Apple: from iPod to iPhone

I have only used 2 types of smart phones - Blackberry and iPhone, so I may not have a full complete view on this.

iPhone 3G
I now use my iPhone for cell phone calls, VoIP phone calls, email, iPod music player, GPS, news reader (Bloomberg, NY Times, Wall Street Journal), checking weather, internet radio, calendar appointments, some occasional casual games (with good motion sensing controls), and entertaining my 2 daughters when needed.

The web browser is nice, but I use it less frequent now as most websites have a native application available. I also use the camera, it is a decent backup. Then, there is a voice recorder, Chinese/English translator, Wi-Fi keyboard/mouse to control my Mac mini hooked up to my TV. I also started reading some very basic Amazon kindle books on the iPhone (but the screen is just too small for serious reading).

Vision by Apple
An extremely user friendly touch screen, multi-touch input method is the heart of the iPhone or iPod touch. Adding an always on 3G Internet connection and the well thought out App Store, the possibilities are just endless. The included iPod was an early hit, and it will continue to be.

Technologies
There are now so many similar devices that used solely the touch screen for inputs, but it was Apple that pioneered this niche. Who would have thought that there are now more than 17 millions iPhones (adding ~15 millions iPod Touches) worldwide in less than 2 years. The user interface is the key technology differentiator for the iPhone. The business model for the App Store is amazing. It attracts so many individual developers to publish very low cost applications (many are free). Recently, Apple is heavily promoting the 1 billion application downloads from about 40,000 applications.

Wish List
Adding a turn-by-turn voice prompt GPS and a video camcorder to the iPhone would make it the "one and only" device you needed to carry. Both features should be feasible as software only updates. Improve battery life will also help, as all of us are using the device more and more. Background apps, if it is done right without impacting battery life, could also open up a lot of different opportunities for the iPhone to act as an agent to remind you on everything.

Of course, with Google (Android), Palm (Pre) and Research in Motion (Blackberry) also targeting the same market, more innovations will come. We as consumers will benefit from this healthy competition.