Apple - iPhone (8 GB) Cell Phone Review

So I was one of those crazy people standing in line for hours just to buy a phone. I use the word "phone" lightly because the iPhone is so much more than just a phone. Seriously, it will change the way we use mobile devices to talk on the phone, send messages, check weather and stock, view web sites, listen to music, share photos and video, etc. "This will change everything."

The initial setup could not be any easier. Simply plug the iPhone into the provided USB-based charging/syncing station, and iTunes will automatically start the phone activation process. I was already an AT&T (Cingular) customer, so I kept the same mobile phone number. After verification of some billing information, my phone was activated in under one minute. It was ready to use at that point, but I took some extra time to sync my entire music library, some photos, and contacts. This took around 20 minutes to sync up around 6GB of information.

Once everything was ready to go, I swiped my finger across the screen to unlock the display. No more pressing "*-#-unlock-ctrl-alt-delete" to unlock a mobile phone screen. The rest of the touch screen experience is just as intuitive as the unlock process. Simply slide your finger around and the screen moves exactly as expected. Touch a button and it is exactly like the click of a mouse. Rotate the device in your hand, and the screen magically changes orientation. Flick your finger, and any scrollable list starts to scroll. Then it gets really cool with the use of that opposable thumb. Squeeze your thumb and another finger against the touch screen, and the entire window zooms out. Move your thumb and finger away from one another, and the entire window zooms in. This comes in extremely handy when viewing web pages. I will get to this later. Overall, the whole user interface just makes sense. It is extremely easy to navigate forwards/backwards, zoom in/out, close windows, select text, etc. It rocks!

Now on to the the applications on the iPhone. The three major categories are:

1. Phone

This works and works well. My signal strength was just as strong (if not stronger) as my older smartphone. My Bluetooth headset paired successfully, and provided great sound quality. I won't get into details about placing/answering a phone call, but believe me, it just makes sense. Absolutely no user manual is required. You can even browse the web via Wi-Fi while on a phone call.

2. Web Browser and Text Communication

This is the amazing part of the phone. The days of specially-coded web pages for mobile browsers are numbered. With the arrival of the iPhone, the standard Safari web browser now has a "mini-me" counterpart. The very first web site I visited on the iPhone was none other than viewpoints.com. It looked remarkably accurate - graphics, forms, fonts, and all.

The familiar Google Maps looks even better on the iPhone! Satellite coverage, live traffic, and driving directions are included. If (and when) there is GPS support, this would be the absolute perfect GPS solution. Until then, it actually does a decent job of a faux-GPS.

Text messages, phone calls, contact info, and emails all seamlessly integrate with one another to create the ultimate communication device. The eye candy looks and feels like the Apple OS X operating system, but bundled into a tiny package. It is brilliant!

3. Media

With the integration of iTunes music, iPhoto photos, and services such as YouTube videos, the iPhone is the ultimate all-in-one device. Anyone interested in a slightly used iPod nano?

With all the features packed into one device, I would say the iPod music player needs some more work. Without physical buttons for next track/previous track/pause, I found it a little cumbersome to navigate at times. I also had some trouble getting the display to appear in the correct orientation. It was, however, incredibly cool when it automatically paused my music to answer an incoming call.

I cannot say enough about the iPhone. Sure, there are several phones out there with better technical specifications, but none of them compare to the overall beauty and simplicity of the iPhone. It was hyped more than any other product in the history of products, and I am absolutely convinced it has lived up to the hype. With that said, there are some obvious shortcomings. Although the list is extremely small, there still is a list of "gotchas". Some of the things I have noticed:

• No Bluetooth support other than a Bluetooth headset for phone calls
• No high-speed third generation (3G) network support
• No "save username/password option" for forms in Safari web browser
• No built-in GPS
• No video camera
• No zoom in/out on camera (at least that I could find)
• Non-Apple earphones may not fit quite right in the recessed mini-stereo input jack
• Applications such as Safari and iPod occasionally (and annoyingly) crash
• No visual indicator of missed calls/messages/emails without physically touching the iPhone to show the screensaver
• No 802.11n support even though the latest Apple Airport Extreme debuted with it months earlier

Let me end with this little tidbit. I just wrote most of this review using the web browser and virtual keyboard on my actual iPhone! The text fields, the star rating, the pros/cons, the login process - it all worked flawlessly.

"This will change everything."