On June 8, at the WWDC 2009 keynote, Apple delivered what iPhone fans were waiting for, the third - generation model of Apple's revolutionary device. The iPhone 3GS is the successor of the 2007 iPhone and the 2008 iPhone 3G. But the jump from the iPhone 3G to the 3GS is not that big as the jump from the first model to the 3G iPhone. Either way Apple promises that the iPhone 3GS is faster than the previous one. It also has an extended battery life, more memory and a few other features to make it a compelling upgrade for 3G users. Some of these new features are part of the new iPhone OS 3.0. The letter S from the iPhone 3GS stands for speed. In just three days, from the launch, 1 million iPhone 3GS were sold.
The 3GS looks just like an iPhone 3G. The same design and quality materials as the 3G model, gives a premium look to the iPhone 3GS. The 3GS model is available in white or black. The dimensions are identical to the 3G; the only difference is that the 3GS weights more than the 3G with 2g, making a total of 135 g. Its length is 115.5 mm, while the width is 62.1 mm and the height 12.3 mm.
On the front of the 3GS we have the home screen button located under the 3.5" display. On the left side there are the volume control buttons and the silent mode button. The 3.5 mm jack and the on / off button are on the top of the phone, while on the bottom we have the dock connector, the speaker and microphone. The back of the iPhone 3GS is optical identical to the 3G model, the only difference is that instead of a 2 MP digital camera the 3GS has a 3.2 MP camera (no flash). The battery is better than the previous one (20% more power). The autonomy has grown from 10 hours to 12 hours in the 2G Network and from 24 hours to 30 hours for music. The video playback time has also grown from 7 hours to 10 hours, while the stand by values remains identical to the values from the 3G.
The iPhone 3GS comes with the new iPhone OS 3.0. The 3.0 brought to the iPhone and iPod Touch a lot of new features like the highly anticipated "copy & paste". Unfortunately the 3GS still lack the possibility of multitasking (hopefully the 4.0 will fix this problem). Other excellent feature from the 3.0 is the search engine, Spotlight. You can use this engine to find contacts, music, applications, emails, calendar events, notes, videos and even podcasts. The search speed is really good (beats the search speed of Nokia phones with S60). Other features are exclusively for the 3GS model such as Voice Control (not just for voice dialing and basic commands, you can use voice to identify a song by name and you can ask to play related tracks), Interface Zoom and White - on - Black color combo.
The 3GS has the same display from the iPhone 3G. It's a 3.5" touch screen with 320 x 480 resolution and 16 million colors. The sound quality on calls is excellent. Even in places where the network coverage is not that good the quality sound on calls is flawless. You can add so many details to any contact from the phonebook (many phone numbers, addresses, email, birthday and other). Thanks to the 3.0 you can now send multimedia messages (but you have to configure it manually). Multimedia is very important for the iPhone line. Apple's experience in iPod production really pays off. The lack of stereo speakers is a disadvantage, but keep in mind that this is just a policy, so that the iPhone user would buy additional speakers. The iPod feature from the iPhone is genius. The sound is loud and clear, the bass is incredible. With the 3GS you can listen to music using Bluetooth stereo handset. The video player is the same; the only difference is the improved speed when you open a movie or a music video. If you are choosing your 3GS by the storage capacity, then you should know that there is a 16 GB model and a 32 GB model. The iPhone 3GS doesn't have radio. If you want to listen to the radio from your 3GS you have to use the internet. The new 3.2 MP digital camera is still not enough for a high - end phone. Apple should have included a 5 MP digital camera rather than a 3.2 MP camera. Most of the smartphones on the market have 5 to 8 MP cameras with flash or xenon. The video recording is made at VGA resolution (640 x 480) with 30 frames per second.
The movie clips are saved in the .mov format. In the connectivity department you get GPRS, EDGE, 3G or HSDPA and WiFi. The email client syncs with Mobile Me or Microsoft Exchange 2007. The new iPhone generation comes not just with better software features, but also with a faster processor and a larger random access memory. If you don't mind the lack of multitasking, the iPhone 3GS will not let you down.
Specifications
Network:
-2G GSM 850 / 900/ 1800 / 1900
-3G HSDPA 850 / 1900 / 2100
Size:
-Dimensions: 115.5 x 62.1 x 12.3 mm
-Weight : 135 g
Display:
-Type TFT capacitive touch screen, 16 million colors
-Size: 320 x 480 pixels, 3.5"
-Multi-touch input method, accelerometer sensor for auto-rotate, proximity sensor for auto turn-off, scratch-resistant surface
Memory:
-Internal: 16 GB/ 32 GB storage, 256 MB RAM
-Card slot: No
Data:
-GPRS, EDGE, 3g HSDPA, 7.2 Mbps, WLAN, Bluetooth v2.1 with A2DP, USB v2.0
Camera:
-3.15 MP, 2048x1536 pixels, autofocus
-Touch focus, geo-tagging
-VGA@30fps, video geo-tagging
OS:
-iPhone OS (based on Mac OS)
CPU:
-ARM Cortex A8 600 MHz, PowerVR SGX graphics
Battery:
-Stand by: up to 300 hours
-Talk time: up to 12 h (2G) / Up to 5 h (3G)
-Music play: up to 30 h
