The iPhone
Let’s not deny the obvious- that the iPhone is a conglomeration of the supreme features of all phones that have come to pass in the up and coming telecommunications age. It’s the best of all the phones out there. We’ll ignore how they chose one of the slowest networks as their internet provider, but other than that, what is there not to love?
As iPhone is Apple’s newest and biggest venture, we have to assume that the notorious iPod is a natural feature. Already we start with a feature that exceeds the practicality of SMS and completely destroys the cute alphabetized contact list attached to every phone released to the world public. You can only activate this very phone through iTunes as well as equip the phone with the same play lists on your Ipod. Using a program that incorporates the same features as iTunes, Cover Flow can help you store songs in the 4 GB or 8 GB memory. As iPods and iTunes, alike, have swept the nation, their hottest member has just joined the team.
A few of the simple features include the primitive call, text, voicemail, and pictures. A person may wonder why they are a paying a star price of 500 dollars for a phone that does what any other phone can do, but the iPhone has revolutionized each feature with a bit of style. For calling anyone, for example, all you need to do is press the number that shows on the screen. If the person is in your contacts, on a website, or on a map with local restaurants, there is no need to physically press the seven digits- just once will do! In the teenage land of texting, where idk, lol, and btw say more than what may appear as random letters strung together, the iPhone aids this language with the famous QWERTY keyboard. You can text with a full keyboard of letters at your fingertips, assisted by a program that spell checks your texts as well. The best part, is the voicemail: you don’t have to listen to all of them again and again and again; you just choose the ones you want to hear, save, or delete. And for the finale, Apple will not suffice with a simple showing of pictures- No, they allow you to drag your fingers along the pictures, mimicking movements to enlarge them or shrink them. With its 2.0 megapixel camera, taking and viewing pictures have never been more fun. Simple just came with a new sense of style!
One of the few aspects that has drawn people out of their beds at 2 AM was the Internet accessibility. Just as your laptop can acquire a Wi-Fi signal, this phone will deliver you Google, the New York Times, YouTube, and more through your own wireless network. Equipped with Safari and an HTML email client, it can synchronize bookmarked pages with that of your own computer as well as instantly connect to search engine to fit your desire. Instant magnifying is always at the touch of a fingertip, making any reading piece far from a hassle. Naturally, of course, like any lost road-runner, the use of satellite road navigation systems accessed via the phone’s internet, is more like a God’s gift of solace and why anyone would want Internet in the first place. The last bit rests in widgets- a term referencing the many small applications that keep a person on his or her own toes, including stock market updates and weather reports.
Now that we know this phone a little better, it’s time we understand some of the secrets behind the glassy screen. With a 3.5 inch display and weighing about 4.8 ounces, the phone is quite optimal to hold for a long conversation or surf the internet. Actually according to Apple, “iPhone will feature up to 8 hours of talk time, 6 hours of Internet use, 7 hours of video playback or 24 hours of audio playback…and 250 hours of standby time”. The extra time provided by this smart phone, as most others in its league offer on average 6 hours of talk time, is credited by the technologies of its operating system, OS X, and the sensors.
There are four major programs that were implemented into the phone to encourage the success that it is now experiencing. The first of which includes Multi-touch, an interface that specializes in allowing a person to touch the screen to access different parts of the phone. Working with three layers in the glass field, the TFT LCD display, the capacitive touch layer, and the protective shield all comprise to create this Multi-touch surface that dominates that phone’s unique appeal. Complementing the Multi-touch feature, is its operating system, OS X- “the world’s most advanced operating system”. It allows for a person to view rich HTML email, internet, and Safari, which includes calendar, text messaging, Address Book, weather, and more. Focusing on using Web 2.0 applications in the OS X operating system, Apple comments, “Web 2.0-based applications are being embraced by leading developers because they are far more interactive and responsive than traditional web applications, and can be easily distributed over the Internet and painlessly updated by simply changing the code on the developers’ own servers.” Another essential facet to the iPhone, is of course, the wireless component. Governed by quadband GSM, a global standard or wireless for all phones, the iPhone is also supported by AT&T’s EDGE network, 802.11b/g Wi-Fi, and Bluetooth 2.0 with EDR. And granted, that in this day and age when speed is what matters most, the iPhone is capable of switching between EDGE and Wi-Fi to provide the customer with optimal speeds at all time. Lastly, are the built-in sensors, arranged in three types, and which further ensure the prolonged nature of this product. The accelerometer, for example, allows for you to rotate the device but yet still keep the object in focus and upright at all times. The proximity sensor detects how close it is to certain objects, as if to know its too near or too far from a proper viewing distance, and turns off the display to save power. And for the cherry on top, the ambient light sensor adjusts the amount of light needed to see the screen in order to save power and provide for the quintessential viewing experience.
With over 200 patents attributed to the creation of this phone, the iPhone is a story waiting for a heroic ending. We have not yet reached a climax, but the beginning has been, as always, a bit shaky for the newcomer. As small flaws, such as not being able to send texts to multiple people at once, exist, there are a plethora of features that any phone company would love to adapt to their machines. The technologies engineered to render a phone easy to use and fun to have are what attract the average customer to this piece of eye-candy. We have only to wait and see what is in store for this pioneering phone- a benchmark for the phones to come!
Video Links:
http://www.apple.com/iPhone/usingiPhone/guidedtour_medium.html
http://www.apple.com/iPhone/ads/ad1/
http://www.apple.com/iPhone/usingiPhone/keyboard_large.html
