About a week or so after the highly anticipated release of Apple’s iPhone, I had a chance to really sit down and test the device. I must admit, while Apple has a track record of developing phenomenal and revolutionary products and personal devices, I thought this latest jump into the cell phone/PDA/all-in-one device market was going to take at least a few rounds before Apple really nailed it. Overall on the first try they created something that truly takes an all-in-one device to the next level. The entire design is focused on the user and the Apple design team was able to remove itself from the mindset of what is perceived as required for one of these devices (i.e. an actual button keyboard) which lead to a product that truly maximizes its usefulness and adapts for each individual function.
One of the areas I was most impressed by a was the iPhones Digital Photo functionality. For this function the iPhone uses the entire screen and images can be viewed both from a horizontal or vertical orientation (something that can change on the fly due to a built in gyroscope). With the flick of your finger you can scroll through photo after photo or with a pinch in you can zoom in on any photo. Photos can be easily uploaded to the device from you computer or from the web. Its amazing to think that for the first time ever it is totally reasonable to think someone’s entire life long photo collection could be loaded on one device and go with you wherever you want.
The video below gives a great, quick overview of the iPhones photo functions. Have a quick look, its a pretty amazing device!