My second week with the iPhone has been filled with discovery. As I’ve continued (as is my duty as your faithful reporter) to read and digest iPhone news from print and the web, I’ve discovered is that there are some “journalists” smearing the iPhone’s good name who appear to have never laid a finger (so to speak) on one. This was somewhat excusable in the conjecture and rumor-filled days before the iPhone’s official release, but has become flat-out dishonest as the iPhone’s been publicly available for a couple of weeks.

Perhaps they’re a bit nervous. Despite their best efforts to poo-poo the iPhone before it even appeared (momentarily) in stores, nearly a million iPhones were sold in the first week. That’s more than all the Zunes sold since Microsoft released them last November. Some analysts predict the iPhone will capture up to 10% of the mobile phone market this year, moving it past Windows Mobile-equipped units. There’s a lot at stake.

So, here are two of the myths you may have seen/read/heard from various sources, and the truth (not just the half-truth) about each.

iPhone Myth #1. The iPhone has a hidden battery “fee”. At least, according to MSNBC (the “MS” in there is - you guessed it - MicroSoft). The problem? The battery is not user-accessible, either to swap a charged spare with a drained battery while “on the road”, or to replace a battery that’s just plain tuckered out. To change the battery, you need to send your iPhone back to Apple, losing the use of it for at least three days and lightening your wallet by $79 plus a $6.95 shipping charge. To be fair, the last two sentences are indeed true. However, MSNBC then proceeded to wrongly report that, according to Apple, the iPhone battery would completely die after “300-400 recharges”. More recently, a British web magazine called Mobile Business ran the headline “iPhone’s 12 Month Lifespan”, citing similar (if not just regurgitating MSNBC’s) reports.

Here’s the truth – straight from the Apple’s mouth. “A properly maintained iPhone battery is designed to retain up to 80% of its capacity after 400 full charge and discharge cycles.”

Let’s assume that by pounding the internet, text-messaging until your fingers fall off, and talking till you’re hoarse, you use up one full charge and discharge cycle each day. Contrary to the urgent warnings of tech journalists at MSNBC and elsewhere who apparently can’t read, four-hundred days from now, your iPhone battery wont’ be dead. It will only last 80% as long as it did the day you first charged it. 80% is not “completely” dead, by a long shot. Agenda-driven math is sometimes quirky, to put it nicely.

OK. We’ve expended enough energy on the battery issue. Time to move on.

iPhone Myth #2. The iPhone is crippled by using AT&T’s EDGE (2.5G) wireless data network rather than newer “3G” technology. There’s no doubt that 3G networks are faster than AT&T’s EDGE network. However, 3G network access is also much “sparser” than EDGE. While the EDGE network is available relatively everywhere (yes, even in Mid-Coast Maine), 3G networks are for the most part only available in big-city markets nationwide. For the first version of the iPhone, Apple chose to use the wireless data protocol with the most coverage. What a concept. And, not to harp on the battery issue, but you’ll probably get a charge out of this. It turns out that 3G wireless networks exact a heavier price on battery life than EDGE, as well.

Plus, if your iPhone detects the presence of a WiFi network, it will notify you and ask if you want to leave the relatively slower EDGE network and join in the high-speed fun.