Scattered reports from people who have put their hands on pre-release models say that its main problem is not the rumored battery-life shortfall, but the sleek, slippery surface.
I handled one for about 15 minutes earlier this year and didn’t find it any more prone to flying out of my hands — or my shirt pocket — than an iPod. But others who have spent more time with it say different.
Alexandros Roussos recently interviewed a “tipster who had the chance to play with the device for a longer time than just a few minutes.” He reported on MacScoop that its real-world battery performance would “surprise us,” and, in fact, exceed Apple’s posted specs: up to 5 hours talk/video/browsing, and up to 16 hours audio playback.
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“Overall,” he added, “our source found the iPhone awesome but he mentioned, as a sole negative point, that the material used on the device’s case makes it feel even more slippery than the iPod and will probably require the purchase of a protective skin or case so as to avoid unintentionally dropping it.”
I must say that in my brief encounter with the iPhone, the image of the jewel-like device cracked like a $500 Humpty Dumpty on the sidewalk did pop unbidden into my mind. An Apple exec was obliging enough to toss an early model on a carpeted floor for me, where it bounced a few times, came to a stop and kept on ticking.
Whether it would survive a five-foot drop on a concrete floor — as my $49 LG phone has several times — remains to be seen. [VIA]
