Being in a milieu of iPhone users at VON.x last week, Alec Saunders succumbed and bought an iPhone last Friday prior to returning home to Ottawa. As iPhone has yet to be launched in Canada, Alec had to go through an unlocking process to have it work on Rogers network. With four day's experience he has written a very balanced review, iPhone: Brilliant. Frustrating, where he concludes:

I could go on. I want to love this phone — it's that good. At best, however, I can say that iPhone is a frustratingly brilliant device with more potential than any mobile handset in the industry today. Is it going to change how I use mobile phones? Sure. Now I'll be carrying my Blackberry plus one of the iPhone or N95, rather than Blackberry plus N95. Will it change how I use mobile phones in the future? Almost certainly. Some day a vendor will deliver a phone with a great user experience, great browser, great camera, 3G or better network speeds and a great email.

Given Alec's comments on the iPhone's use of the (GSM/EDGE) network: "It's so slow as to be unusable outside WiFi hotspots", a Canadian could get almost the same (carrier independent) experience with an iPod Touch but the lack of a microphone makes the latter not appealing enough for me to upgrade from my iPod. I'll continue with my combination of WiFi-enabled Blackberry 8820 and Nokia N95, of which the latter also gives me SlingPlayer, Qik.com, Truphone along with an FM radio which is most useful for TV audio at my exercise gym.

But overall I agree that, while lacking several applications, the iPhone is a game changer if for no other reason than its overall user experience. And I look forward to seeing how it impacts the evolution of other vendors' devices.

As for Skype access, either IM+ for Skype or Mobivox provide the appropriate connectivity for iPhone. The Blackberry and Nokia N95 add the ability to use iSkoot.

Tags: iPhone, Alec Saunders, Rogers, Blackberry 8820, Nokia N95, IM+ for Skype, Mobivox, Truphone, SlingPlayer, Qik.com

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