Apple iPhone (8 GB) Smartphone

-Overview-

In August of 2008 the 8 GB iPhone 3G made its premier in AT&T and Apple stores across the nation. Like many Americans I was dying to get my hands on one the most talked about gadgets. However, getting one of these phones at the time proved to be a very difficult task. After putting my name on a waiting list for 30 days and switching from Verizon to AT&T I finally received my very own iPhone. I am sure your wondering if the phone was really worth the hassle? My answer is yes! I absolutely adore my iPhone but it doesn’t come without its faults. Some of positives about this phone is the price, the calling and voice mail system, text messaging, iPod, email, additional accessories like maps, and finally the application store. However, there are several things about this phone that truly annoy me like the occasional freezing, receiving text messages at a slower rate from people who use any cell phone service besides AT&T, no picture messaging, the constant fear of dropping your phone because of its fragility, and only being able to use this phone through AT&T.

-Price-

When I purchased the 8GB iPhone 3G in August of 2008 I was able to get it for the very reasonable price of $199 including a two year contract. I thought this was a steal considering the previous iPhone model went for about $500. However, this price does not include the monthly bill which is close to a $110 for me with 900 minutes and unlimited text messaging. This was about equal to my Verizon bill so switching services was not a big deal for me personally.

-Appearance-

The iPhone has a very appealing, sleek and futuristic look. With its complete touch screen it is unlike any other phone. The screen is about the size of a deck of cards and is very crisp, clear and easy to read. Once entering the main screen you will find a silver bar at the bottom of the screen that consists of the four main options or programs which include phone,mail, safari, and iPod. These four programs are always accessible at the bottom of the screen. The rest of features above the silver bar can be added to and deleted endlessly. The programs that come pre downloaded to the phone include text, calendar, photos, YouTube, stocks, maps,weather, clock, calculator, notes, settings, iTunes, camera, contacts, and the application store. Other programs can be added by purchasing and downloading through the application store.

-Calling-

Making a call on an iPhone is a very simple. You must first access the phone program which is one of the four main buttons in the silver bar. Once inside this program you are offered five mini programs which include favorites, recents, contacts, keypad, and voicemail. Favorites is the iPhone version of speed dial; in this program you add your most frequently used contacts to a list and when you wish to call one of these people you can access your favorites list and simply touch their name. Recents and contacts are rather self explanatory but just incase you are unfamiliar with these terms recents keeps track of your most recent calls and contacts is like a virtual phone book. The keypad is the standard numbers that can be used to dial a phone number that is not saved into your contacts. Finally, one of the coolest and most useful applications of the iPhone is the voicemail. Like all cell phones it will receive and record voice messages from unanswered calls, but instead of entering a password and listening to every single message in order the iPhone displays a list of names or numbers of the callers who left messages. Once you receive the messages and you can click on the message you want to listen to without going through the whole menu or listening to every single message.

-Text Messaging-

The text messaging can be accessed through the program labeled text found in the left hand corner. The text messaging system is completely unique to the iPhone and one of my favorite things about this phone. Unlike most cell phones that organize your texts through an inbox and outbox the iPhone organizes texts by each individual person and displays it as a conversation. If you have ever experience MSN messenger or any kind of one on one instant messaging chat it is something to the effects of that. The text messaging program has a complete touch screen keyboard that automatically fixes spelling errors. Although the touch keyboard is difficult to adjust to for some, once you do you will prefer it to regular keys.

-Mail, iPod and Other Accessories-

The iPhone offers a variety of other special programs. Some of my favorite are mail,iPod, and safari. Mail is a program that connects you instantly to you email inbox and allows you to quickly and conveniently check your email. Safari is equivalent to Internet Explorer for you windows fans. This application includes every aspect of the internet accessible on the iPhone. Both these programs are great for the iPhone because it also offers built in WiFi access and has internet capabilities anywhere your phone can receive service. iPod is basically like having the new touch iPod, it offers all the same features including playlists, artists, songs, and videos; the only task mandatory to make this feature work is downloading all of your favorite songs onto the iPhone. All three of these features can be accessed at the bottom of the screen in the silver bar.

-Camera-

Although this is not the highest quality camera I have seen on a cell phone I still think it takes better than average quality pictures. When it comes down to it, this camera defiantly gets the job done. However, one thing I dislike is the lack of zoom and special effects such as black and white. Overall, I like using this camera and on a scale of 1-10 I would rank it as a 7.

-Application Store-

The application store is the single most important program on the iPhone in my opinion. The application store is what makes the iPhone a large step above all of its competition. Within the application store you are able to purchase and download thousands of different programs for your phone including programs under categories such as games, entertainment, utilities, social networking, music, productivity, lifestyle, reference, travel, sports, navigation, healthcare and fitness, news, photography, finance, business, education, weather and books. Even more exciting is that many of these programs can be downloaded for free! Virtually everything you could possibly imagine can be located within the application store.

-Negatives-

Although this phone is nearly perfect there are several small negatives.  These negatives including occasional freezing that can take up to three minutes to reset itself, receiving text messages at a slower rate from people who use any cell phone service besides AT&T, no picture messaging, the fragile condition of the phone, and only being able to use this phone through AT&T. Many have complained that this phone has poor battery life, but I usually go two days without needing to charge my iPhone.
I would highly recommend this product. The iPhone is so much more than a phone, it is a music player, a computer with WiFi access, a camera, a map, and can be transformed into almost anything else you could ask from an electronic device. I believe that with the iPhone, Apple has set an near impossibly high bar for its competitors.