Camera
The iPhone features a built in 2.0 megapixel camera located on the back for still digital photos. It also includes software that allows the user to upload, view, and e-mail photos. The user zooms in and out of photos by "unpinching" and "pinching" them through the multi-touch interface. The software interacts with iPhoto on the Mac.
Thursday, July 26, 2007
Phone
The iPhone allows conferencing, call holding, call merging, caller ID, and integration with other cellular network features and iPhone functions. For example, a playing song fades out when the user receives a call. Once the call is ended the music fades back in.
The iPhone includes a Visual Voicemail feature in conjunction with AT&T which allows users to view a list of current voicemail messages on-screen, without having to call into their voicemail. Unlike most other systems, messages can be listened to in a non-chronological order, by choosing messages from an on-screen list. AT&T modified their voicemail infrastructure to accommodate this new feature designed by Apple.
SMS messages are presented chronologically in a mailbox format similar to Mail, which places all text from recipients together with replies. Text messages are displayed in speech bubbles (similar to iChat) under each recipient's name.
The iPhone allows conferencing, call holding, call merging, caller ID, and integration with other cellular network features and iPhone functions. For example, a playing song fades out when the user receives a call. Once the call is ended the music fades back in.
The iPhone includes a Visual Voicemail feature in conjunction with AT&T which allows users to view a list of current voicemail messages on-screen, without having to call into their voicemail. Unlike most other systems, messages can be listened to in a non-chronological order, by choosing messages from an on-screen list. AT&T modified their voicemail infrastructure to accommodate this new feature designed by Apple.
SMS messages are presented chronologically in a mailbox format similar to Mail, which places all text from recipients together with replies. Text messages are displayed in speech bubbles (similar to iChat) under each recipient's name.
Other inputs
The display responds to three sensors: a proximity sensor that shuts off the display and touchscreen when the iPhone is brought near the face to save battery power and to prevent spurious inputs from the user's face and ears, an ambient light sensor that adjusts the display brightness which in turn saves battery power, and a 3-axis accelerometer,which senses the orientation of the phone and changes the screen accordingly. Web browsing and music playing support three orientations, while videos play in only one widescreen orientation.
A single "home" hardware button below the display brings up the main menu. Subselections are made via the touchscreen. The iPhone utilizes a full-paged display, with context-specific submenus at the top and/or bottom of each page, sometimes depending on screen orientation. Detail pages display the equivalent of a "Back" button to go up one menu.
The iPhone has three physical switches on its sides: sleep / wake, volume up / down, ringer on / off. All other multimedia and phone operations are done via the touch screen.
The display responds to three sensors: a proximity sensor that shuts off the display and touchscreen when the iPhone is brought near the face to save battery power and to prevent spurious inputs from the user's face and ears, an ambient light sensor that adjusts the display brightness which in turn saves battery power, and a 3-axis accelerometer,which senses the orientation of the phone and changes the screen accordingly. Web browsing and music playing support three orientations, while videos play in only one widescreen orientation.
A single "home" hardware button below the display brings up the main menu. Subselections are made via the touchscreen. The iPhone utilizes a full-paged display, with context-specific submenus at the top and/or bottom of each page, sometimes depending on screen orientation. Detail pages display the equivalent of a "Back" button to go up one menu.
The iPhone has three physical switches on its sides: sleep / wake, volume up / down, ringer on / off. All other multimedia and phone operations are done via the touch screen.
Features
Touch screen
The 3.5 in liquid crystal display (320×480 px at 160 ppi) HVGA touch screen topped with optical-quality glass is specifically created for use with a finger, or multiple fingers for multi-touch sensing. Because the screen is a capacitive touch screen, no stylus is needed, nor can one be used. The requirement for bare skin to be used has caused concerns for users in areas with winter climates; gloves worn would then have to be removed to use the touchpad.
For text input, the device implements a virtual keyboard on the touchscreen. It has automatic spell checking, predictive word capabilities, and a dynamic dictionary that learns new words. The predictive word capabilities have been integrated with the dynamic virtual keyboard so that users will not have to be extremely accurate when typing — i.e. touching the edges of the desired letter or nearby letters on the keyboard will be predictively corrected when possible. The keys are somewhat larger and spaced further apart when in landscape mode (currently, only using Safari). Reviewers, writers and analysts have pointed out several areas in which the iPhone falls short. The virtual keyboard has been considered its chief weakness and a risk for Apple.David Pogue of The New York Times and Walt Mossberg of The Wall Street Journal both tested the iPhone for two weeks and found learning to use it initially difficult, although eventually usable. Pogue stated use was "frustrating" and "text entry is not the iPhone’s strong suit" but Mossberg considered the keyboard a "nonissue." Both found that the typo-correcting feature of the iPhone was the key to using the virtual keyboard successfully.
The iPhone varies from common desktop interfaces by using a direct manipulation model of scrolling. Where a typical desktop GUI achieves scrolling by using a scroll-arrow to push a view-window down and thus the content itself up (or the reverse, clicking up to move content down), the iPhone interface enables the user to move the content itself up or down by a touch-drag-lift motion of the finger, much as one would slide a playing card across a table. Additionally, the speed desired for scrolling is computed based on the speed and acceleration with which the drag motion is performed.
Scrolling through a long list works as if the list is pasted on the surface of a wheel: the wheel can be "spun" by sliding a finger over the display. After the finger is lifted from the display the wheel continues to "spin" for a short moment before coasting down. In this way, the iPhone seems to simulate the physics of a real object, which, it is thought, should give a natural feel to the whole process.
The user interface also features other visual effects, such as horizontally sliding sub-selections and co-selections from right and left, vertically sliding system menus from the bottom (e.g. favorites, keyboard), and menus and widgets that turn around to allow settings to be configured on their back sides.
The photo album and web page magnifications are examples of multi-touch sensing. It is possible to zoom in and out of objects such as web pages and photos by respectively "unpinching" and "pinching" them, that is, placing two fingers (usually thumb and forefinger) on the screen and moving them farther apart or closer together as if stretching or squeezing the image. This scaling is done uniformly and proportionally based on the image in question so there is no distortion of the image itself, as would be the case if the image were actually stretched or squeezed.
One disadvantage of multi-touch with regards to AJAX web sites is that there is no mechanism for 'hovering' over a UI element. That is, there is no separate paradigm for indicating interest or focus on a portion of a web control other than clicking on it.
The 3.5 in liquid crystal display (320×480 px at 160 ppi) HVGA touch screen topped with optical-quality glass is specifically created for use with a finger, or multiple fingers for multi-touch sensing. Because the screen is a capacitive touch screen, no stylus is needed, nor can one be used. The requirement for bare skin to be used has caused concerns for users in areas with winter climates; gloves worn would then have to be removed to use the touchpad.
For text input, the device implements a virtual keyboard on the touchscreen. It has automatic spell checking, predictive word capabilities, and a dynamic dictionary that learns new words. The predictive word capabilities have been integrated with the dynamic virtual keyboard so that users will not have to be extremely accurate when typing — i.e. touching the edges of the desired letter or nearby letters on the keyboard will be predictively corrected when possible. The keys are somewhat larger and spaced further apart when in landscape mode (currently, only using Safari). Reviewers, writers and analysts have pointed out several areas in which the iPhone falls short. The virtual keyboard has been considered its chief weakness and a risk for Apple.David Pogue of The New York Times and Walt Mossberg of The Wall Street Journal both tested the iPhone for two weeks and found learning to use it initially difficult, although eventually usable. Pogue stated use was "frustrating" and "text entry is not the iPhone’s strong suit" but Mossberg considered the keyboard a "nonissue." Both found that the typo-correcting feature of the iPhone was the key to using the virtual keyboard successfully.
The iPhone varies from common desktop interfaces by using a direct manipulation model of scrolling. Where a typical desktop GUI achieves scrolling by using a scroll-arrow to push a view-window down and thus the content itself up (or the reverse, clicking up to move content down), the iPhone interface enables the user to move the content itself up or down by a touch-drag-lift motion of the finger, much as one would slide a playing card across a table. Additionally, the speed desired for scrolling is computed based on the speed and acceleration with which the drag motion is performed.
Scrolling through a long list works as if the list is pasted on the surface of a wheel: the wheel can be "spun" by sliding a finger over the display. After the finger is lifted from the display the wheel continues to "spin" for a short moment before coasting down. In this way, the iPhone seems to simulate the physics of a real object, which, it is thought, should give a natural feel to the whole process.
The user interface also features other visual effects, such as horizontally sliding sub-selections and co-selections from right and left, vertically sliding system menus from the bottom (e.g. favorites, keyboard), and menus and widgets that turn around to allow settings to be configured on their back sides.
The photo album and web page magnifications are examples of multi-touch sensing. It is possible to zoom in and out of objects such as web pages and photos by respectively "unpinching" and "pinching" them, that is, placing two fingers (usually thumb and forefinger) on the screen and moving them farther apart or closer together as if stretching or squeezing the image. This scaling is done uniformly and proportionally based on the image in question so there is no distortion of the image itself, as would be the case if the image were actually stretched or squeezed.
One disadvantage of multi-touch with regards to AJAX web sites is that there is no mechanism for 'hovering' over a UI element. That is, there is no separate paradigm for indicating interest or focus on a portion of a web control other than clicking on it.
iPhone
The iPhone is a multimedia and Internet-enabled quad-band GSM EDGE-supported mobile phone designed and sold by Apple Inc. The iPhone's functions include those of a camera phone and a multimedia player. It also offers Internet services including e-mail, text messaging, web browsing, visual voicemail, and local Wi-Fi connectivity. User input is accomplished via a multi-touch screen with virtual keyboard and buttons. Apple has filed more than 200 patents related to the technology behind the iPhone.[1]
The iPhone has been available since June 29, 2007 in the United States from Apple Retail Stores, the Apple Online Store, and from AT&T Mobility, formerly Cingular Wireless, for a contracted price of US$499 for the 4 GB model and US$599 for the 8 GB model.
The iPhone has been available since June 29, 2007 in the United States from Apple Retail Stores, the Apple Online Store, and from AT&T Mobility, formerly Cingular Wireless, for a contracted price of US$499 for the 4 GB model and US$599 for the 8 GB model.
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