Apple's iphone available in the UK

Today the iphone was on the shelves across the UK on the O2 network (although it's been hacked to allow other networks). It looks great on the adverts but how does it compare to other phones as far as technology goes? Well it doesn't in most cases...

The iphone has a 2 megapixel camera without autofocus or flash(!). This means you can't take close-ups or pictures in low lighting with the iphone. A firmware software update won't improve this unfortunately.

It's got ipod integation so you could replace your ipod with iphone, but the battery life will be a lot less if you use the iphone's other features.

It's got a nice big touch-screen which is maybe the best thing about it. The resolution at 320 x 480 pixels at 16m colours is very big for a phone.

It's got a large built-in storage space of 8gb which is a positive, but it doesn't have a card slot? OK you may not need more room than 8gb but it would have been nice to have that functionality.

It doesn't have a FM radio on it, which would have been nice.

Compare it on Phone Egg for more details. For example the Sony Ericsson K800i wins in most aspects. For me, this device is a perfect example of how marketing and branding win over technology. I'm mostly interested in photography and the Nokia N70 has a camera as good as the iphone and that's been out for over 2 years.