I picked up a new Iphone about a week ago. My contract was up and so decided to get the Iphone. I resisted the Ipod when it came out and instead bought a Sony 20 GB MP3 player. Later I realised that due to ipods popularity, it would have been a more flexible choice. My Sony is still doing a great job, so felt no need to ditch it favour of an Ipod but when it came to phones, I decided to go with the popular choice for several reasons, and I’m glad I did.
Although I don’t own an Apple Mac, I do like them and love selling them, and infact my store was the number one outlet last week selling more Macs than any other in Australia, of which I am quite proud, and gives you an idea about me being open to both streams of computers even though I own several windows machines.
Now I ended up getting the white Iphone for no other reason than I didn’t care and white was all they had in stock, but I do prefer it now I own it. If you buy an Iphone my first bit of advice is get a cover and screen protector, and I also took out the insurance against accidental damage etc.
After getting all my numbers sorted in the phone, which was very straight forward, I downloaded Itunes 9. I had a bit of a tinker and was fairly comfortable with it, but as I don’t own a Mac it still felt a little left handed. After getting that up and running I synced my phone to back up my newly sorted phone numbers/contacts.
I then set up wifi so I don’t have to use 3G to go online when at home. This was just a matter of adding my passphrase. I then jumped online and set up an account on the Itunes store, and went browsing for apps. Apps is short for applications and these are probably the killer appliction of the Iphone, as they allow you to do everything from online banking and ordering a pizza to leveling a shelf and tuning your guitar.
At first I downloaded a few free apps like a usage meter for my phone company, my banks online app, and several others like yellow pages etc. I tried to be careful in not going app crazy and downloading a bunch of useless stuff, as I seen friends do this, so I tried to be selective. I also downloaded 3 games and after reading a review an app called iSyn, which is a musical synthesizer. Its damn impressive but am still learning to master its controls.
I then rearranged my apps so I had most relevent on firs tpage but as getting to apps is just a flick of the finger using Apples gestures, its not that important to rearrange, although it is kewl you can.
I like the switch on the side that sets it to vibrate/silent, as we are not meant to have phones on at work, so it comes in handy although the vibration feature seems a little weak and I missed a call due to not feeling vibration. Alll good though as if its important they can ring back or I will ring them when I get a chance.
I am really impressed about how the Iphone handles text messages, and you can see all the messages you have sent back and forth with someone. This is very functional and intuitive. I loaded a couple of my fav CDs on Silent Alarm by Bloc Party, Flying Colours by Bliss n Eso and MGMTs CD, just so I has some tunes if the need arises.
Some of the apps are location aware, so for example, I can order Dominoes Pizza and it send it to nearest store. This is very kewl and has a lot of potential, like for finding nearest ATM or restaurant etc.
The use of gestures on the screen to naviagte and control the Iphone is very intuitive and means the lack of physical buttons isn’t an issue. I’m sure most ppl are aware of these, but simply they allow you to do things like scroll down an internet page by sliding your finger up or down the screen or using a 2 finger pinch to zoom in or out. The use of sensors in the Iphone also maakes sure the screen is orientated the right way, if you decide to turn it on its side and use a landscape screen. Its all very natural and easy to master
Now one thing that I don’t like is the crappy ringtones, and that I can’t buy any down under from Itunes. I read a few articles and tried to make one but failed, so may have a go at work where I can access garage band on a Mac. *UPDATE* I have now worked out how to make ringtones using just Itunes *UPDATE*
I am extremely happy with my first apple purchase, and would even say I love my Iphone, even though I have only had it a week.
I rate it 9.5 out of 10…. its faultless in use but vibration feature could be stronger.
Mobile Me is a great product to go with your Iphone, that will sync all your info automatically with out having to connect to your computer and even lets you find your Iphone if you lose it or misplace it
MobileMe Individual (Updated 2009 Version)
KewlHunter.com 