The latest ‘must-have’ mobile is without the doubt the iPhone. The Internet-enabled multimedia mobile phone is designed and marketed by Apple Inc. In January 2007, Apple announced the iPhone which was initially introduced in the United States. It has a multi-touchscreen with virtual keyboard and buttons, but a minimal amount of hardware input. The iPhone’s functions include a camera phone and portable media player — equivalent to the iPod in addition to text messaging and visual voicemail. It also offers Internet services including e-mail and web browsing similar to that on a Blackberry. The latest iPhone supports faster data speeds with a high liquid crystal display (LCD), half sized touch screen topped with optical-quality and scratch-resistant glass. The screen is specifically created for use with a finger, or multiple fingers for multi-touch sensing. Almost all input is given through the touchscreen. Zooming in and out of web pages and photos is accomplished by placing two fingers (thumb and forefinger) on the screen. Its display responds to sensors. A proximity sensor shuts off the display and touchscreen when the iPhone is brought near the face to save battery power and to prevent unintentional inputs from the user’s face and ears. An ambient light sensor adjusts the display brightness which in turn saves battery power. It senses the orientation of the phone and changes the screen accordingly. Audio The iPhone’s headphones are similar to those of the current iPos, but incorporate a microphone. A multipurpose button in the microphone can be used to play or pause music, skip tracks, and answer or end phone calls without touching the iPhone. Battery The iPhone features a built-in rechargeable battery that is not intended to be user-replaceable, similar to existing iPods, but dissimilar to most existing cellular phones. The battery is also said to be capable of providing up to seven hours of video, web browsing, more hours of talk time, and 300 hours of standby. Storage The iPhone has internal storage size of 4 gigabytes (GB) to 16 GB of a flash-like drive model but does not contain any memory card slots for expanded storage. Extra features The manufacturer, Apple, provides free updates to the iPhone’s operating system through iTunes, in a similar fashion to the way that iPods are updated. Security patches, as well as new and improved features, are released in this fashion. The iPhone allows audio conferencing, call holding, call merging, caller identification, and integration with other cellular network features. For example, a playing song fades out when the user receives a call. Once the call is ended the music fades back in. For text input, the device implements a virtual keyboard on the touchscreen. It has automatic spell checking and correction, predictive word capabilities, and a dynamic dictionary that learns new words. The lack of a physical keyboard allows for the keyboard to be optimized for different applications and languages. With all this going for it, no wonder top of everybody’s wish list. Contact: eddiemukaay@yahoo.com
