For the business traveler, their communication capability, when away from home, is essential, whether on business or vacation. Therefore, business travelers must have a solid communication tool to remain in touch with their family, office and business contacts.
An internationally capable smartphone is perhaps the best communication tool for travelers today.
More than 3 million iPhone 4′s have sold in the first month of its availability. It’s already a major international smartphone, which on paper, is one of the best capable international smartphones today. The question is, does the iPhone 4 reality match its specifications?
Since I wrote A quest for an international travel capable smartphone last year, and chose the iPhone 3GS as my cell phone, the market has changed, and so has my list of qualities I want in my smartphone.
Beyond the typical capabilities of the latest smartphones, a smartphone for international travelers, like me, must be able to:
• Make phone calls in the areas in which I travel, have quality sound, pull in weak signals, and have a useful speakerphone,
• Be able to to sync directly with a computer by wire, or Bluetooth, not via files stored on the Internet, for backup and direct computer use, so confidential information can stay that way,
• Have minimally both 3G and WIFI capability (at least wireless G), to connect to the Internet, and the office LAN, to obtain and shared data, and to reduce international data usage charges, with a setting for WIFI preference over 3G, when both exist,
• Have available business and finance applications which could be run on the smartphone including: time and billing, package tracking, unit conversions, dictionary, etc.,
• Be able to scan documents and email them,
• Be suitable for international travel, minimally to Europe, the Middle East, and Central and South America, which means to me it should preferably use the GSM standard,
• Have readily available travel applications which could be run on the smartphone including: destination and tour guides, subway, airport and train maps, flight status, currency conversion, etc.,
• Have the ability to run Skype or similar programs to reduce international phone costs.
Apple’s new operating system iOS4, which comes standard on the iPhone 4, can be fully utilized on the iPhone 3GS improving its capabilities in a number of areas.
The new iOS4 gives the iPhone 3GS expanded multitasking capability. Through “folders,” app organization is improved, and now more than 1,900 applications are accessible from each phone. (I have a host of the Lonely Planet country guides on my iPhone, which I prefer to not have to juggle on and off the phone.).
Email from multiple email accounts can go into a unified inbox or be kept separately, and emails can be organized by thread. The spell checker was upgraded and there is a new editable personal dictionary, as well as other improvements.
The iPhone 4 itself has an improved screen. It can take HD videos. For communication, it has it’s new “FaceTime” capability to make video calls via WIFI with it’s new front facing webcam. (FaceTime only works between iPhone 4 phones at this time.)
Both the iPhone 4, and 3GS can accomplish all of my above criteria and more.
The iPhone 4, however, is not currently without some serious problems, in my opinion, and the opinion of others.
Problems with its proximity sensor, lead to unintentionally dialed calls, muted calls, or calls prematurely hung up. Problems with the rear facing camera have caused it to stop working or cause its white balance to be “off.” Problems have been reported with its Bluetooth and USB connectivity.
By now, most people have heard of “Antennagate.” Consumer Reports’ engineers tested the iPhone 4, and found that there is a problem with its reception. “When your finger or hand touches a spot on the phone’s lower left side—an easy thing, especially for lefties—the signal can significantly degrade enough to cause you to lose your connection altogether if you’re in an area with a weak signal.”
Apple is now providing a free case which covers the antenna and “fixes” the issue. (You have to download a free app into your iPhone 4 in order to order the case.)
Apple says this report has been blown out of proportion by “the media.” Personally, I don’t agree, but I don’t think “the media” or Consumer Reports necessarily has nailed down the antenna problem yet.
I’ve personally examined several iPhone 4′s and know some iPhone 4 users. I’ve seen iPhones with the antenna problem, and a couple that don’t seem to have it. That leads me to ask the question, “Could the antenna problem be a quality control issue?”
Yellow discoloration of the screen was reported by a number of iPhone 4 users. This apparently occurred because the screen’s bonding agent hadn’t fully cured before the phone shipped. Some have reported the volume control buttons have been reversed. Digital Trends has a photo of such a phone. These are certainly quality control issues.
The iPhone 4 is first and last a phone, after all. If the iPhone 4 can’t make phone calls well, or disconnects prematurely, no matter how thin it is, no matter how many apps are available for it, no matter what other things it can do, it isn’t worth its cost.
Whether it’s a design problem, or a quality control problem, the antenna problem is real, and serious. It alone disqualifies the iPhone 4 for my purchasing and recommendation.
