Apple iPhone
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Testing
Testing this device was like no other. As previously mentioned we stress tested this product and it held up fine, despite some complaints that we have heard about. the 2.0 megapixel camera was good for many pictures that involved no movement, but when movement was added (such as driving down the road and taking a picture of an office building) the pictures come out blurry. One thing that I found weird about the picture transfer process was the fact that iTunes was never used. When you plug in the iPhone to the computer, you get a pop-up that asks you if you want to import pictures using Windows (something Apple fans may find surprising). Its a simple process and the program comes with your computer, making it easier and more convenient than opening iTunes or another program. Click on the images below to see the true quality that you can expect when using the camera feature on the iPhone. (Warning) the large images have not been reduced in size to show actual iPhone quality.
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Picture taken with iPhone while completely still |
Picture taken with iPhone while standing under normal operating conditions |
Photos of TechwareLabs Mascot - Yeti |
Our experience while using the Apple iPhone is that he internet feature was nothing like in the commercials. Clicking on a link while connected to the EDGE network provided little more than a two minute wait for a page to load. This doesn't sound like a long time, but it is in a world where high speed internet is everywhere, it's practically a lifetime. Using the iPhone while connected to a Wi-Fi network was pleasurable for the most part, as pages load in seconds rather than minutes. Upon further review of the commercials you can see that the iPhone is connected to a wireless network, allowing it to be so seemingly fast. One specialty of the internet is that it shows you and actual web page, rather than an abridged version that has limited capabilities. You can still use the smaller sized pages when surfing, then later switch to the real page when necessary (usually a link at the bottom of the page). One disappointing aspect of the EDGE network is the fact that it crashes sporadically. The first week that I had the iPhone, the EDGE network was down, rendering the iPhone useless other than the fact that you could rotate pictures with the simple turn of he phone. This feature is awesome while using under normal conditions, but became annoying while trying to pull the phone out of your pocket discretely while in meetings and classes. Setting the phone on a table doesn't return the phone to normal mode. While the phone was laying down, a simple movement - tilting the screen, made the web browser rotate left or right. I didn't have this problem, but my roommates get frustrated while using it because of this.
If your like me and like to check your e-mail a lot, the Mail feature was great. This sync's right up with your Yahoo! Mail, GMail, Mac, or AOL email account. If you do not have one of these previously listed e-mail providers, you can either set up a new account or click on the "Other" button and manually set up an account from any other provider. Refreshing every few minutes, a little number pops up in the upper right corner of the mail button telling you how many unread messages you have. No need to take the agonizing walk all the way to your computer anymore, email is there with just a simple tap of the screen. As far as a functional iPod, this phone served its purpose. The onboard speaker doesn't handle bass very well, becoming distorted at louder volumes. The iPhone has 8GB of storage, far more than any other phone currently on the market (other than the 16GB). I have more than 8 GB of music that I carry on my 80GB iPod Video and found it hard to convert. What ended up happening was that I only put 2BG of music, allowing ample room for other features like the camera. I still use the iPod Video for music. To me the iPhone was more of a phone - in case you couldn't tell by the name.
Not to be over looked is the actual phone part of the iPhone. While owning the iPhone, i have rarely lost service, even while in international waters (Sun Cruz Casino) I was able to access the EDGE network to go online, and make calls from a United States cell tower, something that is unachievable by most other phones. Dropped calls are not an issue with this phone; Four months and counting, have not dropped one call. In comparison the Motorola Razr (the phone owned before the iPhone) was notorious for dropping calls. You may argue that this is the service provider, however, this was simply a replacement on my AT&T plan, same service, same cell tower. Organization of contacts in the phone book was simple, allowing you to customize whether listings were: (1)Last, First, or (2)First, Last. Another feature in contacts that is much appreciated by the business community is the ability for you to add a company name that appears underneath the contacts name. When you select on a contact you have the option of calling them, text messaging, e-mailing, or adding them to your favorites. Favorites is more or less a speed dial, saving you the time of scrolling through your seemingly hundreds of contacts to find your mother or father that you call every day. Perhaps my favorite part of the iPhone's phone features is the Visual Voicemail. This is a voice mailbox that allows you to see who the message is from, pause, fast forward, rewind, stop, or even call back the sender of the message with a simple touch of the screen. In my opinion - AWESOME!!!