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So the Apple iPhone is now out. And the verdict is slowly trickling down the grapevine. While it's a gorgeous phone to look at, and perhaps even ok to use, there are also a lot of annoyances that needs smoothing out. PC Magazine gave it a 4/5 rating, which is pretty good. Like most reviewers, they find the display very well made. But as a cellphone, they have this to say:

When he announced the iPhone, Steve Jobs said to expect three things: "an incredibly great cell phone," "the best iPod we've ever made," and "the Internet in your pocket." One out of three isn't bad. Yes, the iPhone is best iPod ever—ironic for something not even called an iPod! But it's just a plain lousy phone, and although it makes some exciting advances in handheld Web browsing, it's not the Internet in your pocket.

and

it isn't a very good phone. Call quality was the worst we've heard on a high-end device in years. We're not going to put that on AT&T, either: our Blackberry Curve made much clearer calls at the same time, in the same place. Reception leaves something to be desired. It's complicated to dial, difficult to send text messages on, and missing all sorts of features that are basically assumed to be in most high-end multimedia phones nowadays.

So, it's just a techie gadget and iPod masquerading as a cellphone. Apple may be a genius with techie gadgets, but they're still figuring out how to make a better phone.

Ars Technica has a more positive impression with the iPhone. They also noticed that despite all the hoopla, the iPhone isn't flying off the shelves as was expected by the Apple fanatics. CNET reported the same. Also, CNET gave the iPhone a pretty good 8/10 excellent rating. Paul Thurrott, webmaster of the SuperSite for Windows, points out the glaring deficiencies with the iPhone design and usability.

As for me, I'll give the v1.0 iPhone a pass. I'll stick with my SonyEricsson a little longer and wait for Apple to iron out the kinks.