It’s been less than a week since Apple launched its eagerly awaited iPhone in the UK. Queues formed outside Apple and O2 stores on Friday evening as consumers and business owners alike clambered for the chance to get their hands on what has been dubbed by some techno geeks as ‘The Jesus phone’, for its supposed divine combination of touch screen, wi-fi online capabilities, fully-fledged video ipod and yep, you guessed it – a phone.

But is this just a gadget-crazed consumer’s dream come true? What can it offer the average small business owner? And can it topple the mighty Blackberry off its business communications perch? 

I managed to get hold of one to find out what all the fuss it about, and here’s what I thought:

Within five minutes of playing around with the iPhone it’s clear that this is like no other device I’ve ever used.  There’s just one button on the face of the phone all other functions are controlled via the touch-sensitive surface which fills the entire screen.

And what of the interface? Well in a word: Easy. The software is both user-friendly and intuitive. The internet browser works like any you may use on a desktop PC, accessing and displaying web pages as they are intended, rather than scaling them back as most mobile devices do. Emails also appear in their original HTML format, displaying pictures and logos. 

All this is achieved by running a scaled-down version of the operating system used on Apple computers. Further functions of the iPhone make up a list as long as your arm, including wi-fi access – which makes for lightning fast internet access, an iPod with widescreen video function, an editable calendar and application tools including YouTube and Google Maps, all of which can be synced with your PC or Mac with great ease.

Now I may be slightly biased because I’ve well and truly fallen in love with this device, but for keeping in touch on the move it’s a cut above the rest. Laptops are heavy and cumbersome, requiring either an ethernet or wi-fi connection and mobile phones don’t access the ‘proper’ internet, and their small screens often make for unpleasurable reading.

But will this phone be replacing your Blackberry?  Perhaps not just yet. You may have a bit of trouble if you want to edit Word and Excel documents on the move. Another disadvantage is that it doesn’t run on 3G so internet connections are likely to be slow when you’re not in a wi-fi area.

So it may not be the most business friendly mobile device out there, but on the other hand, it’s just so cool. I really don’t want to give mine back.

Thinking of getting an iPhone yourself? Already got hold of one? Let us know your thoughts on the new device in the box below