The impending release of the iPhone has seen the Apple hype-machine ratcheted into high gear; eBay auctions promising the long awaited Apple smartphone on release are already hitting dizzying highs of $1,500 for the $500 phone. The question which we want to pose though is whether or not the iPhone would be suited for business users; whether it really delivers anything not already provided by current smartphones (apart from the latent "cool" factor, of course).

Considering the plethora of features the iPhone boasts (which we'll outline in more detail in a moment), it's not hard to see why Apple has managed to so effectively whip up this frenzy of anticipation. What might perhaps surprise though, is the list of alternative smartphones offering similar functionality, without the hefty price tag incurred and practical impossibility of securing a model at launch boasted by iPhone.

Apple iPhone

Apple's iPhone launches on the 29th of June in the US, later during Q4 2007 in Europe, in two flavours: 4GB and 8GB.

The iPhone aims to cut down the number of keys on current phones, replacing them instead with a touch-screen, as well as gesture based controls and a single "home" button. The iPhone's screen itself is capable of multiple point recognition, allowing for a wide range of intuitive gesture controls. Perhaps the best example of this mechanic is zooming; users simply "pinch" a window and widen their fingers to zoom in or narrow them to zoom out. Items may be moved simply by being "pushed" across the screen.

The use of the touch screen extends to an on-screen "qwerty" keyboard. To prevent frequent error, the keyboard has some predictive text elements, meaning that users won't be required to type with perfect accuracy. Small features like this might not seem too important, but given the difficulty presented by typing using the HTC Touch's on screen keyboard (more below), it's clear that Apple has done enough homework to streamline the iPhone experience.

The iPhone also features a built in 2.0 megapixel camera, nothing too spectacular, but still worth noting. Furthermore, the iPhone boasts the functionality of a video iPod, with the screen automatically switching to a landscape view for video viewing. Again, simple measures like these are what add to the polished experience which has proved so successful for the iPod.

One of the most notable facts about the iPhone is that it features Yahoo powered Push mail. Alongside a slimmed down version of Safari (sadly, not featuring Flash support) and the iPhone's WiFi, it's clear that Apple is pushing towards a fully web-enabled device with the iPhone. In this light, the revelation of the iPhone's lack of Flash support seems somewhat unusual, though whether or not this is permanent is anyone's guess...

The iPhone itself runs a thinned out version of Mac OS X and support is planned for software updates similar to those of the iPod; Apple is playing its cards close to its chest though, and little has been said regarding the iPhone and third party software.

Now that we've had a taste of the iPhone, it's time to take a look at some of the stronger competitors in the smartphone market.