First iPhone Reviews Reveal Worrying Deficiencies

Walt Mossberg from the Wall Street Journal and David Pogue, from the New-York Times, tested the iPhone for two weeks and published their first impressions this week. As anticipated, the iPhone had many good sides but also some weaknesses. Here are some of both reviewers' observations:

According to Mossberg:

• The virtual keyboard is not as efficient as on other phones. For example, you need to switch to a different view to enter a comma.
• It lacks features common in other phones, such as instant messaging and a video recorder. And you can't use your songs as a ringtone!

According to David Pogue:

• Call quality is "only average"
• Making a call requires a lot of steps: "Wake the phone, unlock its buttons, summon the Home screen, open the Phone program, view the Recent Calls or speed-dial list, and select a name."
• Google map navigation requires a tap of the screen to let it know where you are since the iPhone doesn't have a built-in GPS receiver.
• There is no voice dialing
• No picture messaging between cell phones
• The web browser does not support Java or Flash, two common requirements to view millions of web pages or videos

David Pogue also tested AT&T's EDGE network on the iPhone and called it "excruciatingly slow," adding that Yahoo's home page took two minutes to load. Obviously, users of the iPhone will have to be hunting for WiFi hotspots if they want their $600 gadget to live up to the hype.