By Darius Chang
29/06/2007
URL: http://asia.cnet.com/reviews/notebooks/0,39050495,62025966,00.htm

Possibly the most anticipated handheld since the Treo, the announcement of the iPhone at this year's MacWorld created a six-month buzz. Finally, on June 29 at 6pm, US customers will finally be able to get their iPhone fix, while the rest of the whole will have to wait at least another six months.

The iPhone has been hailed as a fusion between an iPod, a PDA and a phone, with a revolutionary interface that is said to put all other PDA-phones to shame. But without the ability to synchronize with your computer, one will not be able to realize the full potential of this device. Before you drop a wad of cash for the latest Apple PDA handheld, read on to see if you need to upgrade your system.

Do I really need to sync with the desktop?
Unless you want your iPhone to be the only device in which you store your contact information and emails, you will most probably need to sync with your current address book so that both your system and handheld are up to date with the latest information. Moreover, since there is no confirmation if the iPhone will be able to download tunes and videos over-the-air from the iTunes store, transferring your multimedia collection from your desktop or notebook might be the only method available.

	The most anticipated handheld since the Treo. (Click for specifications)

Do I need a Mac to connect to the iPhone?
Hell no. Recognizing that the majority of consumers are using PCs with Windows operating system, the iPhone can be used with Windows XP Home or Professional edition with Service Pack 2 installed as well as any flavor of Windows Vista. If you have an old Mac, just make sure you have at least Mac OS X Tiger (10.4.10 or later). Of course, iTunes 7.3 or later is a must for either platforms.

Is my current hardware good enough?
Since iPhone links to your system via USB, it is advisable that your current machine has at least one free USB 2.0 port. Of course, the device is also compatible with the older USB 1.1 standard, but be prepared to wait an eternity when transferring your music collection.

If you have a Mac, you will be happy to know as that long as your system has a PowerPC G3 processor and above with at least 256MB of RAM, you can run Mac OS X. Windows XP system requirements are also low, needing only a 233MHz chip and 128MB memory to install. In both case, most systems purchased in the last three years should not require any major upgrades.

Things get a little more high-end with the Vista operating system. For this, you need at least a 1GHz processor with 512MB memory and a DirectX 9-compatible graphics card to even install the Home Basic. For other versions, a 128MB video card and a minimum of 1GB are needed. Note that the above allows you to only install the operating system. We advise you to at least double the stated specs if you want Vista to run at an acceptable speed.

	Mac OS X	Windows XP	Windows Vista Home Basic	Windows Vista (others)
Processor	PowerPC G3 and above; Intel Core Duo and above	233MHz	1GHz	1GHz
Memory	256MB	128MB	512MB	1GB
Graphics	Integrated or discrete graphics card	Super VGA-capable card	DirectX 9-capable with 32MB video RAM	DirectX 9-capable with 128MB video RAM; WDDM Driver; Hardware Pixel Shader 2.0; 32 bits per pixel
Harddisk space	3GB	1.5GB	20GB	40GB

If you run Linux or any other operating systems, sad to say you may be out of luck. Apple's Web site does not mention support for these programs, and there are no versions of Microsoft Outlook or iTunes announced for them, either.

Is USB the only way to connect to the iPhone?
The iPhone is equipped with Bluetooth, Wi-Fi and EDGE connectivity. Though we need an actual unit to verify, it is likely that an alternative to the wired USB is the Bluetooth radio. It may be possible to sync over-the-air via Wi-Fi or mobile data networks, but let's not jump the gun yet.

What applications will the iPhone sync with?
According to reports, iPhones will not support the installation of third-party applications. If you want user-created content, they have to be accessed through the Web browser. Fortunately, the iPhone syncs with Microsoft Outlook on the PC or with Mac Address Book and Entourage out-of-the-box.

What multimedia file formats does it support?
Video codecs: H.264; MPEG-4.
Audio codecs: AAC; protected AAC; MP3; MP3 VBR; Audible; Apple Lossless; Aiff; WAV.