Apple iPhone 3GS Black (16 GB) Smartphone

Please read my reviews on the iPhone and the iPhone 3G for detail on these previous phones:

iPhone - http://www.epinions.com/review/Apple_iPhone_4_GB_Cellular_Phone/content_429900533380

iPhone3G - http://www.epinions.com/review/Apple_iPhone_3G_8_GB_Smartphone/content_436824542852



Apple’s cash cow is its Software. As I mentioned in the previous reviews, the iPhone OS   does double duty as the iPod touch OS and the only true difference is that the widgets are cut or added to match the extra functions found on the phones but not on the iPod.  The Phone has the [phone] widget,  [SMS] widget  and of course, the [camera] widget while the iPod does not.   That’s the only thing separating the two devices.  Well…that and the fact APPLE charges $10 for software upgrades on the iPod touch while phone owners get automatic updates through iTunes.
Therefore,  it becomes necessary for me to split my review of the iPhone 3GS into two different explanations. The first is the explanation of the Hardware in the new phone while the second is the explanation of the software (OS 3.0).    People with the iPhone or iPhone 3G have access to version 3.0 but they won’t benefit from the added functionality of the new camera, the new CPU or the built in compass. 


DO YOU NEED AN IPHONE 3GS?

As far as I’m concerned, the iPhone3G  is already the best possible smartphone you can buy. Although some phones such as the PALM PRE and the TMOBILE G1 have their own niches, the iPhone is the best all around touchscreen device and if you are a newcomer to AT&T and iPhone…this is the phone you want to have if you want the most versatile and the best supported device on the market.
Unfortunately, as I pointed out in the 3G review, AT&T is the main problem for the iPhone.   They are basically extorting us with ridiculous data and text prices.   With no SMS and unlimited data added to the cheapest minutes plan, I am still paying over $80 a month for this phone.  
What’s worse is that Apple and AT&T have ultra-strict rules regarding the iPhone.
If you are brand new to AT&T, you are eligible to buy into iPhone3GS  for $199 (16GB model)  or for $299 (32 GB model) . But, if you got your iPhone or iPhone3G from EBAY or from another person, you are automatically ineligible for upgrades and will have to front the entire true cost of the iPhone 3GS to buy one.  The 16GB model retails for $399 and the 32GB  goes for $499 with the 2 year contract.
If you don’t want to buy on contract, the 16GB will run you $599 and the 32GB will cost $699

If you are currently a iPhone3G owner and you are hypnotized by Apple’s commercials for the phone, know that the only reason you should upgrade is if having a video camera or playing graphic intensive video games is a big deal to you. Otherwise, you can get by just fine using the iPhone3G since the benefits of the 3.0 OS can be had by any iPhone model as well as the iPod touch.


THE HARDWARE…

As far as HARDWARE IMPROVEMENTS GO… the iPhone 3GS is a major improvement over the iPhone  and only a minor improvement over the iPhone 3G.  Wherein the iPhone 3G added nothing more than the 3G antennae  and  the proper 3.5mm Headphone jack it should have had  in the first place,  the iPhone 3GS improves upon the 3G by having:
#1 An oleophobic coating on the screen which resists oil from the skin and smudges,
#2  A new  magnetic compass  inside
#3  a 3.2 Megapixel Camera with autofocus that can finally take video clips
#4 a new  battery that provides more stamina during certain functions
and
#5  a new CPU that boosts processing power from 412 MHz  to around 600 MHz – along with a memory increase from 128MB RAM to 256MB RAM  (which coincidentally required the battery upgrade)

The most important addition to the iPhone in my opinion is the new processor and memory upgrades.   The new, faster CPU’s power cannot be seen or felt unless you are using a graphically intensive application such as a 3D game, Google Maps,  or another application where large amounts of data are retreieved such as  the Calendar or Myspace/ Facebook.
The game I play most is called “Galaxy on Fire”  which cost $3 on the App Store.   It is a space combat simulator similar to “Colony Wars” from the original Playstation. The game doesn’t have slowdown on the older iPhone 3G but, it does have long load times and sometimes choppy startup graphics unless you do a memory dump by rebooting.    The new iPhone 3GS boots up this game quicker, loads stages quicker and I noticed smoother edges to missile trails and sharper ship textures.
I also love the way GOOGLE maps boots faster and the transitions between sections load almost 3 times faster as I pan around the map.
Naturally, higher CPU performance requires a higher capacity battery, and the 3GS has that.  While I haven’t had enough time to test the standby time for a full week, I noticed that the phone lasts longer on my home and office Wifi and I when I watch Youtube videos the battery meter doesn’t decline as quickly.  I will update this review after about 2 weeks to determine if I get more 3G talk time with this new hardware.

As for Google Maps…  the built in magnetic compass  allows the iPhone to properly locate magnetic and true North.  If you turn on the map, and then spin around, the phone matches your orientation by spinning the map.    This is a decent addition to the map because you can actually use the iPhone 3G for turn by turn directions now. The Map software is absolutely brilliant in that you can search for directions between two points via walking, bus or train.  I’ve played with it and plotting a trip from my house to my neighbors is just as simple as plotting a trip from my house to Hollywood, California.


CAMERA
Besides the CPU upgrade, the Camera gets a big upgrade too. The new 3 MP autofocus camera  manages to squeeze more detail into pictures, but, unfortunately, the image quality isn’t as good as what I saw on the PALM Pre and some of the Samsung cameras. In fact, the lighting adjustments aren’t that good either and the 3GS still doesn’t have an LED flash.
The two things that are nice are the new ability to tap on the screen to focus in on specific sections of the picture and the camera now placing the last picture you took on the corner as a thumbnail/shortcut to the Camera roll.
Of course, the real addition to the 3GS is the new Video Camera mode. Its exactly what you’d expect if you’ve used an iPhone or OSX on an iMac before.   You can take video clips in VGA mode at around 30 fps and they are stored similar to snapped photos.  The video quality is good enough to use in emails  to your loved ones or  in court as evidence.

And the SOFTWARE UPGRADES…

First of all, I must say that since iPhone version 2.0’s addition of APP store, I’ve never been anything less than constantly impressed by iPhone.    The app store in and of itself, allows you instant access to just about anything  you could possibly want on your phone and if you have programming skills, allows you to invent apps and share them with the world.
For example… when I worked in banking, we used mortgage calculators. They are special calculators that cost around $50 online. If you have any 3 parts of the 4 aspects of a mortgage (interest rate, loan period, monthly payment or loan amount)  the mortgage calculator automatically gives you the 4th.  I downloaded a mortgage calculator - FOR FREE -from the App store called “LOAN U LATER”.  I now have a mortgage calculator that shows every single loan aspect plus, the amortization schedule of the loan…something a $50 loan calculator can’t tell you  because of its simple LCD screen.
Earlier today, I was talking to someone about my new phone and explaining to them why they should buy the PALM Pre since they are locked into Sprint. They wanted to know what kind of games I could get on my iPhone and I quickly showed them how easy it was to download a game over the building’s Wifi, install it and then play it.    
App Store alone makes the iPhone and the iPod touch worth owning because you have access to millions of Apps, aside from the millions of songs on iTunes and the millions of videos you can watch on Youtube.   The iPhone is the antithesis of “boring”.
You want internet radio? You can simply download AOL RADIO or PANDORA radio from App store and then use either your 3G connection or WiFi to listen to just about any type of content you can think of.

FIXES/Improvements

There are some major points I was annoyed with in the older software that the 3.0 OS has fortunately taken care of.
#1  Instead of only being able to place a single picture in an email, now, you can place multiple pictures in that email by pressing the modify button while in  photo roll mode.  Tap the pics you want to send and a small check appears on them. Then you can continue to the message and send the mail.
#2  Wifi Hotspots such as McDonalds and Starbucks will now be automatically authenticated and signed into after your first use.
#3  Pictures from the Camera Roll can be copied and then pasted into messages such as those you’d send over AOL Instant Messenger.
Due to the fact that the majority of my phone use is relegated to texting on AIM and sending pictures to my AIM contacts, it feels great to be able to skip the emailing step and simply send pictures via Instant Message.  

The iPhone 3.0 Operating system now supports COPY /PASTING.   It’s a feature that most other smart phones and PDA’s have had, but iPhone hasn’t – and, its been a major criticism across the multiple iPhone Operating systems.
The implementation is pretty good.  You simply tap and hold the screen to bring up the COPY/PASTE/SELECT ALL menu. Then you’ll see small blue pins come up which will indicate the field you will manually select. Once you drag the pins you can select the text (or picture)  and then press COPY.  You can then paste that text in a text message, Instant message, email, etc.  This comes in handy for sharing URL’s or for showing a friend something you saw in a news report.
The last major software upgrade I will mention  (though there are numerous other tweaks) is the new support for the keyboard to rotate into landscape mode for all Apps you’d use that will support a landscaped keyboard.  Although AIM doesn’t support it, all native iPhone Apps will, now.


VOICE CONTROL

Voice Control is now a feature on the 3GS (not on the 3G though).  I never really liked using voice commands, even in my car, but it is a great option that i think some people might find useful.

Voice control is activated by pressing and holding the home button or the center button on your headphones.  After a short tone
you can dial by voice  ("7-1-8 - 5 - 5- 5- 1 - 2- 1 - 2")   or you can tell the phone to call someone and then say their name ("call Michael") - a feature many phones already have.

When using the iPod itself, you can automatically control it by pressing and holding the button and then saying things such as "play songs by Michael Jackson",  "Play playlist Rap". 

Its just like the voice technology I experienced in Microsoft's SYNC in the Lincoln MKS, with the addition that you can ask "What song is this" and the computer can tell you the name of the track and the aurthor.

'Genius' Music catergorizer from iTunes  is also supported if you simply tell the iPod to "play songs like this".

Its a fun gimmick to play with which can increase accessibility to the handicapped, but do you really want to be speaking commands in a public place?  I'd perfer a good set of A2DP Headphones.

Also worth noting is that the 3.0 version adds 'shake to shuffle' functionality to the iPhone/iPod touch.  But, would you really want to wave around a $500 cellphone?



ADVANCED BLUETOOTH NETWORKING

The iPhone 3.0 OS finally allows us to tether our iPhones  to our laptops and use Bluetooth stereo protocol A2DP.
“Data Tethering” allows you to connect your iPhone to your laptop/PC via USB cable or Bluetooth connection and use your 3G data service as a makeshift internet connection (cellular modem).  The problem however is that AT&T currently does not allow tethering. AT&T doesn’t want people pushing/pulling large amounts of data via 3G because it can clog up the networks, and therefore they will charge big bucks for you to do so.

You'll need to visit your carrier's website and download a "mobileconfig" file, before you can start tethering.  When you have done this, you can then use the phone as a modem and fortunately, you'll have full access to the phone while using it in tether mode.


The iPhone now supports A2DP  which is the Bluetooth streaming audio profile for wireless Bluetooth headphones. I was expecting Apple to release a brand new style of headphones with built in mic and chargeable battery, but,  they haven’t done so yet.  If and when they do, I’m already committed  to buy so long as the price is under $100.  I absolutely hate having wires in between my expensive phone and my head because that also implies that you must have your phone in your hand exposed to the elements and the possibility of dropping it (which I have accidentally done before). 

OVERALL
The iPhone 3GS is a great phone for newcomers to iPhone, but, a marginal improvement over the iPhone3G which many of us currently own.  Frankly, the most important parts of the 3GS are the data tethering and the A2DP which were also on the iPhone and the iPhone3G, but, were crippled and unusable unless you used hacks against the phone. Fortunately, with competition coming from HTC, PALM and NOKIA, apple has finally decided to unclench its firm fist (a little) on its leapfrog device to give users features they should have had a long time ago.
The 3GS is a solid upgrade over the 3G and its easily the top of the heap.


RELATED PHONES


iPhone - http://www.epinions.com/review/Apple_iPhone_4_GB_Cellular_Phone/content_429900533380

iPhone3G - http://www.epinions.com/review/Apple_iPhone_3G_8_GB_Smartphone/content_436824542852

Blackberry Storm - http://www.epinions.com/review/RIM_BlackBerry_Storm_9530_Cell_Phone/content_452311813764

Tmobile G1 - http://www.epinions.com/review/HTC_G1_Cellular_Phone/content_454984765060

Palm Pre - http://www.epinions.com/review/Palm_Pre_Cell_Phone/content_473011621508