So, having lived with the iPhone for a few days now, I can comment a bit more on it.

Overall, I like the device. It's been quite handy in several situations already, though most of the situations another smartphone could have also worked. The integration I think is what makes the device worth it over other phones though. Today for example, my coworkers and I needed a place to go for lunch that wasn't going to take forever. Our first attempt resulted in a long line, so we began thinking of alternatives. Noone was really sure how busy another place nearby was, so I quickly looked it up on the maps app, then dialed them right there. Turns out they had a 20 minute wait for a table, so we ended up finding another place. During this process, I simply opened maps, typed in the name, then tapped on the marker on the map. From there, I got a screen with the number, tapped it and was calling. No need to jot down a number somehow or try to remember, because the phone and map application were so well integrated.

Web browsing on the device is one of the best parts for me. Since it's not trying to scale the page some how to a small screen, sites work as expected for the most part. The zooming in on what you want to read becomes second nature, and being able to browse in portrait or landscape works well. The only real complaint I have with the browser is an unavoidable problem on a small screen anyhow. And that issue is the requirement to have to scroll back and forth quite a bit to read some things. Flash compatibility would be nice, but I don't feel like I'm missing much by not having it. Since it isn't pulling down flash items, browsibility over EDGE isn't bad. I'm getting a bit over 200k/s bandwidth, where as on wifi it hits about 1.1mbit. Since it transitions onto wifi easily, I'm rarely using EDGE anyhow. Having tons of free wifi access spots around town helps that.

Durability so far seems great, and from seeing the torture tests out there, I feel comfortable leaving the phone in my front pocket.

Camera, I'm actually surprised at how good it is. I forgot my normal camera at an event recently, and used the iPhone. For a 2 megapixel camera phone, the shots were decent.


My complaints with it are:

Mail. I live on smart folders at work, and the iPhone client has no such concept. It's also appears to only check the inbox for new mail, so on an IMAP account, I have to manually check other folders that get mail delivered to them directly. I'm hoping for full Exchange support with push as well, since the IT guys might allow that at work.

Inability to switch to landscape mode in any app. This seems to be something really inconsistent on the device. Some apps force landscape when they play video, but video in Safari doesn't. Not all apps allow a voluntary switch, and Mail could use a landscape mode for some messages.

Inconsistency with the double tap zoom between HTML mail in Mail vs Safari. Safari seems to try and zoom to the proper level based on what you double tap on, but the same doesn't carry over to mail. Mail requires a lot of pinch zooming on HTML newsletters to get to readable levels.

Syncing between multiple machines. Any iTunes media has to be synced from one machine. I have my music on my MacBook Pro along with audio podcasts. Video content including video podcasts live on my Mac Mini attached to the TV. So if I want both audio and video on my iPhone, I have to manually copy files on the OS side and import them into iTunes on one machine.

Adding to the syncing issue is the inability to sync PDA side stuff to multiple machines. The iPhone can bond the PDA side to a different machine then the iTunes content, but it's still a 2 way sync only. If I sync at home, then go to work and sync, it merges data. If I then go home, it merges again, quickly creating issues in Safari with bookmarks becoming duplicated, and lots of manual conflict resolution in the calendar and address book. .Mac syncing would fix my problem here, but I still refuse to pay $99 a year when all I would use of .Mac is the multi machine syncing.

Ringtones. I used to assign distinct custom ringtones to the people who call me frequently on my old phone, including some text to speech to be able to know who was calling without even looking at the phone. With the iPhone, I'm stuck with the built in ringtones, and then have to remember "Is Bob the Scifi sound or is Ryan?"

Notes seems pointless to me. I'm assuming this will sync to Mail in Leopard, but for now, it's worthless.

Lack of USB file storage space. I can't use the phone as a thumb drive.

No IM client. Being able to respond to IMs on the go would be great.

EDGE network usage can block incoming calls. Not sure this is going to be fixable by software either. So maybe it's a good thing an IM client doesn't exist.

This is more of a phone company rant, but I can't believe they can justify $20 a month for unlimited data, but still only include 200 text messages in my plan. I will be using SMS more, but not a ton more since I have to count my messages.

*edit*
Forgot about bluetooth. The iPhone is oddly crippled here. All it uses bluetooth for is hands free kits. It doesn't integrate with the Address Book in OS X, to allow me to SMS people and reject calls from my computer. It doesn't allow me to tether it to a PC for internet access. It doesn't allow me to sync to the PC with it for the PDA side stuff, forcing me to find the cable for my laptop every time. And it doesn't allow me to send pictures or contact information to other bluetooth phones. I'm hoping at least some of these features get added over time.

Uh... keyboard?

How's the typing accuracy/speed so far?

So far typing has been pretty decent. The main issue I have is punctuation marks bit I am getting better at finding them quicker. What I am atying out her has taken me a minute to input.

I typed out the above message in the minute I had planned for, so overall the speed isn't bad, as long as you do start trusting the corrections. It missed three mistakes in that, but they were pretty bad ones, and a quick proof reading session would have caught them. I did that with the normal orientation of the keyboard, and using the landscape mode keyboard would have probably resulted in a few more words before the minute was up.

For comparison, I'll have to try typing fast with the tiny keyboard I have for the CarPC.

How does it work as an iPod? It seems this is also the next iPod. Have they added any features in that department, besides the eye candy?

I've also spent a few days with the iPhone now, and have a few things to say...

1) The keyboard takes a lot of getting used to. You HAVE to trust the auto correct stuff. If you don't, it's slow as hell.
2) At home, the wifi is great, but walking around SF yesterday and going to my known free wifi spots was disappointing. I think those wifi spots are just overburdened, and therefore, my iPhone experience was poor.
3) I'm confused about a few things in Google Maps. If I find an address, then do another search for a restaurant, for instance, it sometimes finds a restaurant with a similar name on the other side of the country! Shouldn't it just search locally? I need to do some more research on that. The Google Maps app is beautiful though.
4) The apps found here: http://www.rev2.org/2007/07/02/top-25-web-apps-for-the-iphone/ are really good. Try em Drakino!
5) 3 days of trying to get my Yahoo IMAP problem fixed. I use Yahoo email all the time, but have a @pacbell.net domain name. The iPhone won't allow me to use IMAP with that domain name. It forces a @yahoo.com email address. If I choose "other", I can't authenticate to the IMAP server... Argh. I'm tired of working on this. Will see if it's fixed later and stick with POP for now.
6) The screen is glorious.
7) The EDGE speed is poor, as expected.
8) Safari is buggy - needs work.
9) You can't search for an email. That needs to be remedied quick.
10) The form factor, perceived build quality, feel of it, look of it, etc. - BRILLIANT.

I totally agree with Drakino - the web surfing is amazing. No other phone, in my experience, has come close to this kind of perfection for the web.

This is my first Apple product EVER... Even though it looks like I'm complaining, I'm still becoming a fan.

- Jon

Does the ipod portion of the iphone have 'party shuffle' or just the plain ability to insert a song after the one you are playing?

I can't really comment much on the iPod part as I haven't used it much for that. I'd be listening to podcasts in the car with it, but I need an adaptor for the headset port first, since it is sunk in too far to accept most standard plugs.

Feature wise, all I did on my old Nano was podcasts as well. Comparing pure music playback to the Rio Karma, the interface is still lacking. Video is nice though on it, and I have a feeling mine will mostly see video and podcast use, with the Karma still there as my main portable music player.

I did tinker around with the On-The-Go playlist and it's kinda cool. You can add individual songs, albums, artists, or playlists to it. Then you can rearrange songs with the touchscreen. It reminds me a lot of the Now and Next setup on the Karma, clunkier. On the Karma, Now and Next was always populated, even if you were playing an album. On the iPhone, you have to specifically go to the On-The-Go playlist to get this functionality.

Thanks for the "iPod" report. It's good to see that improvements are being made. Hopefully when the next gen iPod is released things will improve even further. I just got a Vibez, but I'm looking for a portable that will hold all or most of my MP3 collection, currently at 60 some odd GB. I'm leaning toward the next gen iPod if they don't bust the bank with its price.

iPhone owners, can you comment on the utility of the device WITHOUT internet access? Can I.... download Google Maps, or some static map content (like all those city guides for Palm)?

As far as I know, cellular data costs $50/month; more than my high speed cable modem. But you mention it's down to $20/month? That's decent, but "pay per meg" would be so much better for me.

I still barely use my Treo 650 ability, so if I'm going to barely use an iPhone, maybe I should keep what I've got.

From watching the TV ads, one could almost believe, the image on screen, rotates as a result of the physical motion.

Reading that the UK version of the iPhone will not have 3G has pretty much made my decision for me. Shame really.....

That said, I really wish the N95 had a touchscreen.

I have a question which maybe only Hugo can answer: How come the iPhone does not have A2DP support?

Its supposed to be "The best iPod" right, and it has Bluetooth already... I really don't understand why this feature was left out. There are quite a few Sony Ericsson phones out there with A2DP allowing wireless streaming to Bluetooth headphones, Bluetooth Stereos (Sony make a few) and a few car headunits and new Bluetooth car kits as well. It would be nice to play music from the iPod and take calls all in the car without any cables. All the hardware is there already anyway, right?

ok, one more thing i need to complain about...

There's no search for a contact, in the calendar, or - as I mentioned in my earlier post, in email.

In my opinion, this is severely limiting the functionality for these apps!

Wow, what an omission!

I'm sure that this will be remedied, but I hope this happens soon as the iPhone is now my everyday device...

- Jon

I played with someone's iPhone over the holidays while on a road trip... in fact I spent a few hours on it, I couldn't put it down. It's definitely one of those devices that makes you want to tell a naysayer to just try it. Go pick one up, and play with it. The interface and integrated nature of the apps is brilliant. It's not perfect, it's missing things, but damn, it's by far the best phone/pocket media device I've ever seen. After messing around with it for a while I picked up someone else's Blackjack, trying to do some similar tasks, and wanted to throw the thing across the room.

I was planning on resisting the 1st gen, but i found it incredibly useful despite it's flaws and will probably be picking one up soon. I don't mind paying extra for something that works the way I need it when I need it and isn't another tech headache to add to my life. I never in a million years thought I'd pay $600 for a phone, ever, but damn if an actual in person test with the thing hasn't convinced me otherwise (sort of like the Wii!)

Loren, I totally hear what you're saying. Here's my story/review in a (rather big) nutshell:

For the last 2 years I've been using a Nokia 6620 (Symbian Series 60). I thought it was slick at first because it could do so much and had so many features. However, over the last year, I've come to just absolutely hate it with the fire of a thousand burning nuns. There are so many nagging UI inconsistencies, and the thing is slow as hell (even though this is the one with the 50% faster processor over it's immediate predecessor). I can't get anything done quickly because either the thing is too slow to keep up with me, or I keep losing keystrokes to modal pop up windows that demand attention.

Nothing about the way it works is intuitive. I regularly hang up on people, because when I'm on a call and I get another call, I'm presented with a dialog that tells me there's another incoming call and gives me two options, "Transfer" and "Hold" (I think, working from memory here...). Every single time that happens I have to make a split second decision about which of those options will do what I want, and neither is worded in such a way that it's obvious what will happen. Sometimes I might want to keep the first on hold and answer the second; sometimes I might want to hang up the first and answer the second. Either way, I get about five seconds to guess as to which of those 2 options (plus the additional options of pressing either the green or red button) might do what I want. 9 times out of 10, I guess wrong and hang up on both parties. I could read the manual to figure it out, but I just refuse to do that on principle, and even if I did do it, that wouldn't help me remember what to do the next time. I'm a really smart guy, and if I can't figure some of this stuff out, how is anybody else even functioning with these things?

So, even though I'm the biggest techno-weenie in existence, this phone all by itself was slowly turning me against technology in general. I contemplated getting rid of cell phone service entirely because I couldn't imagine that any phone could be any better, and I wasn't going to put up with it anymore.

I've now become one of those guys that keeps saying "Just give me a phone that's just a phone, that only makes phone calls and does that well". I don't want a freaking camera; I don't use the one I have on my phone already. I don't care about the Internet on my phone. I don't use it on the 6620 because it's too slow, the browser sucks, and the data plans cost too much. The only advanced feature I care about at all is Bluetooth because I've got it built in to my car, and it's way too cool to just talk on the speakerphone with the phone still in my pocket.

I've had phones I liked before. I still have my Nokia 6190 from 1998, and I would have switched back to it long ago if it only did Bluetooth. I've looked around for new phones, but anything that does have Bluetooth also has the same problem of totally missing the point of what the user might actually want to do, which is usually just make a freaking phone call without any interference from the phone itself. The carriers are no help, because they've long ago been seduced by the method of selling extra features rather than putting any emphasis on improving the usefulness of their networks for voice calls.

So, I figured I was boned. I'm a Mac guy, so I was well acquainted with the iPhone from the first keynote. I thought it looked cool but didn't apply to me since I was looking for something simpler, and certainly not looking to spend that much on a phone plus a data plan. It wasn't until a few weeks ago when the commercials started running that I really thought, "You know, if anybody can make a phone that actually works for making phone calls, it's Apple". The actual phone call interface made it obvious what to do when I would get another call, for example. I started thinking that even if I only used it as a phone, it might be a great choice just for that purpose, even if I never opened the browser. It would be worth it to me to pay a lot of money for a phone that worked, but >$500 was just too expensive, so I figured I would wait until the first price cut to really look at it seriously. Even then, I figured I wouldn't get one unless I could get it without the data plan. $20 for unlimited is way better than the previous pricing, but I was still a neo-luddite, so what would I need the data plan for?

So, last Friday, I was sitting around watching TV at around 11:00 and thought, "Hey, the Apple Store's open until midnight tonight, I'll just go have a look at it at least". I drove there, spent about 5 minutes playing with it, and whipped out the credit card. Sold. Just like that. It really does work as advertised, and what's more, it works the way I dreamed it would. Not only does the phone work correctly, but everything else is so slick I don't mind paying the extra $20 a month for the data plan.

I'm a Google Earth addict, so when I saw that the onboard Google Maps had access to the satellite imagery as well as the maps, I wet my pants. Now I can sit around looking at aerial photography anywhere at any time (like in church today). My wife could spend days just looking at all the pictures of our kids we've taken over the years. Now, she can do that anywhere at any time. Even better, she can do it without me telling her how. My son, who just barely turned three, already figured out how to turn it on, unlock it, bring up the home screen, tap the photos icon, and start flipping through photos. When I won't let him play with mine, he walks around for hours at a time with his hand cupped in the air like he's holding it saying "I'm Daddy. This is my iPhone. I'm looking at pictures of my sweet kids.", while making the little photo flipping gesture with the finger of his other hand. He even rotates his imaginary phone 90 degrees periodically when a landscape photo comes up on his imaginary screen.

There's not enough good I can say about this thing, and I haven't been this excited about a piece of technology in a long long time. I feel like anyone who thinks it's not for them needs to just try it for a little bit. If they still think they don't want it, there's a good chance at that point they're just confused or lying to themselves.

Maybe my story sounds like I've been seduced by the marketing or the hype, but I don't care, because I'm excited about technology again. Hugo, if you're ever involved in any discussions at Apple about how the phone is being received, be sure to mention that there's a measure of success beyond just how many of these things are sold. For at least a few us, the phone's a success because it restores our faith in the ability of people to do things The Right Way every once in a while.

Numerical success isn't bad either, of course. Stock's up almost 10% in the last week to new all time highs. I've seen about a 2500% return on the Apple stock I bought back in 1997. It makes me really wish I had bought more than one share, though...

How did you two use the keyboard? Yes, it is different, and it does take a bit to learn, but hammering out on it trying to go full speed with two thumbs your first 5 minutes with the device is going to make it worse. I'm not necessarily defending it as the best thing, but I'm not finding it a problem either. Though I never walked around with a device with a small keyboard before, so it might be easier to learn from a fresh start.

This is the WPM scores from a review I saw recently, going at it with both thumbs once they had used the device for a bit:

• Apple iPhone - 39.6
  
• Blackberry 8800 - 39.30
  
• Helio Ocean - 53.00
  
• LG Prada - 33.80
  
• Nokia N95 - 29.28
  
• Palm Treo 750 - 43.8
  

As for another issue I noticed, you can't insert a photo into a reply e-mail. The e-mail must be started by going to the photo first, then clicking the button to e-mail. I also couldn't find a way to e-mail multiple photos.

There are a few videos on YouTube out which show how some people are finding the iPhone keyboard. Here is one, and here is another. Kinda looks ok, though it bugs me slightly that period and comma are both in the symbols mode only. Looking forward to trying it out one day though.

It's pretty impressive that those guys were able to type that fast. I simply was not able to. Maybe there's some sort of learning algorithm. Maybe there's some calibration that I missed. Even so, it is worth no more than $100 to me, and I have zero interest in paying, at minimum, $60 a month for cell phone service.

Given that you have to sign up for a 2-year contract at $59.99 a month, and the phone itself is $499, that's $1938.76 for a cell phone. Or I could stay with the same phone I have now and continue to pay $7 a month for service and spend $168 in the same 2 year period. That's well less than a tenth of the cost. Even if I got the phone for free, I'd still pay over 8 times as much in service. I'm fine where I am.

The keyboard has a learning curve and that's all there is to it. Some people might pick it up quickly, but expecting to type 40wpm right away will only lead to frustration and thinking it sucks. It takes a while to get fast on, just like any other keyboard that isn't a large standard layout. Start with pecking, then two thumbs, then work on speed once you figure out it's detection and style. Not directed at anyone, just sayin'.

And Bitt... What company and plan are you on that you are paying $7/month? I pay more than that just in taxes on the bill!

I use Virgin Mobile prepaid service. I don't like to talk on the phone at all, cell phone or land line, so I don't use it that much. Virgin requires that you pay them at least $20 every 3 months, and I usually don't even use that much service, at, worst case, 25¢ a minute. And they don't expire minutes, so if I have a heavy usage period, I end up just using up the money I've stored up previously. Even better, other than charging sales tax on the money I put into the phone, there are no other hidden fees. There's a charge for text messages, but I don't use them at all. And there's no contract. (Hm. Looks like they don't offer this plan anymore; I'm grandfathered in. There's an 18¢ per minute plan, but there are monthy "surcharges".)

Of course, that implies that I talk on my cell phone an average of less than 30 minutes a month, which is not a problem for me at all. I probably don't use 30 minutes of time on my home phone (which is VoIP with Voicepulse at $15 a month). I spend less than half of an iPhone user's bill on my cell phone and my home phone combined.