Apple iPhone Part 1 - Design And Interface

It’s iPhone month so here's the first scoop. What we're going to do is review this ‘Phone Almighty’ one step at a time instead of just thrusting it in your face with all the information there is. Call it an iDissection if you will. My esteemed colleague and fellow reviewer of gadgetry, none other than the incomparable Mr. Laiq Qureshi will be my assisting me in this endeavor as we go into the intricacies of this next generation in mobile technology.

Styled to Tantalize
So first off, let's introduce you to the iPhone in all its glory. How would one describe something like this? In a word – SEX-AH!!! I know that may not be a word (as such) but it really depicts the feeling when you first see it. With it’s glossy black front surface and shiny steel frame and it’s singular button below the brilliantly large 3.5 inch, scratch resistant, 320 x 480 pixel resolution, 16 million color, touch screen display gives the iPhone a classy yet simplistic and chic look and feel.


On the left hand side you’ll notice just the three buttons. At the top is a switch for going into silent mode and just below that are the volume keys. The top of the iPhone is where you’ll find the 3.5mm earphone socket and the power and screen lock button.

If you flip it over and expect to see a camera with a lens cover, flash and what not, you’ll be surprised. It may actually take a moment or two to find a camera at all. Don’t fret people. As most of you already know the iPhone is equipped with a 2 megapixel camera. It’s located in the top right hand corner of the rear. It’s so tiny you could just miss it. Where you might find in most phones, a small square reflective surface near the lens, in the iPhone you’ll find a large Apple logo. Hey as long as it serves the purpose it could be shaped like a banana. Just don’t try sliding the rear panel off. It won’t budge since the iPhone is totally sealed just like the iPod. The whole phone weighs 135g.


And finally, the traditional Apple propriety port is at the bottom of the phone. This allows you to plug the phone into your PC to sync with your iTunes by using even your iPod USB connector or the dock that’s provided. Incidentally, the iPhone's charging dock also has a line out socket.

Buttons at your Fingertips
Let me just say, I truly am a big fan of this new fangled touch screen interface. It’s simply brilliant. It’s extremely easy to use and the large clear screen only accentuates the usage with decent sized icons and options. But... Yes there’s a ‘but’. This may all be good and fair while maneuvering through the menus, scrolling, or even while ‘pinching the screen to zoom in or spreading your fingers to zoom out, but the problem is the onscreen keypad. Albeit it’s large with clear characters but with today’s new SMS language, numbers sometimes replace words like 2 = to or too and b4 = before.

With this keypad you’re going to have to switch between the numeric and alphabetic keypads and the numeric pad also has all the symbols. It’s true that most Windows mobiles also have similar on screen keypads, so it’s not too much of a problem when you get used to it. What’s a real pain to get used to, unless you can find a way to slim your fingers down to about 5 millimeters in width, is actually being able to type full words without hitting the wrong keys. It’s not easy and even after a couple of days of testing, but you can get used to it. Just keep practicing or as Sharon says, “Use your little Pinky.”

There aren’t any themes or anything to change and jazz it up any more than it already is. Another great feature though is the gyroscopic image viewer. If you tilt the phone to the side, the image also automatically rotates to landscape mode. Neato!

The iPhone is a phenomenon just like the iPod. Its innovative interface and simply awesome touch screen technology is enough to captivate you. From these two angles the phone is Aces in my book. Over the series of micro reviews like this however, we’ll introduce you the iPhones various features and let you in on whether it really is a phone of the future or just another hyped phone.