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Steven Combs and Sean McHose take a quick look at the new iPhone from Apple. Sean has since left Fox 7 and this was Steven’s last appearance with him. As you can tell from the video though, Sean was very excited about the iPhone. He had actually been talking about it for months in advance. He made this segment very easy for Steven since Sean had much of his own commentary to add.

So what do we think of our new iPhone after having used it for the past 2-3 months? Overall, the experience is amazing. This is definitely the best phone we have ever used as well as the most used phone we have ever owned. Not only is it a great iPod (audio and video is amazing on this thing) and mobile phone, but having the “real web,” via Safari, in the palm of your hand is simply empowering at times. Here’s what we mean. On a recent trip to Washington D.C. we were often trying to locate points of interest. Using our iPhone Maps feature (powered by Google Maps), we could simply type in an address and our iPhone would scour the web and display the address, phone number (we could call just by touching the phone number) and website (if available and again a simple touch would fire up Safari and allow us to view the site). Then we could key-in a request for directions. Now mind you, this is not a GPS enabled phone, but just having access to this information is extremely useful. Here’s another example. We recently had dinner with another couple. During our conversations there were always those types of questions and discussions in which no one really new the answer. The joke of the evening was “Steven, pull out the iPhone and find out!” Yeah…geeky…but fun!

Other features we like are the phone’s reliability. This thing just works. We’ve only had one occasion where we’ve had to reset the device. At this point we are agreeing that Apple shouldn’t allow just anyone to write apps for this device. We’ve owned Palm devices before and can tell you that those things would crash in a heart beat if some rogue app was allowed to muck around the Palm’s memory space. A reboot a week was pretty par for the course with our Palm’s – and we had two of ’em! Having said that though, there are still killer apps to be created and we are betting that Apple won’t be the only folks who write them. So Apple, how about some kind of certified iPhone developer program where folks can at least submit programs for your consideration.

Ok, what don’t we like about it. There are a couple of things that bother us. First, and you’ve heard it from others, the AT&T Edge network stinks! Especially in Evansville, Indiana. When we were traveling in Washington D.C. we noticed a huge increase in our speed and reliability. But here in Evansville, the iPhone is pokey and in certain areas even when we have four or five bars, we have not access to the Internet. This can be frustrating to the point where you just want to hurl the phone out the window. Of course we wouldn’t do that, I mean after all we were early adopters (speaking of that, where’s our $100 store credit Apple? BIG KUDOS TO APPLE FOR THIS DECISION!). This really is an AT&T issue and not Apple’s, but you tend to think of the iPhone as a package and unfortunately, the EDGE network is part of the package and can sometimes kill what should be a very pleasant experience. Curses AT&T! However, using WiFi, this things rocks. We are fortunate that we both work in institutions of higher education and have access to wireless throughout the day. When using WiFi the web/e-mail/maps/YouTube experience is phenomenal. Even better than using the Nokia 770. The iPhone just feels quicker and more responsive.

Here’s another negative. At times it can be frustrating typing on the keyboard. Granted, it does a really good job and it’s much better than other small form–factor keyboards we have used, but there are occasionally those time when you think you are flying through a message and your fingers hit the wrong keys. Apple claims some intelligence in their predictive text, but it’s not perfect and we occasionally have to go back and make corrections. It also still gripes us that we can’t rotate ANY iPhone app and use the wider keyboard. We have found our typing to be much more accurate and faster using this rotated keyboard. Why this isn’t available in all apps is still a mystery to us. Especially the mail app. While we love being able to access our personal, military and educational e-mails on our phone, using the smallish keyboard to pound out anything other than a short reply can be painful, especially if you are in a hurry. Having access to the wider keyboard would help. Maybe in a future software update we will see this option. But hey, typing on any small keyboard is never going to be the same experience as typing on a full-size keyboard. For now, this is pretty good.

Alright, one more negative. The camera is…well…it’s just…BAD! Low light gives this thing fits. I think we’ve been spoiled by our FujiFilm V10 camera. So much so that we don’t use the iPhone for any important images. What we do like about the camera is the ability to quickly upload our images to our web-gallery or to our Flickr account (we use the e-mail photo Flickr feature). We are also still amazed that Apple won’t allow us to capture video. Again maybe in a future software update, but why Apple? I mean this thing is a video player. Shouldn’t you at least allow us to record video for later playback? Seems a natural to us. In the meantime, we keep our FujiFilm V10 around with us for good low-light shots and quick video clips.

Overall, the iPhone has been a wonderful addition to our gadget home. It looks good, works well and provides all the online/connectivity weapons we need as 21st century gadget ninjas. We think that Apple’s price drop is exactly what is needed to sell more of these wonderful devices. And while we were early adopters and paid $200 more for the device, we knew that going into the purchase. Would we have liked to have purchased the device for $200 less, of course, are we going to moan because the price dropped 3 months later, of course not. That’s technology folks. You pay to be on “the bleeding edge.” Bottom line for new adopters; if you are looking for a new mobile phone and have a bit of disposable income laying around the house, we think you’ll like the iPhone. Just be prepared for the EDGE network. We mean it! Don’t get your hopes up! Seriously! It really is SLOW! Did we mention that the EDGE network stinks?

So what are you initial thoughts on the iPhone? Have you purchased on yet? Is the phone on your radar or have you decided that the iPhone is not for you? Let us know. We’d love to hear your comments.

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