When the original iPhone was released in 2007, it was a breakthrough product because it was both one of the most advanced smartphones ever created and also the easiest to use. But it lacked integration with Microsoft Exchange e-mail used by most law firms and the lack of 3G made data slow if you were outside of a WiFi hotspot. In 2008, Apple remedied these omissions with the iPhone 3G and version 2 of the software, and now any lawyer considering a Blackberry should also give the iPhone a serious look. Unless the lawyer is only looking for mobile e-mail with no additional features, he or she will likely find the iPhone the best choice.

Design

You don’t have to use an iPhone for very long to understand why it has won Apple so many prestigious design awards. This is not just the best designed smartphone ever, it is one of the best designed gadgets ever. The iPhone feels great in your hand with its curved edges that make an already thin device feel even thinner. The weight of the iPhone is satisfying: light enough that you will barely notice it in your pocket, but also substantial. The construction is top-notch with sturdy and sleek materials and no unfortunate gaps where parts meet. The iPhone is a device that you want to use because it feels right to use it.

Display

But if you had to pick one design feature of the iPhone that makes it stand out from the typical Blackberry, it is the display. The large display across the entire body of the iPhone gives you ample room to read long e-mails in large, legible fonts, view web pages as they were designed to be viewed and enjoy widescreen video. The bright 480 x 320 pixel screen (at 163 ppi) is stunning.

Anyone can plop a large screen on a phone, but it is Apple’s well-designed multi-touch interface that makes this display a joy to use. It is so intuitive to use your fingers to tap, flick and pinch items on the screen that even a child can learn to use it. (This is not an exaggeration; my three year old figured it out very quickly and has no trouble turning on the iPhone and swiping through screens of applications to locate his favorite preschool game or playing “Where the Wild Things Are” on YouTube.) And multi-touch is not just simple; it is powerful because you can quickly manipulate items and lists on the screen. Want to see text or a picture even larger? Just put two fingers together on the screen and pull them apart.

Menus

Menus in iPhone applications are easy to read and simple to navigate.

E-mail

Blackberry has long been the king of e-mail, and deservedly so. From a user’s perspective, a Blackberry can work seamlessly with a law firm’s Exchange e-mail, and the Blackberry has plenty of shortcuts that are loved by power users. It is against this standard that any lawyer must judge the iPhone.

On the plus side, the iPhone shines when displaying e-mails. Plain text e-mails are easy to read, rich HTML e-mails display beautifully with images alongside text, and the iPhone can handle more than a dozen file and image formats so attachments are easy to view (including PDF, Microsoft Word, Excel, PowerPoint, etc.) Push e-mail with Microsoft Exchange works well, and you typically see an e-mail pop up on your iPhone even before it does on your computer. With a simple flick of your finger, you can easily scroll through your list of e-mails or within a long e-mail. The newest Blackberry models such as the Bold are an improvement on what RIM used to offer, but the iPhone has far more polish.

For composing e-mails, both the Blackberry and the iPhone keyboards have their fans. You can type with your thumbs pretty quickly on a Blackberry and even though the keys are tiny, the tactile sensation is nice. But there is a big tradeoff: the keyboard always consumes lots of space on your device, even though you are not always typing. The iPhone’s keyboard is virtual, so it is there when you need it and gone when you don’t. You cannot actually “feel” the keys, but Apple has worked hard to compensate. For example, keys rise up on the screen as you type and the iPhone makes smart guesses about what keys you are most likely to be typing based upon the letters that you have typed already. Plus the predictive keyboard does a good job of fixing any typos as you make them. As Walt Mossberg of the Wall Street Journal said in 2007: “The iPhone’s most controversial feature, the omission of a physical keyboard in favor of a virtual keyboard on the screen, turned out in our tests to be a nonissue, despite our deep initial skepticism. After five days of use, Walt — who did most of the testing for this review — was able to type on it as quickly and accurately as he could on the Palm Treo he has used for years. This was partly because of smart software that corrects typing errors on the fly.”

Note that RIM tried to copy some of the iPhone’s features with the Blackberry Storm -- the Blackberry that looks like an iPhone and lacks a keyboard -- but it has been widely panned as a failure, with David Pogue of the New York Times calling it a “marathon of frustration” and noting that “I haven’t found a soul who tried this machine who wasn’t appalled, baffled or both.” The iPhone’s real e-mail competitor is the traditional style Blackberry with a hardware keyboard, such as the new Blackberry Bold.

I wish the iPhone had some of the Blackberry’s advanced e-mail features such as macros and other shortcuts. But Apple can easily add these with software updates, and indeed iPhone e-mail today is already much better than it was a year ago. As things stand today, although you give up a few e-mail features with the iPhone, you also gain other features such as readability and ease of use. This is why I say that if the one and only reason that you want a smartphone is for e-mail, the Blackberry and the iPhone are both good options.

Features

It is when you move beyond e-mail that the iPhone stands above other smartphones. The Safari web browser is far better than any other mobile phone browser because you can quickly (thanks to WiFi and 3G) see a whole web page the way it was designed to be displayed and use multi-touch to easily zoom in and out to better read any small text. Accessing the Internet on the go is such a key feature nowadays that this alone is enough reason to get an iPhone.

The iPhone also does a great job displaying Google maps and the built-in GPS quickly finds where you are and helps you get to where you want to go and, using Street View, show you what it will look like when you get there. With the iPod app you can enjoy music, podcasts and videos, and with the iTunes app you can download content directly on the iPhone. The camera is decent for a cell phone, especially for outdoor shots.

While those built-in apps are great, the iPhone’s real flexibility comes from the over 10,000 (and growing) third-party applications. If you can dream it, there is bound to be an app you can add to do it. You can carry around copies of statutes and rules, check the weather, stream Internet music, play amazing games, etc., and these apps almost always cost just a few dollars and can even be downloaded and installed directly on the iPhone.

Wireless

With built-in WiFi and 3G, data transfer is very fast. Outside of major cities where 3G is not available, the Edge connection is functional. The iPhone has Bluetooth 2.0 for hands free calling, but does not currently support stereo wireless headsets or other sophisticated Bluetooth features such as an external wireless keyboard.

Phone

Last but far from least, the iPhone is a great phone. Especially if you are using 3G, the call quality is crystal clear. The iPhone is tightly integrated with your list of Contacts on the iPhone making it easy to initiate or receive calls. The large intuitive icons make it easy to use a speakerphone, hold, three-way calls, etc. The amazing visual voicemail displays each message by caller and lets you play them in any order you want, just like e-mail.

Conclusion

The iPhone is powerful, a design marvel, and just plain fun to use. If you are a lawyer looking to buy a new smartphone, do yourself a favor and check it out.