iPhone 3G: Worth The Upgrade?
It’s been about a month since Apple released the iPhone 3G into the wild and with all the fanfare that the original iPhone received, it’s hard to make the original one better, right?
Wrong… Apple has now added 3G coverage, Application functionality, GPS ability, and more.. AT&T has 3G coverage scattered around the US, and we’ve tested the 3G service within the OC and have been very impressed with it sofar. Areas such as Newport Beach, Costa Mesa, Irvine, and Laguna Beach seem to have the strongest service, whereas some areas of the OC don’t have the service.
The ability to add applications to the iPhone is something new added with this upgrade. It was previously available to jailbroken iPhone’s, but now you are able to add them to your new phone. Companies such as Google, AOL, WordPress, Sega, and others have added a plethera of programs that you can use and make life simpler. The AOL Radio application allows you to listen to stations such as KROQ with ease. Yelp is another strong addition with restaurants, bars, banks, and more.
The GPS function along with Google Maps is one of the best additions in our opinion. All you need to do is press the Google Maps button and the iPhone will map your current location with a blue dot. You can map out directions to your destination and find your way.
If your company uses Exchange for its mail services, you are now able to include that on your phone. This was not previously included but now ask your company if they’ll allow this. Usually it’s up to your company’s IT policy to dictate this. Of course if you are
It’s not to say that the newest iPhone doesn’t have its negatives though. Shorter battery life has been experienced with some of the 3G and push services. Apple has released the latest 2.0.1 software to clear some of the early bugs that seemed to crash the phone early on.
Overall we’d give the phone a 8/10. If Apple can increase the battery life with the 3G and push services enabled, it’d bump it to a 9/10.
The iPhone 3G
