AAS's Steve Litchfield has long been very sceptical about touchscreen-based phones, but the iPhone's new technology touchscreen and User Interface have wholeheartedly converted him to the concept. However, he's not impressed by the iPhone's lack of features and immature Operating System, and thinks this is where Symbian has the upper hand. Click on the link to read Steve's vision of a future where smartphones combine the best of both worlds, with iPhone-style interfaces and Symbian-style cutting edge features.

"Now, now, don't over-react. Let's get a few statements of opinion out in the open:

• The iPhone is the single most lovely piece of high technology that I've ever handled 
• Apple will not take over the world, though the iPhone will sell the 10 million-in-a-year that they forecast
• The iPhone is five years ahead of other smartphones in terms of concept and vision, but...
• The iPhone is several years behind other smartphones in terms of technology and functionality

Steve Jobs was absolutely right in one regard, when he made his charismatic iPhone launch speech, talking about existing smartphones as having 'too much plastic'. Though as I found out in my own reviews (e.g. Smartphones Show 38), the current 'plastic' (though often aluminium as well, to be picky) devices currently run rings round the iPhone in terms of what they can do, and point the way to the sheer amount of work Apple is going to have to put into adding functions, integrating Bluetooth and 3G, working their way through the minefield of third party applications, security, and so on, in order to catch up to where Symbian OS 9 is today."

Read on...