Hands on with the iPhone

Our man in San Fran, Tom Dunmore, has managed to blag his way backstage and become one of the first people in the world to get his hands on Apple’s iPhone. And he thinks it lives up to the hype: 'It is, put simply, the Best Thing Ever,' he says, without a trace of hyperbole.

The iPhone runs a 'full-strength Mac OS X', according to Greg Joswiak, Apple’s Vice-President of Product Marketing and the man charged with stopping Tom from stealing the iPhone. However, third party applications will not be permitted as Apple  wants to maintain total control over the user interface, which utilises revolutionary touchscreen technologies.

'I can’t express how cool this Minority Report-style Multi-Touch UI is, and how revolutionary,' says Dunmore. 'We really are talking about something as momentous as the first mouse.'

The iPhone is scheduled for a US launch in June for $499 (4GB) or $599 (8GB), but it must first receive FCC ratification. What’s more, the phone’s software is not complete, and some technical details are still hazy. Bluetooth Stereo music streaming is unconfirmed at present, and while Apple has said the iPhone will offer five hours of talk time, there is no official figure for standby battery life.

What is clear is that although the phone features 802.11g Wi-Fi networking won’t be possible to wirelessly stream music or movies to the company’s other new product, Apple TV.

You can read full details of Tom Dunmore’s hands-on experience with the iPhone over at his Future Stuff blog.