Potential Benefits

The iPhone has a vast amount of benefits for its users that has improved with each generation. It is an all in one product broken down into three components: a cellular phone, multimedia, and the internet (Pandya, 2008). The iPhone serves as a phone just like its name suggests. The latest version, iPhone 4, allows for videoconferencing and audio conferencing thanks to its revolutionary camera placed in the front of the phone. In thanks to the camera in the front video calling with friends and family is also possible. Apple calls this “FaceTime” where with a Wi-Fi connection someone can use the web cam to see and chat with another via the iPhones display (Apple, 2011).  Other features include call holding, call merging, caller ID, and voice control. Users can also customize ringtones from songs purchased on their iTunes for a small additional fee (iPhone).

The iPhone serves as a multimedia device unlike any other. It has a music library that resembles an iPod. The library is sorted alphabetically (except playlists which are sorted how they appear in iTunes) by songs, artists, albums, playlists, genres, composers, podcasts, audiobooks, and compilations. When the iPhone gets turned on its side a feature called cover flow appears and the album covers pop up in a horizontal landscape that can be scrolled through with the users touch. With the shake of the phone the songs will shuffle themselves and when a call comes in the music fades out so the user can take the call. When the call ends the music fades back to playing again (iPhone).

Like the iPod the iPhone plays movies, music videos, and television shows on a stunning 3.5-inch screen retina display in 960-by-640 resolution that will blow your mind for a hand held device. HD recording and editing is also possible along with a 5-megapixel camera with LED flash to capture crisp detailed photos (Apple, 2011). The phone has two microphones, one at the top edge and the other being at the bottom. The top microphone is used when recording videos and the lower is for speaking on the phone.  The nice feature is that during conversation the top microphone gathers ambient sound for noise-cancellation (Snell, 2010).

Then there is the app and iTunes store which gives users access to literally thousands of applications. More specifically there are 350,000 apps and counting and a large portion are free (Apple, 2011). Apps can be found in categories such as: books, business, education, games, medical, navigation, social networking, sports, travel, and more. Apps can be used to play games, find restaurants, connect with friends, and learn. The phone can even be used in work with the “level” app as a carpenter’s level (Goggin, 2009).  The opportunities are endless. ITunes lets users download their favorite songs, movies, and television shows all from their iPhone and watch them in stunning clarity (Apple, 2011).

Thanks to the iOS 4 operating system the iPhone 4 is incredibly easy to navigate with the touch of a swipe, drag, pinch, flick, tap, or twist. The iOS 4 is based off Mac’s most advanced computer operating system, Mac OS X. Performance is faster than ever and allows for multitasking. Owners can use third-party apps and switch between them without having to wait for them to load again. The apps will remember exactly where the user left off whatever they were doing (Apple, 2011). Users can also have a conversation on the phone while simultaneously be surfing the web or checking email. The iPhone 4 has GPS apps that allow you to continue doing other activities on the phone while still giving directions in the background. As if all the features of the iPhone 4 were not enough the phone works all over the world. Users can easily switch between languages and the keyboard is software based so owners can select from 50 different layouts with language specific characters (Apple, 2011). The iPhone is also accessible by just about everyone. It has built-in voiceover screen-reading technology that allows those who are blind or low vision to hear a description of what they are touching on the screen (Apple, 2011).
For a review of the latest iPhone check out the following link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fsb89LOS4fI