FAQ: From 'iPhonies' to iFacts, we answer your iPhone questions

Does that mean Verizon is more "evil" than AT&T? No. They're both businesses, and Verizon made the decision it felt was best; AT&T took a gamble that seems to be paying off, if the latest subscriber numbers are accurate.

Steve Ballmer said the iPhone was...

Stop again. What did I tell you about a Ballmer quote concerning Apple? He's wrong. He has a competing product to sell ? what would you expect him to say?

Is a 3G-capable iPhone coming?

Yes.

When?

Ask Steve Jobs. If you don't know him, you'll have to wait like the rest of us. The Magic 8-Ball says, "It's coming this month."

Should I buy an iPhone now?

Normally, I'd say that's highly dependent on your current needs. But at this moment, I can't recommend buying. We're so close to Apple's Worldwide Developers Conference, which starts June 9, and there's a definite lack of iPhones in the wild. I'm sure this is not a coincidence. With rumors stating that the new iPhone model will have an onboard front-facing camera for videoconferencing, built-in GPS, fast 3G data transfer, higher-capacity memory, a more nifty case design, and the ability to make toast to go, I think it's a safe bet to wait a couple of weeks. (I'm kidding about the toast.) Even if none of these features appeals to you, you'll still benefit from any price drop for the previous-generation model.

Other phones have touch screens now. Are they like the iPhone's?

While competitors continue to increase the number of phones with touch screens, no other phone has multi-touch capability, and this missing feature alone guarantees a half-hearted touch-screen experience. Multi-touch is the ability to use multiple fingers to perform actions. Its execution means everything in the world of touch screens. On a small screen, space is extremely limited, and every button, element or line takes up precious real estate. It's not long before small screens get cluttered, leaving little room for displaying actual media or data. Consider this scenario: zooming in and out on digital photos. With a non-Apple interface, I can press an on-screen magnifying icon to zoom in and out. To move to the next photo, I press arrows on the screen. If the developers designed the interface well enough, there would be a simple way to get the interface elements out of the way so I can view my media full-screen. However, with an interface that supports multi-touch -- such as the one on the iPhone -- you can use multiple fingers to invoke a response, say "pinching" two fingers together to zoom in and out of photographs, Web pages, maps, e-mails and their attachments. Multi-touch support allows you to perform actions without cluttering up the interface.

You're obviously biased, or a fanboy, or both. What are other people saying about the other touch-screen phones?

Ya think? Anyway, here's a review from the Chicago Tribune of two potential iPhone killers: the LG Vu and the Verizon XV6900. If you wish to skip the gory details, here's a few quotes: