iTouch and iPhones
In 2007 Apple launched the first of its iPhones - a Smartphone offering the mp3 playback facilities of an ipod combined with business functions, a browser and email client. A year later the second Generation iPhone offered 3G data speeds with assisted GPS and a greater number of applications to download.
In summer of 2009 the latest generation, the 3GS was launched making it a popular device that includes a 3-megapixel resolution camera (although it doesn't zoom or flash) with voice controls and a digital compass.
The iPhone 3GS (the S is for speed) is also considerably faster than previous models. Its processor runs at 600 MHz and 256MB of RAM, compared to previous models’ 412MHz and 128MB.
So what else can an iPhone offer?
- 3.5-inch widescreen Touch display with fingerprint-resistant coating
- Accelerometer to turn orientation landscape or portrait
- Proximity sensor
- Ambient light sensor
- WiFi
- Image gallery
- Bluetooth
- 3 megapixel camera which allows for photo and video geotagging
- Digital Compass
- Viewable document types via email attachments: .jpg, .tiff, .gif (images); .doc and .docx (Microsoft Word); .htm and .html (web pages); .key (Keynote); .numbers (Numbers); .pages (Pages); .pdf (Preview and Adobe Acrobat); .ppt and .pptx (Microsoft PowerPoint); .txt (text); .rtf (rich text format); .vcf (contact information); .xls and .xlsx (Microsoft Excel)
- Features like cut, copy, and paste
iPhone, therefore I am - Stephen Fry writes a Guardian review of the iPhone 3GS. In the Guardian article he describes "The 3GS also contains a digital compass or magnetometer. Used in conjunction with GPS, Wi-Fi and cellular positioning your iPhone now knows exactly where it is and which way it is facing. This allows the fascinating possibility of tour guide uses ("you are now looking at the west door of St Paul's Cathedral")"
Stephen Fry, self-confessed fan
The iTouch
The iTouch was launched in September 2007 and was marketed as an mp3 player combined with PDA functionalities and WiFi connectivity. It was the first iPod to have wireless access to the iTunes Store for music and the emerging third-party applications. The Nike+ feature was an innovative app offering the health conscious iTouch user to monitor how much they are walking, running or jogging during the day. Launched in the same year as the 1st Generation iPhone it offered the user a cheaper option but with no camera or phone capacility.
But in September 2008, when the 2nd Generation iTouch revealed the capability to record sound (using the microphone built-in to the headset) this opened up the possibility to use the Skype App to sign into Skype from any WiFi zone and use Voive over Internet Protocol (VoIP) to make calls. Bluetooth functionality was also unlocked in this version.
The 3rd Generation iTouch is launched in January 2010 and although it was hoped to incorporate a camera the device will be only faster and have a considerably larger capacity of 64MB.