I’ll start right in… this phone is freaking great. Yeah, there’s little nits that I’ll point out later, but I am firmly an iPhone fanboy. I’ve been eyeing the numerous iPhones in the office for a year. After 12 months of waiting and getting frustrated with my AT&T 8525, this mobile is really doing it for me.

I don’t know how I was so lucky, but I managed to only wait in line for about 20 minutes to buy the phone. Lines were long or stores were sold out in San Ramon over opening weekend. On Monday morning I showed up at the AT&T store near my SF train station at 8:45, just before the 9:00 opening. I was 15th in line and ended up walking to work with iPhone in hand by 9:30. There were no activation problems and I was surprised to even be able to keep my cheaper plan. Days later the lines were still 3 hours long and Apple stores started selling out if product. I feel really lucky that I was able to get in and out.

The experience of setting up the device was simple, painless and fun. With zero configuration, iTunes synced my contacts, calendars, media an email settings. Having typed in mail server settings in tiny keyboards many times, the auto config of email was much appreciated.

I am really surprised and thrilled to find great call quality. I have really poor cell service at home but still find calls to be as good or better than a land line with the iPhone. I also find that the speakerphone is terrific which allows me to hold a conversation while also browsing, searching or using an app. This came in handy when Tracy and I were deciding on dinner… I opened the menu page for a local Thai place and read her the options over the speaker.

The phone’s interface is as spectacular as all reviews reveal. The touchscreen is responsive. It’s usable via one hand. The keyboard is easy to learn and is learning from me as well. In fact, the keyboard is so easy to use that I have written this entire post on the iPhone while watching TV and riding the train. I’m using the new WordPress app.

iPhone Applications

Third party apps really make the phone great. Yeah, the base apps like mail and calandar are better than their counterparts on WinMo and S60 and that makes the base experience really good. The platform setup to use niche apps is the long wow that will keep users engaged with their phones for years. Acquiring apps via iTunes and the phone’s app store is fun, as you can see from the screenshot of a receipt below (why does Apple send this list of free updates each sync?). I have way too many apps right now as I am in play and try mode.

The apps I can’t live without:
Twitterific (twinkle is ugly and crashy)
NetNewsWire (feed reader)

The apps I really like
Pandora (music player)
Things (waiting for desktop sync)
Shazam (amazing music identifier)
Exposure (Flickr)
Jirbo’s casual games
Wells Fargo (web app)
Harvest (web app)

Problems

On a daily basis I encounter at least one problem with the device. The GPS seems to be the buggiest where rebooting is occasionally needed to find my location. The OS has crashed twice and apps crash regularly. I haven’t seen ant data loss yet, but am sure that it’s going to happen. Apple really needs to improve speed and stability of the platform.

Battery life isn’t great, but I wasn’t expecting more than 8 hours of moderate use. Also, syncing with iTunes takes forever since the phone gets backed up before starting the sync of music and data. That’s a bummer when I want a quick sync before racing to catch the train home.

In conclusion: I heart iPhone!