This should neither be Apple promotion nor a ‘Kill the iPhone’-post, but an objective review of the iPhone itself. And I will compare it to real good mobile devices like the Sony Ericsson P1i and the Nokia N95.
When Apple announced that they’re going to reinvent the phone, they lied. Period. They didn’t reinvent anything, Apple made an utterly new user interface, called multitouch, which you can operate with two fingers at the same time. That pinching and twisting really rocks, no doubt about that. The iPhone is also capable of syncing calendars and contacts, like any other mobile phone is. You can send SMS, but you can’t send MMS. Now, I don’t exactly know how the US market looks like, but in Europe sending MMS is state of the art. The built-in camera is less than a joke, two Megapixels – come on. And you can’t film anything. The iPhone doesn’t support the UMTS standard. which, at least in Europe, again is state of the art. That EDGE/GPRS crap is just not fast enough. According to Apple, the iPhone does not support UMTS networks because the chip still needs to much energy, so the battery charge wouldn’t last that long. Either Steve Jobs is lying (then why do Nokia and SonyEricsson make their phones UMTSsuitable) or WLAN availability in the US is at almost 99%, so that EDGE/GPRS is just a compromise, helping you connecting to the Internet, whenever you’re out in the woods.
So, what have the obvious rivals to come up with? Well, the P1i features WLAN, UMTS support, a real replaceable battery, Java, a 3.2 Megapixel camera, you can use any mp3 as ringtone, a media player, the lot. Nokia’s N95, is not only a phone but a GPS receiver, features a five Megapixel camera, capable of filming at 30fps, and everything the P1i has to offer (except the touchscreen).
And what is it with that exclusive contract with AT&T respectively T-Mobile et al? Visual voicemail is okay, but I could easily live without it and therefore have an unlocked iPhone.
The iPhone’s SDK is not open to developers, only web applications are supported. Great when you’re not online. You can’t use mp3s as your ringtone, either buy one in iTunes or get some workaround software. How hard would that be to implement? The user interface is really great, but when it comes to real features like every other phone has to offer, the iPhone loses its zest. Apple showed that they can change a market (with the iPod), but I don’t think the iPhone will kill any other phone or manufacturer, however, 1.000.000 sold iPhones is a good start.
Until the iPhone is not open for developers, is available without a contract, and is a worthy opponent of the N95 or the P1i, I fear it will be bombed off soon after its release.
