Expect a review from us in the very near future, where we will cover all the new features as well as the competitors to Spotify.

I will be one of the first to admit that in terms of raw hardware and out of the box features the iPhone is lacking. That camera could be 5 or 8 Megapixel, it could have a memory expansion slot, it could have a QWERTY keyboard, etc, etc. But it doesn’t….

So why all the commotion?

At least once a day one of us will see an advert or article about the iPhone (this article included), or hear someone talking about how awesome it is. And on the other side of that you will also see an anti-iphone advert or article, and someone arguing how it is worse than their Blackberry, or Nokia Smart phone, or similar. The reasons for both of these are quite clear: Business, and personal opinion. But the problem comes in that with the iPhone, the traditional way of comparing phones and gadgets has gone out of the window.

The beauty of the iPhone is not in the hardware (unless you count the design) but instead, it is in the software that runs the device. No phone software out at the moment (at least here in the UK) has been successful in getting people to use more and more of the features on their phones than ever before. The reason for this: Simplicity.

The problem with buttons

The iPhone’s operating system is very easy to use, and brings something slightly revolutionary to the phone market: the lack of a menu button!!!

Sound’s silly doesn’t it, but it is not. Every other phone I have ever owned (even other touch screen phones) had still had a menu button putting an extra button press between you and your features. The iPhone removes this completely. Whereas on some phone I may need to go to Menu > Programs > Web Browser, on the iPhone it is merely the tap of of a finger on the Safari icon (which I can place on the dock to make it available on any home screen). Too lazy to search through the screens, use Spotlight to search for it… The number of clicks has been reduced from 3 or more, to 1. Saving over a 3rd of the time in launching an application.

The App Store

One of the major loves people have of the iPhone is the applications, and there are loads. In fact, there are over 50,000 Apps in the App store, many of which are free.

Their charm is in the fact that you can do pretty much anything if you find the right App, hence Apple’s “There’s an App for that” campaign. Mix this with the ease of installation and purchasing that comes from Apple’s experience with iTunes and it becomes a dead cert. But there are still major problems:

The approval system. Apple has a very enigmatic approval system, in fact I doubt they even know how it works. Whilst one app may be approved, one very similar app may be rejected. Apps that people think should be approved, sometimes aren’t, etc.

In Conclusion

Mix these two ingredients with an iPod, Dictaphone, GPS, Calculator, YouTube device, Calendar, Notebook, Email, Calendar, etc; and keep the simplicity in all these parts and you have a phone that many people are able to, and enjoy to, use.Yes it is not the best hardware in the world, and it is not the best value for money on the hardware front. But that is not the point.

The beauty of this device is in it’s ease of use, it’s looks, and the systems that support it. And until other phone manufacturers are able to get this mix right they will still see an increasing number of sales going to the iPhone range.

Now, if you access http://mobile.bitcolumns.com on a mobile phone (apart from an iPhone, which will access our normal site) you will be sent to our new text-based mobile phone site. Although not quite so pretty, it will bring you all the same information in a faster loading format.

The iPhone 3GS sees no cosmetic change from the iPhone 3G, but does bring some cool new features to the party:

• An upgraded 3 megapixel, auto-focus, video recording camera to replace the current 2 megapixel camera
• A digital compass, with its own app. You can instantly see which direction you are facing, orient Google Maps to the way you are facing; or jsut get bored, spin around, and see if you can stop at 0.
• Basic video editing features (select start and end of clip), which you cna then use to upload directly toYouTube.
• Voice Control: Phone a contact, select a song, or find out what song is playing just using your voice. Hold the Home button to talk to the iPhone, and the iPhone talks back.

The iPhone 3G's faster, more flashy, identical younger cousin

All of these features should run very smoothly, with the 3GS performing up to twice as fast as its 3G cousin. And the best bit? All of this, with improved battery power (All values aproximate, and sourced from www.apple.com):

• Talk time:
  • Up to 12 hours on 2G
  • Up to 5 hours on 3G
• Standby time: Up to 300 hours
• Internet Use
  • Up to 5 hours on 3G
  • Up to 9 hours on Wi-Fi
• Video playback: Up to 10 hours
• Audio playback: Up to 30 hours

iPhone 3G

So what about us iPhone 3G owners? On June 17th we can upgrade to iPhone OS 3.0, for free. Yup, completely free! But what does this get us?

• Cut, Copy and Paste
  • in all applications and websites
• Landscape Keyboard
  • now available in Mail, Messages, Notes and Safari
• MMS
  • Send MMS messages and include photos, audio, and contact info. You can take a photo from inside the new Messages App
• Spotlight Search
  • Flick the Home screen to the right to find a new Spotlight screen, where you can search all of your contacts, calendars, and notes, as well as everythig in your iPod.
• Voice Memos
  • If you have an important lecture or meeting you can now use your iPhone to record the audio, out of the box. Only time will tell if this app can live up to the ones already available in the App Store.
• Improved Calendar
  • The calendar now works with Microsoft Exchange, as well as CalDAV (the protocol used by Google Calendar, and others).
• Buy Movies, TV Shows, and Audiobooks
  • You can now buy all of the above in the iTunes app directly on the phone, but downloads over 10MB still require a Wi-Fi connection.
• A faster, better Safari with autofill usernames and passwords
• Internet Tethering (requires bolt-on in the UK) so that you can use your iPhone as a modem
• Stereo Bluetooth
  • Connect your iPhone to compatible stereo headphones, car kits or other accessories to blast people with music.
• Automatic Wi-Fi Login
  • Do you often use wireless hotspots in cafes, etc? The iPhone can now automatically log you in to these hotspots to save you time and typing.
• YouTube Login
  • You can now use your YouTube account on your phone, to save and sync bookmarks as well as rate your favourite movies.
• Sync Notes
  • Sync notes between your iPhone and Mac/PC so that you never lose them again
• Shake to Shuffle (but not too hard)
  • You can now shake the iPhone to shuffle to a different song in your iPod list. Just don’t shake it too hard or it may go the same way as your Wii Remote.
• Run the Latest Apps
  • iPhone 3G users will still be able to run the latest apps, including peer-to-peer games (multiplayer to you and me), as well as using accessories through the dock connector and bluetooth.

For those of you looking to upgrade to the new iPhone, or buy one for the first time, prices can be found at the O2 Website.

The reason is this, tomorrow sees the beginning of Apple’s Worldwide Developer Conference, or WWDC (Don’t ask us where the extra W came from). This conference brings some of the top developers in the world, as well as those just starting out, into one place for a few days of workshops, seminars, lunches, and I assume parties. But of recent years it has become a very important event for all Apple fans over the world. As the keynote that it opens with, normally pesented by Steve Jobs but opened this year by Phil Schiller, is the couple of hours where we get a first look at the ew Mac OS and… the brand new iPhone.

Now unless you have been hidden under a rock, inside a faraday cage, in the amazon rainforst; you will have probably heard one or two or 20 rumours about what people are expecting in the new iPhone. Video recording, front facing camera, magnometer (compass), repositioned speaker and headphone socket, camera button, video calling, matte/rubberised back, no more chrome frame, and coffee dispenser (I admit I made that one up myself); are all just a taster of what rumours are flying round the internet at this moment in time. There is even a rumoured name floating around: the iPhone Video.

As an iPhone fan, and owner, I am currently counting the hours, minutes, seconds, and milliseconds until the keynote starts (6pm GMT, Monday 8th June) so I can watch it online and drool over the iPhone if it is announced.

Now some of you are problably thinking “How can you be sure there will even be a new announcement?”, well there are a few clues:

1. Apple are very predictable when it comes to when they announce product refreshes, with Phil Schiller himself saying at Macworld in January that the iPhone’s refresh cycle is June/July each year
2. O2 has started to withdraw current iPhone 3G avertising here in the UK. Stores are replacing iPhone POS with adverts for the new O2 Joggler, where iPhone adverts have been for almost a year, national newspapers are no longer carrying the iPhone 3G ‘There’s an app for that’ advertising on the backs of some of their supplements, again replaced with the O2 Joggler.

This second point is the biggest hint. O2 have actively advertised the iPhone 3G since before it’s July 11th launch last year. With adverts in stores, newspapers, television, the internet. For them to start to retract some of these means that something must be happening in the world of the iPhone.

Price: £250 – £320

Styles: Silver

Manufacturer: Nokia

I would like to open this review with a note of thanks. These thanks are to Nokia, for providing us with our first review product, the Nokia N810 Internet Tablet.

Nokia is well known for its mobile phones, from the venerable 3x series, through to the modern Nseries, but its range of internet tablets is not so well known. So, what is an Internet Tablet?

Most of us have probably used the venerable 3210

The Internet Tablets are part of the new Nseries and are in essence a PDA. Their main use is as an internet access device, providing Web surfing and Instant Messaging (IM) whilst on the move, as well as letting the user install custom software, allowing its use for word processing, coding, camera, GPS, game machine, and much more. All this power, in a brushed aluminium enclosure no bigger than your hand.

Adorning the front of this enclosure is the N810s main input; the 4.3 inch Touch-Screen. With an 800×480 resolution, this screen is ideal for viewing websites on the packaged HTML browser, or watching a short video. The screen is nice and bright, with colours well produced, and the touch interface is very responsive, with problems only really happening when I tried to click on a web link with my chubby fingers. Luckily, the general User Interface has nice large icons allowing easy use with even the most sausage-like digits. On the left hand side of the screen, you can see the built in Camera and soft keys.

The camera is best used for programs such as Skype (included on the device) for quick video conferences on the move; it is definitely not a dedicated ‘snapper’. With it pointing towards you, you will not be taking pictures of stuff around you either. The two soft keys below the camera are the “Swap Key” and “Escape Key”. The Swap key is used to select between open applications, this becomes very useful when you are using more than a couple of full screen applications and need to switch between them quickly. The “Escape Key” functions as a Back button in the web browser, as well as performing some functions around the device.

Along the top of the device, are the rest of the visible buttons. These are the Full Screen, Zoom In (Increase Volume), Zoom Out (Decrease Volume), Power, and Lock keys. With this small number of buttons, you may think the Nokia N810 would be difficult to use, as there is no visible keyboard.

The key word in that last sentence was “Visible”. The N810 has added a slide out keyboard to the list of features. Slide the screen up to reveal a QWERTY keyboard, as well as navigation and menu buttons. Numbers and Characters on the keyboard are achieved through a combination with the Fn key, and the Chr key brings up a list of available special characters, such as brackets, points, and all other punctuation marks. Although the keyboard is quite small, it is quite easy to pick up and use, with most people being able to type at a reasonable speed in a couple of minutes. In addition, you can use both hands, by popping down the built in desk stand.

However, let us get on to the main feature, internet connectivity. I would have to say Nokia have done well here, with connection to a wireless network being just as painless as it is on any Windows computer. An icon for the Web Browser is placed at the top left of the screen, and provides the option to open a new window, or visit a number of pre-established links. The N810 has a full HTML browser, based on the Mozilla platform, which also supports Flash (a bonus for all you YouTube fanatics out there).It is possible to open multiple browser windows. It is here that the Swap key proves it worth as you can quickly cycle through windows.

As well as Web browsing, the N810 is a fully loaded communications device. With built in e-mail, internet telephony, and chat clients, the N810 enables you to keep in touch on the go. Although the device lacks an integrated Mobile Phone, you are still able to make phone calls using Skype whilst connected to Wi-Fi. There is a version of Pidgin for the device means you are also able to keep in touch over Yahoo Messenger, AIM, MSN and many more. Combine this with the built in RSS feed reader, and you have a great little device for keeping in touch on the move.

Other utilities such as PDF Reader, Notepad, Sketch, Calculator, and Games all add to this device, making it a very competent mobile computer.

Nevertheless, with all this good, there must be some bad, and here it is.

The Nokia N810 uses OS 2008. Whilst this is an open source platform, it has not yet gained great light in developers’ eyes. This means that the number of native applications for the device is low, and you can find yourself searching forever for the one to meet your needs. I spent about 4 hours just trying to find a piece of software to enable MSN messaging on the device, before finding Pidgin. And once you have found the software it is not always easy to install. I was often met with a message telling me I was missing a certain number of packages, a problem which I did not know how to rectify.

The size of the device is also limiting. Some sites may be too wide for the screen, and programs have to be shrunk down to fit. The device is suitable for quick note taking, but is not as effective if wanting to write essays on the move. At £280, the N810 would be a great investment for those who often find themselves on the go and need quick, easy access to the internet and communications. For those of you who find yourselves needing to write essays on the go, or more powerful tasks, a sub-notebook computer may be more appropriate. These devices combine portability with the power needed for more heavy-duty tasks.

I believe Nokia have got a lot of things right in this device, but there are a few things it could improve. Inclusion of 802.11n would be a great point for the device, with the longer wireless range and greater speeds bringing this device into its own. The device would also benefit from the inclusion of 3G or HSDPA. These high-speed mobile internet connection technologies would allow the device to be used almost anywhere, no longer having to worry about Wi-Fi or a Bluetooth equipped phone being nearby.

For the third device in the series, I must congratulate Nokia on a stunning advance from the N770, and I would recommend this to any student who needs to be connected to the net at every opportunity. The minimal boot time, mixed with the long battery life (advertised as 4 hours continuous use, 14 days standby.) makes this one of the best devices for its job.