First iPhone reviews appear

Stephen Withers
Thursday, 28 June 2007 09:14

Your IT - Mobility

There's the old favourite about battery life. Some pundits have been saying that the iPhone's battery can't last a day in normal use and coupled with the non-removable battery this means it can't be suitable for a business user.

The reviewers tell us that the iPhone's battery is good for a day (Baig, Levy, Mossberg) or two (Pogue) of reasonably heavy use, so scratch that off the list of quibbles. As for the lifespan of the battery itself, my bet is that we'll see third party batteries complete with the tools needed for installation in electronics and phone accessory stores by the time they need replacing.

The other chestnut is the one about the supposedly inherent problems that come with soft keyboards.

Baig says it takes some getting used to, and suggests users "start typing with one finger before graduating to two thumbs," adding "You also have to learn to trust the device; an intelligent virtual keyboard auto-corrects mistakes on the fly and anticipates what you will type next to try to prevent you from making a mistake."

Levy wasn't so keen and certainly wasn't being politically correct when he wrote "Maybe I’m a spaz, but I’m only beginning to get the hang of two-thumb typing... I’ve had the best results by blasting through despite my mistakes and relying on the intelligence built into the system to correct my errors. That said, I think that for most consumers the keyboard issue may be overblown." Pogue's comments were on similar lines.

So what about fingerprints? Baig didn't notice any, but Pogue reported that the iPhone's touchscreen does get smudgy, but "a sleeve wipes it clean". Levy favours a damp cloth or a baby wipe.

Talking of the screen, it seems that Apple's claim for the scratch-resistant properties of the glass touchscreen are justified.

Please turn to page three for a look at some of the real shortcomings identified by the iPhone reviewers.