First Look: Just like everyone else, we also spent a few hours in line to purchase Apple’s ridiculously expensive iPhone. After spending a day or so with the phone, it is clear to us that Apple has created a special product that extends far beyond the definition of a cellphone.
Apple iPhone gallery...
The iPhone launch was one of these days where I sometimes wonder, if there is any common sense left in our society. There is a company that launches a $600 cellphone and thousands of us just can’t wait to get rid of their cash and even enjoy wasting the better part of a day waiting in line. If you ask me, that is just nuts. But here we are and the huge hype behind the phone of course was reason enough for us to become part of the frenzy and see if the iPhone can keep the promises Steve Jobs has made.
Who bought the phone?
The big questions prior to the launch were whether there would be enough supply and what type of user really would buy the phone. Yes, there was the Ebay crowd once again, but compared to the PS3 and Wii launch, where we found that eight out of ten buyers planned to resell the consoles online, we noticed that nine out of ten iPhone buyers actually planned to keep the phone for themselves - at least at the locations we visited.
We purchased our phone in suburban Chicago after a somewhat acceptable 3.5 hour wait. At this specific location, there were about 50 people in line with about 100 phones in supply. The crowd consisted out of dads buying the phone as a gift for their daughters and sons as reward for good grades in school, gadget lovers who anyway buy everything that is new on the market and of course Apple-fanatics who blindly buy whatever Steve Jobs tells them to buy. Very few of them actually wanted to dump their current carrier – the vast majority already had an AT&T plan in place. And yes, even 50 miles outside Chicago, in the midst of cornfields, there is still cash to be made from the first spot in line ($300 in this case).
After a few hours with the iPhone in our hands, we have a good first impression of the device. You can check back later today for a thorough review of the iPhone’s features and get some numbers on the device’s capabilities on Tom’s Hardware.
Design
Needless to say, the iPhone is a stunning handheld. The footprint is slightly larger than a Treo smartphone, while the device is slightly thinner than a Blackberry Pearl and even thinner than a closed Motorola Razr. The case design is in line with Apple’s philosophy to create simplistic industrial designs that hide the complexity of the technology behind it. Design is always a matter of taste, but Apple has done a great job in creating a product that is universally appealing.
The glass surface protects a 3.5” screen as well as the only physical (“Home”) button on the front of the device, The sides and the back of the iPhone consist of a mix of matte, shiny and black plastic covers – which in our opinion would have deserved upgraded material choices, given the high price of the phone. For the first time in an iPod-like device, Apple has integrated speakers into the iPhone (in the bottom black panel). Other buttons, which are almost invisibly integrated into the side panels of the phone, are controls for volume, deactivating and activating the alarm as well as a button to turn off the device. There is no dedicated switch to turn off the wireless features (cellphone, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth) of the iPhone.
Included in the iPhone package is a charger, a connector to the PC (USB) as well as a wired headset with an integrated control for accepting phone calls.
Installation: Activate your phone
If you have owned an Apple product before then installation is typically a Breeze. In the case of the iPhone, the activation does not happen in the store, but at home on your PC and through iTunes, which means that you will have to have an Internet connection as well as Mac OS X or Windows XP/Vista PC to be able to get the phone running. In the store, we learned that AT&T does not offer insurance for the iPhone (the store manager declined to tell us why, but we believe that is due to the short battery cycle life time, which is estimated to be a bout 300 charges) and that the phone will not work beyond allowing emergency phone calls, if it is not activated. That means, even if you just want to use the iPod feature, you will have to have an AT&T plan in place (at least for now).
The installation process was a bit rocky, as iTunes on a brand new MacBook did not recognize the iPhone. The installation process started on a Windows XP PC, but iTunes insisted that the activation period was “expired” and terminated the process. Turning the time back on the PC by one hour fixed this issue and the phone was activated and fully functional within 3 minutes (the phone number is provided after the completion of the activation.)
We have heard about other people having issues with the installation, but Apple phone support was available and wait times were less than 2 minutes shortly after launch.
Read on the next page: Features and Conclusion