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Apple iPhone 3GS - 16GB - black (AT&T)

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• Quick specs
• Band / mode: WCDMA (UMTS) / GSM 850/900/1800/1900
• Talk time: Up to 600 min
• Combined with: With digital camera / digital player
• See full specifications

 Product summary

The good: The iPhone 3GS finally adds common cell phone features like multimedia messaging, video recording, and voice dialing. It runs faster; its promised battery life is longer; and the multimedia quality continues to shine.

The bad: The iPhone 3GS' call quality shows no improvements and the 3G signal reception remains uneven. We still don't get Flash Lite, USB transfer and storage, or multitasking.

The bottom line: The iPhone 3GS doesn't make the same grand leap that the iPhone 3G made from the first-generation model, but the latest Apple handset is still a compelling upgrade for some users. The iPhone 3GS is faster and we appreciate the new features and extended battery life, but call quality and 3G reception still need improvement.

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  Design : 9.0 Features : 8.0 Performance : 8.0 Overall score: 8.3 (4.0 stars)

• Reviewed by:
  
  
  Kent German
• Reviewed on: 06/17/2009
• Updated on: 09/25/2009
• Released on: 06/19/2009

Apple iPhone 3GS

Three years after the first rumors of an Apple cell phone began to make the rounds, the iPhone continues to garner huge buzz, long lines, and a growing share of the cell phone market. And as we approach the second anniversary of the first model's frenzied launch day, Apple drops the newest model in our laps. The iPhone 3GS, which will hit stores June 19, promises faster processing and network speeds, extended battery life, more memory, and additional features. It's enough to get our attention, but not enough to get us completely excited.
In many ways, the iPhone 3GS delivers on its promises. The battery, which could sometimes deplete in less than a day on the iPhone 3G, lasted longer in our preliminary tests, and the phone's software ran noticeably faster. Yet, we still have some concerns. A faster AT&T 3G network isn't going to happen overnight, and some features, like tethering and multimedia messaging, aren't scheduled until later in summer 2009. We also struggled to see any change in call quality, which, as any iPhone owner can tell you, remains far from perfect.
So should you buy it? That will depend on how much you'll have to pay for the privilege. If you don't own an iPhone yet, and you've been waiting for the right model, now is the time to go for it. The same goes for iPhone Classic owners who never made the jump to the iPhone 3G. But, if you're a current iPhone 3G owner, the answer isn't so clear. If you're eligible to upgrade at the cheapest prices ($199 for the 16GB model and $299 for the 32GB model), we suggest doing so, as long as you don't mind the required two-year contract. If you own an iPhone 3G, but are not yet eligible for the upgrade, we recommend upgrading to the new iPhone OS 3.0 operating system, and then waiting. As much as the iPhone 3GS brings, it's not worth the extra $200 that the 16GB and 32GB models cost.

iPod Touch OS 3.0 media features

Design and interface
The iPhone 3GS looks exactly like the previous model. It shares the shape and the same external controls, but the iPhone 3GS is unique in a handful of ways. You can get both memory sizes in white or black, and the iPhone 3GS display sports a fingerprint-resistant oleophobic coating that is supposed to attract fewer fingerprints and smudges. The new model shares the same dimensions as its predecessor, but it's slightly heavier (4.76 ounces versus 4.7 ounces), a virtually unnoticeable difference.

The iPhone 3GS has the same external design as the iPhone 3G.

The menu interface is also the same, but in the past year, as we've added apps to the Home screen, something new has begun to bother us. As intuitive and simple as the interface is, it becomes unwieldy after you get above four menu pages. Swiping through multiple pages is tedious; and it's rather painful to drag applications from page to page if you're an organizational freak. We hate that there's no way to categorize related apps into folders, such as one for news, another for social networking, and so on. Not only would this cut down on menu pages, but you'd also be able to find your app faster. And while we're at it, how about letting us delete some of the native apps we never use?
Features
Since the iPhone 3GS inherits many of the features from the previous model, we'll concentrate on what's different on this device. If you need a refresher on such elements as the clock, YouTube, weather, iPod player, calculator, and e-mail, please see our iPhone 3G review. We'll start off with the new features that only the iPhone 3GS will offer.
Camera
Until now, the iPhone's camera has been good, but far from great, with decent photo quality, but no editing features. Apple didn't include options such as white balance, a digital zoom, or a self-timer that come standard on many basic VGA camera phones. The minimalist shooter bothered us so much that we began to worry if Apple was leading a new trend of "dumbing down" cell phone cameras.

The iPhone 3GS' camera still lacks a flash.

Compass
You'll find the iPhone 3GS' digital compass option directly on the Home screen; just tap to open. The attractive interface shows a large compass with your bearing and your latitude and longitude. Similar to any other compass, it continues to point true or magnetic north as you turn around. Reception was spotty inside, so you'll need to stay clear of any interference. If it can't get a bearing, you'll be advised to move away from the interference and re-establish the compass' orientation by moving the iPhone in a figure-eight motion.

 

Accessibility features
The iPhone 3GS is the first iPhone to offer a full set of accessibility features. Visually impaired people can use Apple's Voice Over to navigate the handset's menus and type messages and e-mails. As you drag your finger around the display and tap a button, the iPhone will read a description of that button. The phone will also read the text of dialog boxes, the time of day, the status and orientation of the display (locked or unlocked, portrait or landscape), and detail information, such as the battery level, Wi-Fi, and cellular network signals. What's more, it speaks each character as you type a message, and it will suggest autocorrection choices. Voice Over can read text messages, e-mails, and even Web pages.

The iPhone 3GS puts some of those fears to rest. Apple boosted the camera's resolution to 3 megapixels and added a new "Tap to Focus" feature. As you point the lens toward your subject, a small box appears on the center of the display. Tapping that square focuses the camera automatically on that point and adjusts the white balance, color, contrast, and exposure accordingly. If you'd rather focus on the edge of your shot, just tap the display at your chosen point and the square moves with you. If you don't tap anywhere, the camera will focus the entire frame.
AT&T has fixed several problems that caused some AT&T customers to log into the wrong Facebook account when using their mobile phones, an AT&T spokesman said on Monday: "In a limited number of instances, a server software connectivity error resulted in some AT&T wireless customers being logged in to the wrong Facebook account when they accessed Facebook through their mobile phones."
AT&T added new security measures to prevent the problem from happening again and worked with Facebook to disable subscriber identification information as an option for automatic log-on, Coe said. The subscriber identification is the session identification number that gets added to the URL, he said.
AT&T also fixed a separate problem in which a customer in Atlanta was able to log into the wrong Facebook account on a mobile phone. In that "isolated" case, the problem was due to a misdirected cookie on the customer's phone, Coe said.
"We worked with the customer to resolve the issue," he said. "It is unclear how this cookie was set on the phone."
Asked for comment, a Facebook spokesman said: "We don't have anything more than what AT&T is saying."
When I wrote our Newbie's Guide for Facebook last week, there were several things worth including that just couldn't make the cut. These seven features aren't often advertised or well-known among most newbies, but can be quite helpful, and in some cases great time-wasters.

7 cool

Facebook features

1. Feed tweaks: Dial it up. Did you know the Friends' feed you see on the Facebook home page doesn't contain every little piece of information about what people are doing on the network? While everyone can tweak what they want published to the news feed, you too have control of what you see others doing. To adjust the feed, there's a handy set of 10 sliders that control the frequency of each story type, and how often it shows up. There's also an option underneath the sliders to hand-pick which friends you want to see more or less of. You can access this control panel by clicking the Preferences link on the news feed.

Get rid of the mountain of links under profile pictures with the little x button.

2. Changing links under your picture. As you install more and more Facebook applications, you've probably just skipped ahead when the program asks whether or not it's OK to put one of those little blue links underneath your profile picture. What you end up with is a tower of blue links under your name, and on everyone's profile you visit. Feel like cutting down the clutter? Just hit the little "x" button that shows up when you mouse over the box. You can do this with all of the links except for the Edit My Profile link.
Need to get the links back? Just visit the Edit page under "Applications" and find the applications that have profile links disabled. Hit the Edit button, and you'll find the option that will turn the links back on.

3. Reverting to older profile pictures. Think your profile picture is lost every time you upload a new one? Guess again. Facebook keeps a running tab of all your old shots in the form of a special, hidden album. If you want to revert back to one, just choose the Make Profile Picture option on the list of links in the bottom right-hand corner. You can also get rid of any shots that now seem horribly outdated.
4. Applications: Minimize, don't remove. Like the links under your profile picture, things can get a little cluttered. If you have a few applications floating around your profile that you would prefer not to see, just minimize them by clicking the down-facing triangle. Your friends will still be able to see the application box on your profile, but if both of you have it installed, and you have opted not to see it, it will show up as minimized on your profile too. This works on applications you haven't installed--so if you run across one that drives you crazy, and that several of your friends have installed (such as one of the ones from our 5 absurd apps list), you won't be seeing it unless you want to.

5. Pull a Twitter (kinda). Twitter is fun, but long before Tweets lived the Facebook status message, a single sentence description of what you're up to for all to see. This information shows up on your profile, and on various news and mini-feeds, but did you know there's a page that lists the last 70+ status updates of all your friends? You can sign up to get mobile alerts, and, of course, update your very own status from your mobile phone using the Web portal, or by sending text messages to a special Facebook number. There's also a simple RSS feed you can grab to add to your favorite feed reader.
6. Birthday fever. One of my favorite features of Facebook is the birthday reminder. Short of plugging in all your friends' birthdates into an actual calendar, this thing is boss when it comes to a handy heads-up. The only hitch is that you get just a few days notice, which is hardly enough time to get your act together. There is an easier way; from the home page (once you're logged in), you can click the "See all" link inside the Birthdays box. This will take you to a page with everyone's birthdays, listed month by month. The only thing missing is a reminder tool.

You can find the Friends game in the drop-down menu in the Friends tab.

7. Friends quiz. Ever played that music quiz game on the iPod? The one that starts playing a track and gives you a handful of selections to choose from before time runs out? Well, there's a similar game tucked away in your Facebook Friends menu that lets you guess whose profile to which a snippet of text belongs. It could be anything--from a quote, to a favorite book or movie. As the timer runs out, incorrect friends will fade away, leaving a smaller pool from which to guess. While there's no scoreboard, this small application is almost a year old, and represents one of the only official games put out by Facebook. It's also the closest thing to some of the more recent applications that have come out of the f8 platform.
As an advanced tidbit, if you feel like tweaking what kinds of questions the game asks, just click on the Preferences link in the lower right-hand corner to adjust the sliders.
These are just a few of the features I've enjoyed discovering. If you've found any, feel free to list them in the TalkBack.

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