Apple's second generation iPhone, the iPhone 3G, is a capable, beautifully designed smartphone that will prove easy and pleasing to use for most customers.
The most immediately noticeable upgrade from the original iPhone model is the beautiful design for which Apple has become famous. With a curved casing and a change from an aluminium back casing to plastic, the new iPhone is more resistant to scratching and fingerprints and looks more professional and stylish to boot. The glass display is tough and doesn't scratch easily – dirt and smudges may become noticeable after a while, though, so make sure to keep it well looked after!
The large display features 480x320 pixel resolution with a great range of colours and a bright screen. This all lends effect to the clear viewing of photos with a slight yellow shade that encompasses the screen and brings out what Apple claims are more 'natural' looking colours.
The OS on the iPhone 3G responds quickly and instinctively to touchscreen finger-taps, and the well-known Safari browser keeps up its reputation for being the best in the world for mobile phones. It is capable of displaying website pages in their full original layout design while still being designed for optimum surfing on a smaller sized mobile screen.
A new feature of the iPhone is Apple's MobileMe support. Apple describes it as "the exchange for everyone else", as it offers people easy access to all of their email, contacts, calendars, and documents. For most of us these days who have too many devices to properly keep control over, MobileMe is a synchronisation service that is designed to simplify things for us, synchronising bookmarks, email, calendars, and contacts between the iPhone 3G, Mac, and PC.
Designed especially for mobiles, MobileMe pushes email towards the iPhone 3G instead of the phone itself having to go to the server. It can be synchronised with Gmail, Yahoo! Mail, and basic POP3 services as well. MobileMe seems to be in keeping with Apple's general idea of de-cluttering our lives, whether it be through software updates such as this or in the simple, easy to navigate design and interface of their hardware.
Unfortunately, the new iPhone isn't all positives. With only a basic 2 megapixel camera, some may feel that the iPhone doesn't live up to its competition, particularly with the lack of video recording and photo editing options. The photo quality isn't great, which is a pity when contrasted with the iPhone 3G's lovely clear screen. MMS is also still not an option, which can be annoying when you want to share some of the photos you take with friends.
Additionally, the battery life is even worse than the original iPhone, because of design and engineering delays with Apple. Using a lot of email, web searching, and YouTube 3G data will have your mobile running out of juice in around four hours – an hour less than the previous model. Make sure you have ready access to charging facilities, though, and it might not be that big a deal.
The plastic case may not feel as tough as aluminium, but it does make the phone more lightweight and easy to handle, and we think that you'll find it's better for smudges and scratches as soon as you adjust to it. The GPS integration with Google Maps needs some work to keep it from lagging, but new software upgrades may make a great difference with this.
Overall, there's a reason why Apple are as famous as they are, and why the iPhone is most people's number one choice of smartphone. Despite the features that may seem to detract from it, the iPhone 3G is a great example of Apple's top of the line design and software, and the MobileMe feature means that it's a new gadget that actually simplifies your life.