Apple’s
iPhone
handset sports an advanced touch-driven user interface and an excellent browser
that lets the user view full web pages while on the move. However, it does not
appear to be an ideal device for either web-based applications or business email
access, where the iPhone’s on-screen keyboard makes it unsuitable as a
BlackBerry replacement.
The iPhone, available in the UK now from Apple and
O2, combines the
functions of a smartphone and an iPod media player in a stylish slimline device.
It weighs about 135g, making it a little heavier than a standard mobile phone
but lighter than many devices with a qwerty keyboard.
We found the iPhone made access to basic functions such as phone calls and
voicemail very easy, which will make it appeal to the less tech-savvy user.
However, while its web browser excels at displaying pages, the device only
supports GPRS networks (with
Edge
where available) making browsing slow when out of range of a Wi-Fi access
point. The iPhone also relies on a “soft” on-screen keyboard for input, and
lacks the level of support for corporate email accounts found in many Windows
Mobile or Symbian handsets.
Apple has aimed the iPhone at consumers, but it does have some potential as a
business client. It runs a version of the OS X operating system used on Apple’s
desktop Mac systems, albeit with a different user interface, so could
potentially serve as a future platform for developing applications. It also has
8GB of built-in Flash, which could also prove useful for holding application
data sets. Apple has said it will deliver a developers’ toolkit sometime early
in 2008. However, the iPhone is not currently supported by any major management
tools, so administrators cannot remotely lock or wipe the device as is possible
with a BlackBerry.
The iPhone has a very minimalist appearance, with just a single control
beneath its 3.5in touch-screen display. This is the home key, which returns the
user to the main screen and also wakens the device if it has blanked the screen.
On the device’s side there is a ringer mute and volume controls, plus a
sleep/wake button on top.
Its screen is very clear and sharp, and one of the best we have seen on any
mobile device. It also feels sturdy enough to stand up to being prodded all the
time in everyday use. However, the screen rapidly becomes covered in unsightly
fingerprints. This is because Apple’s user interface is finger driven, rather
than using a stylus. In fact, it is touch-sensitive, and so does not respond to
a stylus.
The home screen of the iPhone presents a grid of colourful icons, with the
four chief functions Phone, Mail, Safari web browser and iPod in a separate
strip along the bottom. Much thought has clearly gone into the user interface,
which makes extensive use of animated effects, such as the way an application
expands to fill the screen when you tap its icon, then collapses back again when
you return to the home screen. Apple’s voicemail system makes good use of its
visual interface to let you pick just the message you want to listen to, rather
than having to listen to them in sequence.
In applications such as the Safari browser, fingertip control is used for
navigation, so that you push the page up with your finger to scroll down, for
example. Many options can also be set by flicking an on-screen slider switch.
Safari is probably the best mobile browser we have seen, especially in its
handling of standard web pages. It loads up a view of the entire page, exactly
as it would be seen on a desktop computer. This usually makes text too small to
read, but users can easily zoom in to areas of interest.
To zoom in, you place two digits on the screen and move them apart, as if you
are attempting to stretch the page. Reversing the gesture zooms out again. One
neat feature is that the browser will automatically change the screen from
portrait to landscape orientation if you rotate the iPhone 90 degrees while
browsing.
We found Safari worked very well with commercial web sites such as BBC News,
making the iPhone a good choice as a web access device. However, it proved less
successful with web-based applications. It was incompatible with the iNotes
web-based access for Lotus Notes, while GoogleMail served up a mobile version of
the site designed for PDAs. Other applications such as IT Week’s content
management system simply halted upon identifying it as an unsupported browser.
We found the GPRS slow for browsing. With a Wi-Fi connection, the experience
is much more satisfactory, and we also found the iPhone’s Wi-Fi easy to
configure and connect to our test access point. Wi-Fi can be turned on or off by
a switch in the Settings screen, but is automatically turned off if the phone is
put into flight mode.
Because the iPhone has no physical keypad, users are forced to use on-screen
soft keys to dial numbers, enter web addresses and type emails and text
messages. The numeric keypad for dialling posed no problem, but the qwerty
keyboard slowed us down considerably and we constantly hit the wrong keys when
typing. BlackBerry users will be unlikely to find the iPhone an acceptable
alternative.
Apple’s Mail client is easy to configure for consumer POP and web-based email
accounts, but only supports access to corporate email systems via the
Imap
protocol. This can be used to retrieve email from Microsoft Exchange accounts if
the IT department has enabled Imap connectivity on the server, but does not
allow access to contacts or calendar information, unlike the ActiveSync protocol
used by Microsoft’s Windows Mobile handsets. However, some third-party email
vendors, including
Synchronica and
Visto, have added support for
the iPhone to their products that mobilise access to Exchange accounts.
Apple ships the iPhone with a cradle that holds the handset upright while
charging or synching with a PC or Mac. A supplied cable plugs into either the
cradle or directly into the iPhone at one end, and to a PC USB port or a mains
charger at the other end. A supplied stereo headset lets the user listen to
music, and has a small attached microphone and button for answering calls.
The iPhone has a built-in rechargeable battery that offers a talk time of up
to 8 hours and standby time up to 250 hours. We found that browser sessions,
even on GPRS, rapidly depleted the battery, however. If the iPhone is also used
as an iPod music player by users, this will also shorten the battery life.
