As I have recently upgrade, I had no real interest in purchasing the but I thought (just like everyone else) that I may as well see what all the hoo-ha is about.
The build and design of the iPhone is typical of Apple in general - sleek, stylish and free of any unnecessary extras that would have spoilt the designer's hard work.
After playing around with the much-hyped user Interface (or UI), I can say with a certain degree of conviction that the various positive comments bestowed upon it are completely deserved. Apple has transformed basic user-interfaces the same way they transformed the portable music player with the iPod back in 2001, and the speed of the UI will shame many other manufacturers and if it doesn't, it should. There's no lag, glitches or slowdown on evidence, which is highly commendable. Hopefully this is a taste of things to come.
After that undoubted highpoint, it's all downhill. The camera performance is frankly for the price, highly disappointing. Only 2MP and the lack of settings (flash, video or otherwise) is below average in the current cameraphone market, and while the performance is okay the features employed are far too lacklustre to have any chance of registering amongst the big boys of the industry.
The messaging functions also leave a lot to be desired. It's not possible to send a message to more than one recipient at a time due to some bizarre kink in the firmware and picture messaging has also been left out. Without these 2 options the iPhone is at risk of being out-of date in terms of features as soon as it has been released. Definitely a worry for a company meant to be on the cutting edge.
Update:
The issue with the inability to send messages to multiple recipients does actually now appear to have been resolved thanks to an Apple firmware update, but it should have been in from the beginning though.
As is rightfully expected, the music features are commendable. Employing Apple's new 'Cover Flow' music browser, it's a dream to work with and cannot be faulted, simple as that. With Wi-fi built in, purchases can be made on iTunes whenever a suitable connection is available, but the lack of 3G does halts its effectiveness - another glaring omission.
In conclusion, Apple's iPhone is an above average whose key selling point is the remarkably simple interface, but the limitations offered by the limited messaging and camera features do spoil the 'experience' somewhat. Worse still is the purchasing limitations which mean to get an iPhone, you have to sign up to an 18-month contract, have a strict choice of 2 tariffs (on only 1 network) and also have to fork out ?269 for the phone itself.
As great to use as the iPhone undoubtedly is, these limitations mean that my decision to go elsewhere has been justified. It's a great gadget, just not quite the all-conquering multimedia experience that Apple would have us believe, but try one for yourself and see if it seduces you as it has so many others. Worth looking out for though will be the next iPhone that's release as its sure to have given Apple more time to modify the menus and add some more goodies.
