Apple iPod Operation: Web Browser and iPod

The Web Browser

To surf the web, you touch the Safari icon at the bottom of the page.  Up comes a web browser.  And it is important to point out, this is a full strength web browser, not a WAP page viewer.  You have forward and backward navigation buttons at the bottom of the screen, as well as a bookmarks button (that accesses your synced bookmarks from your desktop), and finally a button that allows you to open multiple pages on the screen that you can "flick" through.  Want to zoom in on something on the page?  Just double tap the area you want enlarged, or use the squeeze/expand motion with your thumb and forefinger.  These motions will zoom in and out of the page.  Otherwise, it works as you would expect from a normal web page on your laptop or desktop.  You can scroll up or down or side to side using your finger and the flicking motions. 

One of the cooler features of the display is the ability to turn the phone from vertical to horizontal orientation while viewing web pages or photos.  The iPhone automatically senses the shift in orientation and adjusts the screen accordingly to a widescreen format.  (This is nice for reading reviews on Audioholics.com, especially when you want to zoom in on that rear panel photo of a new receiver!)

The browser is currently not compatible with Adobe Flash technology - yet.  This is one of the many issues that I would hope Apple will improve with future software updates.

The iPod

The iPod section of the phone is what Apple calls the best iPod ever.  It certainly is not the largest capacity iPod, as it is available in either 4GB ($499) or 8GB ($599) models.  But the interface is certainly new and cool, employing touch screen control of your music and video.  The iPod button brings up the iPod main screen with the following buttons at the bottom:  Playlists, Artists, Songs, Videos, and More.  From the More button, you get a screen with Albums, Audiobooks, Compilations, Composers, Genres and Podcasts (where you should find your catalog of AVRant.com episodes.  What?  You have not subscribed to the hottest new podcast out there?  Go to www.avrant.com and get plugged in!!!)

The interface is new, as there is no scroll wheel.  Instead, you use taps and flicks to navigate the playlists, songs, artists, etc.  Once you have flicked your way through your playlist or song list and tapped on the song you want to hear, the album cover appears on the display with a reverse/pause/forward and volume display on the bottom of the screen.  If you turn the iPhone to a horizontal orientation, the display shifts accordingly to the familiar iTunes cover flow.  Scroll (flick) through the album cover art to the record you want to hear, tap on it, and it flips over revealing the song list.  Tap the song you want to hear and you are good to go.  It is really impressive.  One other cool feature is that when you are listening to the iPod on the built-in speaker (which is not bad, considering) and a phone call comes in, instead of instantly pausing the song, it fades the song out before sounding your selected ring tone (at which time it pauses the song).  When you hang up, the song ramps back up.

Conclusion

The iPhone is chock full of fun and surprises, and I am sure that I will find many more things I like, as well as shortcomings, over the next few weeks.  It is great, but not without some flaws and room for improvement.  It will be interesting to see how many things Apple can or will fix through software updates. 

In first full day of use on the road, I left the house around 9AM with a full charge.  Throughout the day I received and made several calls, listened to one or two songs using the built-in speaker, browsed the web in both Wi-Fi and EDGE environments, checked, read, composed and sent several emails.  Around 8PM back at the house, I got a message that I had 20% of my battery left.  So in fairness, I had a pretty average day of use with the phone and did not run out of battery.  But I will invest in a car charger, as I can see a really busy day draining the battery.

I have made note of several complaints over the first full day of use.  AT&T's activation delays stunk.  How could they have not been prepared for the glut of activations over the launch weekend?  There is no good excuse for this, and it makes both Apple and AT&T look bad. 

As for the design, it is a beautiful little device, but I would like to see rubberized edges so if you dropped it there would be a chance of not damaging it.  I purchased a hard, form-fitting leather case (that allowed full use of the screen and buttons) to keep it in as a precaution.  I just feel that it could get damaged or scratched in my pocket or backpack without one.  If you have a friend like my buddy JD, who seems to have sudden urges to throw his phone to ground while say, walking across a busy intersection, I would worry about their $500 investment. 

The headphone jack is recessed and will require an adaptor for many, if not most headphones or car adaptors.  This really stinks.  I saw that Griffin has already announced one as I am sure many third-party vendors will, but really Apple, what were you thinking here?

I would also like to see the multiple Inbox situation in the Mail application addressed.  It requires too many touches to navigate through your new messages from multiple accounts. 

There is no instant messaging available.  The SMS Text feature is designed to look like iChat, but it is really just traditional texting.  And since most packages allow only a certain number of text messages, a "chat" using text messaging can get expensive with lots of "okay," "yes," or "no" messages going back and forth.

Finally, while battery life seemed okay, and certainly better than your laptop would fare doing the same tasks, I am not sure what a heavy day of use will do to your mileage.  And as is the case with iPods, you cannot change a dead battery yourself.  You will need to send it in to Uncle Steve and pay a heavy price, I am sure - at least until third party vendors provide cheaper, albeit warranty-voiding solutions.

Overall, the iPhone is a great product.  It is really more of a handheld computer than a phone.  Apple has once again innovated in a way that all other manufacturers will most certainly begin to immediately follow (and copy).  My guess is that software updates will continue to improve the iPhone.  After five years, was it worth the wait?  For me, yes indeed.

Specs
Size and weight
    •    Height: 4.5 inches (115 mm)
    •    Width: 2.4 inches (61 mm)
    •    Depth: 0.46 inch (11.6 mm)
    •    Weight: 4.8 ounces (135 grams)
In the box
    •    iPhone
    •    Stereo Headset
    •    Dock
    •    Dock Connector to USB Cable
    •    USB Power Adapter
    •    Documentation
    •    Cleaning/polishing cloth
Capacity
    •    4GB or 8GB flash drive1
Display
    •    3.5-inch (diagonal) widescreen multi-touch display
    •    480-by-320-pixel resolution at 160 dpi
    •    Support for display of multiple languages and characters simultaneously
Operating system
    •    OS X
GSM
    •    Quad-band (850, 900, 1800, 1900 MHz)

Wireless data
    •    Wi-Fi (802.11b/g)
    •    EDGE
    •    Bluetooth 2.0+EDR
Camera
    •    2.0 megapixels
Audio
    •    Frequency response: 20Hz to 20,000Hz
    •    Audio formats supported: AAC, Protected AAC, MP3, MP3 VBR, Audible (formats 1, 2, and 3), Apple Lossless, AIFF, and WAV Video
    •    Video formats supported: H.264 video, up to 1.5 Mbps, 640 by 480 pixels, 30 frames per second, Low-Complexity version of the H.264 Baseline Profile with AAC-LC audio up to 160 Kbps, 48kHz, stereo audio in .m4v, .mp4, and .mov file formats; H.264 video, up to 768 Kbps, 320 by 240 pixels, 30 frames per second, Baseline Profile up to Level 1.3 with AAC-LC audio up to 160 Kbps, 48kHz, stereo audio in .m4v, .mp4, and .mov file formats; MPEG-4 video, up to 2.5 Mbps, 640 by 480 pixels, 30 frames per second, Simple Profile with AAC-LC audio up to 160 Kbps, 48kHz, stereo audio in .m4v, .mp4, and .mov file formats

Headphones
    •    Stereo earphones with built-in microphone
    •    Frequency response: 20Hz to 20,000Hz
    •    Impedance: 32 ohms
Mac system requirements
    •    Mac computer with USB 2.0 port
    •    Mac OS X v10.4.10 or later
    •    iTunes 7.3 or later
Windows system requirements
    •    PC with USB 2.0 port
    •    Windows Vista Home Premium, Business, Enterprise, or Ultimate Edition; or Windows XP Home or Professional with Service Pack 2 or later
    •    iTunes 7.3 or later
    •    Input and output
    •    iPhone
    •    30-pin dock connector
    •    3.5-mm stereo headphone minijack
    •    iPhone Dock
    •    Dock connector
    •    Power and battery
    •    Built-in rechargeable lithium ion battery
    •    Talk time: Up to 8 hours
    •    Standby time: Up to 250 hours
    •    Internet use: Up to 6 hours
    •    Video playback: Up to 7 hours
    •    Audio playback: Up to 24 hours