Set for Cingular in June, the long-awaited, quad-band GSM/EDGE iPhone breaks new ground with its dynamic touch-screen interface. Plus: Wi-Fi, full-screen video playback, and a mobile Safari browser.
Believe it or not, it's finally here, and it's even better than we expected. The quad-band GSM/EDGE/Wi-Fi iPhone (yes, Apple held onto the name) defies expections by essentially turning the long-rumored touch-screen iPod into a phone, making for an all-purpose music, video, photo and Web browsing machine that's even thinner than the latest slim smartphones. We're not exaggerating when we say this is possibly the most exciting phone we've ever seen.
Toting 8GB of flash memory (a 4GB version will also be available), the iPhone (which measures 4.5 by 2.4 by 0.46 inches -- nice) has a 3.5-inch "multi-touch" display that lets you control all the phone's functions with your fingers, ranging from dialing your contacts to scrolling though album covers and calling up a full QWERTY keypad (complete with text prediction for SMS messages). From what we've seen, the iPhone interface (powered by a slimmed-down version of Mac OS X) looks to be truly ground-breaking, with colorful, intuitive icons and screens that slide open and closed at a touch.
All the calling features we crave are present and accounted for, including a speakerphone, conference calling, a contact book (which syncs with the Mac-based Address Book) and a new feature dubbed "Visual Voicemail," which lets you browse a list of voice messages and select the one you want to hear first.
The new iPhone also doubles as your iPod, syncing with your iTunes library and storing all your tunes and playlists. Turn the phone sideways and you can watch your favorite TV shows or movies from the iTunes Music Store -- pretty cool, although with just 8GB of flash memory on board, you won't quite be able to store all three seasons of "Lost." Also disappointing is the lack of over-the-air music or video downloads, which we guessed the moment we saw that the iPhone was EDGE-only (we'd been hoping for HSDPA data access).
E-mail on the iPhone is a given, with access for POP and IMAP accounts (along with push e-mail through Yahoo), and the device also boasts a mobile version of Apple's Safari Web browser; again, the first images show impressive full-page rendering of such difficult sites as the New York Times home page. You also get Apple's Widget apps (news and info apps, calculators, etc.), a 2-megapixel camera, Wi-Fi and Bluetooth. Stay tuned for more details and a full review.
Specifications
Quad-band GSM/EDGE
Wi-Fi
8GB or 4GB of flash memory
E-mail; IMAP, POP3, Yahoo Mail
Safari Web brower
Google Maps
Widgets
Touch screen
2-megapixel camera
Slimmed-down version of OS X
Music and full-screen video
Measures 4.5 by 2.4 by 0.46 inches
Price and availability
Available in June from Cingular, the Apple iPhone will retail for $499 (4GB) or $599 (8GB) with a two-year contract.
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