iPhone Simulator

iPhone Simulator is intended for those of you who intend on changing their phone and switching to an iPhone. It displays a virtual replica of an iPhone, enabling you to take the device for a test drive before actually purchasing it.

As its name implies, this application can simulate all the functions of an iPhone, in the attempt to provide an experience as close to the real physical device as possible. Its starts by displaying an interface in the shape of an iPhone, enabling you to enjoy the look and feel of the device on your Windows computer.

The phone's screen shows you the unlock slider, providing hints on how to scroll it with your mouse cursor. Once you do so, the simulator accesses the main menu of the iPhone, enabling you to take a look at all the 'installed' apps.

The simulator integrates basic apps you would find on an iPhone, such as the alarm clock, a calendar, a calculator, a note creator and so on. Please note that you cannot install new apps on the device.

With a single click, you can launch any of the available applications and experiment with writing SMS messages, writing notes or exploring the App Store. Aside from a few of them, apps are not really working. For instance, you cannot use the browser to navigate to a webpage and you cannot search for a location on the map.

Other functions of the iPhone are not functioning also. The simulator does not allow you to type in a phone number or access the address book of the phone.

iPhone Simulator is of no use to developers who want to test their apps. Its only practical use is to allow users who want to buy an iPhone experiment with a virtual version first, in order to view the way an iPhone looks like. And even so, there are similar tools out there that do the same job much better.