Alex Hardy

I found Dizzy Bee on the app store last night and decided to take a chance on it. I’m very glad I did. It is a wonderful puzzle game that really demonstrates the iPhone’s potential as a gaming platform.

Rather than struggle to describe the the gameplay, I’ll share the YouTube trailer with you. While you watch it, bear in mind that this little gem costs £1.79.

No, I didn’t misplace the decimal point. One pound, seventy nine pence.

Unbelievable.

[UPDATE] A free version is now available. There is no excuse for not trying it!

…and a major corporation was charged with inventing one?

Now please excuse me. I have to go reflect on how true to life this is, and perhaps have a little cry.

I have a confession to make: I was one of them. On the 11th July I got up early and queued up outside Carphone Warehouse for an iPhone 3G. I needn’t have bothered, because they didn’t have enough and I was able to stroll into the O2 shop at lunchtime and pick up their last 16Gb (black) model.

I thought I’d wait for a week or so before blogging my first impressions, to give me time to get accustomed to it. Here they are…

Design

I’d played with an iPhone once or twice, other people’s or in shops. It seemed pretty good but you really have to spend time with one before you understand just how good it is. Compared to my Sony Ericsson it looks like it came from the future.

I’m looking forward to my “Naked Case” arriving so it stays looking new.

Apple’s skill is in execution of features. Other phones have media players, games, email etc but I’m not counting bullet points. They are usually so poorly implemented that they are irrelevant. The fact is that I’m *using* those features for the first time.

The only real complaint I have about the hardware is that the camera is still a lousy 2 megapixels with no zoom or flash. I don’t think I’ll be using it to take my holiday photos. I’ve also observed that using the GPS can make it a little bit warm.

I understand that the battery life is fine for a 3G device but having to charge my phone every other day is a new experience…

Developers! Developers! Developers!

Of course, the really big news is the app store (which is also available to first-gen iPhone and iPod Touch owners). Time will tell how well the home screen design will scale to many apps.

Since the original iPhone was released, many of the more switched-on websites and services have created dedicated interfaces. I have webclips for Facebook and BBC iPlayer on my home screen. I actually prefer them to the full-size counterparts. The lack of Flash prevents Google Analytics working, but my workaround is to upload my monthly PDF reports to Box.net to view them there.

I’ve downloaded some native apps: Twitterific, NetNewsWire, Things, Mobile Fotos, Monkey Ball, Enigmo and Aurora Feint. I’m looking forward to Rolando.

As Fraser Speirs points out, iPhone has the potential to be a major platform – perhaps even more so than the mac. It’s good to see talented mac developers getting in early on what is bound to be a gold rush.

Be careful what you wish for

No, all is not rosy. It may be called version 2.0 but from where I’m sitting it feels a bit 1.0. Lag (especially in my contacts book) and stuttery transitions between apps are fairly common. I’ve also observed crash bugs in some apps. No doubt these niggles will be fixed in time.

All in all, I’m very happy with my purchase and beginning to realise that once you’ve bought an iPhone you may never be able to go back to anything else. I’ve got plans to write a blog post on the accessibility concerns it brings to website design, but that will keep for another day.