mobil phone: Apple iPhone 3G

It would be easy to dismiss the Apple iPhone 3G as a hardware upgrade without consequence. But to do so would underestimate the extent to which, collectively, the new phone's features to increase the iPhone experience. With the iPhone 3G, Apple solidifies its leadership position in a landscape crowded smartphone.

Outside, the iPhone 3G ($ 299 for 32GB or $ 199 for 16GB with a two-year contract AT & T, dated 6/22/09) looks and feels virtually identical iPhone 3G to existing (now $ 99 for 8GB with a two-year contract AT & T). Yes, it is disappointing that Apple did not have the refinement in the external casing (see our review of the iPhone 3G For more details, but it's just a minimalist design dominated by its screen and the button " home "in this view). And yes, it is curious that the colors remain the same, black or glossy white (which the company makes its music players come in all colors of the spectrum).

But inside, the iPhone has been completely redesigned 3GS, with core components of new (CPU, memory, integrated compass, a video recorder) in different places, not less. And at the same time as the iPhone OS 3.0 Upgrade (which makes many interesting features, available to existing iPhone customers), the iPhone 3G is great. After pounding on it, I can say that at full price subsidy, the 3G is an upgrade surprisingly great fit for users of Internet phone and gaming capabilities, and general-use apps - even if you are just starting to break the iPhone 3G. Read on to learn why.
Performance

Apple downplayed the component specs upgraded on the 3G iPhone, but the company only promised to significantly accelerate performance. And the 3GS, with its inflated processor (at 600MHz, the iPhone 3G's 412MHz CPU) and memory doubled (256 MB), has indeed a significant zippier user experience compared to the original iPhone and the iPhone 3G.

Not only open applications more quickly, they react faster, too. These differences were found in my use both 3G and Wi-Fi. Offsets troublesome for data access or modification of a screen have disappeared, moving from one webpage to another complex feels downright Breezy, not expensive.

I was not surprised that the games - I tried the Oregon Trail and Peggle - were flexible, since the chart was struck up, with Open GL ES 2.0 for mobile 3D graphics and, according to reports dismantling, Imagination Technologies PowerVR SGX.

But I was pleasantly surprised to have a much better experience applications such as navigation Marco Polo CityGuide London, a largely text-based utility with hooks into the Maps app. And the London Underground Tube Map did not need seconds to redraw as I quickly scroll through the plan. These small differences add up over a large scale (especially if you're standing on a street corner during a tour to London, trying to find your way), and made to experience much more enjoyable as I pounded on applications, switching between them at will, my fingers slipping fast move from one function to another.

Call quality and reception is still the usual mixed bag, we have come to expect from AT & T. Calls sounded adequate, but sometimes lacked clarity and cleanness, I have experienced with other handsets, including the T-Mobile G1 and the T-Mobile MyTouch 3G. How much of this success is attributable to the network AT & T with respect to the device itself is unclear, but in any case irrelevant, since the phone is locked to AT & T, and its network is one of iPhone users face.

Apple claims a longer battery life of a generation ago are true, but not much. According to tests life the PC World Test Center's battery, the iPhone 3G had a talk time on average 6 hours and 12 minutes - only 34 minutes longer than the iPhone 3G. Yet I could not spend a full day of use in the real world without needing a charge (I participate in conversations and activities data, as well as checking my location on a map, and fire off some photos and videos all with the Wi - Fi enabled). For data rates of the battery now up to 9 hours of time in Wi-Fi and 5 hours on 3G.

One battery nice addition is a corresponding new set of state indicators, which will allow you, General / Usage. I often wondered aloud why previous iterations of the iPhone could not accomplish this seemingly basic - Tell me exactly what number percent of the battery life was left. I always try to assess the accuracy of the battery meter, but I am glad that finally there anyway. Now at least I did not guess what is the icon size, I know that after about 4 hours - both Wi-Fi and 3G enabled, but no data transfer and 27 minutes of conversation phone - the battery has dropped from 100 percent to 78 percent.
Imaging

Beyond the performance boost, the iPhone 3G has an enhanced experience, including imaging, which ranks high among the hardware upgrades built into the iPhone handset 3GS. The camera jumps from 2 to 3 megapixels, a welcome if modest increase makes camera a bit more viable for the phone on-the-go snaps. And the camera now includes a video mode - finally.

In my hands, use, I found the camera iPhone 3GS surprised in certain situations, and disappointed in others. The app was open and camera ready to shoot with a simple delay of 3 seconds. I was delighted with autofocus and tap at Focus Features, my pictures have been reasonably strong, and I found that by choosing different points of focus, I could not change the image exposure and composition.

In some plans, the emphasis selected had minimal impact on this area of the image appeared sharp. But other shots seemed to benefit greatly, even when the functionality brightened the dark areas, it completely blew out bright areas. The macro mode works invisibly and without intervention. Yet I was sorry that the area did not confirm autofocus sharpening for me, turning green, as happens on many point-and-shoot cameras; sharpness was often impossible to tell the screen iPhone.

Even though Apple boasts improved handling of low light with the iPhone camera 3GS, I had mixed results with andlow interior lighting plans. Twilight low light shooting ended up being a very grainy image with details construction degenerate when viewed at full resolution. Some indoor shots looked decent, but others are barely passable and clearly benefited from a flash, Apple has included one. Maybe we'll see Apple catch up with its competitors by adding a flash in the next version of the iPhone device.

Also on the wish list: software-based image stabilization. I have often noticed that the images were even shot in broad daylight, have not been strong at full resolution, especially the pictures I tried to take one hand. With its touch-screen shutter, the camera of the iPhone just does not lend itself to a single person, photography. And while on the subject of what is missing, the application Camera Roll still lacks integration with Web services, of course, Flickr has its own application, but this is not the same as viewing a pic and deciding to publish directly to the camera roll.

The biggest news is the inclusion of video capture and editing. The iPhone App 3GS device has a switch to activate the video camera that records 30 frames per second video at 640 x 480 resolution. In video mode, the shutter becomes a red record button you press once to start recording, and again to stop recording.

Sending video is very simple: The phone has built hooks into YouTube, MobileMe (Apple's $ 99-a-service year), and e-mail. Simply select the service, and proceed from there, for YouTube, the 3GS iPhone will automatically compress the file in preparation for upload to your YouTube account. Want to cut your video before sending it? No problem: the player in iMovie-like editor chassis to biopsy the beginning or end of a clip of a breeze.

The videos I captured looked better than many typical images camera phone at the same resolution, and I found the inclusion of a video camera in one hand pinch when I was caught off guard a chance video and had no camera handy. But the 3G iPhone can not replace the video you can capture 720p HD with many digital cameras and video recorders as the HD compact Flip Mino. And as a resolution cameras and camcorders dedicated devices usually have a few advantages, such as greater stability for hand-held shots, and a shoe tripod if you want to stabilize the image.

The video feature has a few other rough spots. You can not easily find the videos you capture: They are fused with the rest of the pictures in your Camera Roll, with the video camera icon and the length along the bottom of the sticker. You can not access your videos from the iPod music and video player. And, unfortunately, the much vaunted editing functionality is quite limited: once you make a change is made. You can not cancel, and you can not save a copy of the original video - annoying if you want to keep the longer video for you and send a sample to a friend, for example.

A major referral to both images and videos: On a Windows XP Netbook, Windows' tool to import camera introduced the 257 pictures and videos to my netbook, but the order of photos is completely confused over things order have been captured Roll in my camera. I do not know where is the breakdown of communication between two devices, but it was very frustrating.
Voice Command

Voice dialing is pretty common, and has been for years. This is basic functionality which apparently the iPhone 3GS plays catch-up. But at least it goes further by offering a range of controls for both dialing and playing music. When it works, I found a very handy feature to wonder when driving or even walking down a street.

Hold the Home button for a count of three (a count of two invariably took me a page on the left), and Voice Control screen appears. Your options for controlling scrolling through in haste, which encourages your list of available commands (some mutations of the imprecise "accepted" option seemed to work): Play the album, previous track, play songs, online , compose, play, what song is playing, yes, no, cancel, shuffle, play more songs like that.

I found this feature worked with varying degrees of success. If I said to call Rita and does not specify the number, he asked me what number I wanted. If I told Rita home, he made Rita Home - even when I asked in a noisy restaurant or in a room with the TV in the background. But Voice Control stumbled on other names, is offering a bad name or recognize something. And it missed voice commands When a television echoed nearby. Also strange: If I said Perenson and there were three Perenson in my contacts, it's just accessed the first in the contacts list, and do not ask me which Perenson I wanted (although I have seen reports who say it should). I asked him to play REM songs and played ABBA, and sometimes I did not say one thing and I suddenly noticed that dial, I did not ask. Oops.

One detail to note: Apple, iPhone 3GS is more accessible to blind people thanks to its new Voice Over function. Once activated, the phone can talk to you as you browse the icons on the touch screen.
Display

The iPhone 3G has the same 3.5-inch capacitive touch screen than its predecessor. The screen still seems fine, displaying images at 320 x 480 pixels. But these images are a bit "hot" - they are not quite the intensity that they do on the iPhone 3G.

As shown in a side-by-side by side comparison in a previous article, The colors of the iPhone 3G more pop, it was deep in Browns Summit Notebook, gray and deeper into the keyboard. The same screen on an iPhone 3 G is a dull gray buttons. In both cases, self-adjusting brightness is removed, and the brightness level is identical.

In some images, we detected a distribution slightly greenish on the iPhone 3G. We found the color discrimination very visible on screens with white backgrounds, such as the search tab, calendar, and photo library. If some of these differences May not have stood out when we looked at the iPhone 3GS alone, they do when we put the new handset next to the 3G.

When asked, a spokesman for Apple said the color temperature and brightness level of the screen has not changed since the 3G phone. Apple also said the new oleophobic (oil resistant) coating had no effect on the screen, as the coating is transparent.

While some aspects of the display of 3GS a look dull and faded compared with 3G and even the original iPhone, I noticed a visible improvement in blacks. An example was when I compared the original iPhone and the 3GS, both in the camera application, with their lenses facing a blackboard. The black table appears darker than the dark gray on the original iPhone, it is clearly too bright and washed out, the table seems to be a pure black with the iPhone 3G. However, in this example, the noise level of the 3GS is also very clear: parts of the image, showing dramatic signs and red intrusive artifacts and noise.

The above stain proof coating, at least, is the real deal - it attracted fingerprints least an iPhone 3G did when the two aircraft were used as well, and these fingerprints wiped off more easily. Another advantage: The new texture has a screen Ultrasmooth glide to it. However, my fingers would be more easily catch on iPhone 3G (usually via a fingerprint or three).

Also, the text appears slightly thinner on the 3GS compared to 3G. This is surprising given that the iPhone 3G has the same resolution as the iPhone 3G is. Apple says that the fonts on the iPhone 3GS are made by telephone, as opposed to bitmaps being and that this approach explains the look smoother and firmer text.
Everything Else - Including OS 3.0

Two features have been wandering in the crowded iPhone 3G, and while they may seem minor, they are sure to find their fans.

The newly integrated compass is useful for geolocation and mapping (and if you are in communion with Mother Nature). The compass is distinctive, easy to read graphs, and allows applications direct from your current position. For example, the Maps application is shift depending on your directional position.

Nike + is now built in, too. Take 3GS iPhone on a workout with you, and can follow your progress with the $ 19 Nike + accessory.

While the OS 3.0 software update, which makes many interesting features accessible to all users of the iPhone, could convince some people decide they do not need a new handset. Among OS 3.0 ': a landscape keyboard for all applications of basic implementation of innovative and useful cut, copy and paste the feature difficult to achieve long iPhone, A2DP stereo Bluetooth, push notifications, an improved call log which shows details such as time and duration of a call; Spotlight search to find applications, e-mail subject (and to / from lines), music and more, shake to shuffle, and voice memos support for MMS and tie, common characteristics strangely not available to AT & T later this summer.

Although the iPhone 3G offers improvements must for heavy users, I am disappointed that Apple did not build more innovation in the handset, to differentiate themselves from the pack. Some regions are still lacking, and there is still no true multitasking (you can not connect to instant messaging while surfing the Web, for example).

But the performance improvements do not distinguish the different evolutionary step-up his phone earlier iterations. The new features of 3GS are few but choice. With 32 GB of storage and its data and multimedia assets, the Apple iPhone 3GS, despite the reservations noted, one of the best smartphones you can buy for money.

Information Sheets:
Processor
Processor speed 600 MHz
Display
Diagonal 3.5-inch display
Screen resolution 480 x 320 cm
A number of screens
Operating System
Supported OS Mac OS
Camera
3 MP MegaPixels
No Flash
No Camera Shutter
Form Factor
Form Factor Monoblock
Drums
Battery Type Lithium Ion
Vendor Rated Standby Time 300 hours
Vendor Rated Talk Time 5 hours
Storage
Internal Memory Storage 32,000 MB
Memory
256MB RAM
Dimensions
Dimensions 4.5/2.4/0.5 inch
Weight 4.8 oz
Carrier
Carrier AT & T
Frequency of cell technology
Cellular technology (voice and data)

* GSM 1800
* GSM 1900
* GSM 850
* EDGE
* GPRS
* HSDPA

Features
No FM radio
Yes GPS
Not Playing Music
No Voice Memo Recorder
Volume Control Yes
Audio
Audio Inputs 3.5 mm headphone jack
Connectivity
Other Bluetooth Connectivity
Hardware included
Hardware included

* USB Cable
* Charger

Included Software
Included Software

* Digital Compass
* Safari
* YouTube

Mail
Yes Exchange
IMAP4 Yes
POP3 Yes
SMTP Yes
Media
MP3 Yes
Other Media

* AAC Plus
* AAC

Messaging
Messaging

* SMS
* IM
* E-Mail

Sync
Sync Bluetooth Yes
USB2 Yes
User Interface
No Backlight
No Keyboard
Predictive text input (T9) Yes
Stylus No
Touchscreen Yes
Video
Streaming Video Yes
Video Conference Calling No