Touch me

The screen of the iPhone, as well as being large, is also the main input device. There's no stylus, so you'll be using your fingers, but as Apple have always insisted, the screen is meant to be touched. Greasy fingerprints will be par for the course but it should prove to be robust enough and the device is covered by a year-long warranty.

When you are using the iPhone to make telephone calls, a sensor detects the proximity of your ear to the device and locks the screen so you can't inadvertantly press buttons or activate features. Similarly, the iPhone can be locked so you don't do anything unintentional while it sits in your pocket.

There is also a sensor known as an accelerometer in the iPhone, which can tell which way is up. This means that many of the applications can operate in landscape as well as portrait mode, which is especially useful when watching videos.

EDGE vs 3G

EDGE is a technology that will let you connect to the internet wherever you are, though it is seen as inferior to 3G technology, which has been in widespread use in recent years.

Apple's chief executive explained why it had chosen to build EDGE into the iPhone rather than 3G.

"The current breed of 3G chipsets are real power hogs," he said, adding that the iPhone's battery life - which allows for eight hours of talktime - would be significantly compromised by 3G.

However, he did say that 3G was something the iPhone would include in the future.

"We have to see the 3G chipsets become more suitable. I think we'll see that next year," Jobs said.

The chief executive of O2, Matthew Key, said that using an EDGE connection was "a perfectly acceptable experience on the vast majority of iPhone applications". However, when the iPhone goes on sale in the UK on 9 November only 30 per cent of the UK will be covered by EDGE.

Free Wi-Fi

The three tarriffs offered by 02 have one thing in common - unlimited data access, subject to a fair usage policy. Key pointed out that you'd have to view something like 1,400 web pages every day to get close to the limit, but when iTunes downloads are taken into account, music fans might find themselves riding close to the wind.

The iPhone allows access to the iTunes Wi-Fi store, essentially letting you download music over public wireless networks. Hooking up to wireless networks is designed to be as seamless as possible - once you've entered the password, you will not need to enter it again to access that network again.

You will also be able to use The Cloud's 7,500 UK Wi-Fi hotspots at no extra charge, as the tariff includes this cost.

Browsing the web

No matter which connection you use, browsing the internet is different on the iPhone from other mobile devices, mainly because of the touchscreen. The iPhone doesn't display cut-down versions of websites, but gives you the version you'd see on your PC.

It lets you zoom in by making a pinching movement with your fingers, and double-tapping the screen will let you zoom out again. To enter text an onscreen keyboard pops up when you put the cursor in a text box. You need to be fairly accurate with the keyboard, but correcting errors is easy - simply press down on the erroneous text and a magnifying glass pops up, letting you place the cursor by the letter you need to change.

iPhone as an iPod

Steve Jobs referred to the iPhone as "the best iPod we've ever made", and with a touchscreen it's certainly the most functional. As the screen is so large, when the iPhone is flipped on its side, it has a perfect aspect ratio for watching content filmed in widescreen.

The relative lack of storage space - 8GB - means that you'll probably not be able to store all of your media content on the iPhone at one time, though you will still be able to have quite a selection. The headphones look similar to the standard white issue you get with other iPods, but there is a difference - they have a small remote control which lets you change track and answer your phone, and they also house a microphone, so they operate as a hands-free kit.

When browsing through your music library, you can use the Cover Flow feature to see each's albums artwork, as well as the more conventional ways - by artist, album, song and playlist.

Other services

The mapping application is powered by Google Maps and lets you make quick searches, and locate places of interest, with all the relevant information made available. Web pages are linked to, and telephone numbers are made into live links so one touch will initiate a phone call.

YouTube is a built-in feature of the iPhone, with a button taking you direct to a version of the site optimised for the iPhone. The widescreen makes the experience in the same league as, if not better than, using YouTube on a desktop PC.

You can set up your email accounts to connect with your iPhone and the onscreen keyboard is the input option. It takes a while to learn how to use a keyboard that small but if you've used devices such as a Blackberry before you'll pick it up in no time.

The Tariffs

The tariffs cost £35, £45 or £55 per month and they offer unlimited data downloads, 'visual' voicemail - where you can skip to the important part of messages without hearing the whole thing - and Wi-Fi access at The Cloud's hotspots.

The contracts are all 18 months long, and the £35 per month deal offers 200 minutes of talktime and 200 texts, the £45 deal 600 minutes talktime and 500 texts, and the £55 tariff 1,200 minutes of talktime and 500 texts.

www.apple.com/uk/iphone

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