Watching the iPhone keynote, there were a few things that surprised us. We were surprised at how slick the interface was, when all speculation leading up to the event seemed to be focused on the hardware. We were surprised at how excited the audience was about Google Maps, when Google Maps for mobile phones has been out for some time. But of all the innovations, the following are the five that we think will lead competitors to rethink their phone designs, and may end up changing the course of the phone industry.
1. The overall visual flourish
For years (and especially since the release of OS X back in March 2001), Mac users have been familiar with the idea of a slick interface, even at the cost of processing resources. Mobile phones, with some minor exceptions, have been utilitarian by comparison, especially when it comes to smartphones. Apple's iPhone brings some eye-popping effects and tricks to the UI that will make the entire experience more, well, loveable. Cover Flow is hardly useful, but watching your album art fly by is reminiscent of the old days of flipping through albums, and the tactile experience is quite enjoyable. We liked the rubber-band effect on scrolling lists, where a list moves a little too far beyond its endpoint and snaps back into place. We enjoyed watching icons explode off the screen and recompress as Steve Jobs navigated to and from the home screen. Apple owners, iPod users and Macintosh users alike can certainly attest to the idea that a good, pleasing interface can trump even a powerful new feature.
2. Visual, non-linear voice mail
Palm can brag about the Treo 750's VCR-like controls for voice mail, but it's basically just a hardware hack. The iPhone's innovative non-linear voice mail, on the other hand, is a groundbreaking addition, and it will truly save us time and frustration in the short term. In the long term, we think old-school linear voicemail will go the way of the dodo, and in a few years we will marvel that we ever sat through long, meandering messages to get to the truly important stuff.
3. 2-year contract required with no subsidy
Not all of the iPhone's innovations are positive. Before its release, we hoped the iPhone would be an unlocked GSM phone. We'd pay full price, and deal with the carriers ourselves. Carriers and manufacturers in this country already have a love/hate relationship, and though subsidies bring phones down to mass-market prices, the glut of articles we've read recently suggesting ways to get out of your contract tell us the model is due for a change. With Apple's iPhone, that change may be in the wrong direction. What are you getting for your two-year pledge? Nothing. No money, no improvement in service, and no flexibility. You are trading your commitment, which used to be worth a couple hundred dollars, for the privilege of owning the iPhone. If there was a reason to boycott the phone, it wouldn't be the lack of this or that feature, but rather for a draconian obligation that we truly hope will not become the golden standard for the industry.
4. 320-by-480 display resolution
Almost every review we've written about Windows Mobile phones has shared the same complaint: their QVGA resolution ceilings are too low to accomplish what these phones try to do. Even large screens, like the 3-inch screen on the HP iPaq 6925, look blocky due to the reduced resolution. Though the iPhone aspect ratio seems strange, stuck between 4:3 standard TV and 16:9 widescreen, we do appreciate a screen that is literally twice as wide as the 320-by-240 pixel count of a QVGA display. We'd like to see more flexibility from Windows Mobile when it comes to resolutions -- indeed, giving manufacturers the choice to go all the way to VGA screens and beyond -- once better screen technology is prevalent. When customers see the higher-resolution screen on the iPhone, along with its greater pixel density, we don't think they will be satisfied with the paltry QVGA-mandated displays on Windows Mobile.
5. Useful sensors
Lots of phones try to cram in features. FM radios and GPS chips are usually accompanied by underperforming, hard-to-use software. The iPhone will include an ambient light sensor, a proximity sensor, and an accelerometer, and all these features look like they'll do what they're supposed to: make the phone more pleasant to use, and stay out of the user's way. The iPhone's new-fangled sensors may seem extraneous to some, but watching Steve Jobs twist the phone counterclockwise to change from portrait to landscape mode, we were amazed at how simple it all seemed. We would guess that about half of the call dropping on our Treo 700p is caused by our faces, and not our carriers, so the proximity sensor is a great addition. Instead of packing the phone with features that users didn't really want and services that don't work well, Apple has hidden some gems just beneath the user experience.
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