Norton AntiVirus / Symantec
Wednesday, December 26, 2007
Photograph I Like
Here It is a couples of my favorite photograph. Fashion! See the female in hers own suite, attitude, and ..yeah tenderness or even calamity in good kind of thought way. I remember that my father is one of my favorite photographer in the world. In my granfa's family home we have 6 camera from any type and trademark. There is Polaroid instan camera, Olympus manual, Ricoh, Canon..etc. Well I was tried to learn much better about Photography..well so bad..I don't know. I really have no talent to do that. I am not sure. I really have a blasting such a lovely stuff in painting. Hehehe..but I glad to have one from any dicipline of art. I love Art very much!!
So here it is a couples of my favorite Photograph..and sure! these is greatful art works from extraordinary photographer. I like this. So you too,,right?..
So here it is a couples of my favorite Photograph..and sure! these is greatful art works from extraordinary photographer. I like this. So you too,,right?..
Porsche Cayenne Hybrid
Porsche, a company renown for its high-performance sports cars and sport utility vehicles (SUV), this week in Stuttgart demonstrated to the media a Cayenne SUV hybrid prototype, providing a glimpse of what the company will offer to consumers by the end of the decade.Porsche is targeting average fuel consumption figures of 9.8 liters/100 kilometers in the New European Driving Cycle and about 24 miles per gallon in the US FTP cycle for the Cayenne Hybrid, and future developments may allow Porsche engineers to push towards an average fuel consumption figure of 8.9 liters/kilometer (approximately 26 miles per gallon).
The Cayenne Hybrid will feature a full-hybrid design where the hybrid module (clutch and electric motor) is positioned between the combustion engine and the transmission rather than having the hybrid drivetrain branching output along various lines and in various directions via a planetary gearset. Porsche selected this design because the in-line configuration of the hybrid components are more compatible with the existing Cayenne platform, this system in testing is more fuel efficient, and because this configuration is a better fit for Porsche as it will provide improved acceleration and engine flexibility compared to a conventional Cayenne.
Coordinating the car's three main components - the combustion engine, the electric motor and the battery - is the Hybrid Manager, the heart of the Cayenne Hybrid. The Hybrid Manager, which oversees some 20,000 data parameters as compared to only 6,000 data parameters for a conventional engine, is one of the most powerful technologies found in any hybrid vehicle.
Other unique features of the Cayenne Hybrid designed to decrease fuel consumption include the power steering and vacuum pump for the brakes, as well as the air conditioning, which operate on electric power. Technical components, such as the oil pump in the Cayenne's automatic transmission, have been replaced by electrically powered units. The Cayenne Hybrid's electro-hydraulic steering - a first for a vehicle of its kind, will ensure the Cayenne Hybrid drives like a Porsche with predictable and safe handling characteristics and the agility that is expected of a Porsche SUV.
Porsche plans to introduce similar hybrid technology in a version of its Panamera four-door Gran Turismo. The Panamera will debut in 2009, with a hybrid to follow.
Picasso Stolen Painting
The Master, Picasso ?
Pablo Picasso's "Maya with Doll," one of two paintings stolenfrom the Paris home of the artist's granddaughter.
Paintings Worth $70m+ Stolen From Picasso's Granddaughter
At least two paintings by Pablo Picasso have been stolen in Paris. Thieves broke into the home of his granddaughter on Monday night and made off with priceless works of art.At least two paintings by Pablo Picasso have been stolen in Paris. French police announced Wednesday that the paintings were snatched from the home of the artist's granddaughter late on Monday night.
According to the authorities, thieves entered Diana Widmaier-Picasso's home in the smart seventh arrondissement of the French capital at some time between Monday night and Tuesday morning and made off with some very precious booty. Police say there was no obvious sign of a break-in.The director of the Picasso Museum in Paris, Anne Baldassari, said that several paintings and drawings were stolen. "It was a very large theft," she told Associated Press. However, the police have only confirmed the theft of two paintings: the small "Maya and the Doll" which depicts Picasso's daughter Maya -- Widmaier-Picasso's mother -- and a 170-by-150-centimeter portrait of Picasso's second wife Jacqueline.
The paintings are thought to be worth up to €50 million but the very fact that they are so well known would make it impossible to sell them on the international art market. Experts are now speculating that this could be a case of "theft to order." The case is being investigated by the police's organized crime division.
Paintings by Picasso, one of the most important artists of the twentieth century, normally fetch huge prices at auctions, and works by the Spanish artist appear three times on the list of the top ten most expensive paintings of all time. His most expensive painting to date has been "Boy With a Pipe," which was sold for $104 million in 2004.Picasso was an incredibly prolific artist. When he died at the age of 91 in 1973, he left behind 1,900 paintings, 3,200 ceramic works, 7,000 drawings, 1,200 sculptures and 30,000 sketches.
Wonderful Painting Studio
Boxes of books have been sorted and unpacked and packed away again [we brought so many books with us, we will have to build a long, sturdy shelf up high above the doorways; until then, half our books will remain in storage; there is, simply, no room for them]. Choosing which books to keep close was a difficult task. Like whittling down favorite food choices. Or erecting a top ten movie list. Or picking the friendliest hummingbird from the dozens that drone by the studio windows. Jim Harrison essays [and his poetry] are a no-brainer. Louise Erdrich has to be close. Lots of poetry. Jung. Buddhist treasures. And stacks of unread fiction. Art books - an easier task. As I move farther from the tyranny of the image, old picture books lie unopened. On my ottoman? Joan Mitchell. Diebenkorn. Frankenthaller. Viggo Mortensen. In boxes? Carravagio. Rembrandt. Sargeant. Cassatt.
We painted the studio kiva a color that glows like caramel. Or butterscotch. The hearth base is chocolate-plum. The walls we left a neutral Spanish white.
Steve installed my wall easel. I bought a thick wool rug at World Market that is, truthfully, too pretty to drip on. Hence the canvas dropcloth that waits beneath the palette table. Outside my purple-stained studio door is a small portal with a flagstone and pebble floor, protected by a thicket of juniper, where bamboo chimes hang high above the seated black Buddha that greets me every morning now. The improvisational stone garden around him changes daily. Palm sized cairns stacked and balanced by paint spattered fingers are toppled by wind and rain and tiny jackrabbits. The garden bears witness to impermanence with wit and innocence. Desert lizards sun themselves and scoot from view when startled, running up the stucco walls with impressive speed. And just beyond our dirt road, the coyotes howl and yelp every evening, near dusk, hunting with spirited joy along the edge of the mesa. [I ponder the fragility of the baby jackrabbits. Their adolescent ears.]
The other night I saw my first scorpion. Next to my studio door. It was smaller than I expected. I turned away when Steve killed it. My subscription to survival of the fittest weighs heavier than seeing a scorpion as a sentient being. Maybe Steve's boot was his karma. Maybe my gentle husband was an instrument of fate. I think about the baby jackrabbits. I cannot save them, though the impulse is there. And I admire the coyotes without hesitation. My Zen escapes me when it comes to poisonous arachnids. I recoiled from the scorpion, relieved when he was dead.
Today Steve returned from a hike to the top of the mesa bearing a gift. You'll never guess what I found up there, he says, smiling. A condom? I ask. He pulls an antique horseshoe from his pocket, softened by steps and stones and time. The color of dried blood. Let's hang it above the door, I tell him. Maybe it will discourage the scorpions.
Ferrari Dealer
Have you ever dreamed of working in the Ferrari Factory? Or would you be interested to see what it's like inside? The factory is located just outside the small town of Maranello, Italy. If you talk to your local dealer, they can arrange a tour for you! Here are some photos of brand new Ferrari's on the production line.
Glam o Rama
Do you ever see Scarlett Johansson? looks gorgeous in the Louis Vuitton Fall/Winter 2007-08 ad campaign! Beautiful colors and fabulous dresses (and let's not forget the bags)...and I think this summer she will be looks very sexy with Blondie hair. See..she laying down on the dark blue sofa with red blazer on her suit. Cool aright? I especially like the photo where she's wearing a blue dress. Which one's your favorite?
I think this album will be glorious. And the photorapher should be proud as his art works.
Apple and Google : Telecom's New Stars
It was Apple and Google--not the traditional phone companies AT&T and Verizon Communications--that took center stage in the telephony market in 2007.
In January, Apple announced the iPhone and named AT&T its exclusive carrier in the U.S. For almost six months, anticipation and hype surrounding the iPhone grew into a frenzy until the June 30 launch.
With an innovative touch screen that allows people to shrink and magnify Web pages with the pinch of their fingers, the iPhone has set the bar for future mobile devices in terms of usability, functionality, and design.
But the iPhone wasn't without problems. Some users initially had trouble signing up for service. And then there was the $200 price cut a few months after the product debuted that left many early adopters seething. By far the biggest complaint has been about the 2.5G data network the iPhone uses. Many iPhone users say it is painfully slow when it comes to accessing e-mail or surfing the Web.
In addition to Apple, Google also made headlines in the mobile market. Early in the year, Google joined the debate over rules for the Federal Communication Commission's upcoming 700MHz spectrum auction. The auction, which is set to begin January 24, reallocates wireless spectrum licenses that have been used to deliver analog TV. This spectrum is viewed as the industry's best hope to usher in a new era of wireless broadband service.
Google was instrumental in getting the FCC to adopt auction rules that would ultimately give consumers more choice in the devices they use on these new networks. And in November, Google CEO Eric Schmidt committed the company to bidding in the auction, promising to spend at least $4.6 billion on licenses.
Exactly what Google plans to do with the spectrum if it wins licenses is still unknown. But its participation raises the stakes, especially for traditional telephony players.
Getting into the spectrum auction wasn't the only wireless initiative Google was cooking up in 2007. Soon after the iPhone launch, rumors of a Google phone surfaced. And in October, Google revealed not a phone, but a new mobile operating system that could be used by handset makers and mobile-phone operators.
Google was instrumental in getting the FCC to adopt auction rules that would ultimately give consumers more choice in the devices they use on these new networks. And in November, Google CEO Eric Schmidt committed the company to bidding in the auction, promising to spend at least $4.6 billion on licenses.
Exactly what Google plans to do with the spectrum if it wins licenses is still unknown. But its participation raises the stakes, especially for traditional telephony players.
Getting into the spectrum auction wasn't the only wireless initiative Google was cooking up in 2007. Soon after the iPhone launch, rumors of a Google phone surfaced. And in October, Google revealed not a phone, but a new mobile operating system that could be used by handset makers and mobile-phone operators.
This new software, coupled with its own wireless network, would not only give Google the ability to put its brand on millions of mobile devices, it would allow the company to control the Internet experience on these devices. In a nutshell, Google could determine the next-generation wireless network.
This is a huge change not only for Google, but the entire wireless industry. From the beginning, carriers have controlled every aspect of the wireless experience. In the U.S. market, carriers determine which phones can be used on their networks and even which features will be enabled. And they decide which software or applications can be accessed. Depending on what happens with the spectrum auction and how Google's software initiative fares, the company could become a major player in telecommunications in the next several years.
To be fair, moves by Apple and Google in 2007 haven't revolutionized the wireless phone market just yet. AT&T and Verizon Wireless are still the dominant carriers. And Nokia is still the No. 1 mobile-phone maker. But change is on the horizon, and small steps are already being taken. Only a few weeks ago, Verizon said it would open up restrictions on devices that could access its network.
In the final analysis, 2007 was just the beginning, which only heightens anticipation for what's to come in 2008 and beyond.
Apple iPhone - 8GB (AT&T)
From the moment Apple announced its iPhone at Macworld 2007, the tech world hasn't stopped asking questions. Because Apple has kept many iPhone details under wraps until very recently, we've been forced to speculate. Until now. Is the iPhone pretty? Absolutely. Is it easy to use? Certainly. Does it live up to the stratospheric hype? Not so much. Don't get us wrong, the iPhone is a lovely device with a sleek interface, top-notch music and video features, and innovative design touches. The touch screen is easier to use than we expected, and the multimedia performs well. But a host of missing features, a dependency on a sluggish EDGE network, and variable call quality--it is a phone after all--left us wanting more. For those reasons, the iPhone is noteworthy not for what it does, but how it does it. If you want an iPhone badly, you probably already have one. But if you're on the fence, we suggest waiting for the second-generation handset. Even with the new $399 price for the 8GB model (down from an original price of $599), it's still a lot to ask for a phone that lacks so many features and locks you into an iPhone-specific two-year contract with AT&T. We'll be more excited once we see a version with--at the very least--multimedia messaging and 3G.
Design
On with the review: the iPhone boasts a brilliant display, trim profile, and clean lines (no external antenna of course), and its lack of buttons puts it in a design class that even the LG Prada and the HTC Touch can't match. You'll win envious looks on the street toting the iPhone, and we're sure that would be true even if the phone hadn't received as much media attention as it has. We knew that it measures 4.5 inches tall by 2.4 inches wide by 0.46 inch deep, but it still felt smaller than we expected when we finally held it. In comparison, it's about as tall and as wide as a Palm Treo 755p, but it manages to be thinner than even the trend-setting Motorola Razr. It fits comfortably in the hand and when held to the ear, and its 4.8 ounces give it a solid, if perhaps weighty, feel. We also like that the display is glass rather than plastic.
Display
The iPhone's display is the handset's design showpiece and is noteworthy for not only what it shows, but also how you use it. We'll start off with its design. At a generous 3.5 inches, the display takes full advantage of the phone's size, while its 480x320 pixel resolution (160 dots per inch) translates into brilliant colors, sharp graphics, and fluid movements.
Menus
In true Apple style, the iPhone's menu interface is attractive, intuitive, and easy to use. In the main menu, a series of colored icons call out the main functions. Icons for the phone menu, the mail folder, the Safari Web browser, and the iPod player sit at the bottom of the screen, while other features such as the camera, the calendar, and the settings are displayed above. It's easy to find all features, and we like that essential features aren't buried under random menus. Fluid animation takes you between different functions, and you can zip around rather quickly.
Much has been made of the iPhone's touch screen, and rightfully so. Though the Apple handset is not the first cell phone to rely solely on a touch screen, it is the first phone to get so much attention and come with so many expectations. Depending on what you're doing, the touch screen serves as your dialpad, your keyboard, your Safari browser, and your music and video player. Like many others, we were skeptical of how effectively the touch screen would handle all those functions.
Touch screen
Fortunately, we can report that on the whole, the touch screen and software interface are easier to use than expected. What's more, we didn't miss a stylus in the least. Despite a lack of tactile feedback on the keypad, we had no trouble tapping our fingers to activate functions and interact with the main menu. As with any touch screen, the display attracts its share of smudges, but they never distracted us from what we were viewing. The onscreen dialpad took little acclimation, and even the onscreen keyboard fared rather well. Tapping out messages was relatively quick, and we could tap the correct letter, even with big fingers. The integrated correction software helped minimize errors by suggesting words ahead of time. It was accurate for the most part.
The Apple iPhone features a virtual QWERTY keyboard.
Still, the interface and keyboard have a long way to go to achieve greatness. For starters, when typing an e-mail or text message the keyboard is displayed only when you hold the iPhone vertically. As a result, we could only type comfortably with one finger, which cut down on our typing speed. Using two hands is possible, but we found it pretty crowded to type with both thumbs while holding the iPhone at the same time. What's more, basic punctuation such as periods or commas lives in a secondary keyboard--annoying. If you're a frequent texter or an e-mail maven, we suggest a test-drive first.
We also found it somewhat tedious to scroll through long lists, such as the phone book or music playlists. Flicking your finger in an up or down motion will move you partway through a list, but you can't move directly to the bottom or top by swiping and holding your finger. On the other hand, the letters of the alphabet are displayed on the right side of the screen. By pressing a letter you can go directly to any songs or contacts beginning with that letter. But the lack of buttons requires a lot of tapping to move about the interface. For example, the Talk and End buttons are only displayed when the phone is in call mode. And since there are no dedicated Talk and End buttons, you must use a few taps to find these features. That also means you cannot just start dialing a number; you must open the dialpad first, which adds clicks to the process. The same goes for the music player: since there are no external buttons, you must call up the player interface to control your tunes. For some people, the switching back and forth may be a nonissue. But for mutlitaskers, it can grow wearisome.
Criticisms aside, the iPhone display is remarkable for its multitouch technology, which allows you to move your finger in a variety of ways to manipulate what's on the screen. When in a message, you can magnify the text by pressing and holding over a selected area. And as long as you don't lift your finger, you can move your "magnifying glass" around the text. You can zoom in by pinching your fingers apart; to zoom out you just do the opposite. In the Web browser, you can move around the Web page by sliding your finger, or you can zoom in by a double tap. And when looking at your message list, you can delete items by swiping your finger from left to right across the message. At that point, a Delete button will appear.
Thanks to the handset's accelerometer (a fancy word for motion sensor), the iPhone's display orientation will adjust automatically when you flip the iPhone on its side while using the music and video players and the Internet browser. Also, a proximity sensor turns off the display automatically when you lift the iPhone to your ear for a conversation. All three are very cool.
Exterior features
The iPhone's only hardware menu button is set directly below the display. It takes you instantly back to the home screen no matter what application you're using. The single button is nice to have, since it saves you a series of menu taps if you're buried in a secondary menu. On the top of the iPhone is a multifunction button for controlling calls and the phone's power. If a call comes in at an inopportune time, just press the button once to silence the ringer, or press it twice to send the call to voice mail. Otherwise, you can use this top control to put the phone asleep and wake it up again. You can turn the iPhone off by pressing and holding the button.
The Apple iPhone speakers are located at the bottom of the phone.
Located on the left spine are a volume rocker and a nifty ringer mute switch, something all cell phones should have and which is a popular feature of Palm Treos. On the bottom end, you'll find a pair of speakers and the jack for the syncing dock and the charger cord. Unfortunately, the headset jack on the top end is deeply recessed, which means you will need an adapter for any headphones with a chubby plug. Is this customer-friendly? No.
Unfortunately, the Phone does not have a battery that a user can replace. That means you have to send the iPhone to Apple to replace the battery after it's spent (Apple is estimating one battery will keep its full strength for 400 charges--probably about three years' worth of use). The cost of the replacement is $79 plus $6.95 shipping. No, you don't really need a removable battery in a cell phone, but like many things missing on the iPhone, it would be nice to have, especially for such an expensive phone. And just what are you supposed to without a cell phone during the replacement period? Contrary to earlier reports, the SIM card is removable via a small drawer on the top of the iPhone, but other AT&T SIM cards will not work in the iPhone. That's especially troubling, as it completely defeats the biggest advantage of using a GSM phone with a SIM card. Some people have multiple phones and like to change the SIM card between their different handsets. Also, you can't use the SIM card to import contact information from another handset.
Features
The iPhone's phone book is limited only by the phone's available memory. Each contact holds eight phone numbers; e-mail, Web site, and street addresses; a job title and department; a nickname; a birthday; and notes. You can't save callers to groups, but you can store your preferred friends to a favorites menu for easy access. You can assign contacts a photo for caller ID and assign them one of 25 polyphonic ringtones. We should note, however, that there's no voice dialing and you can't use MP3 files as ringtones. Other basic features include an alarm clock, a calculator, a world clock, a stopwatch, a timer and a notepad. There's a vibrate mode but it's a tad light.
The calendar offers day and month views, and you can use the calendar as an event reminder or a to-do list as well. The interface is clean and simple, though inputting new appointments involves a lot of tapping. There's no Week view, however. We were able to sync our Outlook contacts and calendar and our Yahoo! e-mail address book with no problems.
Bluetooth and Wireless
The iPhone offers a full range of wireless functionality with support for Wi-Fi and Bluetooth connectivity. The Wi-Fi compatibility is especially welcome, and a feature that's absent on far too many smart phones. When you're browsing the Web, the iPhone automatically searches for the nearest Internet hot spot. Bluetooth 2.0 is also on board, which delivers faster transmission and a longer range than Bluetooth 1.2. You can use Bluetooth for voice calls, but you don't get an A2dP stereo Bluetooth profile--another item that's not necessary but would be nice to have.
Though Apple CEO Steve Jobs has explained the iPhone's lack of 3G support by saying the chipsets take up too much room and drain too much battery, we'd like the option anyway. Yes, the Wi-Fi network is great when you can get it, but AT&T's EDGE network just doesn't cut it for all other surfing. EDGE Web browsing is so slow, it almost ruins the pretty Web interface. More on this in the Performance section.
Messaging and e-mail
For your messaging needs, the iPhone offers text messaging and e-mail. As on many smart phones, a text message thread is displayed as one long conversation--a useful arrangement that allows you to pick which messages you'd like to answer. If you use another function while messaging, you can return to pick up that message where you left off. We just don't understand, however, why Apple doesn't include multimedia messaging. Sure, you can use e-mail to send photos, but without multimedia messaging you can't send photos to other cell phones--pretty much the entire point of a camera phone.
The iPhone's e-mail menu includes integrated support for Yahoo, Gmail, AOL, and Mac accounts. You can set up the phone to receive messages from other IMAP4 and POP3 systems, but you'll need to sweet-talk your IT department into syncing with your corporate exchange server. It's rumored that Apple will update the iPhone to support ActiveSync but Apple hasn't confirmed that as of this writing. You can read--but not edit--PDF, JPEG, Word, and Excel documents. Worse: you can't cut and paste text when composing messages.
iPhone's iPod
Sandwiched between all the iPhone's features lives Apple's most amazing iPod yet. The display, interface, video quality, audio quality--all of it is meticulously refined and beautiful. Unfortunately, it's trapped within a device that will cost you more than $1,000 a year just to own. CNET recently reviewed a Rolls-Royce that had a top-notch umbrella hidden inside its passenger door. Buying the iPhone for its iPod feature is a lot like buying that Rolls-Royce for its umbrella. Regardless, the iPhone is an exciting glimpse into what Apple hopefully has planned for its sixth-generation iPod. Apple has redeemed itself following the Motorola Rokr E1 debacle.
The Apple iPhone's music player lets you view album art.
On paper, the iPhone's iPod doesn't offer any features not already on a fifth-generation iPod: podcasts, videos, music, and playlists are all here, and content management with iTunes is identical. The difference rests entirely in the iPhone's interface. We've used other MP3 players that use touch interfaces, such as the Archos 704, iRiver Clix and Cowon D2, but the iPhone's unique integration of multitouch technology and a graphic user interface put it in a category all its own.
From an iPod perspective, Apple's biggest triumph with the iPhone is the fact that it has returned album artwork back into the music experience in a way that goes beyond a token thumbnail graphic. Physically flipping through your music collection in the iPhone's Cover Flow mode really brings back the visceral feel of digging through a CD or record bin. It's a tough feeling to quantify, but the real music lovers out there will appreciate how well the iPhone reconnects their digital music to a form that is both visually and physically more vivid. Even iTunes users who may already be jaded about using the Cover Flow mode on their personal computer will be surprised at how the experience is changed by using the iPhone's intuitive touch screen.
Truth be told, there is one feature that is new to the iPhone's iPod--the integrated speaker. While the iPhone's speaker sounds thin and is prone to distortion, it works in a pinch for sharing a song with a friend. Apple was also smart enough to manage its speaker volume independent of the headphone volume, so if you're listening to the speaker full-blast and then decide to plug in your headphones, you won't be deafened.
The bad news is that the iPhone's iPod leaves out the ability to manually manage the transfer of music and video content. Unlike any previous iPod, the iPhone does not allow an option for manually dragging and dropping content from an iTunes library directly to the iPhone device icon. Instead, the iPhone strictly uses defined library syncing options for collecting and syncing content from your iTunes library to the device. This should work out fine for most people, but for a device with limited memory the inability to manually manage content seems like a misstep. Our 8GB iPhone was already a quarter full after only a few hours of testing, giving us the impression that users will need to be vigilant at grooming their iPhone library. An external memory card slot is another one of those "nice to have" features.
The iPhone's music sound quality seems right in line with our experience using the 5G iPod. All the same EQ presets are available, only now they are found on the iPhone's main Settings tab. The included iPhone earbuds did a passable job for casual listening in a quiet environment. Unfortunately, the iPhone's recessed headphone jack prevented us from using many of the test headphones we're familiar with. We were just barely able to squeeze the plug of our Etymotic ER6i earphones into the jack to do the comparison.
Watching video on the iPhone is not quite as luxurious as a Creative Zen Vision: W or Archos 504, but its wide screen and bright contrast beat the fifth-generation iPod by a mile. As with previous iPods, video playback is automatically bookmarked so that playback resumes where you left off. And because the iPhone is a phone, it includes an airplane mode that will keep the music player activated while turning off the call transmitter.
The Apple iPhone's video player really takes advantage of its wide screen.
Safari browser
The Safari browser really sets the iPhone apart from the cell phone crowd. Rather than trudging through stripped-down WAP pages with limited text and graphics, the browser displays Web pages in their true form. It's a completely and surprisingly satisfying experience to see real Web pages on a screen of this size. Our only regret is that the browser does not support Flash or Java. To pan around a page, just swipe your finger across the display, and the page moves accordingly. Tap your finger on a link to open a new page and double-tap your finger to zoom in and zoom back out. You can use the arrows on the bottom of the display to move back and forth, while a multifunction button at the bottom of the display lets you open new pages and flick among them.
The Apple iPhone comes with the Safari Web browser.
Google search is the iPhone's default search tool, but you can use Yahoo search as well. When searching for information or typing URLs, you use the onscreen keyboard. It's just like typing an e-mail except that the spacebar is replaced with Web-appropriate language like ".com" and a slash. That's a nice touch.
Thanks to the accelerometer, you can tip the phone on its side for a more comfortable landscape view. It doesn't matter which direction you rotate the phone, as it will work either way. It's also nice that the onscreen keyboard appears in landscape mode when using the browser. Most Web pages looked great on the screen, but visually busy pages like CNN.com can be too crowded. And because you can zoom in only a set amount, some text can still be too small to read clearly. You can store bookmarks and sync your favorite pages from your PC, but it works only for Internet Explorer and not Firefox.
YouTube
You can activate the iPhone's integrated YouTube player straight from the main menu via a colored icon. Videos are organized using many of the same criteria as on the YouTube site, including Featured Clips, Most Viewed, Top Rated, and Most Recent. You can read the information attached to a video, such as the date posted and the poster's name, but you can't read comments. It doesn't appear, however, that the YouTube connection updates in real time. We uploaded a video of our own, and it didn't show up until a few hours later.
The Apple iPhone has a built-in Google Maps application.
Widgets
The iPhone doesn't have integrated GPS, but it does have a widget for accessing Google Maps. You can get turn-by-turn directions between two points, with traffic information. We tried mapping routes from CNET's offices to various places. The directions were accurate. But with no GPS, the iPhone can't tell you where you are, so you'll have to figure out that yourself. Also, the lack of audio instructions will limit its usability while driving. The map interacts well with the calling functions; you can find a point of interest and ring it in just a few taps. We also like that you can get the Google satellite view.
Additional widgets point to stock information and weather reports. You can program your own tickers and get information like a share gain or loss and see the chart of a share price over time. The weather function gives you a six-day forecast for your choice of cities. For more options, there is already a selection of third-party iPhone apps. No games are included on the handset.
Visual voice mail
One of the most intriguing features on the iPhone is the much-touted visual voice mail. iPhone's voice mail works much like a text-message folder in that it displays the caller's name or phone number and the time. What's even more fantastic, however, is that you can listen to the message instantly by pressing the individual message--you don't have to call your voice mail first.
The Apple iPhone has a 2-megapixel camera on the back.
Camera
The iPhone's 2-megapixel camera offers a spiffy interface with a graphic that resembles a camera shutter. You're offered no camera editing options, which we didn't expect. That means you can't change the resolution, choose a color or quality setting, or select a night mode. There's no flash either, and with no self-portrait mirror, those vanity shots are going to be tricky. The camera performed well in our tests, however. Photo quality was excellent with rich, bright colors and distinct object outlines. White looked a bit too soft, but we approve overall. On the downside, you can't shoot your own video, which is disappointing on a phone at this price.
As we said earlier, the photo menu is attractive and easy to use, particularly due to the pinching motion. You can also flip between photos by swiping your finger across the display. When selecting a photo, you're given the option of assigning it to a contact, using it as wallpaper, or e-mailing it to a friend.
Call quality
We tested the quadband (GSM 850/900/1800/1900) Apple iPhone in San Francisco using AT&T service. Call quality was good for the most part, but it wasn't dependable. Though voices sounded natural, the volume was often too low, and the microphone has a sensitive sweet spot. When we moved the phone away from our ears ever so slightly, the volume diminished noticeably and we had to move the phone back to just the right place to hear clearly. The volume wasn't so bad that we weren't able to hear a friend who was in a crowded bar, but it just could be better. The speakerphone was also too quiet though conversations weren't too muffled.
CNET users have also reported volume problems, and a few people we called said they heard a slight background hiss. We didn't hear the hiss on our end, but more than one of our friends said they noticed it. Automated calling systems were able to understand us, but only if we were in a quiet room. On the whole, the call quality stayed the same in most environments.
Browser speed
Our first test with the Safari browser was over CNET's internal Wi-Fi network. Web pages loaded in 5 to 10 seconds, though sites with heavy graphics took longer. It was a smooth experience overall, though it not quite as zippy as we had hoped. We thought that could be due to CNET's network, but it seemed to be more or less the standard. Pages took about the same time to load on a home network and just a couple seconds longer in a cafe. When not using Wi-Fi, you're stuck with AT&T's EDGE network, which is just too slow to render the lovely Safari interface enjoyably. With speeds in the 50-to-90Kbps range, it reminded us of a dial-up browser. In other words, it's pretty intolerable. CNET Labs tested the speed of the EDGE network against the Wi-Fi connection by comparing repeated results of the download time for a 9.4MB file. After two days of testing, EDGE resulted in an average download time of 15 minutes, 41 seconds for the file; Wi-Fi on average required a mere 1 minute, 11 seconds. In the end, our test results indicate that the iPhone's Wi-Fi connection is 13 times faster than using EDGE, although results will vary depending on location. We can only hope Apple adds 3G soon, especially since AT&T has a robust UMTS/HSDPA network.
Activation
Activation was easy using iTunes 7.3. Our computer recognized the iPhone right away, and the activation system started automatically. After a few prompts, it asked us if we wanted to automatically sync contacts from Yahoo and Windows mail and contacts from Outlook. It also asked us to if we wanted to sync Internet bookmarks but, as we said earlier, it won't import Firefox bookmarks. The integration with AT&T's account service is also seamless. We were able to select a plan and indicate whether we were a current AT&T customer. It even asked us if we wanted to port a current cell phone number. In all, it's much better experience than dealing with AT&T.
It's important to note that the iPhone is little more than an expensive paperweight until it's activated. You can make emergency calls, but you can't use any other functions, including the iPod music player. What's worse, if you cancel your AT&T contract, the iPhone becomes a paperweight again.
Battery life
The Apple iPhone has a rated battery life of 8 hours talk time, 24 hours of music playback, 7 hours of video playback, and 6 hours on Internet use. The promised standby time is 10.4 days. When we tested the iPhone with the Wi-Fi function turned off, we got about 7 hours, 45 minutes of talk time. When we tested it with the Wi-Fi activated, we came away with 4 hours less. Video time, however, clocked in at an impressive 7.3 hours. Music-only time was also satisfactory. We got 28.4 hours of music playback time on a single charge. Just keep in mind that it's rare you'll be using just one feature for hours on end. As such, your battery life will vary widely as you switch between functions. Large color screens such as the one on the iPhone tend to be battery drainers, so you'll most likely need to charge your handset every couple of days. According to the FCC, the iPhone has a digital SAR rating of 0.974 watts per kilogram.
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