COMEDGETS

After few months of using the iPhone 3G, I can fairly say I have become familiar with this mobile device to share some insights on how it fares as a primary mobile phone.

First let me say that Apple has revolutionized the way we use our mobile phones. Before that, we are used to a lot of great phones that do a ton of tricks but often fail us when it’s time to connect to the net. In a way, I regard the iPhone 3G primarily as an internet device and media player that has the cute feature allowing you to make calls and send SMS.

That being said, if you are a heavy SMS user, then the iPhone is not for you. That’s because you will have to unlearn everything you know about text-typing all these years — and that is a hard thing to do for most phone users. So if you belong to that crowd, you can stop here and move on to the next page.

However, if you are open to trying out a new interface, I’m sure you’ll enjoy the intuitive touch screen of the iPhone.

The Killer Feature: iPhone App Store
With the new iPhone 4.0 software and the recent introduction of the iPhone App Store, extending the features of your iPhone 3G becomes almost limitless. Thousands of applications and games were developed and available for free or a fee (as low as $0.99 each). The wealth of games found in the iPhone via the App Store makes gaming on the mobile phone like the second coming of Snakes on the Nokia phone over a decade ago.

The Good

• The real estate is in the screen and you get 3.5″ of that. The large and crisp display is what makes internet surfing and watching videos enjoyable on the iPhone.
• The built-in Safari browser that allows zooming in and out of objects and webpages is a great feature that almost mimics the full browsing experience (minus Flash & Java apps).
• Full-featured connectivity — WiFi 802.11 b/g, Bluetooth, 3G and GPS. You can’t ask for anything more.
• Push and Fetch Data allows you to set the phone to receive email and other data from the server (MobileMe) as well as a fetch options (in intervals of 15 mins, 30 mins,hourly or manually) for other emails that do not support the Push function.
• Ample storage for photos, videos and music the new iPhone 3G comes in 16GB and 32GB.
• Synchronized email, contacts and calendar management. Works best with a MobileMe account.

The Bad

• It’s a battery hog. You can easily drain it up in a single day with all the music, video, WiFi and 3G use. My average is one and a half days so I charge it up almost every day. Always bring your chargers with you.
• It’s close to impossible text-typing with a single hand. I think 90+% of all iPhone owners use both hands when text-typing. You need full concentration and all eyes to use it (unlike the regular phone keypads where people can type without even looking).
• Does not support Flash and Java reliant websites and there are tons of websites that heavily use them.
• Comes with a hefty price.

The Ugly

• Predictive text input is a nice feature. It’s available on almost all phones. Problem is, you can’t turn it off on the iPhone so if you’re texting in a different language, it will suck big time.
• No built-in copy & paste function. Them Nokia phones have it, why not the iPhone?
• Unlike what Steve Jobs said in his announcement, the iPhone 3G is not any thinner than the old iPhone. The curvy design of the back panel gives that illusion but it’s actually thicker.
• The built-in speakers ain’t that loud enough and they’re placed at the bottom end of the iPhone. It works but it’s just regular speakers.
• The 2MP camera takes decent pictures but there’s no flash or autofocus function. You can’t use this on low light.
• In iPod mode, the iPhone makes it a little hard to navigate between songs as controls are done via touchscreen. That means you need to unlock the iPhone from sleep mode everytime you want to skip or move on to the next song. There should be some physical button to do this simple job (just like the regular iPods) but I think a shake control using the accelerometer should do the trick. Apple tried to solve this by using the headphone as the physical control using single or double clicks to navigate songs forward.
• Smudge magnet. Makes you wanna wipe the screen every other minute.

Less of a Phone, More of an Internet Device
Let me say that again — the iPhone 3G is more of an internet device rather than a phone. I use it more to surf the net or play some casual games than to make calls or SMS people.

It took Apple, a new player in the mobile market, to change how the rest of the old players in the industry move forward in innovating mobile devices. Without the iPhone, we would not have seen the likes of Samsung Instinct, Omnia i900, HTC Touch Diamond, LG Dare and Sony-Ericsson Xperia this early.

US technology giant Google Inc. has recently introduced its latest smartphone called Nexus One which uses Android platform and has been designed by Taiwanese mobile phone maker HTC.

Just like most multi-media phones today, this Google phone features Internet capability and supports 3G and Wi-Fi connectivity. And to prevent lagging while doing web browsing, the device also has a 512 MB RAM, something to be considered high for a mobile phone.

Consumers can also expect a relatively impressive built-in camera that features 5-megapixel resolution, video capability (at 720 x 480 pixels at 20 frames per second or higher), LED flash, geo-tagging capability for providing input in every photo, and autofocus from 6 cm to infinity. However, one major downside of the built-in camera is that it only has 2 x digital zoom which is lower compared to other smartphones in the market today.

To allow users to conveniently browse the Internet, view photos, and watch videos, this mobile phone boasts a 3.7-inch (diagonal measurement) widescreen display that support 800 x 480 pixels, 1ms response rate, 100,000 x 1 contrast ratio, touchscreen feature, and WGA image technology.

Other features include Bluetooth connectivity, Micro SD slot which can support up to 32 GB memory card, speaker, Micro USB port, dock pin connectors, microphone with noise-cancelling technology, clickable trackball, SIM card slot, and rechargeable lithium-ion battery.

Meanwhile, Nexus One will not have a tie up with any communication service provider which means that consumers can choose any wireless carrier they want, thus also allowing them to select the one that will provide the best service and deal.

According to technology blog Gizmodo, this Google phone will come at a retail price of about $530. Also, technology experts believe that the smartphone will be directly shipped by the company itself.

On the other hand, some analysts believe that this new Google smartphone will irk some phone companies that use the technology firm’s Android platform which has been lauded for its fast processing and interactive features.

Few months ago, Google has been dropping hints on its plan to introduce its own line of Android-based smartphones in an effort to compete with iPhone which is the best-selling mobile phone device in the US.

Microsoft has recently unveiled a mobile phone designed for social networking addicts who want to get convenient and fast access to popular online communities such as Facebook and Twitter.com.

The phone is named “Kin One” (its more powerful version is named “Kin Two) which will be available in the US next month through Verizon Wireless before being introduced to other European countries.

While there are countless of phones designed for social networking, Microsoft’s latest product does not stand out from the rest, or if it does, it is because it lacks features that would be considered by most consumers as deal-breakers.

One of the most disturbing downsides of this phone is the lack of application support despite the proliferation of smartphones in the market which offer thousands of apps. Take for example Android phones, iPhone models, and BlackBerry phones which can support thousands of applications ranging from games, music, office use, to entertainment and GPS technology.

Another deal-breaker is the phone’s OS. Using the current mobile technology of Microsoft, the company did not incorporate the Windows 7 operating system which could have made the mobile phone more powerful. However, the company has promised that this OS will be available in the new version which will be introduced tentatively in the fourth quarter of this year.

While the technology giant boasts that Kin One is highly-designed for young consumers addicted to social networking, surprisingly, the phone does not allow users to share photos and videos through microblogging Twitter. Such downside is such a waste since the phone has a relatively impressive built-in camera which has 5-megapixel resolutions, auto flash (which makes it possible to capture images in low-light condition), and other image technologies.

On the brighter side, the phone has touch sensitive screen, media player which is powered by Zune, 4 gigabytes (which can store up to 1,000 songs), and lastly, cheaper price compared to most popular smartphones.

However, a cheap price does not make the phone worthy of purchase for most users especially for those who are web-centric denizens or those who rely on their phones for certain business applications like word document and PDF file support.