iPhone Duo

I finally got a chance to play with the iPhone Duo at the Apple Store. They seem to be flying off the shelves, but I can tell you after a couple of minutes the Duo is not for me.

I imagine a significant amount of hardware and software engineering went into this thing. The UI effects are cool when you open and close the device. It is heavier than I expected and difficult to hold in one hand. As a phone it has really odd proportions lacking the vertical space I’ve come to expect. A number of apps have moved their UI to the right side of the screen and everything feels cramped. It’s even worse when you have the system keyboard up. 

The Duo is much better as a tablet but still not as good as a dedicated tablet. While you can’t really see the fold, you can definitely feel it when using the device. Maybe it works better for those that need a more portable notebook or tablet (for $2K)?

Overall, it seems like a compromised version of two devices.