Gadget Maven Blog

The new iPhone 3GS, which will be available in South Africa in July, might finally be the complete smartphone package it’s been hyped to be.

Anyone who hasn’t been on planet earth for the last 18 months might be forgiven for wondering why Apple’s smartphone is heralded as the greatest ever cellphone when it’s only just gotten up to speed with all the features Nokia, Samsung and Sony Ericsson have had for years.

There are two reasons. The first is that the iPhone was Apple’s first attempt. As far as version 1.0 products go, it’s pretty good. Pretty darn good. After the phenomenal success of the iPod, expectations were through the roof that Apple would sprinkle the same magic dust on cellphones. Much to the continuing irritation of so many people in the industry, it did.

The second reason is that Apple made touchscreens sexy again. By using a larger than normal screen, and the clever multitouch interface, Apple effectively introduced a mini-tablet computer. Typing may be a bitch, but the mobile internet experience is second to none.

Revision three of the software fixes some of the most high-profile bugs: it can now cut-and-paste copy, you can send MMSs, forward SMSs, type in landscape mode in all the apps, and use voice commands to make calls.

Hardware-wise it catches up to other smartphones with a decent 3 megapixel camera (up from 2MP), shoot video (at 30fps) and finally use HSDPA 7.2Mbps speeds (the S is for speed).

Current iPhone users will be pleased to hear the iPhone has better battery life – one of the bugbears of the device is how appalling the battery is – but it’s unknown if the new operating system will fix that in the second generation handsets sold in South Africa.

Other improvements in the 3GS, which is available in 16GB and 32GB models, are so-called universal search, voice memo recordings, built-in Nike + support, data encryption, a way to remotely wipe it and an internal compass. A new, handy addition is so-called internet tethering, a way to use your iPhone’s data package on your computer.

The iPhone has generated unprecedented hype – and a fair amount of it is worth it. Remember that much of this hype began in the States which doesn’t have as sophisticated a smartphone culture as here or Europe or Asia. The iPhone has changed that, firing up sales of BlackBerries and Nokias.

It also introduced a totally different internet experience to mobile phones, paving the way for clever devices like the Android-driven HTC Magic, which really harness the power of web-based services that Google has popularised.
Vodacom says it will launch iPhone 3G S, “the fastest most powerful iPhone yet, in South Africa in July 2009”.

The iPhone 3GS is finally the smartphone it was hyped to be.

Key specs

• Camera: 3 megapixel, auto focus
• Display: 3.5-inch (8.9cm) TFT-LCD flat multi-touch screen, 480×320-pixel resolution
• Connectivity: UMTS/HSDPA; Wi-Fi (802.11b/g); Bluetooth 2.1 + Enhanced Data Rate (EDR) and A2DP (Bluetooth stereo)
• Assisted GPS, Digital compass
• Memory: 16 or 32GB

More info:

• For more on the iPhone 3GS, see the Apple website.
• The full iPhone 3GS specs are here.
• Compare the new iPhone 3GS vs the 3G here.

This entry was posted on Monday, September 14th, 2009 at 9:29 am and is filed under Uncategorized. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.