The front of the i700 is simple and straightforward. From left to right a shutter release button, a built-in microphone beneath it, the 35mm to 105mm (equiv) optical zoom f-2.6 lens, and the built-in flash. Moving around to one side, there's a USB port and an AV-out receptacle for viewing images on TV. On the opposite side of the camera, there's an external power receptacle and two memory card slots: one that'll take Compact Flash I and II, and the other, a PC Type II, the kind you'll find on most laptops.

Which, of course, opens many possibilities, one of which is that you can use (with an appropriate adapter) any kind of memory card, transfer images from one type of card to another, and still have an additional 8MB back-up of built-in internal memory storage. Another is that you can use a communications card to interface with a wired or wireless carrier or network (more about that later).

The top-deck, status LCD is right over the lens so it's easy to see your settings. Below it, there's a self-timer button, another for four flash modes (including slow synch to lighten dark backgrounds), a button to select which card (or internal memory) to record on, and one for resolution and compression settings. Below them is the main mode dial which allows choices of Setup, Movie, Continuous Shooting, Text, Voice Memo, Still Picture, Play, PC, and Communication. Moving right, there's the main shutter release button and over it, the zoom rocker control. Time for a deep breath

The back of the i700 has additional buttons for LCD contrast adjustment, turning the display on or off, menus, and powering up the camera. What's particularly nice is that most of the i700's buttons are single function­ you don't have to remember what does what and when. The optical viewfinder (which has diopter adjustment) sits just next to the battery compartment. Finally, along the bottom edge running lengthwise, a stylus sheathed in metal waits, like Excaliber, to give its user mastery over the i700's touch screen kingdom.

And what a screen it is! Able to swivel in almost any direction, it is 3.5 inches of brilliance– clear, colorful, and computer-like. Menus come up big and sharp, text and image detail is excellent, and below it, on a different deck, more buttons are arrayed to handle functions like macro (as close as a half inch), exposure compensation, white balance, navigating through menus, and inputting and retrieving of communications data. If you don't like using buttons, use the stylus, or your finger tip. Nearly forgot– there's also built-in speaker on that deck for playback of sound.

Ah, but can it take good pictures? Yes, indeed. Under certain lighting conditions I found a very slight color shift –for example, purples look a bit blue– but that's on the monitor, only. The actual captured images are excellent; they'll stand head-to-head or toe-to-toe with anyone's. And with minimal shutter lag and shot-to-shot time in both Record and Playback at a second or less, its faster than many of its contemporaries. You may not like the shape of the camera, but this isn't a conventional digicam nor, for that matter only a digicam, so form follows function. I personally can live quite well with it– in fact, I'm going to find it hard to live without.

Especially since it's perfect for what's just around the corner. By the end of this year, a new, fast, wireless communications system will be implemented in the U.S. called 2.5G– always on standby to transmit packets of data whenever you're ready to send them. You'll need that PC slot on the i700 for a communications card– either a modem that'll plug into your cellphone or a standalone cardphone with its own antenna. Armed with a 2.5G enabled cellphone or cardphone, your images will fly anywhere, anytime, to anyone at 115kbps and more– eventually they'll rocket at 384kbps, fast enough to transmit movies and music.

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