As I was about to buy a nokia N8 with its Xenon Flash , best low light video recorder etc . I had the nagging thought to check out the magic apps of the iphone .
I am very impressed by Iforce and Mental Killer , and several others ....and almost swayed to live with an LED flash .
But the question really is ..
Are your spectators impressed that much or do they think : Its the clever phone !
Does it do anything that you could not get a better reaction some other way ?
I really cant decide myself so I would really appreciate opinions of those that have used it . And particularly any effect or combination that make the Iphone a must have item .

Hi Roki
Ive got to say that people are really impressed by iforce but wether you should buy an iphone just for that is questionable.
Basically the iphone is an awesome internet device....If your into music there is an app called tuneinradio that gives you access to approx 40 000 stations worldwide...Its great for checking emails and googling on the go.
also its good if you want your ipod on the go...

As a phone though iphone 4 is not great...When you dial a number and the you want loudspeaker you have to hit another button first to take you to that screen..I find the nokia calendar a little more user friendly,the iphone loudspeaker is poor people can barely hear you so you have to pick up(while driving anyway) battery life isn't as good as a nokia and texting on the touchscreen is harder than with a nokia due to spelling errors.
I was on the fence for a while before finally getting an iphone and I think even though theyr'e not perfect overall it is a good option..
To answer your q about wether the audience is really impressed by iforce the answer is yes but it also depends on how well you sell the effect.You could achieve the same thing with and ind** and a billet ******

Iforce and having an integrated ipod were the reasons I switched and while its not perfect Im glad I did.

Thanks Luke , Great answer , you have my dilema exactly . Useful information for me to chew on .

Also man one other thing, the video on iphone 4 doesn't have zoom..there is one you can download as an app but then the video camera only works in a certain resolution..you might what to check that out if your into the camera side of things.

Luke

"As a phone though iphone 4 is not great...When you dial a number and the you want loudspeaker you have to hit another button first to take you to that screen..I find the nokia calendar a little more user friendly,the iphone loudspeaker is poor people can barely hear you so you have to pick up(while driving anyway) battery life isn't as good as a nokia and texting on the touchscreen is harder than with a nokia due to spelling errors."

It's not great it's awesome.. sorry
When I dial a number it directly takes me to a menue where I can choose the loudspeaker which have a nice quality.
The calender is just a calender..(fine)
The touchscreen (compared to other smartphones) is excellent, really.
(my first iphone) The performance is fantastic. The sensors work like a dream.

no problems at all. For the battery life.. let's see

regards

When you dial you have to hit the 'hide keypad' button before your on the menu with the loudspeaker ..
On a Nokia its available at anytime..
On the iphone 4 if you hit the phone icon it can take you straight to wherever you were before, not necessarily
straight to the keypad so you end up having to push more buttons before you dial
The loudspeaker itself is nowhere near the quality of Nokia's (I had been using Nokia for years before this phone)
Again texting is harder..
The calendar on Nokia is simpler to use due to the ease of scrolling month to month

I'm not saying the iphone 4 is crap,Im glad I got it, I'm saying its a great internet device but it still has so many ways to be improved as a phone

Luke

Ps the reason why it still has so many ways to be improved is because Apple like to leave something in the bag for each new version,hence why they don't bring out a perfect model now..

Luke

Sorry Luke,

when I dial a number -> I hit the green dial button.
After that I am in the menue to push the loudspeaker button..

"No hide a keypad button at all"

I will make a photo for you if you don't believe me.

PS: try to make an update..

Dudes . This is not the place ! There are 20 million posts out there on the details of the iphone . The question is

Magic : Are your spectators giving good reactions to your iphone magic or are they not . Are they seeing it as a clever bit of tech . Would you get the same better reactions without it ?
At least one top magic/mentalism dealer told me he stopped using it for this reason .

The job of making ANY magic effect believable falls upon the performer, not the prop. If you are just going to rely on the phone to do the entertaining it might not be stunningly magical. Some apps, however, do have a built in reaction. Magic Marvels 4 gets a consistent reaction when the participant spells to their card. They are surprised, and feel rewarded and happy that they made the magic happen. That is what you get if you just do the trick and don't really make it a performance.

Personally I think it is important for a magic app to be repeatable. Some are not as they rely on preset dialog or obvious coding systems. Because of the nature and novelty of the phone and magic apps, many people will ask you to show the app to a friend. Failure to be able to do so puts suspicion on the phone and/or the app. Ability to segue into a different routine and not attract suspicion is a performance ability which again would land squarely on the shoulders of the performer.

Good point Tom . .. and absolutely what I mean . I am not saying what can the phone do for me , but what have magicians using the phone found really adds something .
Partly because it is a modern item of shared interest . Its obvious to me that any app trick (including iforce )is more impressive when done with other simpler props ( e.g a piece of paper )
Its the fact that you are using an everyday contemporary object in an unusual way that creates involvement , identifying and suprise .
The current trend of taking magic and mentalism classics and putting them on the phone seems little more than exposure to me . But there are some things appearing that allow a magician to use their magic knowledge With the phone , where the phone is just the participant , and an engaging focal point .

Ok yeh I agree..
I reckon iphone is worth it pretty much just for IForce..its so much more than just predict a number 1-9 as its possible to customize it to different effects..Also its way easier to accomplish effectively things that would otherwise take very strong showmanship to achieve.

Luke