First iPhone reviews appear

Stephen Withers
Thursday, 28 June 2007 08:14

Your IT - Mobility

The absence of instant messaging could be a problem for some potential buyers, but it's within the realms of possibility that this feature will be added in a future software update. For now, Levy points out that the Heysan mobile instant messaging service (compatible with AIM, MSN and ICQ, with support coming for Yahoo and Google Talk) works on the iPhone.

Using the iTunes software on the Mac to synchronise contacts and calendar items (from Outlook on a PC, or - on a Mac - Apple's own Mail and iCal or related third-party iSync-compatible applications) plus music and videos works like a charm, it seems. But that's one aspect that Apple's had plenty of opportunity to get right with the iPod and other devices.

One thing that the reviewers and critics agree upon is that AT&T's EDGE network doesn't do justice to the phone, with limited speed and coverage. There's general agreement that 3G would have been a better choice, and given the broad adoption of that standard around the world, it's hard to see why Apple didn't take that direction from the outset.

Talking about networks, why do so many commentators carry on about AT&T's exclusive deal when various carriers have similar deals with particular handsets? For example, Motorola's MOTOFONE is available in Australia only through Optus. So remarks about costs associated with switching carriers are misplaced.

Other shortcomings noted by the reviewers include the lack of support for Java and plugins such as Flash within the iPhone's version of the Safari web browser (although the way Safari works within the small screen was positively received), and also for custom ringtones.

One of the biggest lessons to be learned from the whole iPhone introduction is that you're never going to see a phone (or other device for that matter) that's ideal for everyone, and the absence of a feature that you consider essential doesn't mean its useless for everyone else.

This also goes for price. You might not pay $US500 or $600 for a phone, but plenty of people will. Yes, we'd all like better and cheaper, but we should remember the assertions in some quarters that the original iPod was too expensive to become a hit product.

And if front-loading the total cost of ownership encourages people to hold on to their iPhones for more than a year or two before adding them to our growing mountains of e-waste, is that really a bad thing?