The iPhone is here, was it worth the wait?
- By Chief Editor
- Published 21 Nov 2007
Chief Editor
Experienced IT professional and frequent blogger with a special interest in technology, the internet, photography and motoring.
Well the iPhone has been available in the UK for nearly two weeks now.
After waiting for what seemed like an eternity for the iPhone to reach the UK after we first saw Steve Jobs demo it at an Apple Conference the iPhone went on sale in the UK, exclusively at Carphone Warehouse and only on the O2 network.
Despite initially deciding not to purchase an iPhone, the hype and the marketing got the better of me and I gave in :) I've now been using my iPhone for 5 days, so do I still love it as much now as I did within 1 hour of using it last week?
Yes, Yes, YES!!!
It's not perfect, far from it, but it really seems like a leap forward in the mobile phone/internet device world.
What's great about the iPhone?
Well when iPhone 2.0 sees the light of day (I'm guessing Q4 2008 or Q1 2009) it will no doubt address some of the shortcomings of the iPhone, but in the meantime let's enjoy the iPhone for what it is; a revolutionary device that will change the face of mobile communications. More to come over the coming months...
After waiting for what seemed like an eternity for the iPhone to reach the UK after we first saw Steve Jobs demo it at an Apple Conference the iPhone went on sale in the UK, exclusively at Carphone Warehouse and only on the O2 network.
Despite initially deciding not to purchase an iPhone, the hype and the marketing got the better of me and I gave in :) I've now been using my iPhone for 5 days, so do I still love it as much now as I did within 1 hour of using it last week?
Yes, Yes, YES!!!
It's not perfect, far from it, but it really seems like a leap forward in the mobile phone/internet device world.
What's great about the iPhone?
- Touch Interface - The touch interface is wonderful and takes about 10 seconds to feel perfectly at home with, surely we are going to see this as the user interface of choice over the coming months and years?
- Google Maps - Google Maps in the palm of your hand. Brilliant (though not so brilliant on the Edge network).
- Easily syncs most of your content using iTunes. Speaking as a Mac user, my iPhone now contains everything from my Calendar and Contacts database, as well as my Safari bookmarks, select iTunes tracks, podcasts, videos and over 1000 photos. And all of this is automatically kept up to date each time I dock the iPhone.
- No 3G - If you are within striking range of a WiFi network then it's great, but don't get used to Wifi speed as you'll be left with an empty feeling inside when you have to resort to Edge (which may be easier said than done if my experience of the O2 network coverage is anything to go by!)
- Battery Life - You can almost see the battery meter ebb away when you are surfing using WiFi. Yes it will last a good few hours, which will probably be OK for most people before they get a chance to dock it, but heavy WiFi usage will certainly drain the battery fast.
- 8Gb Storage - Seems mean, wonder when we will see the 16Gb iPhone (or even bigger)
- No way of deleting multiple emails at the same time (at least no way I have found). Picture the scene, you are viewing your emails and you can see 5 or 6 emails in a row which are spam. It would be nice to be able to highlight all of these emails and delete them in one go. But no, you have to delete each one individually.
Well when iPhone 2.0 sees the light of day (I'm guessing Q4 2008 or Q1 2009) it will no doubt address some of the shortcomings of the iPhone, but in the meantime let's enjoy the iPhone for what it is; a revolutionary device that will change the face of mobile communications. More to come over the coming months...