Thread: Apple iPhone

Tom Dunmore has finally smuggled a 'Jesus Phone' to Blighty. Is he still enraptured, or has the magic started to fade, I was one of the first journalists in the world to stroke an iPhone, but it wasn't until six months later that I actually managed to bag my own touchscreen mobile. Fortunately, the joy had not worn thin, and even the recent launch of the iPod Touch can't flatten my enthusiasm.

Mapping up If you want to know why Apple didn't bother with Java, run Google Maps on the iPhone and compare it with the Java version on a rivalsmartphone. Navigating maps and satellite imagery on the iPhone is great fun because you drag the maps around with your fingers, zooming by pinching and dragging.

Browsing the web is my favourite iPhone pastime. The Safari browser lacks Flash, which means you can't see a lot of web Video, but it is still amazingly quick. When you load up a page, double tap what you want to read and it automatically zooms in to exactly the right text width. Turn the iPhone 90 degrees and the page turns with you. Awesome.

The single hard button on the front takes you to the home screen: beyond that it's all about the touchscreen. But it's impossible to describe how brilliant the interface is. The iPhone is incredibly responsive, and the animations and icons perfect. There's no stylus because you simply don't need one.



The arrival of the 16GB iPod Touch could pose a big threat to iPhone sales. But whether you choose a Touch or an iPhone, you'll be blown away: flicking through albums with your fingers is even easier and more intuitive than using the iPod's click-wheel, and album art on the huge screen is a treat. There is one problem, though - the headphone socket is too recessed, so you either need to use the supplied cans or buy an adaptor. Like the iPod, the iPhone synchronises using iT unes. It doesn't just copy across music and videos - it'll do contacts, calendars, pictures and bookmarks