iPhone – All hype gadget or true smart phone contender

The iPhone is about to hit the AT&T shelves, but will Apple rely on hype and the ‘cool factor’ to market its phone or can it stand up to rivals Nokia, Blackberry, Samsung and Palm in the competitive mobile phone market?
The iPhone is tipped to be the hottest gadget this year. Its unique design and touch screen features are sure to turn heads, but will it be able to stand its own against rivals like the Nokia N95 and the Samsung Blackjack?
Apple recently revealed that it has boosted the iPhone’s battery time and claims that it now provides nearly double the talk time of Smartphone rivals Nokia N95, Samsung Blackjack, Blackberry Curve 8300 and the Palm Treo 750.
It further enhanced the iPhone by introducing a glass display surface, improving on their previous plastic surface which most other phones are using. This is said to enhance the visual quality of the iPhone and will protect against scratches.
Features
The iPhone can be seen as a full featured multimedia device, with the ability to play music, make and receive calls, surf the web, play videos or stream them from Youtube, visually display voice messages and view HTML emails.
Apple further claims that the iPhone will work equally well with a Mac or Windows computer, similar to their very popular iPod music players.
These features are however not enough to impress smart phone fanatics. When compared to Nokia’s N95 the iPhone fades in comparison.
The N95 may not have Apple’s innovative touch-screen technology, but apart from the usual smart phone features it sports a full featured GPS system, a very good quality screen, a 5 M pixel camera with Carl Zeiss lens, a video camera, a MP3 player and hot swappable memory expansion.
The N95 also dominates the iPhone in the connectivity department with Bluetooth, WiFi and 3G-HSDPA support. The lack of true mobile broadband connectivity in the iPhone may be something which broadband enthusiasts see as a serious flaw in Apple’s latest gadget. The iPhone supports WiFi and EDGE connectivity, but does not have 3G-HSDPA support like many of its rivals.
Cool factor
Manufacturers like Nokia, Samsung and Blackberry have a massive head start on Apple in the smart phone department, but the iPhone has one major advantage working in its favour: the cool factor.
There has not been as much hype surrounding any mobile phone in history, and it is certain to be an essential accessory for many fashion conscious individuals worldwide.
Apple will be able to cash in on the strength of its brands, and CEO Steve Jobs’ predictions of selling 10 million phones in 2008 may not be too ambitious. Many telecoms experts see Jobs’ prediction as realistic, and recent research by M:Metrics suggests 19-Million US and 7-Million UK cellular consumers are willing to pay between $ 499 and $ 599 to get their hands on this new ‘gadget phone’.
The acid test for the iPhone will most likely be the usability of its touch screen technology and how well its services are supported.
There is still uncertainty as to whether the iPhone’s touch-typing will be a suitable replacement for a traditional physical keypad, and although Jobs claims that it will be a breeze to use the new innovative touch technology only time will tell whether it does what it promises.
Support of the iPhone, whether in the form of standard Windows PC integration, corporate email services or writing new programs for the Apple device may prove to be a vital element of the success of the device. Unless it is well supported it may harm the uptake of the device as a true smart phone replacement.
Despite all the concerns and uncertainty one thing is certain: the hype surrounding the iPhone will result in long queues on Friday when people can finally get their hands on this long awaited cellular phone.

How iPhone is different from other devices?

iPhone vs Cell Phone

Seriously, who doesn’t have a cell phone or any type of a communication device nowadays? There was a time when cell phones are only a status symbol and only people with enough resources can afford the luxury of mobile communication. However, today, price is not a big issue anymore. Sure, there are a lot of expensive cell phones in the market but many can be bought with a cheap price.

The phrase cell phone is just a short terminology for cellular phone. Cellular phones are mobile phones that use cellular technology. They are basically electronic devices that allow users to communicate on the go over a cellular network. Don’t confuse cellular phones with cordless telephones as they are completely different from each other. Cordless phones have limited range via a single base station while cell phones work with numerous base stations called cell sites strategically scattered in different locations to provide extensive coverage.

Cell phones are also called mobile phones and it had gone through a lot of innovations. The evolution of cell phones has been a stunning one and we are now in the 4th generation (4G) that is capable of many things. It is almost like a personal computer at the palm of your hands.

At first, people were merely satisfied of the cell phone’s crude ability to transmit and receive calls while moving around. However, due to fierce competition between manufacturing companies and improvements in computing technology, cellular phones have improved by leaps and bounds. For three decades, many people had witnessed the almost incredible evolution of cell phones.

Now, most cell phones are expected to have the basic features of SMS, bluetooth, MMS, camera (video and still), recorder, multimedia player, and lots more. Yet, it had never ceased to improve and in 2001 — the 3rd generation (3G) of cellular technology — high-end and hi-tech cell phones emerged. Such phones are labeled as smartphones and many would agree that the current king of smartphones is the iPhone.

iPhone has set the standard and it has been set so high that many iPhone challengers failed miserably. iPhones have the capability to utilize the internet to connect with other people ‘“ e.g. browsing the web, emails, and instant messaging. Multimedia storage and playback is excellent and with countless of applications to choose from. We could go on and on, the features are seemingly infinite.

iPhone is an Apple Inc. product and it is currently on its 3rd upgrade, the iPhone 3GS.

Summary:

1. Categorically, the iPhone is considered a cell phone but more suitably a smartphone.

2. Cell phone is a general term for any device that uses cellular technology to transmit and receive data while the iPhone is a specific type of device that features the use of cellular technology.

iPhone vs Windows Mobile

Since the appearance of the iPhone, there has been much debate about which one is actually better, the iPhone or Windows Mobile smartphones. Probably the biggest difference between these two devices is in their general approach. The iPhone focuses on simplicity and letting its users do what they want to do without much fuss. Windows Mobile on the other hand, focuses more on productivity and allowing the user to do more complex things than what you can achieve on the iPhone. Because of this, Windows

Mobile phones are much harder to learn and get used to when compared to iPhones.

Just to prove a point, the iPhone uses a single home screen, which is easily recognizable to most users. For Windows Mobile, there are a variety of third party applications that let you install and customize your home screen depending on your needs. It is a bit more complicated but should yield a more personalized device.

One major gripe that a lot of people have with the iPhone is the lack of true multi-tasking capabilities. Despite the introduction of multi-tasking in iOS4, this is a very limited feature and not all applications would be able to take advantage of it. Windows Mobile has had true multi-tasking even before the iPhone came to the market.

When it comes to applications for your phones, Apple has total control over which one can be published and which ones cannot. Some developers even refuse to speak out against Apple in fear that their next app would no longer be approved. Microsoft does not exercise any control over any third party software. As long as you have an installer, you can use the application on your phone.

Lastly, iPhones do not allow user replacement of certain parts like batteries or memory. You are therefore limited to what the iPhone has. In case you run out of battery, there is no other option but to plug-in to the nearest wall socket. Windows Mobile phone allows easy access to the battery and memory so that you can replace them anytime you want and carrying spares is a good option when on long trips.

Summary:

1. The iPhone touts simplicity and ease of use while Windows Mobile banks more on flexibility and customizability

2. There is only one home screen for the iPhone while you can have a multitude of other interfaces for Windows Mobile

3. The iPhone is not able to multi-task while Windows Mobile phones can

4. Apple has tight control over what you can install on your iPhone while Windows Mobile users can install pretty much what they want

5. The iPhone does not have replaceable memory or batteries while most Windows Mobile phones do.

Apple iPhone 4 vs SnapDragon

Although the iPhone is still the best selling smartphone with its latest version, the iPhone 4, there are a lot of new products that offer better features. Most of these new smartphones flaunt having something called the SnapDragon. The SnapDragon is actually a line of processors, and not a complete phone like the iPhone, which is the single most important component in any computer or smartphone. The reason why the SnapDragon is very popular is because of its excellent capabilities that can rival and even exceed the capabilities of the A4 processor found on the iPhone 4.

The biggest difference between the two is speed. The SnapDragon operates at a much higher frequency of 1Ghz with newer processors operating at up to 1.2,1.3, and even 1.5GHz. While the A4 processor of the iPhone can also reach clock speeds of 1Ghz, as demonstrated by the iPad, it is rumored that the A4 in the iPhone 4 is underclocked in order to reduce battery consumption and improve battery life. Apple has also created some shortcuts in order to avoid hitting performance issues, like the limited multi-tasking ability. New developments in the SnapDragon include a dual core version with each core running at whooping 1.5Ghz. This processor far exceeds the underclocked single core processor found on the iPhone. Although there are still doubts as to how this much power would translate in terms of power consumption and battery life.

As the A4 is proprietary to Apple and is only used on their products, a lot of Apple competitors like HTC, Sony Ericsson, Google, and LG have employed the SnapdDragon in some of their newer models. Because of the wide number of manufacturers who are employing the SnapDragon, it is also called upon to run different operating systems; Windows Mobile and Google Android to name two. The A4 is custom fitted to the iOS which is used with both the iPhone and iPad.

Summary:

1. The iPhone 4 processor is clocked much lower than most SnapDragons

2. The iPhone 4 is a phone while the SnapDragon is a processor

3. The iPhone 4 uses a single processor architecture while new SnapDragons are using the dual processor architecture

4. The SnapDragon is commonly used by a lot of the iPhone’s competitors

5. The SnapDragon is used by phones that run WM and Android while the iPhone 4 only runs the iOS

Apple iPhone 4 vs Motorola Droid X

The iPhone 4 and the Droid X are very similar when it comes to specs but there are subtle differences between them, which may sway one over the other. The most significant difference is probably the operating system. The iPhone 4 sticks with the Apple iOS while the Droid X uses Google’s Android. The apps for both are not usable on the other so if you like an iPhone app, the best you can do is look for an Android app that does the same thing.

With the hardware, we start with the screens. Although both device uses a capacitive multi-touch screen, that of the Droid X is significantly bigger than the iPhone’s by 0.8 inches. Despite this, the iPhone’s screen has a much higher resolution compared to that of the Droid X. The camera of the Droid X is also superior to that of the iPhone when it comes to resolution. The Droid X sports an 8 megapixel camera while the iPhone is only equipped with a 5 megapixel camera. But both cameras are able to record HD quality video.

iPhone models have a fixed amount of memory of either 16GB or 32GB. In comparison, the Droid X only has 8GB of internal memory but comes with a 16GB memory card. This is even expandable to 32GB for a total of 40GB. The battery of the iPhone is also in the same state. It is internal and cannot be replaced by the user. The Droid X’s battery is user replaceable and you can even opt to replace its stock battery with third party offerings with higher capacities.

Lastly, the iPhone is only compatible with GSM networks while the Droid X only works with CDMA networks. The iPhone is still better for travelling outside the US as most parts of the world use GSM rather than CDMA.

Summary:
1. The iPhone 4 uses the iOS while the Droid X uses Google Android
2. The iPhone 4 has a smaller screen but with higher resolution than the Droid X
3. The iPhone 4 camera has a lower resolution than that of the Droid X
4. The iPhone 4 has a fixed amount of memory while that of the Droid X is expandable
5. The iPhone 4 has a built-in battery while the Droid X battery is user replaceable
6. The iPhone 4 only works with GSM networks while the Droid X is meant for CDMA networks

iPhone vs. Android

iPhone is Apple’s touch screen mobile phone (also known as a smart phone). Its newest permutation, iPhone 3.0, offers a wider range of features than its predecessors, and offers formidable competition on the market. The iPhone offers an expansive Applications Store, full of features that users are able to download for a fee, or gratis. This smart phone comes complete with a comprehensive search feature, that seems far more sophisticated than its competitors, including Spotlight search engine, and the ability to search within mail, contacts, and the calendar.

The Android (also known as the Google G1) is Google’s first smart phone controlled through an Android. This smart phone also comes with its share of applications, though not contesting the Apple iPhone. The Android comes complete with a pull down ‘window shade’ notification area, which makes users privy to multiple alerts. Basically, any number of virtual alerts – Twitter replies, missed calls, an upcoming appointment, etc.- can all be drawn up at the same time using the drop down shade feature. On the contrary, the iPhone offers a pop up screen when such alerts occur; forcing the user to have to end whatever activity he or she is performing – including a phone call.

As Apple controls all the hardware of its iPhone market, it can perform any number of tasks to improve the use of the phone. Quite simply, this means that the iPhone comes with standard accessory support. Google’s Android is simply an operating system that, while able to run on multiple platforms, doesn’t give the user access to any sort of complimentary support for any of the accessories themselves. The Android, therefore, can run on a multitude of handsets, all with differing configurations, making control difficult.

Though lacking in the proper control to give users accessory support, the Android comes with comprehensive MMS support. There are also stellar background processes; however, these processes tend to overexert the battery. Apple’s iPhone comes with its own set of background processes that aren’t as intense, therefore spare the battery a great deal of wear and tear.

Summary:

1. The Apple iPhone comes with an expansive set of applications, available for free or for a small fee; the Google Android comes with a smaller package of applications.

2. The Apple iPhone comes with a feature to alert the user of any missed instances, though this feature forces the user to prematurely end whatever action he is performing; the Google Android comes with a drag and drop screen that alerts the user of any occurrences ,but allows him to continue his actions.

3. Apple controls all of its hardware, and it is therefore simple to perform the necessary accessory maintenance; Google’s Android is simply a platform that functions on different platforms, and doesn’t allow for easy accessory support.

iPhone vs. BlackBerry

Mobile phone wars have  been ongoing for quite some time. But ever since the iphone was introduced, it has gotten much worse. The iphone has grabbed a chunk of probably every single category in the mobile industry. Here we will differentiate an iphone from a blackberry.

The blackberry was introduced in 1999 not as a phone but as a two way pager. The more popular smart phone format was released later in 2002 and has gained instant popularity among businessmen due to its heavy concentration on email services. As of that time, only the blackberry has push email capabilities, sending and receiving emails as if they were text messages.

The iphone was released around five years later than the blackberry and was introduced as a phone with multiple capabilities. There was so much hype around the release of the iphone due to its innovative features and very intriguing design that have redefined the look of a smart phone since then. The iphone has lived up to the hype for most parts and is still a very prominent style icon.

It is quite difficult to compare the two since they are meant for different segments of the market. The iphone can do what the blackberry does but not so well, the same could also be said about the opposite. The focus of email writing in the blackberry meant that the qwerty hardware keyboard is always present. The speed and tactile feel of buttons is simply unmatchable by the touch screen interface of the iphone. The supporting servers of RIM, the makers of blackberry, also prove to be a big plus in its dominance amongst the businessmen who needs their emails fast. But we can now see that blackberry is beginning to lose its market share in hardware, giving other mobile makers permission to use their software like Nokia, Motorola, and HTC.

It is so hard to list all the advantages of the iphone over the blackberry, that’s why I started with telling the upsides of blackberry. Since those two are the only things that it has over the iphone. Typing with the iphone on screen keyboard is just not as fast as a hardware keyboard, although the iphone wouldn’t be as it is if it had a hardware keyboard. The lack of push email functionality also means that you must constantly check if new mail has arrived. Aside from that, everything is far superior in the iphone. Not to mention the fact that the blackberry is nowhere near the cool factor of the iphone, not even in the same ballpark.

iPad vs iPhone vs MacBook

iPad and iPhone and Macbook are all products of Apple which are extremely popular electronic devices selling millions of units around the world. People are often confused concerning the difference between an iPad and iPhone and MacBook as they are not aware of their features and the facilities which they get with each of them. This article intends to highlight the features as well as pros and cons of all three so that consumers can buy a gadget depending upon his requirements and usage.

iPad

This is the latest offering from Apple and is actually a tablet PC that has many features of a laptop in a smaller and thinner gadget while at the same time offering some of the multimedia experience which users get through their smartphones. iPad has a slate like form as it does not have a physical keyboard like a MacBook and the users have to make do with the virtual full QWERTY keyboard which is quite sensitive to touch. It makes use of the same super fast processor as the one in iPhone and has the same operating system that is used in iPhone, which is iOS.

iPad was launched in April 2010 and sold millions of units. Its popularity prompted Apple to come up with iPad 2 in March 2011 which has a faster processor and processes graphics 9+ times faster than iPad. It is basically a platform for audio visual experience such as reading e-books, watching videos and listening to music. It also allows web browsing, and when one looks at its size, it falls between an iPhone and MacBook. It even allows users to play games. iPad uses an LCD display of 9.7 inches at a resolution of 1024X768 pixels and the screen is fingerprint and scratch resistant. ipad comes in different versions with internal storage capacities of 16 GB, 32 GB, and even 64 GB with prices varying from $499 to $829. While iPad had 1GHz A4 processor, iPad 2 has a faster 1Ghz Dual core A5 processor. For connectivity, iPad is Wi-Fi and has Bluetooth, and some models provide for 3G connectivity as well.

iPhone

iPhone is a smartphone made by Apple that has captured the imagination of smartphone users like no other phone. Since its launch, millions of units have been sold and the latest version is the fourth generation iPhone known as iPhone 4. It is an internet and multimedia enabled smartphone that has become a statues symbol for the upwardly mobile people in all parts of the world.

iPhone can work as a camera phone along with allowing the user to capture videos in HD. It allows for texting as well as voice mailing. It has a portable media player and allows web browsing also. The biggest advantage that iPhone users have is the ability to download thousands of apps from Apple’s app store and iTunes.

For display, iPhone makes use of a 3.5” LCD which is scratch resistant. The touch screen is highly capacitive. The latest iPhone 4 provides a screen resolution of 640X960 pixels. Unlike iPad, iPhone does not rotate the screen when the user turns it upside down as it makes use of an accelerometer allowing the user to switch between portrait and landscape modes of display.

iPhone 4 has a dual camera with the rear one being 5MP with LED flash and allowing the user to capture HD videos at 720p. The front camera is a VGA one mainly used for video calling and chatting. The phone is available in models with 16 GB and 32 Gb internal storage on a flash drive, and there is no provi9sion to increase the internal storage capacity through external micro SD cards.

MacBook

MacBook is a laptop produced by Apple and is the best selling laptop of any brand in the country. MacBook was launched in 2006 in Black and White cases with Intel Core Duo processors but the latest MacBooks are loaded with Core 2 Duo processors. Though initially MacBook had smaller hard drive with 60 GB, today it has 120 GB of hard drive. MacBook uses Mac OS X as its operating system and has a super fast 2.4 GB Intel Core 2 Duo as its processor. MacBook can perform all the functions that are possible through a PC plus it is portable and can be carried along. MacBook is Wi-Fi enabled but it is not 3G enabled like iPad. This has made many users switch to iPad as they demand 3G connectivity in handheld devices. The OS of MacBook is complex and more advanced than that of iPhone and iPad and this enables the user to carry on with complex tasks just like his PC.

what is iPhone?

iPhone is a smartphone made by Apple that combines an iPod, a tablet PC, a digital camera and a cellular phone. The device includes Internet browsing and networking capabilities.

iPhone is extremely thin (only 11.6 millimeters thick) but wider and longer than many comparable devices. The display area is a 3.5-inch wide screen multi-touch interface with unusually high resolution (160 pixels per inch). Unlike most other smartphones, iPhone does not use a hardware keyboard or a stylus. To navigate, a user uses multiple taps and drags to navigate through a mobile version of Apple's OS X operating system. Like iPod, iPhone synchronizes data with a user's personal computer, using iTunes as a client software and Apple's proprietary USB port. iPhone

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is compatible with Microsoft's Windows operating systems, including Vista.

iPhone's networking features include:

• Automatic detection of WiFi networks.
• Support for the 802.11b and 802.11g standards.
• The use of quadband GSM and SIM cards to access cellular networks.
• EDGE support for high-speed data transfer where available.
• Bluetooth connectivity for short range networking with peripherals, other iPhones and PCs.

Apple says that iPhone carries 8 hours of life on the internal lithium-ion battery for talk or video, and up to 24 hours for music mode. The device ships with either a 4 or 8 GB hard drive, an Intel CPU and Apple's OS X operating system, modified for mobile use.

iPhone comes preloaded with a suite of media management software and communications software, including iTunes, the Safari Web browser and iPhoto. iPhoto may be used in combination with the 2 megapixel camera on the back of the device. Google's search and mapping services are fully integrated, including the ability to initiate phone calls from within Google Maps. Users can also view YouTube videos on the device, along with Microsoft Office documents and most imaging formats, including .JPEG, .GIF and .TIFF. A partnership with Yahoo allows iPhone users to send and receive rich HTML email. Other IMAP or POP3e-mail services are integrated as well, along with webmail access in the browser.

While iPhone was released under an exclusive two-year partnership with AT&T Wireless, it took less than three months for hackers working in concert worldwide to unlock the device for use on any GSM network, though the process involved a level of technical sophistication well beyond the consumer level.