MiPhone

OK... so after so many internet-blogs on iPhone, there is one more, with a different name - MiPhone... but still you are reading this blog! That shows the magnetic nature of iPhone - the most hyped, anticipated and reviewed gadget on the block...

First of all, I'm not an Apple-maniac, though I've to admit that I always prefer my MacBook to my Toshiba. Secondly, I was never fascinated by any of the smart-phones by Nokia, Sony Ericsson, Samsung, Blackberry, Palm etc. My only mobile phone (before iPhone) was a basic Nokia 1100, which I bought 3 years back (2005). Nevertheless, being a gadget freak, I tried many smart-phones and gadgets, which were kindly allowed to use by my friends :-)

These phones are good, but they all are like the same.... all the brands are struggling to put some extra thing into the handset, an extra MegaPixel in the camera, an extra utility like GPS, some extra memory or extra slimness..... Undoubtedly, the evolutionary growth of these phones (gadgets) was exponential... but iPhone can be considered as a true benchmark for all of them.. because it has an extra thing lacked by other phones - Smartness!

The proof of this smartness is easy UI (user interface) and the intuitive nature of iPhone. Apple has once again kept alive it's legacy of giving innovative UI. Here, I don't want to repeat all the features of iPhone

I remember last night I was watching a documentary on The Beatles and somehow I missed the part of John Lennon's murder. I just turned on my iPhone and searched 'John Lennon' on Wikipedia; it took me 20 seconds (using WiFi) to go to 'The death of John Lennon' article... I think no other phone is capable of doing this in so less time.... Are you aware of any other gadget (including notebook computer) which allows you to check your emails in a single tap (or single click)?

I can find Mexican Restaurants in my town - with their phone nos, addresses and emails - with 4 taps on my iPhone using GoogleMaps.... now this is easier than using GoogleMaps on my laptop.... I feel like having the whole internet literally on my fingertips...

Even for Mac users (who are used to see the elegance of Mac), iPhone could be a unique experience. One can use the Cover Flow with Mac OS X Leopard, but if you want to feel the beauty of the Cover Flow then you have to try it on iPhone.

There are so many third-party applications available... and using them is a fun.... 'PhotoBoard' is a Mionority Report-like photo browser which allows multi-touch photo resizing... With 'Sketches' you can draw anything just like a Paint application..... 'Books' allows you to read ebooks.... You can listen to internet radio... Even you can play piano with the virtual piano on iPhone screen...



Perhaps the most significant thing accomplished by iPhone is to inspire other brands. Already some of the gadget makers are implementing touch screen on their instruments. Archos (one of my favourites) is coming up with it's 705 WiFi portable video (this is an amazing experience with 7" touch screen video).... LG Viewty is a touch screen camera phone with 3" display.... Surface computing is already a reality because of Microsoft Surface.... Nokia N95 8GB is also surprisingly intelligent kid...

There will be more iPhone-killers in the future... and these advancements in technology will increase the competition and reduce the prices of these gadgets... but this new era has started with iPhone.... just like an iPod revolution in music player industry.



And still iPhone is far from a complete gadget.... I agree with critics that iPhone lacks many things... it doesn't have a 3G.... it's Bluetooth is limited to support only wireless earpieces (though using a DropCopy application, data can be transferred wirelessly between iPhone and computer)... it has only 2 MP camera, furthermore you can't capture a video.... no GPS.... some of the users also complained about the virtual keyboard...

However, a very essence of iPhone is it's user-friendliness.. with a single Home button and 3.5" multi touch screen, it's the most elegant device I have ever seen (until now)... In cricket, there are many good batsmen, some of them are great; but none of them could match the feat of Sir Don Bradman.... some batsmen scored more runs and more centuries than him, but Bradman is the greatest batsman of all time.... Do I need to explain this analogy?

Note: You can find a brief comparison of some smartphones here