iPhone, You Phone We All Phone for iPhone.
Check for a pulse. Got one? Then chances are you’re well aware of this innovative gadget designed by the same people who introduced the world dominating iPod. Apple has now managed to integrate a cell phone, iPod and the Internet into one magical little package. After months of hype and anticipation the iPhone has emerged with a leap forward in the industry.
The iPhone has a wicked multi-touch screen allowing users to drag, flick, swipe and pinch their way through the device much like using a Mac. It’s as wide as a Palm Treo 755 and as thin as a Motorola RAZR with a 3.5” glass display screen that makes playing with it somewhat addictive. Luckily, Apple also includes a cloth to wipe the fried chicken finger smudges from the screen.
Operating the phone is true to Apple style. Simple. Almost all options are a few clicks away and are shown in large clear font. The 2.0 megapixel camera is on par with other camera phones; however, Apple oddly neglected to include a video camera.
As you can imagine, the iPod side of this phone is bang on and reacts exactly like your iPod, but with a twist. Search music the customary way or flip the iPhone on its side and enter into Cover Flow mode, which allows you to literally thumb through your album collection.
Surfing the Internet with the Safari browser is one of the best examples ever seen on a mobile device. Pages are displayed as you would expect, without any rendering to fit the screen. The process is further improved by easily allowing users to effortlessly zoom in and out on selected areas of the page.
Some sweet technology was pumped into the iPhone as well. It includes a trio of sensors (light, proximity and orientation) to help users interact it. The light sensor saves power by dimming the backlight while the proximity sensor switches the display on and off when the phone is 0.75” away from your ear. The orientation sensor allows users to flip the phone either left or right and change the screen view with little hesitation between the two.
The iPhone has already been released in the US with AT&T as its sole provider. However, a recent hack has exposed how with a little soldering and some skill, you can unlock your phone to work with any provider. It’s slated to arrive later this year in Canada with Rogers in top contention. With a price tag of $499 (4GB) and $599 (8GB), and version 2.0 already in the works, we’re hoping the next iPhone will come with an option to travel through time.
