Digital Trends

Imagine the future with us: It's a crisp mid-January morning in San Francisco. The year: 2008. Evening clouds and haze are beginning to burn off, promising a typically comfortable day by the bay. Inside the Moscone Center, Steve Jobs, dressed in his usual black turtleneck and blue jeans, strolls on stage for his annual MacWorld pronouncement.

The Apple iPhone has by now been wowing buyers for six months, Jobs reports. But wowing buyers isn't enough: He's determined to blow their socks off. Jobs then unveils the second generation iPhone, rumored to be released in October. It looks the same as the current iPhone, but now includes support for features missing in the original launch: Access to AT&T's 3G HSDPA network; lets you buy from iTunes wirelessly; allows you to create Microsoft Office documents; includes iChat for video telephony between HSDPA and WiFi iPhones and Macs; and features expanded built-in memory, an external high-capacity memory card slot and a consumer swappable battery. 

Ironically though, nearly a million iPhone owners who just dropped a week's pay on a unit that lacks these capabilities still aren't complaining. Why? Because the truth is that they don't need an upgrade just yet - they already own one of the most groundbreaking, fun to use (and practically psychic) gadgets in the history of technology. Does this first generation iPhone ($499 USD for the 4GB version, $599 USD for the far more popular 8GB model), available exclusively from AT&T, have flaws? Absolutely: Otherwise, there'd be no reason for a next -generation model or for the periodic software and firmware upgrades that are sure to come. But really - who gives a flying flop? These flaws are smothered by a dual onslaught of clever innovation in terms of the device's snazzy user interface and brilliantly-realized integration of physical design, OS and software - both behind and in front of its gleaming glass surface.

*Edit 7/5/07 - The review was corrected to explain that squeezing the microphone will answer an incoming call as well as end that call when squeezed again.