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.

• 2Ghz Intel Core 2 Duo T5800 Processor
• 320GB Hard Disk Drive
• 3GB DDR2 Memory
• 512MB nVidia GeForce 9300m GS
• 15.4” WXGA (2800×800 pixels) LED screen
• 2x Blu-Ray player
• 802.11n, Bluetooth, HDMI, VGA, eSATA, Line in, Line out, Firewire 400, card reader, 3xUSB, webcam, biometric finger print scanner, air ioniser

Two things really stick out from this roundup, and they have to be the 2x Blu-Ray Player and the Air Ioniser; so let’s look at what these bring to the machine.

Blu-Ray has been around for a couple of years now, and anyone who has a PS3 has been able to play them since they took them out of the box, but until recently Blu-Ray drives in laptops were a commodity only a few could afford (often adding over £300 to the retail price). The N50 sits in the new class of mid spec machines that bring you High Definition entertainment on the move. But there is one big problem with the blu-ray on this machine: the screen is only capable of 720p, not the full fledged 1080p that we have come to expect from new HD televisions. Although this is slightly overcome by the presence of an HDMI port, is does mean you can’t enjoy the full benefits of high definition on the move.

The next is the Air Ioniser, and even I am confused as to its presence on the machine. This is a slight oddity in the computer world, fitting something designed to improve the air quality around the machine. I can only assume that it is designed to improve your work area, but we will wait to see how it stands up to a lecture hall on a hot day. Ah, there is one very special thing I forgot about: this machine uses facial recognition.

Yep, you heard me right, this machine can use facial recognition to log you in to your account. It uses the camera in the top bezel of the screen, and we do have to say that we have had mixed results. Whilst we have had it work, we have more often had it ignore our faces and need us to type in a password or swipe our finger.

But enough of the specs and features of the N50, what I think we all want to know is how it performs in the real world.

If I am to be frank with you, the N50 took what seemed to be an age to boot. At times I thought that it would be a good opportunity to make a cup of tea, whilst waiting for it to boot. It could be that the sample we received was clogged up by lots of other people using it, or it could just be it takes half a lifetime to boot.

Once booted the machine is quite nippy, loading applications with respectable speed. Making the use of it as a primary machine more bearable. However, this quickness was hindered at times by the touch sensitive controls, which would sometimes require 3 or 4 presses to get to work (a pain when trying to mute the music when the phone rings).

Gaming performance with the machine is what I would expect from the spec, it could run mid-specced games (such as Dawn of War 2, Supreme Commander, etc) quite well at medium graphics quality. Although this rules the machine out as a true gaming rig, this is not where it is aimed. More being thrust at the mainstream user, and people who work on the go.

This meaning to its existence can be seen in the battery life stats, with the N50 being able to last just over 3 hours on battery power. For a machine like this, this is brilliant, as it makes it useable on a long train journey, during a lecture, or even in a car. Mix this with the blu-ray drive and you have a good candidate for a machine that will keep you entertained when travelling, or away from the mains.

Unfortunately, we were unable to benchmark the machine, as we spent far too much time trying out the facial recognition if we are honest. So these figures are not here for this machine, but we are quite willing to tell you that they can be seen over here at Register Hardware.

In conclusion, the N50 represents the main stream branch of ASUS’s notebook computers. IT brings you the sort of spec and speed you expect for this price, with the added bonus of a Blu-ray drive and Air ioniser (if it is a bonus). Although this is hindered at times by long boot times, and unresponsive touch controls. It leads to a good all round machine that will be perfect for those who need to work on the go.

All in all, bitcolumns give the Asus N50 a score of 3/5.

If you join the Shake Shed Canterbury facebook group on or before Tuesday the 26th May, you and one of your friends will be in for a great treat. On Wednesday 27th May, if you take a printout of the Facebook page to the Shake Shed, and buy any shake you friend (or you) will be able to enjoy a regular milkshake (any single flavour they want) for Half Price.

Unfortunately this means that bitcolumns will come to a stand still for the next couple of weeks, as problems are sorted.

I am hoping to be back by the end of May, and to continue full steam ahead with what we have been doing thus far. I would like to take this time to apologise for the stop on the web front whilst this happens.

(I will still be doing the weekly show on www.csrfm.com at 1830GMT on a tuesday, so if you want the latest news please listen there.)

I hope to see you all again in a couple of weeks, and we will then take bitcolumns further.

$46QTSRCQGRJWZ

Want to know what you can expect from a Dell laptop? Read our review of the Inspiron 1525.

Well. The N10 “netbook” from Asus.

If history has taught us anything over the thousands of years besides you should never accept a giant wooden horse for a gift or remake a horror film more than once, it’s that making something completely pointless is still pointless even if the said thing is good. Things like the ‘charge while you play’ adapters for the wireless xbox 360 controllers, yes lets take a wireless device and give it a wire to make use of… well yes you get my point. Stupid.

The point I’m getting at is the whole “netbook” idea in general. I see no real need for them; they are a needlessly small version of a normal laptop which runs Vista more slowly than the average laptop anyway (or PC since Vista is a POS!). I awoke to the delivering of the N10 one morning with the hope of being able to try some games on it. While this was possible, it was somewhat undesirable. I played through the first couple of levels of Condemned criminal origins on medium settings and the laptop chugged along reasonably well, but fell flat on its face when the screen had more than 1 character on it; which sadly meant 90% of the game. At this point I got bored and passed the N10 to my loving girlfriend who proceeded to play through Indigo Prophecy on it in ONE SITTING. Anyone who says girls don’t game, you are wrong.

On to the main features of the netbook, the overall look is nice. It has a stylish, neat and tidy exterior and some sexy looking blue lights which contrast the black interior keyboard + screen very nicely. Brownie points here Asus, your designer knows what he’s doing. As for features, there’s a TON of software included with the N10. Mostly though, it’s stuff that the average person would never ever use such as fingerprint recognition (seriously). All of which just seem to make Vista run even slower than normal. (more than 3 minutes to startup and be on the desktop without the egg timer icon.) The processor inside is somewhat underpowered for everything that is going on. Windows Vista sucks the life from the poor old 1.60GHz cpu like a gigahertz vampire.

There really isn’t much to say about the N10. It’s a small, underpowered netbook with a heck of a lot of pointless software included, that would have benefitted a lot more from running XP. The half-decent graphics card included is a good idea, but falls short because the rest of the specs are low-end. And for the price of around £500 you may aswel save a few more 0’s and get a macbook or a proper gaming laptop.