Apple's iPhone: The Future is Here
by Anand Lal Shimpi on July 2, 2007 6:13 PM EST- Posted in
- Smartphones
- Mobile
It's an iPod Dammit
The one aspect of the iPhone that still hasn't sunk in for me is the fact that this thing is actually an iPod. Inevitably the majority of attention has been placed on the phone/internet aspects of the iPhone, while its ability to be an iPod has been relegated to a casual mention in passing. But the iPhone is quite capable of replacing your iPod, provided that you're not dependent on having more than 8GB of music with you at all times. True music aficionados will still hang on to their iPods, but the iPhone is designed for the crowd with slightly less music who love their iPods but hate carrying two devices around. If you carry your iPod around everywhere, the iPhone should be quite tempting as it helps reduce pocket clutter.
The iPod + phone meld not only makes sense, but it's done well on the iPhone. About the only thing that's missing is the ability to assign your MP3 files as ringtones.
The classic iPod interface is changed, having been replaced by something that conforms better to the iPhone UI. Playlists are obviously still supported, as is the ability to create a playlist On-The-Go.
You can browse music according to artists, songs, albums, composers or genres. You can even customize the menu at the bottom of the iPod screen to give you direct access to audiobooks or podcasts. The one thing that I'm really missing that's present in iTunes on the Mac/PC is the ability to type and search by name for a song/artist/album.
Viewing all the tracks on an album gives you this slick interface, the slider at the bottom controls volume
Tilt the iPhone on its side and you get a layout of album covers to flip through, much like you would at a record store, if you'd like to listen to an album in particular. If you have a lot of music that's unreleased (or poorly pirated), you'll be greeted with a bunch of blank album covers which ruins some of the beauty of this feature.
This would look cooler if everything had album art
There doesn't seem to be a full hold mode on the iPhone; while hitting the sleep/wake button will prevent you from accidentally hitting anything on the screen, the volume rocker is still active.
Thankfully the iPhone has a volume limiter that you can engage to prevent you from accidentally ruining your hearing while listening to music with the iPhone in your pocket.
The speaker on the iPhone, while well suited for voice conversations, is not great for listening to music. It's functional but prepared for distortion-a-plenty, you're better off sticking to headphones.
The earbuds that come with the iPhone are a standard set of iPod headphones with a mic/button about 5 inches below the right earbud. If you're listening to music when you get a phone call, the iPhone will automatically fade out and pause your music so that you can answer your call (just click the button on the headphones). Click the button again to hang up and you're back to your music.
When I first went to try video playback on the iPhone I was lost, I kept looking around for a video player until I eventually remembered that the iPod button was all encompassing - audio and video seekers can find refuge there. The video formats supported by the iPhone are the same as the iPod and Apple TV, you're basically limited to low bitrate H.264/MPEG-4 files, both of which Quicktime Pro will encode for you. The iPhone is in dire need of DivX/XviD support, but that's something Apple will never do, so either plan on converting anything you want to watch to H.264/MPEG-4 or wait for someone to hack this thing.
Videos look great on the iPhone and as a whole, it puts competing devices to shame. While both the Blackjack and Blackberry can play MP3s and videos neither has the storage or interface of the iPhone, they are functional but not nearly as well done as a dedicated iPod or in this case an iPod within the iPhone.
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zsdersw - Tuesday, July 3, 2007 - link
As a long-time Star Trek fan and someone who regards The Next Generation as the best of the series, I have to say I'm not at all interested in the iPhone.Two primary reasons:
- Price. For $500 and a 2yr contract, what it brings to the table above and beyond its competitors is less than compelling, IMO.
- AT&T only. Screw that. I'm never buying a phone with which only one carrier is available.
tuteja1986 - Tuesday, July 3, 2007 - link
alot of features are missing :!Bluetooth is crippled
Virtual keyboard onlys works good with Web browser since its horizontal. keyboard sucks
Does not have 3G
battery life is 4hrs talk time.. unable to change battery. black berry 8800 can do 10hrs+
Digital camera is very basic compared to high quality camera used in phone like Nokia N95.
No support for 3rd party application
Its has edge connection which sucks
no support for HDSPA
No GPS
No IM program
No widget support
Not able to abstract the image anywhere.. sending image through email reduces it low res which sucks :(
The only awesome thing about iphone i think its interface , the screen and the ipod video/music feature which works. The phone is certinaly not worth $600 and can be sold for $350 and apple can still make a decent profit.
plinden - Tuesday, July 3, 2007 - link
Where is 4 hour talk time mentioned. Anand didn't mention talk time, did he? He did get 6-7 hours with wifi.
Just about every other reviewer got 7 hours or more talk time, close to what Apple claims.
tuteja1986 - Wednesday, July 4, 2007 - link
Comfired by latest TWIT episode :! TWIT networks has the biggest apple fanboys ever :)http://www.twit.tv/TWiT">http://www.twit.tv/TWiT
but I sorry to burst you bubble but read the review by mobile phone professionals.
http://www.wirelessinfo.com/content/Apple-iPhone-C...">http://www.wirelessinfo.com/content/App...one-Cell...
Also ain't a anti apple but people buying it for so many reason as its calling the revolutionary phone which is not in tech wise , features but is revolution in only in UI design.
sviola - Tuesday, July 3, 2007 - link
YEah, the Nokia N95 is an excelent phone, here are some of it's features.In-built GPS and Navigation Program (over 100+ countries maps)
5 MP Camera with Zeiss Lens and Optical Zoom, and Video Recording
Symbian OS
Plays MP3, video, etc
Bluetooth, Wi-Fi, USB, TV out
Quadriband GSM/WCDMA (3G)
MicroSD Card Reader
I would like to see an anand review on it and a comparative against the iPhone.
vectersmith - Monday, July 2, 2007 - link
I have enjoyed the iPhone thoroughly and agree that while it is not perfect, for what it does do it does better far and above anything else.Edge speed is slow, but bearable (barely). Wi-Fi is must better, although I still have sites that just hang and I have to hit the X button and reload.
The UI is breathtaking, earth shattering, and will revolutionize the smartphone industry. It has too, once you use the iPhone everything else seems like fruitcake for Christmas (no offense intended to those that enjoy fruitcake on Christmas). I find myself just taking it out of my pocket to slide the unlock and see if anything is new :)
Also I will agree with Anand about the SMS, you really have to watch out what you are doing as having a conversation is just painless which causes those SMS message count the fly up :)
kilkennycat - Monday, July 2, 2007 - link
....how long did you take to compose the review and how much sleep did you get in the process? Did you work from a pre-written plan?Anand Lal Shimpi - Tuesday, July 3, 2007 - link
Thanks :)I wrote the whole thing in about 24 hours, but the testing took a lot longer obviously. As with all my articles I have a very high level outline, but what ended up being written was significantly larger than even I expected it to be. My initial outline had something around 10 - 15 pages long, then by 3AM Monday morning I estimated it would be around 20 pages and by the time it published I realized it was going to be just shy of 30.
I had to cut out a lot of additional material from the review just in the interest of time, and I took another 6 or 7 hours working on it to try and make sure I was keeping the attention of the reader throughout the piece (hopefully it worked :)...). There's enough extra content that I didn't use for at least two more articles, but I'm not sure what the demand will be for that so who knows if it'll ever get used.
As far as sleep goes, I don't sleep much in general when I'm working but the iPhone weekend was ridiculous. I went to bed Saturday night, woke up Sunday and didn't get to bed again until 4AM Tuesday morning. Needless to say, sleeping last night was the most amazing thing ever.
Take care,
Anand
oopyseohs - Thursday, July 5, 2007 - link
This is definitely the best article I have ever read on AnandTech or on anything technology related in general. Also, it is nice to see that someone else exhibits the same behavior I do when writing major articles!DerekWilson - Monday, July 2, 2007 - link
I'm sure Anand is finally getting some sleep after a grueling weekend with the iPhone, taking only the occasional nap so as not to die.And a pre-written plan? naah, Anand's just that good :-)