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Hands on: iPhone

iphonehand.jpg

Macworld editor Jason Snell was able to do something we’d all like to be able to do; get our mitts on the iPhone and play with it a bit. An article over at Macworld News describes his experience along with the good and bad of one of Apple’s most anticipated new products.
Check out what he had to see after the jump…

iphonehand.jpg

Macworld editor Jason Snell was able to do something we’d all like to be able to do; get our mitts on the iPhone and play with it a bit. An article over at Macworld News describes his experience along with the good and bad of one of Apple’s most anticipated new products:
-The iPhone feels small and thin with an incredibly responsive screen that allows the user to handily type on its on-screen keyboard. The device’s software works to figure out which key it believes you’ve typed and also notes which nearby keys may be accidentally hit. The keys themselves will “pop up”, becoming larger and easier to touch, which lends to the feedback that you’re hitting the correct letters.
-The 160 pixel per inch is amazingly bright and crisp, containing twice as many pixels as the video iPod but packing them into an area that’s 88% larger than that device.
-Certain items are currently “placeholder” items, such as the Notes and Calculator applications. Click on the main icons (Phone, Mail, Web and iPod) and these will lead to other applicable icons and applications.
-The iPhone is also controlled by gestures such as flicking your way through a list to make it scroll quickly (much like flipping through a Rolodex filled with entries). The gestures, like scrolling your finger across the screen to unlock the iPhone, actually seem to feel natural.
-Apple assured Snell that the iPhone will support the PDF format, but other formats are being decided upon between now and the six months the device has until its release.
-The conventional wisdom seems to be that Apple will be careful about which third party applications it allows to be installed on the iPhone and will probably force software developers to follow some strict guidelines and receive permission from the company before the software can be sold. Apple may even limit available iPhone software to the iPhone Store, which allows them control of what’s provided for the device.
-Even though Apple will probably hold off of further announcements about the iPhone until its Worldwide Developers Conference, the company may allow Widgets to be developed more freely than straight out applications for the iPhone. The company may work to ensure full compatibility between developed Widgets and the iPhone by pushing users to use Dashcode using only certain Javascript code with Internet connectivity – a move that could lead to less scrutiny over upcoming iPhone applications.
-The iPhone is a more complex device than the iPod and while it’s not a Mac, it’s a feature-rich unit which needs to be handled carefully. There won’t be a shortage of developers for the device, but Apple seems to be in a position to better decide which ones it wants to work with.
If you have any ideas, comments or feedback, let us know.