Yet another iPhone 3g review

I didn't get the original iPhone because even though I loved that spiffing new touch screen the specs were rubbish for a high end smart phone costing £269. Instead I went for the beefy super charged but free on contract Nokia N95 with 3G, GPS and a five mega pixel camera which were all absent from the iPhone. The N95 was a phone before its time. Yes it had 3G but the screen and browser meant web browsing was a chore. Yes it had GPS but getting a lock on took forever and it was often easy and faster to buy a map. Yes it had 5 mega pixel totting camera BUT it took so long to start up you would miss that "moment". In fact the N95 made me look forward to the next model when Nokia would get all of these features right. I feel that the N82 is the phone that did get all these elements right and the N96 has gone off in weird new directions (paying a premium for mobile TV that we don't yet have in the UK?). 

Anyway Apple brought out iPhone 3G and two of the missing features are now present 3G and GPS. I am still not happy that the camera is a joke. 2 megapixels?! My toaster has more megapixels. However my phone is no longer my main camera as I now have a water proof and shock proof digital camera for snaps so I can live with a rubbish phone camera. Also why no front mounted camera for 3G video calls? A small VGA camera on the facia would have cost Apple a few dollars at most. I liked having the option to make a video call even though I used it twice in a year with the N95. I don't know why the gadget blogs haven't picked up on this. 

Overall though I am very happy with the iPhone 3G despite having a wonky one to begin with.

good points

- best user interface on a phone, ever.

- amazing mobile web browser.

- 3G is fast

- GPS works really well and combined with google maps is very useful 

- best video iPod in your phone

- fantastic apps especially phone saber - the person who thought of turning a iphone into a light sabre needs to be set to work on tackling world poverty and green energy because they are a GENIUS.

- Mail easily accessible and can view office docs, nice

- feels thinner than it actually is

- other companies have had over a year and they still can't produce a touch screen anywhere near the iPhone and we are talking big, rich and clever companies. The touch screen really is a few generations ahead of anything else.

Bad Stuff

- 2 megapixel camera 

- No flash

- No video recording, 

- No video calls, 

- MMS, 

- cut and paste

In short it is brilliant and will make you feel better about wasting time on money on gadgets.

  

Confessions of an iPhone 3G early adopter

On the morning of 11th July I thought I would see what the queues were like for the iPhone 3G. I had secretly hoped that the hype around limited supply would turn out to be marketing hot air and I could be in work on time with a shiny new iPhone 3G and a large grin. Unfortunately, gadget nuts had swarmed around all phone stores murmuring darkly about systems going down and limited stock. I wandered over to the Apple store to see if the story was any better and it was. I was greeted with a short queue and claims of “healthy” stock level by the hyperactive happy clappy staff managed by a bald Steve Jobs look-a-like. Only issue was a “temporary” server problem. Instead of doing the sensible thing and jumping off the nearby balcony I stayed and had free coffee and muffins that were being served to us, the Apple faithful. I should complain about the fact that five hours later I had no iPhone and had to go to work empty handed.

However it wasn’t that bad… The apple store staff were great as they constantly came around with chocolates, water, coffee and witty banter. In addition, my fellow queue buddies who turned out to be Apple fan boys and girls were good fun and an interesting bunch of arty types. Lastly being stuck in an Apple Store is hardly Guantanamo Bay although I was told off for playing Summer Heights High too loudly on an iMac so all the kiddies heard Jonah Takaluah’s barrage of profanity. So next time Apple release an over hyped highly anticipated bit of technological fluff I will book the day off work and head over to the Apple Store with tent, wine cooler and portable barbeque. Who needs Glastonbury?

By the way I did get an iPhone on launch day. On the way home from work I popped into a store that had no queue or activation problems and was out in 5 mins with a new iPhone…