The Ultimate iPhone & iPod touch Review – Part One

This will be the first of a three-part series focusing on the iPhone (and the iPod touch) and their place in today's ever-changing world.

Let's go back almost two years to Macworld 2007, more specifically the keynote speech where Steve Jobs released Apple's much-anticipated iPhone. Yes, that's right: the first-generation, quad-band GSM with EDGE phone/iPod/internet communicator hybrid. Back when the iPhone was first announced, there was no Wi-Fi music store, A-GPS, YouTube (until the weeks before its release), and the phone didn't even have a non-recessed headphone jack. This, added to its $500 price point (for new customers) would surely be enough to turn down the average user. After all, it's just a phone for God's sake! But people praised Apple, for the iPhone was (and still is) a revolutionary mobile phone that will change the industry forever.

For those of you who have been living under a rock for the past, oh I don't know, millennium, the iPhone is Apple's foray into the cellular phone market. I know what you're thinking... "But doesn't Apple focus on computers and iPods? Surely, the iPhone must be crappy because it's not their primary product; it's no computer." Surprisingly, the first-generation iPhone was an amazing product, and it did not disappoint: it taught the world that multi-touch is the future, and that so-called "smart" phones can definitely be developed upon. Featuring a gigantic 3.5" display, the iPhone told the world, "Hey, I'm the best phone ever."

Sure, the iPhone had its flaws too: most notably its high price point, confusion with regards to how people would enter data by using the on-screen keyboard, and c'mon, they put a 2.0 megapixel photo-only camera in it? Seriously, that's way crappier than I would have expected. But the biggest thing that the original iPhone (and the 2007 iPod touch) lacked was a Software Development Kit (SDK) so that developers can create and market their own applications for the iPhone.

Other mobile platforms (such as Windows Mobile) already have excellent, improved-upon SDKs, but the "smart" iPhone was left in the dark ages. At the Worldwide Developers Conference (WWDC) in June 2008, Apple acknowledged their lack of an SDK and opened up the floor for developers to create web-based applications through the built in Safari app on the iPhone. Sure, I guess that one could create minimalistic Web 2.0 apps with this, but what about the real good stuff? What about games that can be accessed on the iPod touch without the need for a Wi-Fi network to be in range? What about social networking – can one access Facebook any easier without an SDK?

Apple heard developers' pleas and, in March 2008, announced plans for iPhone's 2.0 Firmware which included an SDK and a built-in "App Store" for downloading and purchasing these apps. Finally, developers could create simple and complex applications for use on the iPhone and the iPod touch, and have access to iPhone's wide range of capabilities. Games like Super Monkey Ball, Location-Aware apps like Google Earth, and Social Networking apps like Facebook and MySpace began springing up, most of which were free of charge to download and install. And with the addition of the iPhone 3G, capable of reaching 3G speeds and with on-board A-GPS, the iPhone was finally "smart."

Coming up next: iPhone 2.0 FW Update