Would I be prepared to pay the local equivalent of US$499 or US$599 up front on a two year plan for iPhone? If it's as good as Apple makes out, maybe. Will I do it again two years from now, when my current model is long in the tooth? Maybe. Then again maybe I would give something else a try. At the end of the day, it's just a phone.

Of course, as far as Apple is concerned, iPhone is not just a phone. It is also an iPod and a mobile Internet device. At present, the iPhone is only 2.5G. It's hard to see the iPhone succeeding in Europe or elsewhere unless 3G models are released. Meanwhile, users will need to be confined to Wi-Fi hotspots if they want acceptable Internet performance. Compare that to the 3.5G N95 which can even act as a fast wireless modem for laptops. The iPhone is after all a mobile communications device. Rather than touting its Wi-Fi capability, the question is why should it need Wi-Fi?

Having had five minutes to play with an iPhone at Macworld, there's no doubt that there's a lot to like about Apple's new baby. However, unlike the new device going on sale June 29, the iPhone I held in my hands had a plastic screen. If the old adage "if it ain't broken don't fix it" holds true for Apple like everyone else, one must ask what was broken about the tough plastic screen that forced Apple to use optical glass instead?

Last week I dropped my nothing up front Nokia 6280 3G phone for about the sixth time since I've had it. As I was getting out of my car, it slipped out of my hand and hit the concrete sidewalk. As happened on quite a few previous occasions, the back came off and the battery fell out. Like always, I simply put the phone back together, turned it back on and the phone worked as if nothing had happened. The US$499 or US$599 question is can the iPhone with its non-shock absorbing metal case and optical glass screen stand the drop test or does it have a glass jaw?{moscomment}

---

Get stories like this delivered daily - FREE - subscribe now
When you subscribe get a 12 months license for LiveProject
Valued at $99 USD


Download the FREE iTWire desktop alert widget