In one word… Amazing! It’s all I was expecting for and so much more. But let’s take it step by step because even though I really enjoy the iPhone, there is room for improvement.

Or should I say “fine tuning”. There are no real “bugs” but I can feel they had to rush it to meet the June 29 deadline. But let me tell you that the Synch process goes so well, it’s gonna be easy to update your iPhone!

First of all, I need to thank the AT&T store on Union St here in San Francisco. They were just great! Making sure we had water, information about the whole buying process, etc.

Just imagine their frustration… since they work for AT&T, they are not allowed to buy an iPhone for 60 days!!

Hang in there buddies, it’s definitely worth the wait!

Speaking of wait, I feel sorry for those who camped in front of any Apple Store. As we speak, there are still plenty of 4Gb & 8Gb iPhone at the Apple Store downtown SF ah!

Yesterday, I took some time in the morning to drive around the different stores that were carrying the iPhone and at 9AM, only the Apple Store had over 150 people waiting in line.

That’s why I decided to start waiting in line at around 1:30PM and was #15!

Anyways, back to business… Let’s start with the activation process. I had to call AT&T customer services because my information were not recognized (tho I am a 3 years old customer).

The agent was very competent and 10 mins later, my iPhone was activated and ready to make/receive calls. First good point!

The graphic user interface (GUI). is just perfect! No real surprise, we’re talking about Apple here! The transitions are smooth and quick. The buttons, icons, menus, etc. are simple to use yet efficient and powerful.

It makes the whole iPhone experience a real pleasure.

Nothing comes close to that as of today, the iPhone is not just a different ball-game, it is simply in another league… A league all of its own!

Step by Step:

• SMS : If you are familiar with iChat, you’ll love the conversation bubbles. I am not a big fan of those but it’s ok. Trying to send a SMS was my first time with the new keyboard and let me tell you straight up, it’s pretty damn good. It’s actually excellent as soon as you get used to it and I could use both thumbs in matter of minutes, allowing to type way faster than I used to with my Treo 650
• Calendar : FINALLY I can use it!!! On my Treo, it was a nightmare trying to Synch it… This time, everything works smoothly
• Photo Albums : First problem… It was easy to Synch and add photos onto the iPhone but as of right now, I still haven’t figured how to download the photos I took using the iPhone… No, it doesn’t Synch! I even tried to use the Bluetooth File Browser to access the iPhone’s memory, won’t let me do it. So I had to email (automatic resize to 640×480) to able to show you the comparison between a regular point and shoot and the iPhone.
• Camera : Simple but no control on the delay or any kind of adjustments really…
• YouTube : WOW!!! That’s a very cool surprise! It’s simply amazing and now I have a new way to kill time ah! Too bad you can’t log in onto your web YouTube profile. Maybe later?!
• Stocks, Clock, Calculator, Notes & Weather : See Tiger’s widget
• Maps : AMAZING!! Blazing speed, easy to use, and i absolutely LOVE the fake GPS feature… Just tap on the screen, and the next step comes up…
• Phone : I immediately paired my Jawbow Bluetooth headset with the iPhone and voil?†… crystal clear sound and soooo much more easier to use than any other phone I’ve had, including the Nokia! From adding contacts in you Favorites to check you missed calls, etc. It’s simple and powerful. The visual voice mail is very cool. I am sure it will come handy as soon as I have more than two messages ah!
• Mail : Where do I begin… After Synching my accounts, I had full access to my emails and I mean emails this time!! I am talking about rich HTML email interface including attachment support. A whole new world… I just wish I could access all the email in one mailbox showing from which accounts the emails were coming from.
• Safari : Well, it’s a real Web browser and it’s damn FAST!!! Love the zoom-in/zoom-out feature. Too bad Flash isn’t supported right now but then again, I am sure an update will fix this soon enough… You can open multiple pages at the same time, kinda like tabs, then browser through them. Very cool and once again… FAST! Oh, I couldn’t figure out how to add a “Homepage”
• iPod : The iPod is so good on the iPhone that I am seriously considering selling my 5G iPod! Cover Flow rocks!
• Settings : There is a cool “Airplane Mode” that switches of the phone and WiFi but let’s you enjoy all the other features. Connecting the iPhone to my WiFi network took literally 3 seconds but the iPhone doesn’t seem to remember the network it was on after being turned off. For the ultra geeks, you can even create a VPN You can setup a phone lock to protect you iPhone from being accessed which is cool and also a SIM PIN to prevent a thief to make phone calls.

As far as the touch screen is concerned, it’s simply amazing. Once again, the Treo doesn’t come even close!

The iPhone can tell the difference when you are sliding your finger on the glass to browse or select. Typing is just easy and fast. The zoom-in feature greatly improves the experience no matter in with mode you can use it.

Any cons you must wonder… well yeah, quite a few but keep in mind this is a V1.0 and I am sure a software update will come soon enough to fix these little bugs.

1. No copy/cut/paste
2. Image transfer from the iPhone to the computer
3. Can’t use your music as ringtone
4. Can’t edit a contact from any other applications than the Phone > Contact list which could be convenient…
5. Calendar Alarm doesn’t let you set your own time alert. For example, you can select 30 mins or 1 hour before but not 45 mins…
6. Camera has no adjustments and can’t record video
7. Can’t create a new photo album on the iPhone, has to be create via Finder and Synch with iTunes
8. There is no reset in Maps… You can only get out of your actual search by making a new search.
9. No multiple delete in Mail, you have to delete the emails one by one and it’s a two steps process!

I’ll try to keep this list updated with new bugs and fixes but as you can see, it’s nothing serious…

One last thing, don’t be a stupid fool and buy an iPhone on eBay for $1,200+, just buy it online or even better, go to an Apple Store, they still have them on stock!!

Flickr iPhone Album