Is iPhone the Magic Phone?In this world of science and technology, the men of science spend their time in laboratories in search of something new. We also witness their effort to bear fruits. Now this time, it is an iPhone from the house of Apple that has been attracting all the attentions worldwide over the past six months.
The gadget freaks of US can buy this iPhone at this moment. But the people of Asian countries like India have to wait up to mid 2008 to lay their hands on such a magic invention. The phone has attached screen and combines the features of a mobile phone, ipod, digital organizer and wireless internet devices. It is a revolutionary phone. It does things that no phone has ever done before but it has also been said that it lacks features found even on the most basic phones. So it has invited both applaud as well as criticism.
iPhone is a tiny, slim, gorgeous hand-held computer whose screen is a slab of touch sensitive glass. The $500 and $600 models have 4 and 8 GB storage and can store 825 and 1825 songs respectively. The iphone is congregation of cellphone, video ipod, email terminal, web browser, camera, alarm clock, palm type organizer and one heck of status symbol. The phone is so sleek and thin that makes Treos and Blackberrys look obese. When the glass of the phone get smudgy, a sleeve wipes it clean but it does not scratch easily. But the biggest achievement in this phone is the software available. It is fast, beautiful, menu free and very simple to operate. The only physical button below the screen always opens the home page displaying the icons for the iphone?s 16 functions. Lists scroll with a flick of finger; CD covers flip over as it is flicked. The users do not have to check the voice mail but it itself checks the user. The only one button press reveals the waiting messages, listed like email. There is no dialing in, no password. To answer a call, the user can tap answer on the screen, or pinch the microscopic microphone. iPhone has a speaker phone and vibration mode but both are weak. The music or video playback pauses until you hang up. But while making a call, however, the users have to follow a lengthy process comprising 6 steps: wake the phone, unlock its buttons, summon the home screen, open the phone program, view the recent calls or speed dial list and select a name. The call quality is just average but email is fantastic. Incoming messages are fully formatted, complete with graphics. The users even can open Word, Excel and PDF documents but cannot edit. The web browser is really laudable. It has multiple open pages, fonts, layouts, pop up menus, check boxes, clickable links and dial-able phone number. All is done with the tap of a finger.
The user can enlarge a web page or an email message, or a photo by spreading the thumb and fore finger on the glass. The image grows as though it is on a sheet of latex. The iphone is an ipod too. Photos, movies, and even Youtube videos look spectacular on the bright 3.5 inch screen. Apple claims that one battery charge is enough for 8 hours of call, 7 hours of video and 24 hours of audio. But one cannot use itunes songs as ring tones. There is no memory card slot, no chat program, no voice dialing. New programs cannot be installed from any one except Apple. The browser cannot handle Java or Flash. The 2 mega pixel camera takes great photos only when the subject is motion less and well lighted. But it cannot capture video. The user cannot send picture messages, MMS to other cell phones.
Apple says that the battery starts to lose capacity after 300 or 400 charges, so the phone needs battery replacement frequently. But so many striking features together overshadow the few loopholes it has. Some best features of all cell phones is roll into one in this iPhone; like password protection, shuffle and repeat modes, ratings, audio books, audio book speed control, podcasts, sound check, equalization, volume limiter, on-the-go playlists etc. With all these trendy options, iPhone is surely the phone of the year. Yet, with all features that it misses, the question that haunts again and again is can it claim itself the wonder phone?
Kanquona Bhattacharjee is a freelance writer and bloger. She has completed her post graduation in English from the University of Calcutta. She has some deep insight into social problems and often present these infront of the most strongest medium. Her personal website url is
http://www.wertex.org/ . She can be contacted at
[email protected] .
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