I was one of those geeks waiting on line at the Apple store when the latest iPhone 3GS first become available. It’s a generational melting pot – baby boomers, young (or not so young) professionals – like me, and teenagers. Everyone excited to upgrade to the latest iteration of mobile bliss. Ninety minutes waiting on line, making friends, noshing on complimentary Apple snacks and refreshments – all very exciting.
After getting the phone, activating it, switching my old iPhone 3G to my wife’s account, and restoring everything via iTunes, I was a happy camper. The process was just as I would expect from Apple, intuitive and easy. No issues. Now it was time to do some live testing and compare my results to all those claims made in the dozen reviews and fifty-plus blog posts I read in advance of my purchase.
For me it was important to separate the newly released v 3.0 of the iPhone software from the new 3GS phone hardware as many folks will argue, “why upgrade – not much of a benefit?” I will agree – the 3.0 software upgrade ran well on my old iPhone 3G (now my wife’s phone.) It includes some well-needed enhancements including cut/paste, global search, voice memos, etc.) However, for me, there was one primary reason and one tertiary reason I spent the money to upgrade.
Speed is Most Important.
I spend much of my day on my iPhone – compared to other available mobile phone options my iPhone works very well. Rather than working in my office (computer/phone) in many ways the iPhone is easier to manage email, searching, phone calls, etc.) The iPhone 3GS is much faster than previous versions, which was desperately needed. Accessing servers, switching from one application to another, searching the web or databases, working with maps, etc. – everything works noticeably faster. This is a big usability improvement.
Video is Very Good.
Everyone who has contemplated getting a Flip video recorder to record mobile video will not need it if you have the new iPhone 3GS. No, it does not compare to the quality of the Flip HD, yet the video quality does compare to earlier versions of the Flip. More importantly, extending the “smartphone concept” (many mobile tools in one device) the iPhone 3GS does a very good job with mobile video. It provides a seamless way to record, edit, and transfer video directly from your phone. For the geeks out there – many new applications are now available to send your iPhone 3GS video to Facebook, Twitter, etc.
Other New Tools Only on the iPhone 3GS are Somewhat of a Yawn.
I have played with the new voice control software – it is OK. I would argue, for an Apple release, this is not as mature as it should be. I suspect future software releases will include voice control improvements. I’ve used these applications for years on other phones as well as in both my cars – it’s not perfect and can be somewhat embarrassing when your kids ask, ” Daddy, why are you yelling at your phone?”
The same goes with the new compass. It is OK – nothing special.
AT&T’s Network is Still a Major Drawback.
Yes, I’ve been eagerly awaiting the possibility of Verizon offing the iPhone or at a minimum – significant improvements to the AT&T network. I’m convinced in the short-term – neither will happen. I do not know any special inside information or claim to have any insight here – aside from living in the media industry and some common sense. It is unfortunate as I still experience poor network service, constant garbled and dropped calls with five bars, slow data connectivity, and pay almost $200/month for mobile service. Something is wrong here and I can’t wait until Apple uses their market position to fix this. Unfortunately, I have little confidence in AT&T. As MG Siegler from TechCrunch writes – AT&T Is A Big, Steaming Heap Of Failure.
No Multitasking is Another Major Drawback.
Joshua Topolsky from Engadget wrote a good posting on the challenges of using the iPhone as a complete replacement for real digital business interactions. I’ve gotten used to the iPhone keyboard so that is not a big issue for me, although multitasking is. Apple needs to quickly figure out a solution (as Palm has) to let multiple applications run simultaneously. It is very frustrating to be forced to quit the email application so you can go to the web to do a search. This is not how users operate on their computers – why force it on their mobile phones. Yes, I do understand the issues (battery power, etc.), however, Apple employs some smart folks – I am confident they can figure this out.
More Frustration – No Photo or Video Search… What?
I was excited to see Spotlight global search launch with v3.0. However, with all of this great photo and video improvements on the new iPhone 3GS – why can’t I search my pictures or video? This is another example of an oversight you would not expect from Apple.
Defective Screen on iPhone 3GS
After three weeks of using my new iPhone 3GS, I woke one morning to notice some of my applications would not open. It is similar to throwing out your back when your phone doesn’t work – you don’t expect how much the pain is going to impact your day – especially since I rely on my iPhone to organize my life. Clearly my day was stifled and provided for an increased level of frustration.
So I sit and get into testing mode… soft/hard reboot, move application icons around, restore software – nothing solved the issue. Net net, I was convinced it was a hardware issue. Then I took a look on the web and found several posts with the same issue (#1, #2, #3, and so on.) Is this a bigger issue – I don’t know? Hope not.
I did go through a few hour discussion with an Apple technical support representative who confirmed a hardware issue. He did say I was the first he heard of this issue (oh really – have you done a Google search online???) Now I am waiting on my replacement phone which should arrive in a few days. Let’s hope this is not a bigger issue with the iPhone 3GS.
