Following up our list of features the iPhone was finally confirmed not to have, here’s a comprehensive list based on the four reviews currently out detailing everything we know about the iPhone so far: what it has, what it doesn’t have, its known problems and what we still don’t know. What it has:
• Built-in iPod with Video playback
• Intelligent predictive typing
• Multi-touch interface (fast)
• Great scratch resistant screen (easily cleaned with your sleeve)
• Tilt sensors that lock the screen when up to your face, but unlocks it when you lower it to type numbers
• Screen that’s visible in direct sunlight
• Software upgrades over time
• Decent voice quality
• Call and song control from its headphones
• Viewing Word, Excel and PDF documents
• Free live traffic in Google Maps
• Turn by turn directions that simulate a GPS (need to tell the phone when you’re turning)
• Dedicated volume control and mute switch
• Microsoft Exchange support if your IT staff enables a setting on the server
• Push email via Yahoo Mail
• Syncing via Outlook calendar and contacts through iTunes (works even on Vista with the latest Outlook)
• Ability to play with other applications while you talk
• Good battery life
• A “real” browser
• Yahoo, Gmail, AOL, EarthLink, and various other email support
• Visual voicemail (support for rewinding, fast forwarding like a song)
• YouTube support
• Decent 2-megapixel camera
• It’s thin
• Lots of eye candy
• Conference call with up to 5 people
• Built-in speakers if you don’t want to use headphones
• Quicktime support in Safari
• Activating the phone requires iTunes and internet access
• A speakerphone
What it doesn’t have:
• Support for all iPod accessories—doesn’t support all car adapters for playing back, only charging
• An easy way to transfer phone numbers, via AT&T, from an existing phone
• Copy and paste support
• MP3/iTunes music ringtones
• Built-in game support
• Flash support anywhere (including browser)
• Instant Messaging
• Picture messaging (MMS)
• Video recording
• Voice recognition or voice dialing
• Wireless Bluetooth Stereo Streaming (A2DP support)
• One-size-fits-all headset jack (May have to buy an adapter for certain headphones)
• 3G (EV-DO/HSDPA)
• A hardware keyboard
• GPS
• Removable battery
• Expandable Storage
• Direct iTunes Music Store Access (Over Wi-Fi or EDGE)
• BlackBerry support
• Flash or zoom on the camera
• Windows Media support
Known Problems:
• Can get a little warm after use
• Battery will need to be replaced by Apple after 300-400 charges
• Levy had problems with one of his email accounts, due to his ISP blocking port 25. Apple’s engineers “suggested a fix and said that this was something that would probably be addressed in an update.”
• EDGE data is very slow
• AT&T’s signal is lousy
• No hardware playback buttons (on the phone itself) make you go back to the iPod app to change songs or stop music
• Takes more taps to reach the phone interface than other smartphones
• Getting your contacts onto here from your old phone may be a hassle
• No real-time navigation
• The few web-app programs Mossberg tried weren’t’ impressive
• Camera is only good with ample light and no motion
• Only 200 text messages included on any calling plan
• Playing back music through an iPod dock may cause interference, so the iPhone “offered to switch to airplane mode”. Doing so means you get no calls.
What we still don’t know:
• How fingerprinty/face greasy it gets
• Whether Bluetooth file transfer works
• When and how often software updates (with new features) will appear
Matt
June 28, 2007 at 10:38 AM
wait, no more than 200 txt? is that in a month?
good god, i send 200 in a week, probably a lot more….. thats seriously f%*#ed
I really think the iphone is overhyped… sure, its good, but it’s missing some really simple features, like; video recording, mms, A2DP, built-in game support… even my crappy nokia 6085 has all those features…..
I really don’t see the iphone as being so revolutionary… what does it have that no other phone has?…other than multi touch, which is IMO not s great, i hate touch screens. There’s nothing wrong with buttons..
(Dont say OS X here is no way that thing runs OS X, thats just a marketing gimmick.)
Report PermalinkTobias
June 28, 2007 at 12:51 PM
@Matt – You can get unlimited SMS messages for an extra $20/mo. Personally, I haven’t sent even 200 messages in my entire life. What the iPhone has that makes it revolutionary is not the number of features, but the fact that each and every feature works perfectly – something I couldn’t say for any Nokia product since the 3310. And of course the full-featured web browser is a feature that has never been on any phone before.
That said I’m a little disappointed by the lack of MP3 ringtones or A2DP – these things seem like they would be very easy to implement, and there’s really no reason not to have them.
Report PermalinkRay
June 30, 2007 at 3:32 PM
No real reason to have them? Why have an iPod on your phone if you can’t have bluetooth headphones to listen to music and make phone calls. Granted they provide you with a set of headphones that allow that but not everybody likes ear buds and wires. This revolutionary phone has some major set backs. Yes, it has the browser and touch screen, but it’s missing the minor things that all the other phones have and that most people have become accustomed to. I, for one, now have to figure out some kind of way to listen to music in my bluetooth headphones or when apple will be sending out an update to allow it.
Report PermalinkSeamus
June 30, 2007 at 4:17 PM
@Ray, I think he said “no real reason NOT to have them”. So we’re agreed. :-)
I’m hoping this will be like when Oz is behind on console releases… the months of delay see a few early bugs ironed out, and more software available for local launch. In some ways, it’s an enforced “wait and see”. Not ideal, but not entirely a bad thing.
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