Apple's iPhone 3G is a powerfull iPhone 3G on AT&T and it's the latest-game changing device, but to harness all it can be, make sure you are willing leap over the hurdle of its demanding learning curve.
The first iPhone wasn’t merely well-marketed hype. In its second iteration of the phone that has become a global phenomenon, Apple has again unleashed upon the world another game-changing device with the iPhone 3G. Read on for a full iPhone 3G review.
While the iPhone 3G changes the game for many reasons, let’s hone in on the ones that matter most.
For starters, the heart of the new iPhone 3G is front and center in its name: the “3G”. To you, 3G simply means faster data transmission. Faster data transmission means faster Internet usage.
To help you wrap your head around the speed difference, Apple says a 48-second download on a 2G “EDGE” network becomes 20 seconds with the iPhone 3G, which is faster by 2.4 times.
As a momentary aside, it should be noted that the world has evolved to 3G over time from 1G, 2G and 2.5G, which were all less-advanced standards as compared to today’s 3G.
But even with all the hoopla the iPhone 3G is making today and will make in the coming months, it should also be noted that 3G itself is already evolving to an entirely new “network of tomorrow” called 4G.
4G is still several years away, though, which means the iPhone 3G will have plenty of time to stay in vogue until technology demands a replacement.
In addition to the iPhone 3G’s swift surfing, though, the second game-changing element to this device is its price. It’s half the price of its pricey predecessor. For a device in the do-it-all smartphone game, $199 for the 8-gigabyte version and $299 for the 16-gigabyte version is actually affordable.
When compared to the first iPhone’s pricing of $399 or $499, the iPhone 3G sounds like a steal. Of course, this is one main reason why people have waited in line for hours upon hours in the first days of the iPhone 3G’s release. The iPhone 3G is tapping into an entirely new crowd who couldn’t afford the first iPhone or just refused to shell out that kind of cash.
Based on a well-voted poll, 35 percent of people said they wouldn’t buy an iPhone 3G at all while 29 percent said they’d spend $199, 11 percent said they’d want to upgrade for free, 10 percent would spent $299 and 8 percent want one but can’t afford it.
As a last note on pricing, make sure to consult your specific situation to determine whether or not the new $199 or $299 pricing will actually be applicable to you.
Depending on various factors (including a service contract vs. no contract, a new customer vs. a current customer and a new iPhone owner vs. a previous iPhone owner), your price could actually be $399, $499, $599 or even $699. Read this article to understand why.
Leaping the iPhone 3G Learning Curve
So beyond the 3G and its slashed price (this is why the simple but powerful marketing message of “twice as fast, half the price” is splashed so prominently for the iPhone 3G), what you don’t see advertised is all about the iPhone 3G’s learning curve.
This isn’t a basic phone. It’s a powerful device. Having great features means having great responsibilities to learn and use them. If you don’t want or need a feature-packed phone, there’s no reason to spring for an iPhone 3G (unless you just want to “feel cool”).
If an extensive feature smorgasbord is your friend, though, the good news is the iPhone 3G can do it all. On the flip side, you then have to know it all or learn it.
Following extensive usability testing on July 12, 2008, here are many practical tips to help you use an iPhone 3G faster, better and smarter or help you gauge whether or not you’d want an iPhone 3G in the first place.
The Service Carrier Test
Before you consider buying an iPhone 3G, make sure you first pass the service carrier test. Are you on AT&T now? If not, you’d need to switch. For the time being, AT&T has inked an exclusive deal with Apple and is the only carrier on which you can use the iPhone 3G.
If you’re on Sprint, Verizon Wireless, T-Mobile, Virgin Mobile, etc. and don’t want to switch to AT&T, the iPhone 3G isn’t for you. AT&T could lose its exclusive on the iPhone 3G in the future, but at this time, it’s AT&T or no go.
Browsing the iPhone 3G’s Fast Internet
Surfing the Web was a large focus in usability testing for your About.com cell phones guide. The iPhone 3G doesn’t just sport a 3.5-inch multi-touch display for funsies. At the heart of this large-display design is the expectation that you’ll use it for Web surfing, pictures, video, e-mail, music and more.
The iPhone 3G features the fast-rendering Safari Web browser, which is known to display faster than Microsoft’s Internet Explorer. When surfing, the first thing you’ll notice is a faster browsing experience. Just like you would with a mouse on your computer, slide your finger down and then back up the touchscreen to read a page.
But those hyperlinks are mighty small, aren’t they?
The iPhone 3G has you covered. Touch two fingers to the screen and “pinch” inward. This allows you to zoom in. To zoom out, “flick” your fingers outward. You can also double tap on a particular region of the Web browser and it’ll zoom right in or out from there.
To clear an Internet address in the browser, touch the “x” on the right. While the iPhone 3G defaults to Google, you can change the search engine to Yahoo!. While you can’t change the default search engine to any other, you can bookmark another on your home screen.
Even after the iPhone 3G fully downloads a Web page, you’ll sometimes briefly notice white and grey boxes on the screen when you scroll to see more of a page. This is due to a temporary delay in the “painting” or “rendering” of the data from the phone’s “cache” (or memory). Some may find this a minor nuisance.
The Web on the iPhone 3G effectively allows you to multitask and view many different browser windows. You can easily see thumbnails of your different windows and switch between them. You can also bookmark your favorites, too.
Rich, Intelligent Feature Set
The iPhone 3G has 3G speed with Wi-Fi (to connect, for example, to the Internet at coffee shops), Bluetooth (to communicate with short-range devices such as earpieces), a 3.5-inch multi-touch screen, maps with GPS (satellites above the Earth to give you precise location data) and rich HTML e-mailing.
The iPhone 3G also features a wealth of excellent software applications and visual voicemail.
The device also flaunts an “accelerometer”. The accelerometer allows the iPhone 3G to respond to motion. When you rotate the phone from portrait to landscape (or vertical to horizontal), the iPhone 3G senses it and changes your display accordingly.
The accelerometer is made possible by three elements: a silicon mass, a set of silicon springs and an electrical current.
The iPhone 3G also exploits environmentally intelligent “smart sensors”. These pick up cues from the environment and adjust the screen accordingly.
An ambient light sensor automatically brightens the display when you’re in sunlight or a bright place and dims it in darker areas.
When you lift the iPhone 3G to your ear, a second sensor – a proximity sensor – immediately turns off the display to save power and thwart accidental touches.
The full keyboard, which is only there when you need it, can be displayed in 21 languages. It also adapts to the application you’re in at the time.
You may find the digital keys to be somewhat small, but when you tap each letter, the letters become larger. While typing quickly is possible, it may take some getting used to.
The iPhone 3G is Mac and PC compatible. It comes in black with the 8-gigabyte and 16-gigabyte models and white for the 16-gigabyte model only. Airplane mode shuts off all data transmission (voice and Internet) but still enables features such as your iPod.
MobileMe is an interesting, subscription-based service that’s $99.99 per year (or $69.99 with the purchase of an iPhone 3G). It automatically syncs various applications to the iPhone 3G from the Internet and vice versa. These applications “push” data in near real-time mode (approximately 10 seconds in testing) between a calendar, contacts, etc.
This, of course, is a clever way for Apple to offer you a useful feature but also receive additional money from you on a regular basis after your initial purchase of the device.
The iPhone 3G’s battery life is a significant factor to keep in mind. In initial testing at the Apple store in downtown Chicago, many of the iPhone 3G devices were dead or nearly dead from so many people experiencing them. While the battery life shouldn’t pose an issue with regular usage, heavy users may sometimes find their phones dead prematurely.
The iPhone 3G is rated at five hours of talk time in 3G mode or 10 hours of talk time in 2G (depending on what network is available at the time) and five hours of Internet usage in 3G mode or six hours of Internet usage on Wi-Fi. Video playback runs up to seven hours, audio playback runs up to 24 hours and standby time can last up to 300 hours.
The device has a height of 4.5 inches, a width of 2.4 inches, a depth of 0.48 of an inch and a weight of 4.7 ounces. The size is excellently proportioned and is reasonably thin while the weight is appropriate.
When snapping photos with the 2-megapixel camera – good quality for a cell phone today but quality that pales in comparison to today’s digital point-and-shoot cameras – hold the single button on the iPhone 3G, release it when you want to snap your photo and then swipe your finger from one direction to another to browse through your art.
While you might experience some brief software delays when the phone’s technology is “thinking,” this doesn’t pose too great of a problem too often and can be considered tolerable. The phone’s contact manager is large, easy to read and personalized for each person with their photo and detailed contact information.
The icons on the home screen are customizable. To change icons, tap and hold your finger on the home screen. The icons will appear as if they’re cold and will shake – as if they’re anxious to move – and you can then move them around. Touch the iPhone 3G’s only button to set them in stone.
E-mailing is relatively intuitive, effortless and easy to do once you get iPhone 3G typing down pat. You can have multiple e-mail accounts set up on the iPhone 3G simultaneously so you can send and receive e-mail from various addresses.
With AT&T, you can opt for these iPhone 3G service plans: $69.99 for 450 anytime minutes, $89.99 for 900 anytime minutes and $109.99 for 1,350 anytime minutes. Various family or share plans are available as well.