Iphone gets put through t'mill

IPHONE APOLOGISTS will probably say, "Some day, all mobile phones will be like this." Luckily for the rest of us, they won't. The Iphone is an excellent media player. But it sure ain't a smartphone.

For starters, this reviewer simply couldn't get on with the 'soft' keyboard. Which is a bit of a disaster really, given that it's essential to do so in order to send text messages.

Perhaps the Iphone's designer doesn't send text messages? The second thing which the designer obviously doesn't use is Bluetooth.

One of the best features of any smartphone is the ability to send data to your mates. Typically this would be a photo or ringtone. But frequently it's also a good way to send your own telephone numbers to another mobile phone user.

Tony D at the Castle in 'Arrow. No Apple fanbois he

But all that's missing from the Iphone. When the INQ tried to send data to the Iphone it simply didn't work.

A little research appears to show that the Iphone only supports two Bluetooth profiles - the Hands-Free Profile (HFP) and the Headset Profile (HSP).

Which is extremely bad news since it means the Iphone doesn't offer Advanced Audio Distribution Profile (A2DP) and Audio/Video Remote Control Profile (AVRCP) support either.

Why does this matter? Well it means that the phone can't support stereo headphones or stream stereo sound. Which is pretty strange for a phone that's meant to be an excellent media player.

And it would also indicate that the Iphone won't work with a standard Bluetooth GPS receiver. That kind of cripples the otherwise brilliant Maps application that is built in as standard.

That's what's bad about the Iphone, so how about the good stuff? Well the camera is pretty neat - even though we'd prefer there to be a built-in flash.

Then there's video. The INQ was impressed with the ease with which you can rotate the handset and the image follows suit. A kind of instant portrait to landscape mode.

Plus, just by 'pinching' the screen, the user can zoom into part of the image that is playing. That is very definitely 'cool'.

The shame is that the INQ had to review the Iphone over here in Europe and there's no cellular signal. So it's pretty difficult to gauge just how good the Safari browser is.

We foolishly weren't within Wi-fi coverage either.

There's other features which we don't like. For starters, the fact that the battery isn't removable. And the need to be in possession of a pin just to get a SIM card in and out of the phone.

If Apple rectifies these failings - and adds support for 3G, of course - then the Iphone will be a very impressive piece of kit.

At the moment the Iphone is the Newton of the smartphone world. Leaving the likes of a Palm to steal all the best ideas and create that future generation of touch screen smartphones.

We'd expected to be reviewing something iconoclastic. A UI revolution like the mouse. This is a damp squib. ?

Good
Great media player for video and music. Futuristic appearance

Bad
Poor soft keyboard. No support for GPS.

Ugly
Pathetic support for Bluetooth.

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