iPhone News Updated

Review: Apple’s Speedy iPhone 3GS

Its blazing speed and new features make the 3GS Apple’s best iPhone yet, but its App Store, and easy-to-use OS are what set it apart from the Palm Pre and Nokia N97.

Advance reviews of the iPhone 3GS hit the Web just before the device launched on June 19. Most labeled the new smartphone from Apple “evolutionary, not revolutionary.” While I am inclined to agree with that basic sentiment, there’s actually a lot more going on here that deserves comment.

My colleague, Mitch Wagner, did a fine job reviewing all the new features of the iPhone operating system 3.0 (including cut-and-paste, Spotlight Search, voice memos, and remote wipe), so this review will focus instead on those refinements that are particular only to the iPhone 3GS hardware itself. First up, all the new goodies.

Camera And Video Capture

The most significant improvement of the iPhone 3GS over previous models is the camera. Apple has updated the 2-megapixel fixed-focus camera to a 3-megapixel camera with autofocus. The new camera takes better pictures all around. They are sharper, show more details, have less grain (noise), and are better exposed.

Pictures still are not perfect, but the iPhone 3GS does a great job for a phone. It will replace that point-and-shoot camera you may carry on vacation, but won’t replace a dSLR used for serious photography. It still lacks a number of features, such as white balance control and exposure control, and doesn’t offer advanced features such as bracketing and panoramic shooting.

The new touch-to-focus function is fun to use. If you want the iPhone to focus on a specific object in the viewfinder, simply touch that part of the screen and that’s where it will focus. It works quickly, shoots pictures fast, and returns to the image-capture screen in an instant. The result is sharper images. Apple says it improved the low-light performance of the iPhone’s camera as well. Based on images I captured in low-light situations, they are indeed improved. Apple did this without the use of a flash and instead by improving the camera module’s sensitivity.
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Is iPhone 3GS “winning”? Mobile makers respond

It’s evolution not revolution, says Nokia boss

Steve Jobs’ return to Apple HQ after his six month hiatus didn’t disappoint. Within moment His Jobsness was already changing the iPhone 3GS’ name and smack-talking Apple’s competitors.

In a ballsy statement, Jobs crowned iPhone 3GS the victor, stating “Customers are voting and the iPhone is winning.” “With over 50,000 applications available from Apple’s revolutionary App Store, iPhone momentum is stronger than ever.”

The iPhone 3G wasn’t the only smartphone handset to launch in late June – the Nokia N97 and the Palm Pre hit shelves at around the same time (the same day for N97, in fact) and new announcements such as the HTC Hero prove that Apple’s certainly not the only one fighting for smartphone dominance.

So how does Jobs’ competitive tone sit with other mobile makers? We dropped Samsung, Nokia, HTC and Palm a line to see what they thought.

Mark Loughran, Nokia’s UK Managing Director wasn’t afraid to take on Steve’s statements. Here’s how he described the iPhone 3GS: “The new iPhone is an evolution rather than a revolution and for people trying to decide whether to get a Nokia N97 or an iPhone, it comes down to a decision on performance and value for money. Anyone looking for the latest innovation, with industry leading product specs and the ultimate combination of touch screen and QWERTY keyboard will opt for the Nokia N97.”

Loughran doesn’t hold much faith in the one-size-fits-all approach either, nor Apple’s declaration of victory, describing the smartphone wars thus: “The UK is a great place to be for anyone looking for a new mobile and we’re thrilled with the demand we’ve seen for the N97 already. Nokia continues to launch great devices with great services on board and the Nokia N97 is definitely one of those. But we don’t believe that one device is right for everyone so in June we also launched the Nokia N86 - our 8 megapixel slide Nseries device and the Nokia 6700 which is an update of best selling mobile in the UK for the last 10 years, the Nokia 6300. Ultimately, there are over one billion people using Nokia’s all around the world so winning is relative really!”

Samsung didn’t have the misfortune of releasing a rival handset at the same time, but was happy to put Jobs’ statement into perspective: “We always encourage competition in the market and acknowledge that Apple is a competitor in the smartphone field,” said Derek Williamson, General Manager – Mobile, Samsung Electronics (UK). “However, our own successes in smartphones cannot be ignored with the widest range of smartphones supporting a variety of open system platforms including Windows Mobile, Symbian and Android.”

“We don’t just drive huge sales, we also pioneer new technologies in our devices. Recently we released the world’s first HD video recorder in a smartphone with the i8910, meaning that for the first time you can record and play back video in high definition, watch it on the huge AMOLED screen (another Samsung first) or stream it to your TV over DLNA. In addition to this we had huge success with our Omnia smartphone and we will be extending the Omnia family and our range of Android devices later in the year,” Williamson added.

Palm, whose shiny new Pre smartphone is just out in the US, declined to comment, but we were steered in the direction of some statistics carried out by mobile analytics outfit Medilets. It was revealed that the Pre is off to a healthy start, with 150,000 units sold so far and 1m downloads already snapped up at the Palm App Catalog. Obviously Palm’s not ready to deliver a verbal smackdown, but give it time. Give it time.

HTC unfortunately declined to comment.

[Thanks: http://www.t3.com]