iPhone Review

iPhone 4 and iOS 4 – 07-08-10

It is about that time again: time for another iPhone hardware and software refresh.  Amazingly enough I am still with this phone after almost three years.  This is all thanks to Apple’s steady hardware updates and frequent software updates which include new features that keep me interested in the phone and the platform.

First I want to talk about the reasons I use the iPhone over the other options out there.

  • The iPhone and its accompanying software are both extremely elegant.  There are very few rough edges anywhere to be seen and I really appreciate that.  Sure, there may be some features that other phones have or had first but in terms of polish I doubt there is anything that comes close.  I am sure that the other options out there are catching up.  That is what happens in a market.  Bring it on.
  • Apple is committed to ongoing support of this platform. Before the iPhone it was extremely rare if not impossible to find a phone maker that supported both hardware and software in an ongoing and unified way.  There are several options out there now that do this but I think Apple has done the best job of it.  There has been a major OS update each year alongside a hardware update.
  • It does the things I want my phone to do well. Multimedia is well integrated.  My experience with AT&T has been very good.  I don’t have the dropped call or data connectivity issues that others have experienced.  The web browsing experience is great.  I can read a book on the go.  If there is something you want the phone to do that isn’t baked in, there will be an application that will cover your need.  I also really enjoy multitude and variety of quality games on the iPhone platform.  It is a true multimedia device, not just a phone.

As of right now those are my reasons.  If another platform comes along that fits my needs better then I will switch.

On to the iPhone 4 itself.

First let’s talk about the physical design.  This may sound weird, but the iPhone 4 is the most attractive gadget I have held in my hand.  Everything from the materials it is made from (glass and metal) to the way the buttons work is simply amazing.  The front and back of the phone are made from a hardened glass material that is supposed to be fairly scratch resistant, not scratch proof.  Care and a case will still be needed to keep it from getting beat up.  The edges are a stainless steel material that looks great and doubles as an antenna.  Form and function in one.  Very nice.  The iPhone 4 is noticeably thinner than its predecessors yet it has nice heft to it which makes it feel sturdy.

The internal hardware has received a large upgrade as well.  Apple doubled the memory from the 3GS and iPad up from 256MB to 512MB in the iPhone 4.  This means more things going on at the same time and aids in the HD video capture (more on that in a bit).  The processor has received an upgrade as well to the same processor running the iPad.  In normal OS use I didn’t see a huge increase in speed but it seemed a bit faster.  The new processor really helps out when loading large apps like games.  Apps that might take 5 seconds to load on the 3GS now load almost instantly.  Other tasks like loading up an ebook was noticeably faster as well.  A welcome update.

The most important hardware piece from a user standpoint on a touch screen phone is, without a doubt, the screen.  This is what you will be interacting with for the life of the phone so it had better be good.  The screen on the iPhone 4 is nothing short of amazing.  It continues to wow me with its crisp text and clarity.  Why is it so good?  The resolution of the phone is 960×480 which means that there are enough pixels per inch that you can’t see them.  I don’t think I can stress how big a difference this feature makes in usability.  I have been reading a book via the new iBooks app and have had no trouble reading for an extended time period.  Not only does it look good it is very touch responsive just as all previous iPhone have been.  The screen on the iPhone 4 is incredible.

Another big upgrade to the iPhone 4 is the camera.  It is sporting a 5 megapixel camera (up from the 3 megapixel on the 3GS) and it captures great images and not just for a phone.  They are great images period.  Coupled with a flash and a low light sensor the iPhone can now take very competent shots in dimmer areas.  It also has a 5x digital zoom that increases the camera’s flexibility. Along with a better camera comes the ability to shoot smooth HD video (720p).  I got to use this feature quite a bit this last weekend when my 6 month old nephew came into town.  It captures great videos which will turn into great memories.  The camera and video capture both work as advertised with no hiccups.

This brings me to the larger battery in the iPhone 4 which, I have to say, I am quite impressed with.  Under normal use (for me that means internet browsing, book reading, listening to music and podcasts, playing a few games, checking email, and texting) the battery lasted over 33 hours without seeing a charger.  That is a great result considering that my 3GS would have been shot after less than 20.  Very impressive.  To top it off it recharged in less than three and a half hours.

One of the big things that Apple is touting about the iPhone 4 is Facetime, a way to do video calling using the new front facing camera.  Apple has been talking about this feature (video calling) like it is something new.  My response is yes and no.  No, video calling is not something new.  It has been around for a while but hasn’t really caught on.  Yes, in terms of Facetime’s implementation, with a caveat.  There is no signing in to a service.  When you are on a call and want to switch to a video call you click the Facetime button and there you are.  It is smooth and works great.  The caveat is twofold: as of now you must be on WiFi and you must own an iPhone 4 in order to use Facetime, two very limiting factors.  Since Facetime is an open standard other platforms can make use of it and I hope they do.  And I am sure that Facetime won’t always be tied to WiFi.  But for now it is.

There are quite a few new hardware features on the iPhone 4 but those are the biggies for me for now.  The new gyroscope may be well used at a later date but as of now it is pretty useless to me.  I have also noted that the speaker quality is much higher on the iPhone 4 than with previous versions.

Let’s talk about some issues with the phones that have come up recently.

Many people have noted a signal/antenna issue.  If you hold the phone a certain way your bars seem to disappear.  I have been able to replicate this issue but I have also found that call clarity is not affected.  Despite what the signal strength indicator shows I have not had signal problems.  But still, how did this slip through?

There have been quite a few reports popping up about the fragility of the phone.  There have been pictures all over the tech blogs showing broken glass on the front and back of the iPhone 4.  Apple is good at delivering quality products but that doesn’t mean they are unbreakable.  As with any device you should be careful with it or it will break.

Alright, let’s talk about the features in iOS4 that matter to me.

  • Folders – Organization of apps on the iPhone has been clunky in the past.  It wasn’t too bad at first but as the App Store grew I ended up with more and more apps.  I think at one point I had eight pages of apps.  That is a pain.  I pared it down to around five or six pages before Folders came along.  Now, with folders, I only have two pages.  I really like this addition.
  • Fast App Switching – Switching between apps before wasn’t too bad.  But it was a little clunky.  Now, with a double tap of the home button, you can switch to recently used apps very quickly and easily.  On top of that, as long as the app supports it, the apps are saved when you exit them so that when you switch back to them they come back just the way they were when you left.  I am sure the more I get used to it the more useful it will become.
  • Multitasking – Before iOS4 if you were listening to Pandora and wanted to check out something on the internet your music would stop playing because you had to exit the application.  No so anymore.  Most situations when you want to exit an app but have it continue doing something in the background will work.  All this while maintaining battery life.  A great solution tailored to a mobile device.
  • Faster Camera – This is a little biggie.  Cameras on phones are notoriously slow.  When you are trying to take a picture of, say, a baby and you are waiting for that perfect moment it will usually pass you by because the camera takes its time.  Not so anymore.  It is very much an instant thing.  I am very happy with this little-big improvement.
  • Background Images – To me this is a small thing.  But it is a thing nonetheless.  It is nice to have a picture in the background instead of a black nothing.  That is all.
  • Editable iTunes Playlists – This is simply more functionality in an already very functional iPod application.  You can now create new playlists (besides just the “On-the-Go” lists) and edit ones currently resident on your phone.  More options are better in this case.
  • Unified Inbox/threaded messages – Email has always been usable on the iPhone but just so.  Now they are adding more functionality in the way of unified inboxes and threaded messages.  You can now have all your mail from multiple email accounts show up in a unified inbox.  Very handy.  Emails that are response to others show up in threads which makes following a conversation through email very easy.  Both very welcome additions.
  • Orientation Lock – I check on the news before I go to sleep that means I am laying in bed.  If I happened to roll over on my side the screen would rotate when I didn’t want it to.  Rotation lock fixes that.  It is located on the far left of the fast app switching dock (just a double tap of the home button away).  This has turned out to be very handy and the rotation lock is on most of the time.

These are the main things that will have a great impact on the way I use the phone.  Are there more things they could have added?  Sure thing.  Am I happy with what they did add?  Sure thing.

I have one more thing to talk about.  iBooks.  I am a book reader.  I love the feel of a physical book so knew that transitioning to another medium would be hard for me but it is something that I at least wanted to try.  I have almost completed reading a book on the iPhone 4 and I am impressed.  I do not want to switch completely away from a physical book but I can see the appeal of reading on a device like this.  It is nice to be able to look up a word instantly or to make a note about a particular passage.  Do I want to read on a device like this all the time?  No.  Can I read on it sometimes?  Absolutely.  And I think it will continue to grow on me.

I want to quickly address some of the previous issues I had with the iPhone and its software and let you know if any of these have been fixed.

  • Battery life – As mentioned above this has been taken care of in a big way.  Solved
  • Multitasking – Again, taken care of.  I think the way the iPhone balances battery life with multitasking is a great way to handle it on a mobile platform.  Solved.
  • Adobe Flash – Still non-existent.  I wish the option was there although there have been fewer and fewer times that its omission was felt.  With HTML5 on the rise this will become even less of an issue.  But I still wish the option was there.
  • Ability to use the phone as a USB drive – Again, non-existent but I don’t really care if they add this functionality or not now.  I have found a better solution.  Dropbox.  There’s an app for that.  If you don’t know what Dropbox is you really should check it out.  Solved.

Here are some areas that I think still need improving.

  • Notifications – This is an area that many people are asking for improvement in.  I don’t have a huge problem with the pop up notifications that exist now, but I do know that it could be better so the system could use a facelift.
  • Facetime – I can really see this service being very useful but because of its limitations (iPhone 4 and WIFi only) it just isn’t yet.  Remedy those two things and it could be great.
  • Widgets – I would like to be able to look at my phone for quick information like weather.  Right now there is no good way to do this without loading up the app.  Also, the lock screen seems like some seriously wasted real estate.  Widgets on the lock screen would be nice.  Throughout the OS would be nicer still.
  • Settings shortcuts – This could go along with widgets.  It would be nice to have quick access to some settings that are buried in menus right now.  How about a screen you can drag some setting widgets to.
  • Home Screen options – This has been alleviated somewhat by the new Folders features.  But it would be nice to set whichever screen you want to be your home screen.  For example, if you had 5 pages of apps it would be handy to set the third one as the home screen so that when you clicked the home button it would take you to the middle screen instead of the far left.  Spotlight could also be changed to a swipe up or down from any screen providing much quicker access to searching.
  • Data plan caps and additional fees – This involves AT&T more than Apple but since they are in an exclusive relationship this relates.  AT&T has moved to cap data usage.  This will not be a huge issue for most people and will, in fact, save money for most users.  Fortunately I still have my unlimited data plan since I had it before they changed to the capped plans.  But, if I ever want to use the tethering feature (which has an additional fee associated with it) I would have to change to the capped plan.  I don’t like the implications of this.

So there you have it.  My take of iOS4 and iPhone 4.

Follow up Review 06-24-09  iPhone 3GS and 3.0 software

It has been a year and a half since I purchased my iPhone so when the new 3GS was announced I was thinking it was time for an upgrade.  Coupled with the release of the new phone hardware was the new 3.0 software.  This review will be of the 3.0 software on the 3GS handset.  Keep in mind that not all the features discussed here will work on previous versions of the phone.

What convinced me to buy the new phone, you ask?  There were many features that that the new phone would support that I thought made it worth it.

S stands for speed – If you have read other reviews of this phone then you have heard this statement before.  They aren’t kidding.  Compared to the iPhone 2G I had before this thing is quick.  If you use your phone to play games this is a big deal.  The other area that I have noticed a big speed bump is in web browsing.  This is really the reason I wanted the speed upgrade.  Web pages load much quicker and render faster which means less wait.

GPS and Compass – The 2G iPhone did not have GPS so this was a big factor for me.  I am looking forward to the turn by turn GPS app that will be coming from Tom Tom.  On the surface the compass seems like a “huh?” addition.  Why would they add a compass to a phone?  The compass app on it’s own is pretty plain but cool all the same.  But where it really shines is when you couple it with the maps application.  It will orient the map to the direction you are facing making it very easy to tell if an upcoming turn is left or right.  Great addition.

Voice control – This is a very nice feature and it is implemented well.  My wife has always wondered what the purpose of having a Blue Tooth ear piece was since I still had to mess with the phone when I called someone.  So now when I drive all I have to do is hold down the home button and tell the phone who I want to call.  Or what song I want it to play.  I think this will really prove it’s worth as time goes on.

Camera/Video Recording – The previous iPhones had a 2 megapixel camera that worked fairly well but it could have used some improvement.  The 3GS now has a 3 megapixel camera that allows you to change the focal point of the picture.  This results in clearer pictures and a more usable camera.  The camera can now shoot video as well.  The video is clear and smooth and is editable right there on the phone.  A great new feature.

MMS – Since I owned the 2G iPhone previously I would not be able to use the MMS functions that the 3.0 software would support.  I have really been annoyed with the way MMS was handled before.  It was very cumbersome so I am really looking forward to this.  It is not available as I write this but AT&T promises to support it by the end of summer.

Stereo Blue Tooth support – wired headphones are ok, but wouldn’t you rather have wireless ones?  I would.  When I can find an affordable pair I will be getting some to take running with me.  This support also allows you to connect it to your car stereo wirelessly, provided that your car stereo supports this.

Most of the items above are only supported by the 3GS model of the phone but all of them were things that I could not do on the 2G version I had.  Now I want to mention a few features of the 3.0 software update that any iPhone user will have access to.  If you own an iPhone and haven’t upgraded yet, you should.

Cut, Copy, and Paste – I know, this sounds like a goofy feature to be excited about but I am.  It is something that people have been asking for since the first iPhone was released.  Apple seems to know what they are doing when it comes to implementing new features that work well.  So I trust that it hasn’t come until now because it wasn’t ready until now.  The implementation is great.  Tap and hold on a word and it will bring up options to resize your selection and then copy it.  Go to another app, tap the cursor and an option comes up to paste it.  Simple and effective.  I have found many uses for it already.

Voice Memos – I am not sure how much I will use this but if I did I am sure I would be happy with it.  I have just played with it some but it seems to work well.  I stood about 10 feet away from the phone facing the opposite way and it still picked up my voice well (this was on my 2G phone so I would expect the 3GS to do an even better job since it has a better mic).

Push Notification –   One of the big complaints about the iPhone in general (especially now that the Palm Pre has released) is that it does not multitask.  You can’t run multiple applications at the same time.  Push notification allows apps that aren’t running to give you notifications when something changes.  For example, you can sign into instant messenger, then close the app but if someone messages you their message will pop up on the screen.  So, this isn’t quite as good as multitasking because to answer the IM you would still have to close the app you were in and open your instant messaging app to respond.  One big help with this on the 3GS is it’s speed.   You can quickly switch between apps.  Push notification is a welcome addition but the quicker Apple can make the iPhone multitask the better.

Spotlight Search – If you were searching for something on your iPhone before the 3.0 software it might be tedious and take a while.  This is solved with Spotlight Search.  To search flick to the left of your home screen and begin typing.  The phone immediately begins returning results as you type.  It groups them by what they are (ie contacts, email, iPod).  The searching extends beyond just this screen.  You can search the email that is on your iPhone as well as extend the search to mail that is on the server.  This is a big deal.  It makes finding things easy.

There are many other features added such as an improved calendar, landscape keyboard throughout the phone, notes syncing, and more but the above are the big ones.

So, now that I have told you about all the features let me give you my opinion about the whole.  For me, upgrading to this phone was well worth it.  It brings features that I have been waiting for as well as a hardware update.  I think that it was implemented well and have had no major problems with the way things work on the phone.

For those of you worried about smudges on the screen, Apple has put a layer of “smudge repellant” on the screen.  It doesn’t keep smudges off but it does help considerably.

The battery life on the new phone seems to be a little shorter.  This could be because I am using it more trying out all the new features.  It also could be because the phone can now show you the actual percentage of battery left next to the battery icon.  Maybe I am just not used to seeing it this way.

There are still some things I would like to see added in future software updates.  Flash support is still non-existent although I have heard that Adobe is working on a mobile version for the iPhone but there is no news as to whether Apple will use it.  Since many websites use Flash I don’t think the web browser on the phone can be considered “complete” until Flash support is added.

Another feature I am looking for is the ability to use it like a USB drive.  I want to plug it into my computer and be able to transfer files to it to take with me.  Going along with this, I would also like to see support for editing documents.  There is an app out there that allows this but I want it as a built in feature.

The only other downfall of this device is the money it costs, and I don’t mean up front.  The phone I got was 199.99 which is actually a good price considering that the 16GB iPod Touch runs 299.99.  It is the monthly data package fee that AT&T requires if you have an iPhone.  $30 per month is a little steep in my opinion, but it does allow me to do lots of things I wouldn’t be able to do otherwise.

Despite the few items above, the iPhone 3GS is wonderful.  It is easy and intuitive to use and does so many things that make life easier.  I can’t tell you how many times I have referenced it when traveling.  Eventually devices like this will make owning a computer or laptop less of a necessity.  Having an iPhone in your pocket is like having an easy to use computer with you all the time.  I look forward to what Apple will do with it next.  My experience with the iPhone has been such that I would consider buying a Mac as my next laptop.  And if you know me, that is about the best recommendation I can give.

Follow up Review 12-10-08

About a year ago I purchased my iPhone.  I can honestly say that it is one of the most useful pieces of technology I have ever owned and I believe that it has ushered in a new era of mobile computing.  If you look at the cell phone market, you will see, now more than ever, a change from cell phones being just phones to complete mobile computers.  There may have been phones before that worked similarly but they did not have an effect on the market that the iPhone did.  It is a truly revolutionary device.  Keep in mind that all of this is coming from a person who does not own Apple products apart from the iPhone and iPod.

Since this is a review I suppose I will get on to that part.  Keep in mind I still own the original iPhone, not the 3g.  Physically, the iPhone is holding up very well.  I do not have a case for it and there are only very minor scratches on the screen.  The camera lense appears to have some scratches on it that could be affecting the quality of pictures it takes.  The buttons still work well and the battery still holds a charge like it did when I bought it.  The external speaker is weak but it has been like that since I bought it.  From what I understand they fixed this on the 3g.  The headphones that came with it are going out.  Granted, I use them pretty much every day at work, but this is not a problem with the phone itself.

On the software end, things could not be better.  I have experienced no problems with any of the software components.  Occasionally an application will crash but that is to be expected on a computing device.  Apple continually updates their software to keep new features coming and polishing old ones.  There are new applications being added via the App Store.  The only applications I have downloaded are all free and they are extremely useful.  Here is a list of my current favorites:

The Weather Channel App:  My newest app to get weather updates from.

Wikipanion: Wikipedia on the go.

Google App:  Search by voice and links to all their other web applications I use.

reMovem Free:  The game that gets the most use on my phone

Dice:  That is really all it is, just dice.  But you can play all kinds of games with it (we played Yahtzee with it last night) and it is pretty to look at.

Lux Touch:  This is a basic version of Risk.

Amazon.com App:  I can take pictures of products with my phone and it finds them and stores them on my Amazon home page.  Handy!

Like any other thing in this world, it is still not perfect.  All of the issues I had last time still exist.  No copy and paste feature, no Flash support, and it still does not work like a flash drive (in the way I want).  You can connect to it wirelessly and transfer files to it and from it but this requires a wireless network.  It would be better if I could hook it up to my computer via USB port.

With those as my only complaints, the iPhone is still a wonderful device.  With this as my first real opportunity to see an Apple operating system on a daily basis I would be inclined to try out others.  I would highly recommend the iPhone to anyone who needs an on-the-go computer.

Follow up Review 7-31-08

I have now owned the iPhone for  almost eight months now so I thought I would post a brief follow up.  I still own the original phone (probably to my wife’s relief) even though the new 3g iPhone released earlier in July.  First, I need to tell you what a huge improvement the 2.0 firmware makes.  Allowing people to download and install applications to their phones makes them so much more usable.  Here is a list of the applications I have found most useful:

Remote – This allows me to remotely control my iTunes library on my computer at home.

Box Office – Great little app that finds theaters near you, lets you read reviews and watch trailers for movies and even buy tickets to the show.

Facebook – This app version is much better than the web version and I am pretty sure it is quicker.

Bible – I can now read and search the Bible in almost any translation from anywhere I get internet.

myLite – This app converts my iPhone into a flashlight (a very good one at that).

WeatherBug – This replaced the Weather app that comes installed on the phone.  It gives much more information and I can look at the radar.

These are just a few that I have downloaded and all of the ones I have gotten thus far are free.  There have been many other improvements along the way as well but the App Store is by far the best for me.

Unfortunately, some of my original complaints still remain.  There is still no copy and paste feature.  The phone still can not act as a flash drive (or not that I know of).  It still does not support Flash but I have heard this is coming soon.  A complaint that I have to add to the list is that over the course of time the lens for the camera has become foggy which produces images that aren’t great.  This might have been a result of me carrying it in my pocket without a case.  Everything else about the phone is holding up well.  The touch screen has not scratched and still works great.

So there you go.  Eight months down the road and it is still going strong.  Since this seems to be a product that is updated frequently I will probably update this review as well.

Original Review 2-1-08

Since I have now owned my iPhone for a month I thought it would be fitting to write a review for those of you out there who are thinking about purchasing one or those of you just want to know what I think. After owning this device for a month I can say that I do not regret my purchase in the slightest . When I was first considering buying an iPhone, I thought that $400 was quite a bit to lay down for a phone. It still is quite a bit to lay down for a phone, but the iPhone is more than just a phone. Granted, most phones these days are also more than just a phone. Also granted, I haven’t spent any time with other smart phones out there so this review will not be a comparison to like products. Instead it will just be my experience with the device. As you read this, keep in mind that one of my weaknesses is new technology. I like gadgets.

Usually when you tell someone that you have good and bad news and ask them which they want first, most people want the bad news first. I hope that person is you because I am first going to tell you about the few drawbacks or flaws I have found. My first complaint is data storage. When you hold an iPhone you are holding a very portable hard drive. It can store pictures, music, contacts, notes, and calendar information, but you cannot use it as a flash drive. I can’t put other files on it that I want to take with me wherever I go. I still have to carry a flash drive to do that. I think this could be fixed by a firmware update but I doubt it will be. My second complaint is the lack of ability to use third-party applications. This is not a large issue considering the fact that this will be remedied very soon. Next, I cannot use the iPhone with accessories I had for my last iPod. They have the same ports on them but when I plug it in to, say, my car FM transmitter it pops up a message and tells me that the iPhone does not work with that accessory. If I want to use it in my car I will have to go out and buy a new accessory that is compatible with the iPhone. I am sure that this is a great way for Apple to make more money but it sure doesn’t help out the customer. Next is the iPhone’s lack of support for Flash media and some other web information formats. I am sure this will be fixed in an upcoming firmware update but until then it remains a problem. This is something that should have been included when they released the iPhone. My last issue is the lack of a copy-paste function. I didn’t realize how much I used it until I used a device that does not have it. Again, this is something that can be fixed in the future and I hope it will be.

Now the good news. Having an iPhone in my pocket means, basically, having a mobile computer in my pocket. Since I have many things I do on the internet it is very handy to have it wherever I go. This is the first bit of good news. I have access to an almost infinite amount of information anywhere. I can check my bank balance, look up movie times, check my email, get directions from Google Maps,  and just about anything else you can think of that you use the internet for. The browser is fully functional so the internet is not watered down at all. Secondly, I have never kept up with a calendar very well but the calendar feature on the iPhone has changed that because it is easy to use. Next, for those of you worried about the keyboard on the iPhone, don’t be. It is very easy to use. I can type faster on this than any of my previous phones (and I have owned phones with full keyboards before). Next, Apple is famous for the user interfaces on their computers and that seems to be true of this device as well. It is very intuitive and easy to navigate. One of my big concerns before buying the iPhone was the battery life. So another piece of good news is that in my month of using it I have never had it run down on me and I use it extensively during the day. Another great feature is the iPod that is included. There are phones out there that offer an mp3 player but I can guarantee that none of them pull it off like the iPhone does. This is to be expected since Apple’s iPod has the largest market share in the world of mp3 players but the iPod that is featured on the iPhone is their best yet. The next feature really makes most of the above possible. The beautiful multi-touch screen on the iPhone is amazing. I am sure that most phones that go with a touch screen will do their best to emulate what Apple has accomplished with the iPhone’s screen.

All the above mentioned things are features that separate this device from other phones in my opinion but there are things that most phones do these days that the iPhone does just as well and it looks good while doing it. The camera works wonderfully for phone camera. People have commented on the clarity of the pictures. I have also used it to take pictures that end up on my blog (which I can write and post entries on from the iPhone). The calculator feature is much more usable than any other featured on another phone (thanks to the screen). And of course, the devices namesake, the phone feature. Again, the screen makes it a pleasure to work with the contacts list and the phones keypad. The visual voicemail feature is also very well done. It is a great convenience to be able to pick which message to listen to and then to have the ability to rewind or fast forward that message. One feature that would make the phone easier to use would be to allow the user to create speed dial icons on their home screen. Since you can put bookmarks to internets sites on the home screen it would not be a large jump to add the ability put speed dial numbers there as well.

If you are considering purchasing an iPhone you might keep the following things in mind. First, it is a very useful device for those of us who use the internet a lot. If you don’t use the internet much that would greatly diminish one of the values the iPhone offers. Second, it is expensive. If I hadn’t been looking to replace my iPod at the same time as my phone the option of buying the iPhone would have been much farther down my list. Last, there is an inevitable new iPhone that will come out probably sometime this year (according to rumors). I am sure it will resolve problems and improve on the existing good things. It might be worth waiting for the new and improved version. I considered this as well but I felt that most of the improvements that I wanted could be done via firmware updates.

Even with the things that can be improved on, the iPhone is a marvel. Apple has delivered a wonderful product that comes highly recommended by me. If you are in the market for a new phone and iPod and feel like the features would be useful to you, then by all means, get an iPhone.