Most iPhone users would agree that the iPhone still leaves some things to be desired, but I think they would also agree that there is a lot less left to be desired than other smart phones. First and foremost, the iPhone is the easiest phone I’ve ever used. Its touch interface is full-featured, intuitive and yummy. It can meet or surpass the needs of most existing cell phone and iPod users:

• Full-featured cell phone complete with “random access” voicemail, call log, conference calling and speaker phone
• SMS (texting) capability with a virtual keypad that is quite easy to use
• Virtually unlimited contact list allowing you to store and label various numbers, email addresses, photos and ringtones
• Wide-screen video iPod with full iPod features and customizable menus for the features you use most
• Direct connection to iTunes so you can download songs and videos directly to your iPhone with the use of a computer

To round out the features and functions, the iPhone also includes:

• Full-featured mail client, supporting either POP or IMAP
• Direct connection to YouTube
• Camera functionality complete with photo album management
• Weather conditions and forecast in any number of locations
• Calendaring and notifications
• Stock tracking
• Recently announced support for third-party applications
• … and my favorite: Google Maps. It’s like carrying the Yellow Pages and an Atlas with me everywhere I go

From a connection standpoint, it is a GPS cell phone with support for wireless ethernet (802.11b/g) and BlueTooth. The Edge network currently provided by AT&T is a bit pokey, but usable in most places. AT&T is the only provider here in the US for the foreseeable future, but I have not had any connection or service problems in the four months I’ve been using the device. And the rate plans from AT&T are surprising affordable given that they all include unlimited data transfer.

There are a few more things I would like to see, if Apple asks:

• GPS - A natural fit with the current Google Maps application
• Faster data access - Edge is usable in a pinch, but I would do a lot more with it was more responsive
• Improved synchronization - This should be upgradable by firmware, but the iPhone currently only syncs with Microsoft Outlook, Address book and Internet Explorer on the Windows side. I know it syncs with popular Apple applications as well, but I have no direct experience on the Apple side. It currently lacks support for other popular Windows applications like Firefox and Thunderbird.

Now if only we could get all that in a portable package with decent battery life. Still, you can’t do much better that the Apple iPhone at the current price of $399 for the 8GB model.