The iPhone 3G is the second generation of Apple’s line of Internet and multimedia enabled smartphones, being the successor of the original iPhone and succeeded by the iPhone 3GS. The iPhone 3G was introduced on June 9, 2008, at the WWDC 2008 event, held at the Moscone Center in San Francisco.
The 3G was very similar to the original phone, containing the same 2MP camera which doesn’t have support for video recording, and was limited by the same amount of 128 MB of eDRAM. However, the iPhone 3G showed several improvements from its predecessor, including Assisted GPS, support for 3G data, and Quad-band UMTS/HSDPA.
The iPhone 3G uses the iOS (at first called iPhone OS) operating system developed by Apple, which is currently used not only on all other iPhone models, but on all other touch screen based devices made by Apple as well. Like the original iPhone, the 3G is able to execute a large number of application, as long as they are first approved by Apple itself and obtained through their online AppStore. Doing otherwise and executing unchecked third party applications from unknown sources can cause sever software malfunctions which will not be covered by the device’s warranty. The iPhone 3G ‘s control is built around the multi-touch based liquid crystal display screen.
The 3.5 inch screen supports multi touch, meaning you can use several fingers at once, because the device is able to recognize all your gestures at once. Multi Touch is also used with certain functions, like zooming in or out of a web page. Users do so by holding two fingers on the screen in the area they want to zoom, and move them closer or further from each other, depending on the kind of zooming they want. The screen is capacitive and intended for the usage of bare fingers only, so normal styluses and gloves will not function with the Apple iPhone. However, there are special versions of styluses and gloves that work with the iPhone.
Apple launched the iPhone 3G on July 11, 2008 in twenty-two countries, including the original eight. The device came in two models, different by their storage capacity, one being able to store up to 8 GB of data, while the other one up to 16 GB. The 16 GB version also came with the option of the device being bought in black or white color.
The iPhone 3G’s back features are redesigned polycarbonate housing, which replaced the original iPhones’s alluminum. The buttons were also changed from plastic to metal models, and the phone’s edges were tapered to provide a better grip over the device. The iPhone 3G is also the one which introduced colors the device’s back, which now comes in black or white, but only the 16 GB version is made in both black and white colors.