Well, the day has finally come for anybody who has been paying attention to the gadget world.
Apple announced the iPhone 3G at their world-wide developer conference today. Here is a quick summary of what is new in the
iPhone 3G:
Twice the speed? The 3G in iPhone 3G means that you now have 3G data network access which offers 2x the data speeds of the current EDGE network. But, this means nothing to us Charlestonians – you would have to go to Myrtle Beach or Columbia because the 3G network is not offered in our area. Check the AT&T Coverage map.
Half the Price? Not really though. AT&T rained all over the Apple parade today stating that the iPhone 3G pricing plans will fall in line with the rest of their phones. In other words, you will be paying $10.00 more than current iPhone owners for your monthly plan. You do the math – over a 2 year period the iPhone 3G is the same price as the original.
True GPS. The old one used cell tower information and known WiFi hotspots to estimate your position (and it works really well), but now the iPhone can find your exact location as well as geotag photos taken from its camera. It looks like my favorite GPS maker, TomTom is ready to release its version of their GPS software on the iPhone, which is huge deal!
Slightly different case design – from the front it looks the same, but the back is now all plastic and a little more curvy. They went with plastic to help boost the radio signals, and they went curvy to compensate for the slightly thicker body that houses that extra 3G radio.
White! There is a rather feminine looking white 16GB model available now. I think we will eventually see a range of different iPhone colors in the future, but for now it is just black or white.
No more recessed headphone jack. You will no longer need an adapter for non-Apple headphones for the iPhone 3G.
Improved audio quality all around. I don’t have any complaints about the audio quality of the current iPhone’s iPod feature, but the phone’s audio quality is nothing to brag about. I use a Jawbone Bluetooth headset during work hours, and the difference is amazing when compared to using the phone without it – the current iPhone’s built-in phone audio stinks (but sounds fine with the headphones or a Bluetooth device).
It will ship with the iPhone 2.0 software. Current iPhone owners will get the same software as a free update in July when the new iPhone ships. iPod Touch owners can get the new software as well, but will have to pay $9.95 for it.
Overall, you can see that current iPhone users in the Charleston area would be silly to upgrade, as AT&T is way behind other carriers in their 3G network roll-out and the biggest difference between the old and new iPhones is the faster network access. The other updates are nice, but in no way warrant a higher monthly bill. I would wait until AT&T gets their act together before even considering upgrading your existing iPhone. Apple was very smart to make the iPhone a software platform, because current iPhones will run the exact same software as the new ones. That means you will not have to worry about feeling like your phone is out-dated. Kudos to Apple for making a truly smart phone.
As for people wanting to buy an iPhone for the first time, I say go ahead and get one after they are released on July 11th. The first version of the iPhone already saw a hardware revision when they released the 16GB version, and the new one has surely ironed out most of the bugs of the first generation. I have used numerous Blackberry devices, Palm Treos, and Windows Mobile devices, and for the average person who wants a phone that does more than just make a phone call, than the iPhone is the king of simplicity, elegance, and usability. And with the coming of the App Store in the iPhone 2.0 software upgrade, the usability will be enhanced by thousands of third-party applications and games.
Apple also announce the upgrade of their outdated .Mac service. It will now be branded as “
MobileMe“, and Apple has registered
me.com to host it’s shiny new internet service. You will basically get everything .Mac had to offer before, but now iPhone and iPod Touch users will get wireless syncing with their computers. Anyone who has used a Blackberry in a corporate environment with a Blackberry Enterprise Server knows how great mobile synchronization is. Basically, you get your email instantly, and your Calendar and Address Book changes get synced almost instantly between your phone and computer. At $99.00 a year, the once over-priced .Mac service is a steal as MobileMe.
Click here to see all of the features of the service, and also check out the
guided tour.
