouTube that is done directly -not via the internet browser- and that includes "Featured", "Most Viewed" and "Bookmarks" links as well as search functionality.
Misses: Of course Apple missed out several things that we can find in other mobile devices and which I hear all the time from people around me when I am expressing my enthusiasm for the iPhone. For the beginning the phone is made for US therefore MMS is missing (not highly used I suppose), multi-receiver SMS too and the dial pattern is based on US rules -the latter changed in the 1.1.1 upgrade as I have read. The same upgrade has made multi-language support available too and this is nice for users who like to see their own language in menus and send SMS in local language. Camera is also below the standards of the cost of the device (is announced to 999 € as standalone in France) where competition is at 3,2MP or more... From my personal point of view, the word and excel functionality I have on my Sony-Ericsson P1 is neat to have for e-mail attachments -just for a quick look when needed. Oh...a colleague also noticed that there's a lack of movement sensor to understand the orders given over the screen ;)
For the cost of getting through eBay (being the cheaper) or through local isolated importers an iPhone, it is at the time the best in style, functionality and usability device in the market. Yes, it is not perfect and yes there are still things that can be added to it. Nevertheless, having used an iPhone for sometime makes you change the way you want your phone to be used and it is by far the most "hot" gadget for anyone to own. Looking the smile of lucky owners when they use it can be the proof...
Being the happy owner of this device for about a month I can admit that I am captured by the way I am interacting with the device. It is actually "the world on my finger" kind of situation, where every function is run in this phone by a single finger (hmm actually not every; but I'll tell you about it further down). I have been the user of PDA's -those bulky and slow Microsoft based devices- fore several years, and I was used to touch-screen interaction; still iPhone made the way a touch-screen can be used much more easier, user-friendly and fascinating! Of course it can't be compared to PDA's -not even the HTC touch I owned for a couple of weeks- or even to single finger based LG Prada operation. iPhone is in a league of its own!Design: the device is built to impress you from the moment you touch it. The 4/5 metal back with the "Apple" sign engraved, the absence of many buttons and the shiny metal around the screen give exactly what you'd expect from Apple. I am sure MOMA will start to built the "Apple" wing sometime shortly ;) The screen is brilliant and far beyond everything I have seen in such devices. Many people compare it to PSP (only) but for sure my PSP doesn't seem so "live" and "clear" from my perspective; for sure though it is the only device with a display close to the iPhone.
Phone: oh yes! let's not forget this is the initial reason it was made for (really???). Well, pretty much everything you expect from a phone is here: you have a dial-pad, the recent calls list, the speed-dial list and the contact list having all your contacts there. Sounds similar to what you already have, right? Well, iPhone introduces so many things that differentiate it, from the immediate scrolling of the contact list to the simplified way you can add and remove a contact, to add it in the speed-dial list or to modify it whenever you want. the most eye-capturing difference is the way the contacts are scrolling (and "bouncing" when reaching the end or the beginning of the screen), with the response to human touch to make even the biggest non-believer out there to accept the good work done on this aspect. SMS functionality is very easy (using in full the amazing text insertion interface) and the messages are displayed as a chat between sender and receiver.
iPod: as I have never used an iPod before, I can't compare it to the internal competition. Nevertheless I have used MP3 players from Sony and Archos as well as PSPs media for videos an I can say that the sound is clear and loud as you can expect from the brand that set up the standards for the market. Videos are smooth and similar to the UMD quality of PSP (I would give the same mark to both devices). For another time though, Apple is making a difference to the way your collection of songs is displayed on screen being able to scroll between the covers of your albums (if you bought the titles from iTunes store or you have inserted them in your collection). In addition this is the first place to notice the gyroscopic funtion of the device, while changing from vertical to horizontal position, changes the way tracks are displayed and the user interface!
Internet: iPhone uses Safari and I can say that although I checked if my favorite Firefox will ever become available, I hardly have any complaints. The manual insertion of the URL as well as from bookmarks is piece of cake and the display of the page almost as in your PC browser, and google search included in the top of the browser. Scrolling to any direction is done by fingers and you can zoom in - zoom out with the notorious two finger movement (damn! you have to use two for that!). The job being done in the web browsing is amazing too, since the focus and clarity of the page is so good that you can read perfectly well even in total zoom out in most of cases. Gyroscopic functionality is used here too, while switching from vertical to horizontal position automatically switches the way the web page is displayed on screen. Finally, you can use multiple web pages at the same time and the switching is much easier than in any smartphones I have seen up to now.Productivity: for the most business users, features described up to now are good but how can they leave their handy e-mail "bricks"? Well, although not a "Blackberry" device you can have your e-mail via POP or IMAP access and many famous public e-mail providers like gmail and yahoo! are already included for fast setup. Calendar is complete and can be synchronized with outlook, clock includes a world clock functionality, notes are there as well as a simple calulator and finally a nice Stocks application getting real time data from Yahoo! (although set up for US as my device is based for US usage). Weather is also displayed the same way for various cities around the world and you also have a Maps application displaying the same way GoogleMaps and GoogleEarth.
Fun: iPhone comes with a 2Mpixel camera and you can see the photos you take, in the brilliant screen using the described zoom and gyroscopic functions here too. Final touch is the access to YouTube that is done directly -not via the internet browser- and that includes "Featured", "Most Viewed" and "Bookmarks" links as well as search functionality.
Misses: Of course Apple missed out several things that we can find in other mobile devices and which I hear all the time from people around me when I am expressing my enthusiasm for the iPhone. For the beginning the phone is made for US therefore MMS is missing (not highly used I suppose), multi-receiver SMS too and the dial pattern is based on US rules -the latter changed in the 1.1.1 upgrade as I have read. The same upgrade has made multi-language support available too and this is nice for users who like to see their own language in menus and send SMS in local language. Camera is also below the standards of the cost of the device (is announced to 999 € as standalone in France) where competition is at 3,2MP or more... From my personal point of view, the word and excel functionality I have on my Sony-Ericsson P1 is neat to have for e-mail attachments -just for a quick look when needed. Oh...a colleague also noticed that there's a lack of movement sensor to understand the orders given over the screen ;)
For the cost of getting through eBay (being the cheaper) or through local isolated importers an iPhone, it is at the time the best in style, functionality and usability device in the market. Yes, it is not perfect and yes there are still things that can be added to it. Nevertheless, having used an iPhone for sometime makes you change the way you want your phone to be used and it is by far the most "hot" gadget for anyone to own. Looking the smile of lucky owners when they use it can be the proof...
1 comment:
This is the best review of iPhone I've ever read (and I read quite a few). Sounds like a poem! Great!
Post a Comment