iPhone Features

iPhone Specs
Apple is fairly secretive about the exact processors and circuitry found in the iPhone. Here's a glimpse of what it takes to keep the iPhone 3GS running:
  • 3.5-inch, 163 ppi screen with a glass protective covering
  • Battery with up to 10 hours of talk time on 2G networks, 5 hours on 3G, 6 hours of Internet use on WiFi, 7 hours of video playback, 24 hours of audio playback and 300 hours of standby time [source: Apple]
  • Macintosh OS X operating system
  • 3.2-megapixel camera capable of shooting video at 30 frames per second
  • Ambient light sensor
  • Accelerometer
  • Radio transmitters for Bluetooth, WiFi and cellular (3G, GSM and EDGE) signals
  • Proximity sensor, which likely produces near-infrared light and measures its reflection from nearby objects
  • 16 GB or 32 GB of storage space (older iPhones could store 8 GB or 16 GB of data)

Check out Apple's lists of specs for more.

The front surface of the Apple iPhone has only one button -- the Home button. Pressing the Home button takes you to the main screen of the iPhone's graphical user interface. There, you can choose from the device's four primary functions using icons at the bottom of the phone:

  • Phone: 3G, GSM or EDGE cellular phone service as well as a visual voice mail menu
  • Mail: POP and IMAP e-mail access, including in-line pictures, HTML capabilities and push e-mail from Yahoo mail
  • Web: Safari Web browser
  • iPod: Music and videos

You can open the iPhone's other applications from the upper portion of the Home screen. These include a calendar, calculator, notepad, and widgets, or mini-applications made specifically for the iPhone. Older iPhones include a 2.0-megapixel camera and software you can use to organize your pictures -- the iPhone 3GS ups the stakes with a 3.2-megapixel camera. You can also use an iPhone to check weather reports and stock quotes. Even though the iPhone doesn't support Flash, which the YouTube site relies on, you can watch YouTube videos using the corresponding application. The keys and buttons you need to navigate each application appear only when you need them.

The shape of the screen changes when you need it to as well -- you can shift the perspective from vertical to horizontal by tilting the phone. An accelerometer inside the iPhone lets the operating system know to change the orientation of the image on the screen. This means that you can scroll through long lists of music files on a long, narrow screen, and you can watch movies in a widescreen format. You can learn more about accelerometers in How the Nike + iPod Works and How the Wii Works.

The second generation of the iPhone introduced several new features. We'll take a closer look at those in the next section.