The longest iPhone commercial you'll ever see is available on Apple's Web site.
The company on Friday posted a 20-minute guided tour of the device that is one of the most exhaustive looks yet at that iPhone thing you might have heard about. A really nice, enthusiastic man wearing a black shirt (no, not that one) takes you through the various features of the iPhone, including making phone calls, listening to music, sending e-mail, browsing the Web, and using applications like Google Maps.
Alas, the technical details we've all been waiting for are not to be found. But if you're looking for a sense of how the user interface works on the iPhone, this is a good place to start. There didn't seem to be a whole lot of new things Apple hasn't disclosed, but the company does address some of the early suspicions about the touch screen keyboard.
Apple recommends that "it's easiest to begin typing with just your index finger," gradually working your way up to two-thumb BlackBerry-style typing. That won't be hard for the hunt-and-peckers in this office.
The video also shows how the iPhone predicts what you might be about to type, but it does it in a little window above the line you're actually typing. So if it screws up, you don't have to erase the wrong word it chose, you can just ignore the prediction.
"In about a week you'll be typing faster on the iPhone than on any other small keyboard, especially if you trust the intelligence of the keyboard," according to the nice man in the video. In exactly a week, I'll be ready for another vacation.