iPhone 3GS

The iPhone 3GS is the new improved version of the phone from Apple. The company has tried to solidify its leadership in the Smartphone market with the release of this new upgrade. The phone sports no new external design changes but the internal core components have been totally redesigned.

Design and Looks
The iPhone 3GS is externally similar to the orginal iPhone . The phone comes with the beautiful high-resolution 3.5inch diagonal touch screen , offering a resolution of 480x320 pixels. It features the same 4 physical buttons ,starting with the Home button just below the touchscreen , sleep/wake at the top , a volume up/down rocker on the left side and a ringer toggle just above the volume controls.

On the rear the phone comes along with the same white black plastic as with the iPhone 3G.
The only change to the phone physically has been the oleophobic coating to the device’s touch screen. The screen’s coating is intended to keep fingerprints to a minimum. The screen does not eliminate the fingerprints but provides a repellant surface that’s easily wiped clean.

Under the hood , the iPhone now runs at 600 MHZ compared to previous models with 412MHZ. Its also got 256MB of RAM , compared to 128MB in previous models. The result is remarkable and which can be seen as the device boots up. The changes seen in the app load time are also remarkable.

Previously the phone sported the 2 megapixel camera , this time around the phone comes along with a 3 mega pixel camera and ends up producing brighter colors and sharper images. The camera also comes along with a auto focus and a single tap on the touch screen can focus the object in the image. The other big thing about this phone from its older generations is that it can shoot video too. The same camera application can be use to go into the video mode.

iPhone 3GS also initiates voice support this time which is also seen in their new ipod touch and ipod nano lineups. Phone dialing and even apps launch along with ipod control are supported by the voice support. The accuracy is decent and works out pretty well .

The phone’s most featured application has been the compass. The iPhone 3GS is able to tell the difference between magnetic north and true north. The compass is accurate and one tap on the cross hair would locate our position on the map.

With regards to the software on the iPhone 3GS the phone offers new features with its iPhone OS 3.0 Software update. Some of them include the copy-past feature, support for landscape keyboard mode, spotlight search and Bluetooth A2DP support for stereo headphones.
The battery on the phone seems to have improve but the manufacturers say that the iPhone 3GS is able to use its internal hardware in more efficient manner without burning out its battery life.

Overall the iPhone 3GS is no doubt the best Apple phone the Cupertino based group have ever made. The company has eliminated fundamental flaws previously encountered on the phone. This is one phone for the consumer who has never purchased an iPhone, by far the best Smartphone on the planet.

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.

Technical Specifications

Size and weight

Height : 4.5 inches (115.5 mm)
Width : 2.4 inches (62.1 mm)
Depth : 0.48 inch (12.3 mm)
Weight : 4.8 ounces (135 grams)

Cellular and wireless

• UMTS/HSDPA (850, 1900, 2100 MHz)
• GSM/EDGE (850, 900, 1800, 1900 MHz)
• 802.11b/g Wi-Fi
• Bluetooth 2.1 + EDR wireless technology

Location

• Assisted GPS
• Digital compass
• Wi-Fi
• Cellular

Power and battery

• Built-in rechargeable lithium-ion battery
• Charging via USB to computer system or power adapter

• Talk time:

  Up to 5 hours on 3G

  Up to 12 hours on 2G

• Standby time: Up to 300 hours

• Internet use:

  Up to 5 hours on 3G

  Up to 9 hours on Wi-Fi

• Video playback: Up to 10 hours
• Audio playback: Up to 30 hours

Mac system requirements

• Mac computer with USB 2.0 port
• Mac OS X v10.5.8 or later
• iTunes 9.2 or later (free download from www.itunes.com/download)
• iTunes Store account
• Internet access

Windows system requirements

• PC with USB 2.0 port
• Windows 7; Windows Vista; or Windows XP Home or Professional with Service Pack 3 or later
• iTunes 9.2 or later (free download from www.itunes.com/download)
• iTunes Store account
• Internet access

Environmental requirements

• Operating temperature: 32° to 95° F
  (0° to 35° C)
• Nonoperating temperature: -4° to 113° F
  (-20° to 45° C)
• Relative humidity: 5% to 95% noncondensing
• Maximum operating altitude: 10,000 feet (3000 m)

Capacity

• 8GB flash drive

Color

• Black

Display

• 3.5-inch (diagonal) widescreen Multi-Touch display
• 480-by-320-pixel resolution at 163 ppi
• Fingerprint-resistant oleophobic coating
• Support for display of multiple languages and characters simultaneously

Audio playback

• Frequency response: 20Hz to 20,000Hz
• Audio formats supported: AAC (8 to 320 Kbps), Protected AAC (from iTunes Store), HE-AAC, MP3 (8 to 320 Kbps), MP3 VBR, Audible (formats 2, 3, 4, Audible Enhanced Audio, AAX, and AAX+), Apple Lossless, AIFF, and WAV
• User-configurable maximum volume limit

TV and video

• Video formats supported: H.264 video, up to 1.5 Mbps, 640 by 480 pixels, 30 frames per second, Low-Complexity version of the H.264 Baseline Profile with AAC-LC audio up to 160 Kbps, 48kHz, stereo audio in .m4v, .mp4, and .mov file formats; H.264 video, up to 2.5 Mbps, 640 by 480 pixels, 30 frames per second, Baseline Profile up to Level 3.0 with AAC-LC audio up to 160 Kbps per channel, 48kHz, stereo audio in .m4v, .mp4, and .mov file formats; MPEG-4 video, up to 2.5 Mbps, 640 by 480 pixels, 30 frames per second, Simple Profile with AAC-LC audio up to 160 Kbps, 48kHz, stereo audio in .m4v, .mp4, and .mov file formats
• Support for 576p and 480p with Apple Component AV Cable; 576i and 480i with Apple Composite AV Cable (cables sold separately)

Languages

• Language support for English (U.S.), English (UK), French (France), German, Traditional Chinese, Simplified Chinese, Dutch, Italian, Spanish, Portuguese (Brazil), Portuguese (Portugal), Danish, Swedish, Finnish, Norwegian, Korean, Japanese, Russian, Polish, Turkish, Ukrainian, Hungarian, Arabic, Thai, Czech, Greek, Hebrew, Indonesian, Malay, Romanian, Slovak, Croatian, Catalan, and Vietnamese
• Keyboard support for English (U.S.), English (UK), French (France), French (Canadian), French (Switzerland), German, Traditional Chinese (Handwriting, Pinyin, Zhuyin, Cangjie, Wubihua), Simplified Chinese (Handwriting, Pinyin, Wubihua), Dutch, Italian, Spanish, Portuguese (Brazil), Portuguese (Portugal), Danish, Swedish, Finnish, Norwegian, Korean, Japanese (Romaji), Japanese (Kana), Russian, Polish, Turkish, Ukrainian, Estonian, Hungarian, Icelandic, Lithuanian, Latvian, Flemish, Arabic, Thai, Czech, Greek, Hebrew, Indonesian, Malay, Romanian, Slovak, Croatian, Bulgarian, Serbian (Cyrillic/Latin), Catalan, and Vietnamese
• Dictionary support (enables predictive text and autocorrect) for English (U.S.), English (UK), French, German, Traditional Chinese, Simplified Chinese, Dutch, Italian, Spanish, Portuguese (Brazil), Portuguese (Portugal), Danish, Swedish, Finnish, Norwegian, Korean, Japanese (Romaji), Japanese (Kana), Russian, Polish, Turkish, Ukrainian, Hungarian, Lithuanian, Flemish, Arabic, Thai, Czech, Greek, Hebrew, Indonesian, Malaysian, Romanian, Slovak, Croatian, Catalan, and Vietnamese

Mail attachment support

• Viewable document types: .jpg, .tiff, .gif (images); .doc and .docx (Microsoft Word); .htm and .html (web pages); .key (Keynote); .numbers (Numbers); .pages (Pages); .pdf (Preview and Adobe Acrobat); .ppt and .pptx (Microsoft PowerPoint); .txt (text); .rtf (rich text format); .vcf (contact information); .xls and .xlsx (Microsoft Excel)

Camera, photos, and video

• Video recording, VGA up to 30 frames per second with audio
• 3-megapixel still camera
• Tap to focus
• Photo and video geotagging

External buttons and controls

• Sleep/wake
• Ring/silent
• Volume up/down
• Home

Connectors and input/output

• 30-pin dock connector
• 3.5-mm stereo headphone minijack
• Built-in speaker
• Microphone
• SIM card tray

Sensors

• Accelerometer
• Proximity sensor
• Ambient light sensor

Headphones

• Apple Earphones with Remote and Mic
• Volume control
• Frequency response: 20Hz to 20,000Hz
• Impedance: 32 ohms

In the box

• iPhone 3GS
• Apple Earphones with Remote and Mic
• Dock Connector to USB Cable
• USB Power Adapter
• Documentation