Apple iPhone 3GS

“It's true that the iPhone 3GS brings over only incrementing changes, there's nothing ground breaking about it. But before everything else, the newly introduced changes on both software AND hardware level will make the new iPhone 3GS a more balanced smartphone most of all. That will give it some more charisma and it will hopefully lure some new users and get most current iPhone 2G users trade in their devices for a piece of Apple's latest tech.Sounds like quite a plan and indeed, the iPhone 3GS is a top-notch hardware platform for experiencing one of the most advanced touch user interfaces to date (not to mention the ridiculously easy and dun way to get yourself geared with tons of apps).”

“There are probably two very large groups of people thinking about buying an iPhone right now. One set is current users, either those with the 3G, or those still using the original model. The other set is a group of new users -- people who've never owned an iPhone and are now faced with not one, but two different options when it comes to getting in the door. For both groups, there are huge questions to answer about whether or not getting the 3GS makes sense, and very few of them have to do with the quality of the phone.For current users, we have this to say: the iPhone 3GS is a solid spec bump to a phone you already own... but it is, at its core, a phone you already own. Your real deciding factors will be two-fold, first, are you able to purchase the 3GS at a price which is reasonable or sensible to you? For a lot of current users -- particularly more recent customers -- the pricing will be exorbitant, and it's hard to think of dropping $399 or $499 when you've just shelled out for a very, very similar phone (remember, you're paying for a speed bump, a compass, and video recording). On the other hand, if you're within contract renewal range and you don't plan on jumping platforms anytime soon, $199 nabs you an unquestionably excellent smartphone.”

“The good: The iPhone 3GS finally adds common cell phone features like multimedia messaging, video recording, and voice dialing. It runs faster, its promised battery life is longer, and the multimedia quality continues to shine.The bad: The iPhone 3GS' call quality shows no improvements and the 3G signal reception remains uneven. We still don't get Flash Lite, USB transfer and storage, or multitasking.The bottom line: The iPhone 3GS doesn't make the same grand leap that the iPhone 3G made from the first-generation model, but the latest Apple handset is still a compelling upgrade for some users. The iPhone 3GS is faster and we appreciate the new features and extended battery life, but call quality and 3G reception still need improvement.”

“Apple outsmarted the mobile world by releasing the touch-controlled iPhone in June 2007. In July the next year, it rocketed to faster network speeds with the iPhone 3G while creating a massive ecosystem of apps. Now, on June 19, Apple will reassert its dominance by shipping the iPhone 3GS, outfitted with the operating system upgrade iPhone 3.0.It's not as dramatic an advance as the previous ones. But the new phone introduces a long list of improvements, big and small. Taken together, they're enough to re-establish Apple's once-shrinking lead in a brutal technology competition that is making the chariot race in Ben Hur look like a stroll in the park.The iPhone 3GS combines two sets of advances. The first group is available only to purchasers of the new hardware. The rest of the features are part of Apple's iPhone 3.0 software upgrade, which, beginning June 17, will be offered free to those with earlier iPhones. (iPod Touch users can get the new software for $10.)”