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Review: iPhone 3GS

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Is It Your Type? Body The Three S's Touch

Screen

The display of the iPhone 3GS is identical to that of last year's model save for the smudge-proof coating. It is very viewable outside, nice and bright, and looks great. I would have preferred to see a larger display with more resolution, though. Some of Apple's competitors have busted out really high-rez AMOLED screens that look fantastic. I suppose that's something to look forward to with the iPhone 2010...

Signal

I could not find any difference in the signal performance of the iPhone 3GS when compared to the iPhone 3G. It did pretty well. It barely survived the NJ vault test (the local ShopRite). In our limited time testing it, we didn't miss or drop any calls. But, truth to tell, in using the iPhone and iPhone 3G all over the U.S. and in some places overseas, I can tell you straight up that many other phones offer superior signal performance. Bottom line: Don't be surprised if the iPhone 3GS drops calls here and there.

Sound

The iPhone 3GS sounds better than the iPhone 3G, which sounded better than the original. Calls are clearer, less noise, less echo, and less garbling. The earpiece is also slightly louder, but not overly so. Music playback did not sound appreciably different compared to either the iPhone or iPhone 3G. Ringers can be made loud enough for most in-home environments, but it is still lacking compared to others when it comes to outdoor environments.

I thought call quality was decent overall. I compared it directly with the Nokia E75 and BlackBerry Storm, and believe it or not, callers sounded better on the iPhone. Not only better, but louder, too.

Battery

Apple claims that the new iPhone 3GS has better battery performance than the iPhone 3G did. We've only had the thing for a few days, so we can only report on what we've seen. I had the iPhone 3GS fully charged at 5PM on the 19th. At 9PM on the 20th, it still had a 50% charge. In the 28 hours it was on, I used TweetDeck heavily, listened to some music, shot pictures and about 10 minutes worth of video, took several phones calls, sent numerous text messages and so on. I don't really expect to get more than one full day's use out of it during work days when I receive tons of email, use it a lot for phone calls, and so on. Of course, we have yet to determine that, and will let you know the results when we do.

Next page: Touch

May 6, 2011
Microsoft has made available a software developers kit that will allow application writers to add Bing Maps to their iPhone applications. Developers can use the tools in the SDK to access Bing's road, aerial, and hybrid aerial maps.

Apple Sued Over Location-Tracking Scuttlebutt

Apr 25, 2011
Two consumers from Tampa, Fla., have filed a lawsuit against Apple for allegedly committing privacy invasion and computer fraud. The complaint comes after the recent revelation that the Apple iPhone tracks user location data and stores in on the host computer.

Dropbox Version 1.4 Supports Bulk Uploads

Apr 18, 2011
Dropbox today unveiled version 1.4 for iOS devices, including the iPhone. The new version of Dropbox, which is a cloud storage service, now has a dedicated uploads tab, the ability to bulk upload photos and video files, as well as import files from email for uploading to Dropbox.

Google Updates Latitude and Places for iPhone

Mar 22, 2011
Google recently rolled out a minor update to its iPhone Latitude application that lets Latitude users check into their location from their handset. Users must opt-in to use Latitude, and can manage privacy settings to control who sees what.

Opera Announces Opera Mini 6, Opera Mobile 11

Mar 17, 2011
Opera Software today announced new versions of its two mobile browsers. Opera Mini 6 will soon become available to handsets running the Android, BlackBerry, Symbian/Series 60 and J2ME platforms.

Apple iPhone 3GS

3.5" display 320 x 480 pixels
Headphone Jack (3.5mm)

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