Pre-Launch iPhone 3G S Review
Written by Ruben Reyes
June 09, 2009
Apple has announced the new version of its mobile phone, the iPhone 3G S, which will be available on June 19th. As some of you may know, I do not own an iPhone and I have been less than enthusiastic about it. While my iPhone-fanatic friends consider me to be a heretic for having that attitude, the reason for my position is very simple: for a high-end mobile phone it lacks a long list of important features that have been available for very long in other high-end devices.
With the launch of the new iPhone, Apple has made great advance in providing a lot of those important features that were missing and that were not addressed with the iPhone 3G. Based on the information publicly available so far the new device will feature the following improvements:
- It will be faster - while it was never a major issue, more speed is always welcome. I wonder if the additional power is there only to compensate for the additional functionality built in the phone.
- Allow for video recording - alleluia! This was rather a shameful missing functionality of the iPhone.
- An upgraded 3-mega-pixel camera - the previous camera was quite decent and a higher resolution is appreciated, but there is still a road ahead in this area.
- Voice activation that will allow to start call and provide other commands to the phone.
- Cut, copy and paste - yes, the iPhone has finally reached the 80's.
- Message forwarding and MMS capability. Another shameful missing functionality.
- Internet Tethering - at last you will be able to take advantage of that expensive data service from your computer via Bluetooth.
Some things that were not addressed and will continue to be in the wish list for future iPhone improvements:
- The battery continues to be one of the major headaches of the iPhone. If you want to use the iPhone for business and need to be online all time you will run out of battery before the end of the day.
- Better camera - the current camera is good for fun but will not take quality photos. Higher resolution, zoom, and flash would make the iPhone complete.
- Video conferencing - one of the nice things about 3G is that you can have simultaneous voice and data communications and video conferencing is possible. A second camera would need to be added at the front of the iPhone, and of course, the software.
- The e-mail application still needs improvements that will be appreciated by heavy, Blackberry-like e-mail users.
As you can see the list is much shorter now.
Do you own an iPhone? Are you among the first to get the new model? Leave your comment.
