First iPhone 3G Reviews: Mossberg, Baig, and Pogue

[MacRumors]

The first iPhone 3G reviews are in from the reporters who have had early access to the iPhone 3G for the past two weeks. While we encourage you to read their reviews in full, we've highlighted some of interesting tidbits:

Walt Mossberg / AllThingsD

- "it mostly keeps its promises."
- "more capable version of an already excellent device"
- Battery drained much more quickly using 3G
- Greatly improved audio, much louder speaker
- Data speeds 3-5x faster than original iPhone
- Better voice coverage with 3G. "At my neighborhood shopping center, where the first iPhone got little or no AT&T service, the iPhone 3G registered strong coverage."

Edward Baig / USA Today

- "iPhone 3G: The Sequel, is worth the wait."
- Still no recording video, no stereo bluetooth or voice dialing
- Supports PowerPoint attachments; mass move or delete multiple e-mail messages
- 10-30 seconds to load popular websites on 3G.
- GPS was very accurate
- Speaker sounded better for both speakerphone and music.
- "started receiving low battery warnings toward the end of a busy work day; I found myself charging the device overnight, the same as with the older iPhone."

David Pogue / NYTimes

- Sound is much improved. "In fact, few cellphones sound this good."
- Feels better in your hand due to the curved back
- "According to Apple, the iPhone’s G.P.S. antenna is much too small to emulate the turn-by-turn navigation of a G.P.S. unit for a vehicle, for example."
- No voice dialing, video recording, copy/paste, memory card slot, Bluetooth stereo, MMS
- "the really big deal is the iPhone 2.0 software and the App Store, neither of which requires buying a new iPhone."



Article Link

[Sky Blue]

So GPS is useless then...

[BASE91]

Wonder if the bluetooth will be better...

[levitynyc]

I was looking forward to the better sound part. Maybe speaker phone will be useful now.

[avigalante]

Was just going to submit the WSJ article!

Mostly positive reviews around.

[kjs862]

When was this information released from Apple regarding the GPS antenna?

[Quillz]

So, it sounds like the iPhone 3G is a good buy for those who don't have an iPhone, but not necessarily worth a full upgrade for those who already own an iPhone.

Like David Pogue, I'm much more excited about the 2.0 firmware update than I am about the new hardware.

[PCMacUser]

Overall the reviews sound positive.

[PCMacUser]

Originally Posted by kjs862

When was this information released from Apple regarding the GPS antenna?

12:18 PST July 7th 2008.

I really don't know. It probably came with the press kit.

[Mykbibby]

iPhone 3G with GPS: Know exactly where you are at all times! It can't help you with directions, but at least you know where you are!

I can look around, thank you very much...

[mwxiao]

I agree with David. iPhone 2.0 is the real big deal. 3G is not so much.

[THX1139]

I logged into MacRumors to see what the latest is and instead wind up at iPhoneRumors. Seriously, there 6 articles on the front page about iPhone!!! I long for the olden days when this forum was mostly about Mac Computers. I really wish Apple would spin the iPhone off into a separate company.

[masse]

why does iphone 2.0 not include copy/paste.......

[kabunaru]

Good reviews.
You can't go wrong with the iPhone 3G.

[evilyankeefan]

Originally Posted by Quillz

So, it sounds like the iPhone 3G is a good buy for those who don't have an iPhone, but not necessarily worth a full upgrade for those who already own an iPhone.

Like David Pogue, I'm much more excited about the 2.0 firmware update than I am about the new hardware.

I'd have to agree with this though the temptation for a new shiny toy will be gnawing at me until I cave.

[nickspohn]

So either Ed doesn't get in a car and try out the GPS, or David is living in a cave.

[pyrophite]

So the GPS now basically does not much more than give me slightly more accurate readings than "my location" in google maps? Oh wait, if i'm dumped in the middle of nowhere with no cell towers, i can find where i am.... wonderful. The demo they gave seemed to have pretty good real time signal aquisition, unless that was just all show, and no substance. Ugh, that was one of my reasons to buy this in the first place, an all in one device that i can put in my car for GPS, and hands free bluetooth calls.

Now since i cant use it for turn by turn directions, it's basically a blackberry with worse keyboard, and better application support...

[Small White Car]

Originally Posted by Sky Blue

So GPS is useless then...

I'm still not sure what they mean. The other review said it was "very accurate." It seems to me that if it's accurate it could do turn-by-turn, and if it can't, it can't be described as "accurate."

So we'll just have to wait and see.

[D 5]

Nice, too bad plans are expensive...

[avigalante]

Originally Posted by masse

why does iphone 2.0 not include copy/paste.......

I think Apple has not found a way to implement this in an easy fashion. I can't really think of any other reason.

[sananda]

Originally Posted by THX1139

I long for the olden days when this forum was mostly about Mac Computers

i remember when it was all fields around here.

[pyrophite]

Originally Posted by sananda

i remember when it all fields around here.

Corn as far as the eye can see!

[btallada9870]

Originally Posted by THX1139

I logged into MacRumors to see what the latest is and instead wind up at iPhoneRumors. Seriously, there 6 articles on the front page about iPhone!!! I long for the olden days when this forum was mostly about Mac Computers. I really wish Apple would spin the iPhone off into a separate company.

so when the next mac is days from being released, and i log on and find 6 articles about that i'll be sure to complain and annoy everyone

[dagamer34]

Originally Posted by pyrophite

So the GPS now basically does not much more than give me slightly more accurate readings than "my location" in google maps? Oh wait, if i'm dumped in the middle of nowhere with no cell towers, i can find where i am.... wonderful. The demo they gave seemed to have pretty good real time signal aquisition, unless that was just all show, and no substance. Ugh, that was one of my reasons to buy this in the first place, an all in one device that i can put in my car for GPS, and hands free bluetooth calls.

Now since i cant use it for turn by turn directions, it's basically a blackberry with worse keyboard, and better application support...

Third-party software that uses CoreLocation will be MUCH more accurate when using the GPS chip in the 3G iPhone than just WiFi + cell towers.

[thecartoonguy]

Originally Posted by Sky Blue

So GPS is useless then...

I thought this new G3 was going to tout this massive GPS. Very sad about this. So basically this is nothing more than a curved frame, faster downloads and........?????