First Look: UK Apple iPhone

 

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Posted on 15 Nov 2007 at 16:46

We've looked at the US version of Apple's much talked about iPhone before, but now we've managed to get our hands on a UK iPhone for a closer look.

The iPhone's touch sensitive screen is operated using your fingers rather than a stylus. It's very responsive, accurate and satisfying to use. Browsing through webpages or lists, such as your address book or a music playlist, is as simple as dragging your finger up and down the screen. Zooming in and out of a photo or a Google Map is done simply by placing two fingers on the screen, and then pinching them together or spreading them apart. There are rough edges though. You can't copy and paste text or images. Word, Excel and PDF documents can only be viewed if sent to the iPhone as email attachments and even then they can't be edited.

One of the iPhone's most useful phone-related features is Visual Voicemail. This displays your voicemail messages as a list, so you can easily pick which one to listen to. You can skip backwards and forwards through a message to the most relevant part by simply tapping and dragging a slider. Visual Voicemail messages are downloaded to your iPhone so you can listen to them where there's no mobile phone reception, such as on the London Underground.

The iPhone can connect to the internet using WiFi, GPRS or O2's EDGE network. As well as a web browser, there are dedicated iTunes Store, YouTube and Google Maps applications. The web browser is a pleasure to use thanks to the aforementioned zoom controls. Other clever touches include website menus which, when touched, automatically enlarge themselves for easier selection.

Unlimited access to The Cloud WiFi network is included in the iPhone's monthly line rental. Our iPhone had no trouble connecting to a WiFi hotspot at London's Charing Cross station. Browsing the web, checking email, buying songs from the iTunes Store, as well as browsing YouTube and Google Maps, was fast. When out of range of a WiFi network, the iPhone drops back to the slower EDGE or GPRS networks which can be as slow as a dial up modem. Google Maps and YouTube were slow but usable on EDGE, but Google Maps was very sluggish on GPRS. The YouTube program refuses to work on GPRS while the iTunes Store is inaccessible from anything other than WiFi.

The iPhone is very easy to use, but it's also rather expensive. It costs £269 inc VAT, plus you have to sign up for an 18 month mobile contract at a minimum of £35 a month. It's locked to the O2 network, and getting it unlocked will invalidate your warranty. For our full verdict on the iPhone, look out for our review in Computer Shopper issue 241.

Author: Alan Lu