Apple iPhone 3GS - 16 GB - Black (Orange) Smartphone

Model F003 3GS
Phone Sytle candy bar style
Network GSM850/900/1800/1900
Screen 3.2" 3000K true color touch screen
Resolution 240*320
SIM Card dual sim card dual standby
Built-in Memory 24.3MB
Card Expansion support TF card up to 16GB and comes with 2GB TF card free of charge
Available Language English, French, German, Spanish, Portuguese, Turkish, Russian, Italian, Thai, Indonesian, Vietnamese, Dutch, Malaysian, Arabic, Hebrew
Messaging SMS, MMS
Battery two 2000mAH batteries
Charger 100-240V charger with flat pin plug
Dimension approx. 11.5*6*1cm
Bluetooth support Bluetooth
Music support MP3
Video support MP4 and 3GP
Camera 2.0M pixels camera
FM FM stereo
Java support high speed java download
WiFi WiFi inside, free access to internet with high speed within WiFi coverage area
Email support email
MSN support MSN instant messenging
Data Interface USB interface
shaker shaking menu
Tools stopwatch, unit converter, compass
Others MP4 rotation function, flashlight, iPhone generic charger interface and earphone

I am usually one to be at least a few generations behind in technology, however I decided to take advantage of Ebay and get a good used 3GS (on the back of the i-Phone 4 coming out - I knew there would be many coming available!).

I'm happy to say it was a good decision! I am also an extremely busy person, and this i-Phone saves me so much time and makes me so much more organised, it's untrue! I have fallen out of touch with many old friends since starting work as a consultant, partly because I don't have time, partly because I don't want to make time (amongst other priorities, like renovating our first house!), but mainly because it is such a hassle thinking to sign on to this, and sign on to that, check this, check that... and now within a few clicks I've done it all!

The number of Apps available is amazing - and most of the ones I want are free! Train times, weather, Ebay, Amazon (and just about any other chain of shops on Earth), games, you name it!

Best of all - I've not had to change a thing in terms of my mobile contract! I unlocked the phones to any carrier, and I did this myself using an Internet service with some software I purchased and downloaded. I then turned the mobile Internet connection off, so I only connect (and pay!) when I want to. I'm on Tesco pay-as-you-go with triple credit, so if I want to use the Internet (at £4 per Mb), I can turn the mobile Internet on and use up some free credit! Nothing lost! Otherwise, I just connect through wi-fi when I'm at home or in a wi-fi zone.

In the end, I bought one for my wife, my father-in-law and myself.

The iPhone, been around a while now but with the addition of the 3Gs then it has taken a whole new turn. The 'S' stands for speed and having owed a 3G since they came out, I have recently had delivered the 3gS. On paper there does not seem to be much difference between the two, however using the 3Gs you soon discover the major advantages of this new phone. Yes the speed is fantastic and it some how just feels smoother and crisp. The old 3G used to stick at times between presses and the menus seem to 'think' before action, but the 3gs just glides from page to page and application to application with the lightest of touches. What a great phone this is and with all the apps available through apple then there is no stopping this phone. There are many smartphones out there and many that have more functions, but if you want a phone to be proud of and hold your head high then look no further, apple are years ahead!!! With video shooting and conference calling the iphone is a great business phone but with thousands of cool games out there too it really is an amazing allrounder! It even feels amazing in the hand too. The battery life on the 3gs is superior and call quality clear. The onscreen keyboard is outstanding and a sheer pleasure. With a world of iphone accessories out there you will never be short of something new to buy for your pride and joy! So in summary if you want the best, forget the rest. iPhone rules!!

Like mobile phones in general, an iPhone is something you can live without until you have owned one. It has quirks and disadvantages but the user interface is so intuitive and straightforward that everything else suddenly seems so clunky by comparison.

If you just wanted a phone or a smart phone, then Nokia or HTC could be a better choice: The battery will almost certainly last longer, you won't be tied into apple marketing plans (£20 a month to use the iPhone as a modem for your laptop on O2!!!), multi-tasking as standard (although that has changed with iOS 4) and most importantly, signal strength is relatively poor on the iPhone. I didn't realise any of this until I bought one. I then had it stolen! Again, maybe that happens more to iPhones too...I went back to a Nokia but the desire for an iPhone still burnt strong and I bought another one here a couple months later.

I'm happy to have another one again; the apps are the most important thing and turn an iPhone into far more than just a smart phone. I know android is getting pretty similar but the difference is comparable to the difference between Apple's OSX and a modern linux. They can both do the same but, if you can afford it, why spend ages tinkering and configuring when it can all be done with a few swipes of your finger. Apple products do cost more but a lot more focus goes into developing their design and stability, sometimes at the expense of third party products (e.g. no flash on iPhones...software and hardware come to think of it!) but this makes them fast, reliable and very easy to use and the support is fantastic. Any problems and it is very easy to book a session online with a "Genius" (a little bit of a grand title but they are good) at an Apple shop the next day. They usually fix everything within 15 mins or replace it and repair is free in most cases, even out of guarantee in my experience. I don't work for Apple by the way...ironically I have been a Microsoft engineer for many years! I can tool about with gadgets with the best of them but who wants to spend hours trawling the internet at night? If you're still compelled to tinker, then you can jailbreak an iphone pretty easily and fill it with loads of free apps but Apple frown on this and you can mess your guarantee up so make sure you read up well and know what you are doing before attempting anything. There are loads of free apps and the paid apps are generally inexpensive so I'd advise against it...get a symbian or android phone for max tinkerability.

Basically, if you are the sort of person that thinks using electricity or pillows while camping is preposterous and that suffering is all part of the enjoyment, then you are probably very happy with that 5 year old nokia brick and an iphone would be a waste of your time and money. If, like me, you are a bit pretentious and believe Volskwagens are worth considerably more than Skodas because of a badge and different material on the chairs, an iPhone is perfect for you!

When Apple announced the iPhone 3GS
I chose the Black version this time I also opted for the 32GB version as I had utilized almost 10GB on my 16GB iPhone 3G. As you’ve probably read on every other website there is no noticeable difference between the 3G and the 3GS as far as looks and form factor is concerned. Tech Specs state the 3GS as 2 grams heavier but I doubt anyone would be able to tell the difference.

The good thing about the white version is that you see less finger prints on the back. Apple has also treated the touch screen on the 3GS with an oleophobic coating which again helps in reducing smudges. While this doesn’t make the screen on the iPhone 3GS totally smudge-free, it helps considerably. I tested this by wiping both the 3G and the 3GS screens clean and then using them for similar amounts of time. The 3GS screen looked a lot cleaner.
The “S” as you have read countless times, stands for Speed on the 3GS and oh boy- you sure can feel that. Below is a video comparing the 3G to the 3GS in terms of speed. You must’ve seen quite a few comparison videos like I did but almost all videos I saw focused on games and intensive applications. This video below is not focused on any of that but instead, I’ve shown everyday apps such as texting, tweeting and browsing.

There you have it- everything feels so much snappier on the 3GS. the text messaging application loads much faster- and so do all other programs like Twitellator and BeeJive. Scrolling between lists is a lot more fluid and there is no lag in typing. Web pages also render faster. About the only area where the 3GS lags a bit is the Accelerometer which sometimes can take 2-3 seconds to recognize if the device has been turned. Better than the 5-7 seconds the 3G would take but not fast enough to make it feel snappy.
Besides the speed and storage, there is one more major upgrade on the iPhone 3GS which is the camera. Apple has upped the resolution from 2 mega-pixels to 3 mega-pixels along with adding auto-focus and 30 fps VGA resolution video taking capabilities. Its a good addition, however, I have not come across any camera phone that would make me stop taking my SLR on vacations or elsewhere. Taking videos is a plus but anyone with a jail-broken 3G can have that capability as well. Last but not the least, Apple has also added a digital compass on the 3GS for which I haven’t found a use yet but you never know.

Surprisingly, battery life has not taken a dip even though the hardware has been majorly accelerated. Like my 3G I easily get one full day of usage when I remove it from my charging dock in the morning. In fact, I’ve noticed that I usually have a little bit extra juice left on the 3GS by the end of the day compared to my 3G, but then again, this is only after a week of testing. The battery life will probably dip slightly after a few months.

So- would I recommend getting the 3GS? That depends- if you are already a 3G owner and not a heavy-duty user (which I define as someone having more than three home screens filled with icons), then I don’t think you really need to upgrade. For someone like me who uses their iPhone to text and email a lot along with tweeting, reading feeds on Google Reader, watching music videos and TV shows, playing Monkey Island as well as checking facebook, instant messages and shazzam, its totally worth it.