December 15, 2007

Techno blip: Hold on, iPhone!

NOWIf you have read my earlier review of the iPhone when it first arrived September 25Th (Oh wait....that was Halo 3. Sorry), or whenever it was that the JesusPhone was released to upper-class America, you might remember what i have concluded about it. If you don't, I will tell you now. What i concluded was that the iPhone was a fabulous device that is nothing like anything coming before it, but was fabulously flawed at the same time. With it's obscene $499 price tag (we think that's what it was), and obscene monthly voice-and-data plan prices (maybe they are not that bad, but still not a lotta minutes for the money), the iPhone was unfortunately not going to be the savior of everyone. It's evident lack of a few things phones really should have, such as video with the camera [UPDATE: A new app lets you do just that. Barely.], and lack of things mobile 'net devices should have, like support for video streaming (other than YouTube), and third party-apps. Yes, APPle clearly did not live up to its name in this area (anybody else notice that? didn't think so). The release of Firmware 1.1.1. very audaciously shot down any app that a forward-thinking geek might have created to further improver his/her iPhone. And if they preferred T-Mobile to support this gadget, we really hope that they like bricks, too*. Given this, I ended up stamping the iPhone with a 6.5 out of 10 score (For your friends). BUT things have changes since then!

For those of you who know my original iPhone review already, this is the really
important part

Since my original review, Apple has not only reduced the cost of the great phone by $100, but also offered a $100 rebate to those who purchased them at the original price. And hell, they sure deserved it. On top of that, iSteve (with his pal iWoz**) has also allowed numerous third party apps on to the iPhone (and now the iTouch as well). Well....sort of. Apple has opened up to any application creators who wish to make something for their phone, and offered to approve it for download on their website. This is very difficult to explain. But in short, apps are now available, and more are coming. Still, the whatever-you-want, whenever-you-want other-party is still far out of sight from the iPhone. But this does not mean I should not update the review. And that is exactly what i am doing. For the reasons I have stated, the iPhone's Official rating has been officially raised from 6.5 to 8.0 out of 10. So here this:

The Apple iPhone:
8 out of 10
Super hot product
*Bricked- In the case of electronics,Rendered highly useless, much like a ceramic block.
**-If you noted that the nickname iWoz was listed as an official Wozniak nickname (after clicking the link to wikipedia), you must know that I honestly wrote that before reading the article. Funny nickname, though.

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