What you should know about the latest “it” phone everybody is talking about. And why you should annoy your telco to no end, if they don’t get this product on our shores soon.

The first iPhone changed the entire mobile phone landscape completely with its clever integration of audio, video, web browsing features sans the usual complexities we’ve come to expect from any novelty in modern technology. True to its form, Apple has shown what it has always been successful at – making everything simpler (and beautiful at the same time) with the sleek, touch screen number.

Apple iPhone’s success is clear. Almost all mobile phone makers today have shown reaction to it by either slowly copying its features or physical attributes. A quick look at the current smartphone market - the trend is moving towards stylus-less interface, finger navigation, full touch screen, virtual thumb pad, accelerometer based functions and gigabytes of built-in memory that rivals standalone MP3 players.

The next generation iPhone will now inherit the throne as one of the most coveted electronic product of the year and so far it hasn’t failed to impress. It looks to build on the success so far and is currently already the talk of the town.

Outlook

From the front, the iPhone doesn’t look to different from its predecessor with a 3.5” screen, singular home button and shiny metal frame. But hold one in your hand you’ll instantly recognise that the more rounded back of the phone makes it easier to hold. Rumour has it that Apple would have liked to make this to be thinner (of course) but with the inclusion of a 3G chip meant that it had to bulk up on the rear. The sides taper more dramatically thanks to that. But don’t fret, it won’t spell trouble for your tight jeans pocket.

Unlike the previous version, which had an aluminium-looking back case, the new iPhone sports a piano black-esque back for the 8GB and 16GB version. However, there is a special white version available in the 16GB form. While the aluminium back was resistant to scratches, the new one should prove to be a fingerprint/smudge magnet.

Features

Although the iPhone packs a whole repertoire of new skills, it would be more sensibly regarded as an upgrade. You can still expect the familiar easy icon-based interface and the general software outlook don’t look too different.
The true difference lies in the bandwidth speed. The high-speed HSDPA 3G technologies enables the device to zoom past web pages and email attachments up to 2.4x faster. In the entire tests run by Apple during the keynote announcement, the download speed of HSDPA loading the same web page, came very close to Wi-Fi download times.

One of the favourite features on the old iPhone was the Google Maps, but it was rather inaccurate because it didn’t have a dedicated GPS processor. But now it does. The new iPhone’s GPS capabilities, coupled with Google Maps application pack a powerful punch – providing turn-by-turn directions and instant progress indication with live GPS tracking. Using the famous multi-touch interface, users can tap to zoom, pan and change the view on the move, just as they would when they view photos.

The rest of the features like the video playback, camera, added language support, Safari web browser, YouTube are tweaked and improved. The calculator now turns into a scientific problem solver if you turn it to the landscape format.

One of the best addition has to be the App Store. Tap into the App Store right from the device and you''ll find applications in every category, from games to business, education to entertainment, finance to health and fitness, productivity to social networking. This selection of applications has been specially designed to take advantage of iPhone features such as Multi-Touch, the accelerometer, wireless, and GPS for a customisable, unique mobile phone experience. Apple claims some are of these downloadable applications are even free! In case you’re bored in the toilet, wedding dinner or on-the-road, you can download them wirelessly (through iTunes, Wi-Fi or 3G) and start using them right away.

Enterprise Surprise

Some business users were turned off by the original iPhone, not because the phone itself was in anyway bad per se, but being the first mobile phone from the Cupertino based computer/iPod maker, they have not perfected the iPhone’s complex enterprise skills in its first iteration. Many people were left wondering if it would work with Microsoft Outlook or Exchange Servers. And the same lot were left with sour Blackberries and Windows Mobile.

With this iPhone 2.0, Apple is targeting these left opportunities with a vengeance. It now supports Microsoft Exchange ActiveSync, delivering push email, calendar, and contacts. And it gives mobile users secure access to corporate resources with Cisco IPSec VPN and wireless network services with WPA2 Enterprise and 802.1X authentication.

Email on iPhone offers a viewing experience unlike any other mobile device. Its rich HTML format means email looks and acts like email on your computer. With support for Microsoft Word, Excel, and PowerPoint, PDF, JPEG, and now iWork, attachments can be viewed exactly as they were designed to. As expected, users can even zoom in on important information with the tap of a finger. And now that iPhone has built-in support for Microsoft Exchange ActiveSync, users get all the benefits of push email.

If you sign up for the Mobile Me service (.Mac replacement), small companies and individuals can now sync their calendar, contacts, sync emails and share photo albums over the air. With this service, every modification done on the phone or the desktop (Mac or PC) will be reflected on all devices in a matter of seconds. Making it a simpler, cheaper and attractive alternative to Microsoft’s Exchange ActiveSync implementation.

Power Consumption

The iPhone 3G promises a solid 5 hours of 3G talk time, 10 hours of 2G talk time, 5 hours of 3G Internet browsing, 6 hours of Wi-Fi Internet time, 7 hours of video playback, 24 hours of audio playback, and 12.5 days standby time. Bottom line - no other smartphone comes close to its longevity if you forget your charger on a short trip.

Verdict

We would give the Apple iPhone a gazillion stars for meeting all the high expectations, from a product emerging from the shadow of one of the most influential mobile phones in the world, plus another two thumbs up. However, at the time of the announcement of launch countries, the telcos in Malaysia did not manage to negotiate a concrete deal with Apple for the sale of iPhones. The nearest country in which the iPhone 3G will be available is Singapore and Hong Kong.

As if to make Malaysians go greener with envy and purple with frustration, the previous 8GB iPhone sold for USD399 but now, the iPhone 3G with all the improvements and slicker looks, costs a shocking USD199 (approximately RM650) only! We could barely get 100MB and a colour screen with that kind of money. So it’s time to pester the local telcos to give us what we want, what we really really want – the excellent Apple iPhone 3G.

( Republished with permission from FACES. To check out more reviews and event updates, visit www.faces.com.my )