Apple iPhone
$399 - $499
($399 for the 8G and $499 for the 16G)
I
had the pleasure of taking the iPhone for a test spin. One phrase that comes to mind is widget heaven. The iPhone has a clear 3 1/2" widescreen, is feature rich, and packs a great GUI. The iPhone turns your home screen into an easy to use menu. Again, Apple comes out with another revolutionary device that seems to be a must have.
Text Messaging
T
he phone has a great text messaging interface, it has the look and feel of an instant messenger and packs a QWERTY keyboard, which is great if you have the fingers of a child or a pianist. The keyboard will take some time to get used to considering the keys are so close together. One cool feature of this phone is its ability to store 411 messages separately, creating a directory of phone numbers you have inquired about.
Camera
P
hones aren't meant to replace cameras, but the iPhone has a built in 2 mega pixel camera, that does fine for it having a 3 1/2" screen. Finding your photos you took are easy with it's thumbed out photo interface.
Widgets
C
alendar, Calculator, Stock Quotes, Maps, Weather, Clocks, Notes, and Youtube. All these are on your home screen and most are customizable. I particularly enjoyed the Youtube widget. The videos are clear, and the interface is clean. One cool Widget I am looking forward to is iCall. iCall will look for wi-fi network to connect to, if there is an open connection available, the call will switch over to your free VOIP service, can we say major minute saver.
iPod
T
he iPhone comes in two flavors; peach and raspberry, just kidding 8G and 16G, and yes the iPhone can be used as an iPod. With a built in iTunes interface, you can download songs directly to the phone itself. You may also dock the iPhone to your PC and transfer songs just like any other iPod, plus this is iPod video baby!
Web Enabled
T
here are some Pros and Cons here. When you buy the iPhone and get the service, you are required to get unlimited data, which provides unlimited web and text but comes at a price tag of $20/month, so if financial agenda is to sit on a piece coal until it becomes a diamond, you may want to consider this as a buying point. The best part about this is, it allows you to integrate everything. You can view email, it has a web browser, and allows you to download cool new apps.
Service
T
he iPhone only works with AT&T, which is the largest network as of today. The phone works great (as it should since it is a phone.) Conversations seem to be clear, and there is not much sign of call dropping, at least on the iPhone side. With service prices ranging from $39.99 to $79.99, there's plenty of flexibility here.