Apple’s iPhone handset sports an advanced touch-driven user interface and an excellent browser that lets the user view full web pages while on the move. However, it does not appear to be an ideal device for either web-based applications or business email access, where the iPhone’s on-screen keyboard makes it unsuitable as a BlackBerry replacement.

The iPhone, available in the UK now from Apple and O2, combines the functions of a smartphone and an iPod media player in a stylish slimline device. It weighs about 135g, making it a little heavier than a standard mobile phone but lighter than many devices with a qwerty keyboard.

We found the iPhone made access to basic functions such as phone calls and voicemail very easy, which will make it appeal to the less tech-savvy user. However, while its web browser excels at displaying pages, the device only supports GPRS networks ­ (with Edge where available) ­ making browsing slow when out of range of a Wi-Fi access point. The iPhone also relies on a “soft” on-screen keyboard for input, and lacks the level of support for corporate email accounts found in many Windows Mobile or Symbian handsets.

Apple has aimed the iPhone at consumers, but it does have some potential as a business client. It runs a version of the OS X operating system used on Apple’s desktop Mac systems, albeit with a different user interface, so could potentially serve as a future platform for developing applications. It also has 8GB of built-in Flash, which could also prove useful for holding application data sets. Apple has said it will deliver a developers’ toolkit sometime early in 2008. However, the iPhone is not currently supported by any major management tools, so administrators cannot remotely lock or wipe the device as is possible with a BlackBerry.

The iPhone has a very minimalist appearance, with just a single control beneath its 3.5in touch-screen display. This is the home key, which returns the user to the main screen and also wakens the device if it has blanked the screen. On the device’s side there is a ringer mute and volume controls, plus a sleep/wake button on top.

Its screen is very clear and sharp, and one of the best we have seen on any mobile device. It also feels sturdy enough to stand up to being prodded all the time in everyday use. However, the screen rapidly becomes covered in unsightly fingerprints. This is because Apple’s user interface is finger driven, rather than using a stylus. In fact, it is touch-sensitive, and so does not respond to a stylus.

The home screen of the iPhone presents a grid of colourful icons, with the four chief functions ­ Phone, Mail, Safari web browser and iPod ­ in a separate strip along the bottom. Much thought has clearly gone into the user interface, which makes extensive use of animated effects, such as the way an application expands to fill the screen when you tap its icon, then collapses back again when you return to the home screen. Apple’s voicemail system makes good use of its visual interface to let you pick just the message you want to listen to, rather than having to listen to them in sequence.

In applications such as the Safari browser, fingertip control is used for navigation, so that you push the page up with your finger to scroll down, for example. Many options can also be set by flicking an on-screen slider switch.

Safari is probably the best mobile browser we have seen, especially in its handling of standard web pages. It loads up a view of the entire page, exactly as it would be seen on a desktop computer. This usually makes text too small to read, but users can easily zoom in to areas of interest.

To zoom in, you place two digits on the screen and move them apart, as if you are attempting to stretch the page. Reversing the gesture zooms out again. One neat feature is that the browser will automatically change the screen from portrait to landscape orientation if you rotate the iPhone 90 degrees while browsing.

We found Safari worked very well with commercial web sites such as BBC News, making the iPhone a good choice as a web access device. However, it proved less successful with web-based applications. It was incompatible with the iNotes web-based access for Lotus Notes, while GoogleMail served up a mobile version of the site designed for PDAs. Other applications such as IT Week’s content management system simply halted upon identifying it as an unsupported browser.

We found the GPRS slow for browsing. With a Wi-Fi connection, the experience is much more satisfactory, and we also found the iPhone’s Wi-Fi easy to configure and connect to our test access point. Wi-Fi can be turned on or off by a switch in the Settings screen, but is automatically turned off if the phone is put into flight mode.

Because the iPhone has no physical keypad, users are forced to use on-screen soft keys to dial numbers, enter web addresses and type emails and text messages. The numeric keypad for dialling posed no problem, but the qwerty keyboard slowed us down considerably and we constantly hit the wrong keys when typing. BlackBerry users will be unlikely to find the iPhone an acceptable alternative.

Apple’s Mail client is easy to configure for consumer POP and web-based email accounts, but only supports access to corporate email systems via the Imap protocol. This can be used to retrieve email from Microsoft Exchange accounts if the IT department has enabled Imap connectivity on the server, but does not allow access to contacts or calendar information, unlike the ActiveSync protocol used by Microsoft’s Windows Mobile handsets. However, some third-party email vendors, including Synchronica and Visto, have added support for the iPhone to their products that mobilise access to Exchange accounts.

Apple ships the iPhone with a cradle that holds the handset upright while charging or synching with a PC or Mac. A supplied cable plugs into either the cradle or directly into the iPhone at one end, and to a PC USB port or a mains charger at the other end. A supplied stereo headset lets the user listen to music, and has a small attached microphone and button for answering calls.

The iPhone has a built-in rechargeable battery that offers a talk time of up to 8 hours and standby time up to 250 hours. We found that browser sessions, even on GPRS, rapidly depleted the battery, however. If the iPhone is also used as an iPod music player by users, this will also shorten the battery life.