One voice feature that I really do like on the iPhone, however, is the ease with which a user can set up a multi-party conference call. It really is revolutionary stuff. How often will cellphone users set up conference calls? Perhaps more than they used to if they own an iPhone.

I can live without downloading my own ringtone but others apparently can't judging by the array of sounds you hear from mobile phones these days. It seems strange that Apple has restricted iPhone users to its limited range of native ringtones, when given that it's also an iPod, most users will probably have a library of hundreds of iTunes songs to choose from.

As far as web browsing is concerned, the iPhone from what I saw in my brief five minutes is probably better than the N95 or any other mobile phone on the market. However, even the multi-touch screen iPhone lacks the basic functionality of a computer-based browser, with no RSS, Flash or Java capability. From my point of view that's OK because I don't believe most cellphone users buy their phone for web browsing.

Native browser aside, the thing that will disappoint many when considering the iPhone is that you can't use it as a wireless modem for your laptop. The possible reason for this is that Apple may be waiting until it releases a 3G version, which makes sense given the slow data transfer rates of Edge.

From limited hands on experience, the screen-based keyboard on even the early model iPhone I played with was excellent, as was the flick-screen navigation feature. The multi-touch screen will be a plus for the iPhone and it's a fair bet that other phone makers will try to emulate it in their future models.

Another plus for the iPhone that other cellphone makers will take note of is that the Apple phone really does have the most simple and elegant user interface ever constructed for a mobile phone device. Like most of what Apple does, everything has been designed with the user in mind.

As far as price is concerned, the question for most phone users outside the "I'll buy anything with an Apple logo camp" is whether they want to pay US$499 or US$599 on top of a two year standard rates plan with no choice of carrier. Apple is betting its design and coolness factors will sway them to open their wallets. However, after the hype has worn off what we are left with is a phone and consumers who will be asking themselves "is this phone worth the extra money I'm being asked to pay?" Apple is betting they'll say yes. It's a big bet. {moscomment}

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