July '07 Tools

The iPhone is a multimedia and Internet-enabled mobile phone by Apple that was released on June 29, 2007. AT&T Mobility will be the exclusive carrier of the iPhone in the U.S. until 2009 (or later). If you're considering the purchase of a new iPhone, here's a review of its features as well as some of its shortcomings.

iPhone Specifications

* Screen size: 3.5 in
* Screen resolution: 320×480 pixels at 160 ppi
* Input method: Multi-touch screen interface
* Operating System: OS-X
* Storage: 4 or 8 GB Flash memory
* Wi-Fi, EDGE and Bluetooth 2.0 with EDR
* 2 megapixel camera
* Built-in rechargeable, non-removable battery
* Size: 4.5 × 2.4 × 0.46 in.
* Weight 4.8 oz

iPhone Suggested Retail Cost: 4GB around $500, 8GB about $600.

iPhone Touch screen:

The screen is unique in that it requires touch by something with the same characteristics as bare skin. A stylus or any other pointer type device will not work. The 3.5 in. liquid crystal HVGA screen is topped with optical quality glass and is designed to be used with the finger, multiple fingers for multi-touch sensing.

A virtual keyboard on the touch screen is used for text input. It has spell checking and a dynamic dictionary that learns new words, plus it includes a dynamic new word prediction capability. The predictive word capabilities have been integrated with the virtual keyboard so users will not have to be extremely accurate with typing - just touching the edge of the desired letter or nearby letter will be corrected when recognized. The iPhone can also be typed on in the landscape (horizontal) mode - the keys are somewhat larger and are further apart.

The iPhone differs from the normal scrolling method to include a "direct manipulation model" of scrolling. Instead of using a scroll arrow to push a view down or up, the iPhone interface allows the user to directly move the content in any direction by touch-dragging with the finger. Additionally, the speed of the scrolling is dependent on the speed that the finger is dragged.

A completely natural feel is achieved when scrolling through a long list. Long list scrolling works as if it was pasted on a wheel. The wheel can be spun quickly by quickly sliding the finger over the display and lifting the finger. This causes the wheel to continue spinning for a short time before slowing. By simulating the physics of a real object a "natural feel" to the process is achieved.

The iPhone also features other visual effects, such as horizontally sliding sub-selections and co-selections from right and left, vertically sliding system menus from the bottom (e.g. favorites, keyboard), and menus and widgets that turn around to allow settings to be configured on their back sides.

"Multi touch sensing" allows photos and web pages to be magnified or reduced in size. By "pinching" or "unpinching" an item, it can be reduced or expanded in size. This is done by placing two fingers (typically the thumb and forefinger) on the screen and moving them closer together, reducing the item size, or further apart to increase the size. The change in size is done uniformly and proportionately so the image is not distorted.

The screen responds to three different sensors... 1) A "proximity sensor" that senses how close it is to an object and will shut off the display to save power and prevent undesired screen touching / input; 2) An "ambient light sensor" that automatically adjusts the screen brightness; 3) an "accelerometer" which changes the screen according to the orientation of the iPhone (vertically or horizontally).

iPhone Buttons:

There is only one button on the front of the iPhone that brings up the main menu. All other selections are made on the touch screen. All pages are displayed as full size pages with text specific submenus at the top and bottom of each page. Also on the sides are switches for sleep/wake, volume up/down and ringer on/off. All other phone and multimedia operations are done on the touch screen.

What the iPhone has:

Phone - In addition to the usual features (conferencing, call holding, call merging, caller ID and integration with other cellular networks, the iPhone has a special feature of fading a song volume when a call is received and increasing it back again when the call has ended. The phone also includes a nice feature called "visual voicemail" which works in conjunction with AT&T, that allows users to view their current list of voice mail messages on screen without having to call into their voicemail. Unlike other systems, messages can be listened to in non-chronological order simply by choosing the message from the screen list. SMS messages are listed chronologically in a format that places all text from recipients with the reply. Text messages are displayed similar to iChat in text bubbles under each recipients name.

Camera - On the back of the iPhone is a 2.0 megapixel camera which includes software that will allow uploading, viewing and emailing photos. The user can "pinch" and "un-pinch" the photos to zoom in or out.

Multimedia - With clear alphabetically arranged and large font displays, the iPhone displays the different albums downloaded in the music library. The iPhone can also play videos (both TV shows and movies) in a landscape orientation - with zoom in and zoom out features.

Internet - Wi-Fi has been added to the iPhone allowing it to wirelessly access the internet via the Safari web browser. It is also able to connect through AT&T's EDGE network. Instead of displaying simplified pages as on most smartphones, the browser displays full web pages. The web pages can be viewed in portrait or landscape mode and support automatic zooming by "pinching or unpinching" or double-tapping images and/or text for easier viewing. Wireless earpieces that use Bluetooth 2.0 technology are also present. A specially modified version of Google maps is available on the iPhone in local list, or satellite form. Though it does not have GPS capability, it can provide real-time traffic information.

Email - The user can embed photos in an email message thanks to an HMTL email program. IMAP and POP3 mail standards are supported including Microsoft's Exchange. The iPhone can sync email settings or can be manually configured using the device's settings tool. the email program can check many IMAP or POP3-enabled web based accounts such as Gmail, Mac mail and AOL.

Applications - The iPhone can stream videos over Wi-Fi and/or EDGE after encoding them using Quicktime's H.264 codex, allowing the viewer to initially view over 10,000 YouTube videos. The entire amount of videos should be available by Fall 2007.

Other Features - The iPhone battery is capable of providing up to 7 hours of video, 6 hours of web browsing and 8 hours of talk time (depending on the configuration). Additionally, the stated battery life for playing music is 24 hours plus and it will allow up to 250 hours of stand by time. Headphones incorporate a microphone and can allow calls to be answered and ended by squeezing the microphone. Wireless, Bluetooth headphones are also available (sold separately). Additionally a loudspeaker allows both hands free operations and media playback.

What it doesn't have:

The iPhone lacks a number of common handheld features, including voice dialing, voice recording, instant messaging, memory card slot, MMS, A2DP (stereo Bluetooth), Bluetooth file transfer, GPS capability, text copy/paste features, video recording with the built-in camera and support for MP3 files as ringtones.

Other concerns with the iPhone concern the rechargeable battery, which is non-removable, and once depleted, will need to be replaced by the manufacturer for a fee. Also, the iPhone cannot install full programs from anyone but Apple.

Additionally, while the menu offers many common phone features, there are a number of menu items that have notably been left out: Sports, Theaters, Games, Chat. All of these options could/should be added through software upgrades in the future.

Other Problems - The virtual keyboard is considered its main weakness. Those testing the iPhone found learning to use it was initially difficult. Although eventually successful, some stated it was "frustrating" and "text entry is not the iPhone’s strong suit". Everyone found that the typo-correcting feature of the iPhone was the feature that allowed them to use the virtual keyboard successfully.

A drawback with the Safari browser on the iPhone is that it supports neither Adobe Flash nor Java. Analysts also claim that iPhone lacks any type of firewall, which poses a data security risk.

The iPhone is able to connect to the Internet through AT&T's EDGE network but is not able to utilize AT&T's 3G/HSDPA network 3G support. The use of the EDGE network instead of 3G has been criticized by analysts. When the user is not in a Wi-Fi hot spot, the iPhone's network connection will use the EDGE network, which reviewers found "excruciatingly slow," with the iPhone taking as long as 100 seconds to download the Yahoo! home page for the first time.

The requirement for bare skin to be used has caused concerns for users in areas with winter climates, as the removal of gloves is required to use the touchpad.