After passing up the original iPhone for its lack of features, I finally gave in and got myself an iPhone 3g about two weeks after it was released. After using the device for two months i find myself satisfied with my purchase but also wanting more.
First of all, the upgrades done to the device are well worth the new price point. $199 for the 8 GB version and $299 for 16 GB, of course these prices include an at&t 2 year contract and an added unlimited data plan, let alone being qualified for an upgrade. If not qualified for upgrade pricing, the iPhone 3g will set you back $399 for 8 GB and $499 16 GB.
3G connectivity is the biggest upgrade ( Apple claims twice as fast as the original). Although I only really see the speed difference 90% of the time compared to my old Edge cell phone. Also remember that 3G connectivity is not as abundant as your normal cell connection so check with you network provider. Another hardware upgrade to the "wonder phone" is an actual GPS receiver. This new addition, along with current use of cell towers, makes pin pointing our exact location a lot more accurate, when I moved the little blue pin on the screen would move along with me (so cool). I've heard a lot of people tell me the GPS systems on the phone routinely losses the signal and sometimes takes up to 20 minutes to find your location. However, I have yet to see this type of behavior with my unit. A big selling point for me was the addition of the app store. Now 3rd party developers can design apps that range from games, utilities , social networking , and even voice dialing (a feature that the iPhone 3g does not support right out of the box) to be downloaded via app store and run native on the iPhone. This feature is also available to the first generation iPhone done with a simple firmware update. The App Store has become an unexpected controversy with Apple pulling and denying apps from being sold in the App Store showing little or no reason.... from what I've read. Although i see a lot more time wasting games than actual useful apps, I think the App Store still gets an A+ for giving users the ability to customize their iPhone 3G.
With all the extra goodies on board for the second generation iPhone, there still is a few qualities M.I.A. The same two megapixel camera can only shoot still images. You would think some one would write an app to utilize the camera to take video or at least Apple would allow such an app to be in the App Store. I don't know why Apple would overlook such a now basic feature to be added to the iPhone. For a lot of people I spoke with this was a real big deal breaker. For they were sold on the idea of having YouTube come standard on the iPhone but let down by the fact that they couldn't record video on to it and then uploaded on to their YouTube account. Bummer.
Compatibility with Microsoft's Exchange comes standard on the iPhone now, but still no MMS messaging. For all the photos your iPhone can hold, there still is no simple way to send them to another cell phone within a text message. Although you can email a photo to another cell phone by using the recipient's wireless carrier info( check out this web link to find out to do this........http://iphone.macworld.com/2007/08sending_and_receiving_mms_on_y_1.php), this is hardly a solution and requires you find out who your contact's wireless server provider is.
Apple, once again, decided to leave out cut and paste functionality. Although I myself never found it to be a real thorn in my side, it like a proper 2nd generation feature to include. Oh yeah, you can also view but not edit your text and word documents, once again I myself has never had a real desire for this feature but I'm sure the ability to work on your documents while on the road would be a welcomed one.
All in all I think this is a well rounded all in one gadget sure to sell like hot cakes. Apple has once again set technology trend with multi-touch screens, accelerometers, and wireless music downloads. Although I wish there was just a little more "2.0" to go with the 2nd generation iPhone(which I'm totally satisfied with), oh well guess I'll have to wait for next wonder phone from Apple.
4 out 5 stars. Nik Yambao
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