8 posts tagged “apple”

After a few days' ownership now, I thought I'd share my iPhone initial impressions. FWIW, I'm still in the honeymoon period where I think this device is the bee's knees and is the first practical smartphone.

The good:

• The UI works really well -- no other smartphone's functionality is so easily accessible.
• The automatic switching between EDGE and Wi-Fi is pretty seamless, and while EDGE is not exactly the speediest game in town, I've found it sufficient for my needs.
• The iPod touch interface is awesome, and the video playback is super-smooth and an improvement on the tiny screen we got with the original iPod Video.
• It's actually far more pocketable than I expected. My previous Samsung flip phone disappears in your pocket by comparison, but the iPhone still fits comfortably in my jeans pocket where I still need to reach down every now and then to make sure it's still there.
• The keyboard interface, while not perfect and will infuriate the mad texters out there, is pretty good at guessing what you want to type and autocorrecting; what Apple claims is true, type fast and trust the system, and it will get it right 90% of the time.
  
• The Google Maps integration is the killer feature of this phone; a map in my pocket wherever I go so I'm never lost -- this totally rocks.

The not-so-good:

• I keep expecting some kind of tactile feedback; luckily you at least get visual feedback with a glow effect when buttons are "pressed".
• The Safari browser, while for the most part providing a good browsing experience, occasionally becomes non-responsive. Also, I'm not sure whether it's a Safari problem or a website problem, but some sites take a _long_ time to complete loading (even on a Wi-Fi connection) -- e.g. The Age website.
• Now that I use it as my primary device for phone and media functions, 8G is not enough; I'll be crying when then 16G version inevitably arrives.
• The recessed headphone socket is a pain; it means I can't use my fancy headphones when I want to use it as a media player, only the bundled Apple headphones which while decent lack noise isolation and bass response.
  
• If you're a heavy phone user (which I'm not) you're going to dislike the fact you need to perform at least 3 presses from the locked state to get to the numeric keypad to dial a number.

Overall, my initial misgivings about buying the iPhone have dissipated. It does everything I need it to, and does so in a fun and visually compelling way. To me, it's a winner and everyone else is now playing catchup.

So I decided to drop into the Apple Store today in Bellevue, just to see if those new-fangled iPod Touch things happened to be in stock. I should have known by the traffic in the store that the answer was yes! (Not to mention the fact it was a Saturday.)

I made a beeline for the iPod Touch, and was really impressed with the UI -- works just like the iPhone's, the scrolling with your finger is smooth, and the Safari browser works as advertised (although I had a little trouble finding a unit that was connected to the store's WiFi). One thing about these devices: they are incredibly *thin*, far thinner than I would ever have guessed.

And this applies to the iPod Nano as well, which was also receiving a lot of love from shoppers. The revised UI on the iPod Nano (and Classic) looked okay, with album art, photos or video snippets appearing in the right half of the screen depending on the selected menu item in the left half of the screen. Both devices feature a revised rounded shell form factor, with the front half looking like the anodized aluminium cases of old that first made their appearance on the original iPod mini. I'm not entirely show the new look is a success, but I guess you need to have some sort of visual differentiation to say "hey look, I got the latest one! your 2-month old one sux".

In the end, my willpower gave out and I purchased an iPhone -- the integration of phone functionality, web browsing, e-mail, YouTube and Google Maps was just too compelling. Yes, it only holds 8G of music and data, and yes, this device ain't perfect by any means, but it satisfies the pain points I have today and does so in a way that's easy and fun to use. I would have loved to have had this device when travelling in New York City! Did I mention I had some annual bonus money to burn as well? :)

Doubters and style police take note: the fat new iPod Nano looked to be the most popular item for the people standing in the checkout queue... I suppose $149/$199 for a video-capable music player that's gym-friendly isn't such a bad deal after all...

Last night I got an opportunity to play with an iPhone, thanks to a friend of a friend at a BBQ I attended... Short summary: it meets expectations, and while that sounds somewhat faint praise, those expectations were nothing short of sky-high!

UI was both easy to use and responsive, the screen was amazingly crystal clear, the keyboard works as advertised, the auto-rotating screen was smooth as silk, and the essential functionality was all there: web browsing, chat, phone, looking up weather and stocks with a click of a button, oh and of course playing music, videos and taking photos...

I just realised that iPhone has accomplished what the UMPC probably set out to accomplish, but never could because it never had an established focus. iPhone does everything I could conceivably need in a mobile device. While it is an iPhone, that hasn't prevented it from being a more than capable general device.

Still, I think I will wait for 2.0, when the radio gets updated to 3G and all the inevitable kinks get ironed out. (And I can justify the $600 outlay and the minimum $60/mth commitment to AT&T!)

Ok I suppose I'm not supposed to laugh but this is pretty funny :)

I found this little joke prop from the Zune boys and gals rather funny. For the record, there is no ban on Apple products whatsoever on campus!

Personally, I wish I could like the Zune more. I've seen it in action because a number of people received them as ship gifts, and while the interface is rather slick the overall design doesn't sing to me.

The scroll wheel is still iPod's killer UI feature, but the Zune's snazzy graphics do make that of the iPod's look rather old hat (even if they are still a model of elegance in their simplicity). Oh well, at least it's an indication that competition is healthy...

Melbourne and Vancouver beat Seattle hands down imho, but if there's one thing Seattle is good for, it's music. Tomorrow I'm seeing Snow Patrol, Ok Go and the Silversun Pickups for a fraction of the price similar tickets would cost back in Oz. It amazes me how much I was paying back then, whereas now because it's so cheap and more readily accessible, I'm sure I've seen more live music in the past seven months than I have in the past seven years (ok maybe not that far back but it sounds more poetic doesn't it?).

I'm hoping to see Brett Dennen at Chop Suey in a couple weeks' time too... a recent discovery thanks to iTunes. Imagine a 6-foot-5 red-headed giant with a voice almost like a woman's, backed by a guitar and matched with some really thought-provoking lyrics on his latest album, So Much More. Oh and I found Brett Dennen because iTunes suggested I might like them since I bought an Iron & Wine EP (I think). And now I can't remember how I found Iron & Wine... maybe because I like Rocky Votolato...?

It's moments like these I wish Apple would support the subscription model for the iPod -- I can definitely see a compelling reason to sign up for unlimited music downloads if I pay a set fee per month; if Zune can do it for $15/month, Apple could too (I could almost live with onerous DRM in return for the kind of all-you-can-eat that would really take advantage of my broadband connection here).

Wow was I wrong. I didn't want to overshoot with my predictions in case I was way out of the ballpark but whaddya know, Steve Jobs ended up pulling a rabbit out of the hat after all! I had macrumorslive.com running in a background window at work, automatically refreshing every 60 seconds. Once he'd gotten past the iTV (or rather "Apple TV" as they've decided to brand it), I was holding my breath as each update about the iPhone appeared on my screen.

The things that have grabbed my attention so far:

• Of course the touch interface that does away with a conventional keypad, especially the "pinch" to zoom feature
• The use of motion sensors to automatically re-orient the screen for widescreen mode video, and to turn the display off when you bring the phone to your ear
• The fact it runs OS X, so you get familiar apps like Safari, Widgets and an iChat-like interface for messaging
• The cost! Such innovation comes at a price, but lock-in to Cingular on a 2-year contract and an upfront handset price of $500 for the 4G model??? Ouch. That's pretty steep, especially considering that I can get a much better deal on a Windows Mobile Smartphone as a Microsoft employee, without contract.

The final bummer though -- not available until June. Such a tease...

Tomorrow is Macworld 2007, where Apple fanboys hope that Steve Jobs will release new products like the iPhone, iTV and maybe even the video iPod (although the latter appears to have been displaced by the iPhone in the hype-o-sphere).

Personally, I could see myself buying an iPhone; not necessarily for its presumed music-playing abilities (my 5G iPod is performing perfectly well in that department), but for some kind of advancement in phone design. My current Samsung flip phone is only adequate; my favourite features are the flip form factor and its small size but those are about all it has going for it. The camera is lacking for capturing those spontaneous moments, the battery life is average, and the music playing capabilities are not worth the effort (you can either transfer via spotty Bluetooth or via slow USB 1.1 connection and are limited to 80 megs of mp3 or aac files). The UI is better than I expected, but that says more about my low expectations than anything else.

I think that's why everyone is anticipating Apple's applying their design nous to a difficult problem space. Nokia is still the 800lb gorilla and I always found their phones to be the most user-friendly, but somehow they've dropped the ball in the design flair department. Seriously, candybar phones are so 2002. Everyone is looking to Apple to make a smart device that avoids the complexity of say, Windows Mobile, without sacrificing the functionality that 80% of users will want.

Okay, my armchair, not-particularly-out-on-a-limb prediction: a slider GSM phone with Bluetooth, at least a 1 megapixel camera, scrollwheel interface, 4G built-in flash memory for music, photos, contacts etc., and heavy integration with iTunes, iPhoto, AddressBook, Mail and maybe even iChat. I don't know how well it will work for Windows users since I think a large part of the iPod's success was the integration story with iTunes. I think this will be the key -- for too long, my mobile phone has remained separate from my computer. Yes, I could get it to sync with Outlook, but I've always been afraid to do it for fear of clogging up my phone with useless crap... Yep, if the iPhone can seamlessly connect to my MacBook like my other Bluetooth devices (why can't Windows and Bluetooth work together as easily?), Apple will have a device that finally bridges the gap between online and off, mobile and desktop. Sign me up.