Introduction
The iPhone incorporates several design features that make it a must-have device for persons that want to enjoy or experience modern technologies availed by smartphones. A number of these features are either new technologies or great improvements on previous ones. In using the device, users will easily become familiar with the device’s positive attributes that include superfast processing abilities, a highly improved user inrface, multiple touch options, an improved gaming experience and immense media abilities similar to that of the iPod Touch. The device is a technological wonder that goes past a user’s expectations and greatly enhances user experience.
Design and Function
The iPhone is a completely new design, combining and improving on a number of technologies from previous smartphone models, and introducing newer ones to enhance user experience. To begin with, the latest exterior design of the device features a metallic back casing unlike the plastic casing in several smartphones currently available in the market. The casing protects the phone’s delicate components from damage through physical intrusions thus making it tough and durable. The screen is made of glass that Apple says is “chemically strengthened to be 20 times stiffer and 30 times harder than plastic, theoretically allowing it to be more scratch resistant and durable than the previous models” (Diaz, 2010). Smartphone screens have a tendency to have scratches on their surfaces due to frequent touch motions, however, the exceptional treatment of glass used on the iPhone screen ensures it remains scratch-free for a very long time. The device will also be able to withstand rough treatments such as falls.
Other physical advances on the iPhone include the stainless steel band around the phone that improves cellular network reception and also protects internal elements of the device, a front-facing camera and an LED flash adjacent to the rear camera to capture high quality pictures and videos even in poorly lit conditions, and a higher resolution display, marketed by Apple as a “Retina Display”. The term arises from the fact that iPhone display offers the highest resolution that the human retina can perceive. The display enables users to read even extremely small text on eBooks or web pages without straining their eyes, it also improves clarity during video calls. The iPhone is the first smartphone to feature this form of display. These are just few of the visible changes made on the iPhone that makes it as a device of choice for many.
Interior Enhancements
The interior improvements are just as significant as those on the exterior, perhaps more. Speed is a very important feature of any smartphone, and the iPhone does not fail at this. The device runs on an Apple-manufactured processor that significantly improves its speed while reducing power consumption, increasing the battery life. The A4 processor also helps in reducing heat dissipation. Therefore, the device can be used over a longer period of time while maintaining low temperatures. The rear camera is greatly improved over its predecessors, with an LED flash, backside illumination, and is 5 megapixels. The camera can record in HD, a feature that is exclusive to the iPhone. The rear-facing camera can zoom pictures five times and makes use of the tap to focus feature to improve clarity of video and photos as opposed to the maximum four-times zoom capability in most smartphones. The 5x zoom function ensures that users are able to capture clear images and videos from a distant.
The final significant improvement of the iPhone is the introduction of the gyroscopic sensor, which perceives motion along the X, Y and Z planes. The gyroscope, first introduced on the iPhone smartphone, works simultaneously with the accelerometer, which has been present in most smartphone models and detects the phone’s movement along all axes. These two features enable the device to detect the approximate speed of movement in all directions and greatly improve a user’s gaming experience. Besides, the phone is able register shake motions as a form of input.
An Advanced Operating System
The most important aspect of the iPhone that distinguishes it from other smartphones is the operating system it runs on. Known as the iOS, the iPhone’s operating is the most developed mobile operating system in the world. The operating system is able to run numerous applications without dragging, that is, all the applications and features to run smoothly. This efficient operating system has made the iPhone to command a significant share of the smartphone market thereby leading to the creation of more than 350,000 applications. This large amount of apps allows each user to download and install apps of their choice thereby realizing the full potential of the device. Although other smartphones have a similar platform, Apple’s App Store still dominates the application market and makes the iPhone the smartphone of choice.
Multiple Touch Options
The iPhone user interface provides multiple user interaction and incorporates the concepts of direct input and touch. Powered by Apple’s A4 chip, response to user input is swift and smooth, with multi-input options such as swipe, tap, pinch, and reverse pinch. This is a robust feature of the iPhone as it marks a bold shift from the traditional touchscreen devices that do not have this feature. Multi-touch finger motions are used in a number of processes and applications. For instance, if a user wants to move content up and down, he simply does this through a touch-drag finger motion, and to enlarge images and web pages, a user places the two fingers on the screen and pulls then farther apart, a technique known as reverse pinch, or does a pinch finger motion to view in the default size. Scrolling through a long list is achieved by sliding a finger on the screen from bottom to top.
Media Abilities
The iPhone combines technologies used in the iPod to make the iPhone a powerful media device. Through the iTunes application, an iPhone user can play almost all types of media files on a single application, purchase songs from the internet and save them directly on the phone, and organize these files by songs, artists, albums, videos, playlists, genres, composers, podcasts, audiobooks, and compilations, and so on. The iPhone allows users to watch television shows and films in widescreen. Therefore, a person should buy this smartphone so that he/she can enjoy the various media abilities offered through the iTunes application. The iPhone’s media features can help users avoid the purchase of a separate media player. Users do not have to worry of battery life since the iPhone integrates several elements to reduce power drain.
Other features of the device include wireless printing and support for video calls through the FaceTime feature. Using the front-facing camera described earlier, the FaceTime app can be used to make video calls which improves the communication experience richly.
Apple, Inc
Another fact that differentiates iPhone from other smartphones is the company itself: Apple Inc. The company has been in existence since 1976, designing products that employ cutting-edge technologies such as the Powerbook laptop, iPod, iPad, Apple TV, MacBook Pro, and the Mac Air laptop. The company has continued to be a leader in personal computers and a trendsetter in the mobile phone devices. It is one of the most successful companies in the world and continues to register huge growth. Besides, its stock prices have risen phenomenally in the last three decades: $2 in the early 1980s, $25 in the early 1990s, $200 in 2007, and currently at $337 in the stock exchange market. Perhaps this is not important in our discussion of the iPhone, but stock figures are indicative of the company’s gradual growth for the past 30 years, and points to its stability, and this extends to the products. No other smartphone company has had such a huge success story. Besides, Apple has always embraced innovation in all of its products and is never afraid to take risks in designing new products, this is evidenced by the iPod, iPad and even the iPhone. Therefore, in purchasing the iPhone, a person is sure of getting the best features available in smartphones, and of continuity in the product line as has been seen since Apple first launched the iPhone in 2007.
Efficient Customer Care and Constant Upgrades
Apple Inc. has continually provided upgrades to its product lines in response to technological advancements and user opinions. The company is also swift at handling complaints about device malfunctions. Consequently, when a user purchases the product, there is an assurance of the company’s support and assistance whenever they are faced with technical difficulties in using the iPhone. For instance, at the release of the iPhone 4, many users complained of a drop in signal strength when the gadget was held in a certain way, an anomaly that resulted from the integration of the antenna to the external metallic case. Apple responded by informing users to avoid touching the lower end of the phone while making calls. The company also issued a software update to help fix the problem, and later on, issued free cases to users who still encountered the problem (Helft, para. 4).
Conclusion
The iPhone is packed with the latest innovative technologies that are bound to improve a user’s experience immensely. Each newer version of the iPhone continues to be a trendsetter in the smartphone market by introducing new and improved features and technologies. Constant upgrades, new product development, and embrace of new technologies now and in the future will ensure that the iPhone possesses the latest technologies available in the smartphone industry. Therefore, we should adopt the iPhone.
Works Cited
Diaz, Jesus. iPhone 4: The Definitive Guide. 2010. Web.
Helft, Miguel. Apple Goes on the Offensive. The New York Times, 2010. Web.