New iPhone usage revelations from Apple: Swipe deletion, typing tips, Wi-Fi on/off, much more

As reported earlier today, Apple has posted a new 20-minute iPhone "guided tour" video (click here to view). The demonstration offers some interesting revelations about the device's usage, including:

• The host talks about "16" applications -- presumably the 12 periphery apps (including Google Maps, Calendar, SMS, etc.) and the 4 core apps: Phone, Mail, Safari and iPod.
• The Home button always takes you back to the home screen, no matter what function is being performed. Once you've gone to the home screen, a blinking status indicator will generally allow you to quickly switch back to the function you were performing (e.g. return to the phone call interface).
• There is a "Recents" button for phone calls that gives you a list of all the dialed, received and missed calls. Missed calls are displayed in red. You can filter by only missed calls.
• While the interface for switching between or merging phone calls (when one person is on hold) certainly looks intuitive, it looks easy to accidentally press touch the wrong button and merge calls when you meant to switch.
• When using the iPod function, rotating to a horizontal orientation automatically switches to CoverFlow.
• Movies always play with a horizontal orientation, despite the physical orientation of the iPhone.
• You can change the buttons at the bottom of the iPod function. For instance, you can drag the "Podcasts" button to the bottom for easy access.
• The included stereo headset's controls allow you to advance to to the next song by double-clicking.
• Google is set as the default search in Safari, but you can switch it to Yahoo.
• The keyboard is dynamic. When using Safari, for instance, there is a ".com" button.
• Email can be deleted by simply swiping the finger across a message then tapping the delete button, as can SMS sessions and presumably other items (see screenshot at right)
• Microsoft Word documents open natively.
• Apple says it is easiest to begin typing "just with your index finger," but that as users become more accustomed, they can use two thumbs. Apple says "In about a week you'll be typing faster on the iPhone than any other small keyboard."
• There is a search function for adding new stock tickers to the Stocks widget.
• You can zoom out in various applications by tapping once with two fingers.
• There is a "Traffic" button in Google Maps with color indicators for potential delay spots.
• The YouTube function has buttons for "Most Viewed," "Featured," "Bookmarks," and "Search."
• Tapping once on YouTube videos brings up controls.
• There is a button in the YouTube function that allows you to quickly email a video URL to another user.
• We get our first look at the Settings screen (see screenshot at right), with options for Airplane mode, wallpaper, ringtones and more.
• Wi-Fi can be turned on or off to save battery life.
• Various applications are controlled from within settings. For instance, you can change how often the iPhone automatically checks for email, how many lines of each email are displayed in the preview, font size, and more.

Feedback? info@iphoneatlas.com.