Browsing The Web With Your iPhone
 The iPhone was released in June of 2007. In some markets it was
hard to escape Apple's television marketing campaign. One of the
things that those commercials highlight is the iPhone's internet
browsing feature. This article is an overview of some of the pros
and cons of what could be called 'iBrowsing'.
Haven't We Seen This Before?
The answer to that question is, yes and no. There have been
several smart phones available for several years now. However,
these have all had some limitations; as does the iPhone. There are
two things that really set the iPhone apart when it comes to
browsing the web.
First, the screen size and clarity of its graphics is superb. At
3.5 inches with 160 pixels per inch the resolution really is very
good.
Second, is the touchscreen user interface. To scroll on a
webpage you drag your finger on the screen in the direction you
want to scroll. You can also zoom in on the webpage to make small
text or images more visible. Or you can pinch your fingers together
to shrink a given area or image.
Going On An iPhone Safari
Coming from Apple, the iPhone uses the Safari web browser. It is a
full function browser, with one exception on the iPhone. At this
time it does not support Flash graphics. There are a lot of Web 2.0
websites that use Flash, but the vast majority of sites do not use
it.
The Safari browser has all of the features users of Internet
Explorer 7.0 or FireFox 2.0+ have come to expect. Including a built
in pop-up blocker, tabbed browsing, and integrated RSS. There are
also a few extras that make Safari a good browser. The ability to
easily re-size text fields, private browsing and a SnapBack feature
that takes you back to the top level of a search string or websites
you visited.
A Few Exceptions
There have been some complaints by reviewers that the connection
speed can be incredibly slow at times. There are many variables
that affect connection speed, so different users may have different
results. In short, don't expect the iPhone to be fast, as it can
take a few minutes to download pages. Regardless, once any images
or videos have finished downloading they are rendered in rich
detail and play at very good speeds.
Email can be read in rich text format on the iPhone. This is an
improvement over the plain looking email on most other cell phones.
Viewing and deleting messages is quite easy with the touchscreen,
but the keyboard can take some getting used to. You will have to
magnify a selection to edit text, and there is no cut and paste
functionality at this time.
The other thing that many users may miss is the lack of instant
messaging. This may be due to arrangements with iPhone's exclusive
cellular carrier, AT&T's Cingular. Text messaging is still
available but loses the full chat experience.
All in all the iPhone is a good choice for those who want or
need
to access the internet on the go. The benefits outweigh the
limitations. And there's a good chance many of these will be fixed
in the next generation of the iPhone.
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