iPhone 3G
A reviewer, Matthew Powell for Macworld Australia has decided to replace his Blackberry with an iPhone for “its ease of use, “speedy” web browsing, and great media playing functionality, but [he] noted the Mail client needs just a bit more work.”
3G (New)
Being in Canada and having Rogers as my carrier, I never used EDGE on iPhone. I would be broke right now and perhaps homeless. However, I did notice that 3G drains the battery very quickly, even faster than WiFi does. It’s good practice to charge the iPhone every day. Just plug it when you go to sleep.
Design (New)
According to Wikipedia, the iPhone 3G is 0.7 millimeter thicker and 2 grams lighter than the first generation. Strangely, the device feels thinner even though it isn’t, and although the change in weight is very small, it feels much lighter. It must be because of the new curve in the back. I don’t know what calculations, measure and studies Apple went through to end up with that arc behind the iPhone 3G, but it feels very good. The sleep/wake, silent and volume button are metallic, as opposed to plastic in the previous model. Those are the only differences. It’s a challenge to tell both models apart without seeing thier back.
App Store (New)
I will write a separate post about this. It is an innovation in itself. Applications are submitted and must get approved before being added to the store. Unlike other devices like Nokia phones, for which pretty much any applications can be created without regulations. The cost of apps typically range from Free to $10 with very few exceptions that are $15, $20 and $70. If you find that an application is taking too much space, you can just delete it. If you ever need it again, you will be able to download it again free of charge.
Games (New)
Games are part of the App Store, but I find that it deserves its own section. Somehow, Apple not only managed to get into the music industry and the mobile phone industry, but it also got into gaming with the iPhone 3G. There is a high demand for iPhone games. This is mainly due to great games that are very affordable. Consumers don’t have to pay $70 anymore to get high quality entertainment. The best games make extensive use of technologies used for the iPhone such as the accelerometer and the multitouch interface.
GPS and Maps (New)
In Montreal, with a few clouds in the sky, the GPS is incredibly accurate and the iPhone 3G only takes a few seconds to pinpoint your location. I have encountered moments when it kept searching for my location without success. I switched it off and on, and GPS worked fine again. People have been wondering how it compares with the GPS of the Nokia N95. Accuracy is the same, but reception is much better on the iPhone 3G. I have tried in a car on a rainy and GPS was as good as under the sunny sky. I am very impressed.
Sound Quality (New)
The speakerphone is louder. That is the only difference I noticed. It’s great for gaming. Super Monkey Ball and Crash Bandicoot sound good. It should be noted that when playing or watching videos in landscape mode, it’s odd to hear sound coming out only on one side.
Screenshots (New)
This is a new built-in feature to take screenshots of the iPhone. You can take a screenshot everytime you press the Sleep button, while holding the Home button. It’s doesn’t work while the phone is locked. What a bummer.
Visual Voicemail
My previous iPhone was unlocked and jailbroken, so I didn’t have visual voicemail. Not having to go through several messages before listening to the one you want to hear is extremely convenient. Being able to drag the slider to hear any specific part of a message is a great option. Despite the fact that visual voicemail is much better than regular voicemail, I would still rather receive emails. It also occurred to me that I can easily change my greeting anytime on the fly. It’s only a matter of recording and accepting the changes.
Bluetooth tethering (Wanted)
I added the word tethering to refer to using the phone to connect a computer to the internet, but I could just remove that word. Bluetooth on the iPhone can only be used with a headset. There should be more use to that like transferring files and syncing.
Email attachments (Wanted)
When sending a message, users can only attach one photo. It would be nice to be able to attach other file types as well.
File access (Wanted)
Unless the iPhone is jailbroken, users can’t access files on the device and move things around. It’s great for the fact that people can’t screw up, but the ability to use the iPhone for storage of any type of file would be a definite plus.
MMS (Wanted)
One of the argument for not implementing this feature is that iPhone users can send email with photos as attachments. That’s it, people can only send photos as attachments. And sometimes, people would rather send something to be received instantaneously rather than wait for their recipient to check their email later.
Ringtones and Alerts Customization
A year ago, people weren’t able to set their own ringtones for free. A year later, this hasn’t changed. Here’s a tip: Convert a song to AAC with iTunes, find the new file, rename the extension to m4r, add the file to the iTunes Library and it’s now in Ringtones. I think the sound file can’t be more than 30 seconds to be a ringtone.
Spotlight-like Search (Wanted)
I was looking for a specific email and thought it would be nice to be able to just search rather than look around. The step further is to implement a way to search just like Spotlight.
Video recording (Wanted)
Last year, it was said that 3G would kill the iPhone battery and this year, we have proof of that. I haven’t heard anybody say it yet, but I think video recording would will the iPhone battery even more. However, none of it means that users don’t want that feature.
Better Battery (Wanted)
I did not intend to write this, but seeing how 3G drains the battery and with the App Store and its games, people will use this device very intensively. I would consider battery improvements to be the top priority.
Let’s end this post with some iPhone 3G stats: Over 3 days, 1 million iPhones sold and 10 million downloads in the App Store (thanks to Mitch for that link).
There will be another iPhone post concerning the App Store and some applications and games.
Previous posts related to the iPhone:
Applications and Games on iPhone
Reasons Why I Chose the 8 GB iPhone 3G Instead of 16 GB
My Experience in Line on iPhone 3G Launch Day
Limited Time iPhone Promotion From Rogers
Rich People Won’t Buy the iPhone 3G in Canada
Possible iPhone Cost for 3 Years in Canada
