While rival phone companies and manufacturers search for an iPhone
challenger, Apple hasn't been standing still. Last month, Apple
released new and improved iPhone models and pricing.
The "S" in the iPhone 3GS moniker stands for speed - speedier main
and graphics processors cutting boot time in half and letting
applications start and run faster. Improved game performance is
especially noticeable. Even Web access, though limited by 3G network
connection speeds, feels faster.
The new iPhone also adds several features that users of the earlier
models have wanted:
- An improved camera (jumping from 2.0 to 3.2 megapixels) with
focusing improvements, video capabilities, basic on-phone video
editing, and YouTube uploading.
- Easy-to-use copy and paste.
- Voice control - though I found it somewhat hit-and-miss.
- Somewhat better battery life.
- A grease-repellent screen coating.
- Subscribers to Apple's MobileMe service can now use it to locate a
missing phone or wipe its data.
A model with 32 GB of storage sells for the price of the previous
generation's 16 GB model ($299 with plan; $199 for the new 16 GB
model).
Canadian customers get tethering - the ability to plug the iPhone
into a computer and access the Rogers' data network to use the computer
online and MMS messaging. Neither of these are available to US
customers yet. (When comparing Rogers' Canadian iPhone offering to
AT&T's US offering, note that AT&T signs customers to a 2-year
plan with unlimited data access for US$30/month while Rogers ties
customers to a 3-year plan with 1 GB of data per month for C$60 or
2 GB for C$75.)
Some of these new features - the speedier processor and the
higher-resolution camera, for instance - are hardware-based; these are
only available on the new models. Others - such as copy and paste - are
software-based. The software features are included in a new version of
the iPhone's firmware, a free upgrade for owners of earlier iPhone
models. Rogers is continuing to offer the 8 GB version of the
earlier iPhone GS with the price reduced to $99.
Also updated to the new firmware: Apple's iPod touch, which is in
many ways an iPhone minus the phone, camera, and GPS features - also
minus the monthly service charge. Owners of older touch models can get
the new software features, but for them it's a $10 upgrade. Owners of
both the iPod touch and the iPhone can pick from the 50,000 (and
growing) applications and games available at Apple's App Store.
Still missing:
- Unlike Android phones, there's no multitasking. Yes, you can
receive a phone call while playing music, but otherwise it's pretty
much one application at a time.
- The web browser, while generally best of breed for smartphones,
still lacks support for Flash animations and multimedia.
- Phone performance remains, at best, so-so.
While the HTC models offer removable (and hence expandable) storage
and batteries, the iPhone continues to build these in - potentially a
limitation. Some may prefer the physical keyboards on most BlackBerry
models or the Android-powered HTC Dream to the iPhone's touchscreen
keyboard. And though Apple, last time around, improved iPhone
compatibility with Microsoft Exchange servers widely used by large
organizations, BlackBerry and Windows Mobile phones play better with
corporate networks.
Owners of last-generation iPhone 3G will find the new version
appealing but not a must-have upgrade; owners of the first generation
iPhone will find it more compelling. PC
Magazine calls the new iPhone 3GS the "most flexible handheld
computer."
Too bad it's not equally compelling as a phone.
First published in Business in Vancouver, July 28- August 3,
2009; issue 1031. Adapted for use on Low End Mac.
