iPhone. Gadget craving++. You just know it's going to be a popular topic for quite some time.

My last three phones have been:

1. Sony Ericsson k700
2. Motorola V3 (RAZR)
3. Samsung D900 (current - also broken)

The joystick thing on the k700 gummed up with crud. I shattered my RAZR (totally my fault). The D900, I picked it up off my desk the other day and the screen was blank and refused to come on. It's going off to be replaced/repaired sometime this week. Of these three phones, they either had a nice design (RAZR, D900) or a nice OS (k700). This made them pretty mediocre phones all-round, although the D900 is the best so far.

The iPhone appeals to me because it's got a very nice design with no moving parts to gum up, though the screen will need protecting. It's also got a very good OS, with a lot of thought gone in to what a phone is mainly used for. ie. Making calls and sending text messages. On some phones now these feature seems almost an afterthought.

Being a music player, it looks like I could sell my iPod. You couldn't do that with the Motorola ROKR even though it was supposed to be a music phone. Battery life would be a big concern though. How much would 2 hours music listening shorten the phone talk time? Will reserve judgement on that until I can actually get my paws on a working model.

The internet/email stuff is not something I use now as data transfer is too expensive. This having built-in wi-fi could well convert me on to using it. It'd be good for taking on trips instead of my laptop.

Something that would be a killer feature for me would be having skype on there and using that when I'm connected to a suitable network rather than my cellular network provider. No wi-fi? Use Vodafone at whatever price they charge at the moment. Got wi-fi? Use skype to call at a fraction of the Vodafone price.

Size & price are something I'll reserve judgement on until I can handle a working model. Trying to judge sizes without actually holding it is just too tricky. Price? We'll have to wait and see what they set it at in the UK. Aaaaand that brings us to the release date. Fourth quarter 2007. Too damn long.