iPhone

Well what can I say, it’s awesome! Apple announced the iPhone at yesterdays 2007 Macworld Expo keynote that exceeded nearly everyone’s hopes and predictions. Going to Apples website and watching the quicktime clips is enough to send any geek, well okay, anyone under 40 who’s ever used a phone, into wide-eyed tech shock. So a quick premature synopsis:

A few features.

• 160dpi screen. This is one of the features that truly sets the unit apart visually, and something that will have to be seen in person to truly appreciate.
• OSX. Finally a phone OS that is functional and thought out. This has been the achilles heel of ALL cell phones. They are not intuitive.
• Multitouch technology for even more intuitive navigation.
• Wireless communication (other than cellular network). The iPhone supports both Bluetooth 2.0 and WiFi (802.11 b/g).
• SMS, Photos, Mail, Maps, Widgets.
• Oh yeah, it’s also the most advanced Video iPod yet.
  

The size is amazing as well, its 4.5 x 2.4 inches which is perfect to accommodate the 3.5 inch screen, but the thing is only 11.6mm deep. That’s .01mm slimmer than a Motorola SLVR if your even interested in such a minute difference. The point – it’s very slim body for so much technology.

There are a few things however that I’m not so hyped about. The big one…2 year Cingular contract. I don’t like Cingular and I’m not alone. It makes sense on Apples part to do this. Cingular is the biggest cellular provider in the US and it puts them in a great passion to move into Europe quickly. However for me and anyone else who lives West of Texas, or anyone who has ever received an incorrect bill from them, Cingular, well, isn’t good. This map (which is more flattering than their printed version) shows the situation, and trust me it’s worse than it looks. Can someone tell me why Kansas and Iowa have better coverage than Washington and California. Also Cingular’s data network is significantly slower than the CDMA (Verizon, Sprint) counterparts. Boo.

The other issues are not as big of a deal. 2MP Camera is lackluster, but who cares, it’s a phone. The non removable battery could be terribly inconvenient. Actual life on the battery will obviously only be subject to criticism over time, however I believe it’s inevitable. Stock up on chargers so you can have one everywhere.

On a side point, It’s funny that dates of Macworld haven’t completely overlapped CES for 5 years. The year that it does Apple announces something that will almost surly eclipse anything to come out of CES which is infinitely bigger. Does anyone care how big they can make LCD’s that no one can afford anyway?

This phone is cool enough to make me seriously consider moving to Cingular. It is simply amazing, It also provides a “Mac PDA”, if I may deem it so, that seamlessly syncs and integrates with Macs (this has never been perfect) and I’m sure just as seamlessly with Windows. I also tend to believe that Apple will release a new “Video” iPod before December that will be the iPhone, sans phone. This seems like an inevitable next step, but it won’t happen soon or they would cannibalize iPhone sales. I just can’t see the current iPod (that is a year old) staying around with the only upgrade option being a phone.

Final thoughts: It’s not looking good for the Zune, but then it never was.