I got to play with the iPhone ~ GAMES AND GADGETS

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Friday, November 9, 2007

I got to play with the iPhone


By: Philip Silva

One of the advantages of having rich relatives is that you get to play with their toys. That was exactly what I did when I visited my uncle in Manhattan a few weeks ago. My uncle isn't really a techie but he's more of the follow the crowd type. He was one of the first to buy an iPhone when it was launched even though the only thing that he thinks mobile phones are good for is for making calls. I'm the techie in the family and when he voluntary surrendered his iPhone to me to play with during the week I was there so that, "I could study the features and teach him how to use it", I happily obliged.

The Design

Now don't get me wrong, I'm not an iPhone fan. In fact, I think I've been bashing the iPhone even before its release in some of my articles. But when I got hold of that sleek, thin phone in my hands, all thoughts of hatred flew out of my head and I was just in awe. The iPhone is hands down, the prettiest phone I've ever seen. It has a brilliant glass screen. Yes, glass! This is the first phone I've encountered that has a glass screen rather than plastic. The iPhone's LCD displays brilliant colors but my uncle's iPhone already has a spatter of fingerprint smudges when handed to me. The phone is all screen save for one button at the bottom for accessing the menus. On the top is a button for controlling calls and also serves as the phone's power button. On the left side of the phone, you can find the volume control and a ringer mute switch and at the bottom of the phone is the speakers and the place where you connect the syncing dock or charger. At the back of the iPhone is the camera and the Apple logo and yes, there's no hatch for the battery. The iPhone feels solid in my hand and the screen is a pleasure to touch. I have a PDA phone which I would never dream of using my fingers on so the iPhone's touch interface took a little time for me to get used to. Whenever I fish the iPhone out of my pocket, I always feel the need to grope the side for a stylus which I always do with my own phone.

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