| By :
Paul Wise
June 8, 2009 marked what Apple hopes to be the next stage in the evolution of its iPhone product line. This year's developers' conference opened with a keynote address concerning the new iPhone 3G S, which features extended battery life, more memory, faster performance, and various other long-sought improvements. Though still trying to tout its latest offering as revolutionary, it's pretty clear by now that Apple will be taking a safe and cautious approach to what is arguably its next flagship product line (as it is, it is serious competition for their iPods; the only thing preventing the iPod's demise - what with an on-board .mp3 player on the iPhone - is Apple's still-exclusive relationship with AT&T, which forces iPhone users to subscribe for two whole years at a time). Namely, the iPhone finally joins the ranks of 21st Century smart phones: it can now actually send a multimedia message. Unfortunately, persistent snags remain: call quality remains far less than optimal (not to mention music playback - a complaint of their iPods, too), and many smart phone features will not be available right away, pending technical issues on AT&T's end which should delay full deployment and implementation for two years yet, though undoubtedly with incremental, serviceable-enough roll-outs in the meantime. Also, the iPhone's Safari web browser still lacks Flash support. So, some noteworthy new features and capabilities: ~ an upgraded 3.0 megapixel camera with auto focus and other similar technical settings ~ VGA video-recording at thirty frames per second ~ new editing functionality means you can trim video clips right on the iPhone now ~ voice dialing and voice commands also allow for iPhone activation and music playback ~ digital compass integrates with Google Maps ~ stereo Bluetooth And last but not least, official battery life is rated as nine hours for Wi-Fi, ten hours for video playback, thirty hours for audio playback, and twelve hours of talk-time at 2G speeds, with five for 3G. So all in all, the new iPhone 3G S is finally catching up with the competition in terms of common smart phone feature sets, and it makes a sensible purchase for those in the market for a new phone. Others won't quite get as much bang for their bucks, especially current iPhone 3G owners. If you are in this category, you may be eligible for special slightly less expensive upgrade pricing - if you don't mind being locked into another two-year contract! Most others will probably find it more worthwhile to save their money (up to three hundred dollars American) for more iPhone apps at the apps store.
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