For Apple’s first move into the mobile phone industry, it has become a huge success. The iPhone boasts a vast range of multimedia features including a camera, media player and an array of internet services, making it potentially the most identifiable phone, even before its release.

To bring any new iPhone 3G user up to speed on the tech specs, here is a quick rundown:

Dimensions: 115.5 (h) x 62.1 (w) x 12.3mm (d)
Screen size: 3.5 inches
Screen resolution: 320 x 480 at 163ppi
Input method: multi-touch
Operating system: OS X
Storage: 8GB or 16GB
GSM: Quad band connects to the 850, 900, 1800 and 1900 MHz bands and a Tri-band UMTS/HSDPA handset that works on the 850, 1900 and 2100 MHz bands.
Wireless: Wi-Fi (802.11b/g), Bluetooth 2.0+EDR and 3G
Camera: 2.0 mega pixels
Battery: integrated, non-replaceable lithium-ion battery that offers up to 5 hours talk time on 3G, 10 hours talk time on 2G, 300 hours on standby, 5 hours of 3G internet use (6 hours on Wi-Fi), 7 hours video playback and 24 hours audio playback – although in reality these figures are very rare to attain.

Functionality:
The iPhone offers a large 3.5-inch touch screen display designed specifically for use with bare fingertips (the touch screen relies on bare skin so there is no need for a stylus). To input the text, the iPhone uses a virtual QWERTY keyboard allowing the user to quickly and easily input text. The virtual keyboard has all the functions you hope for: automatic spell check, predictive text, dictionary, etc.

A key feature of the iPhone’s navigation and functionality is its intuitive scroll feature. Similar to the iPod’s Click Wheel, the movement allows you to quickly and easily move through the various menus.

Features:
The iPhone has so many features you can all but forget that you’ve actually got a device that’s main purpose is to act as a mobile phone. Apart from conferencing, call holding, call merging, caller ID, email and so on, it can do so much more.

The iPhone also includes a 2 mega pixel internal camera that allows you to capture and keep still images using the provided software and these can be transferred to your PC or Mac.

The most appealing feature of the iPhone is arguably its incorporation of its bigger brother, the iPod. Similar to the 5th generation of iPods, the iPhone can handle video playback as well as a music library.

Mobile Internet:
The iPhone also has online capabilities due to its built-in Wi-Fi technology. With the assistance of a wireless network, the iPhone can display full web pages using the Safari browser (as opposed to simplified WAP pages). Apart from browsing the internet, the iPhone is capable of sending and receiving email due to its HTML email application.

Operating System:
A slimmed down and optimised version of the popular Mac OS X operating system is used on the iPhone. It has the same core, but the implementation is quite different.

OS updates for the iPhone are downloaded and applied through iTunes in a similar way to the updates applied to the iPod. Like the OS X Dashboard, Apple has various widgets on its home screen that can be modified and selected on user preferences.