The iPhone 3G S On Sale Next Week - Should you buy one?

Apple's new iPhone 3G S will go on sale June 19. That's a week from Friday and two days after iPhone OS 3.0 hits. The new iPhone comes in 16GB and 32GB versions and will set you back $199 and $299, respectively. You can check whether you qualify for the upgrade here. However, Apple's Web site seems to be buckling under the stress at the moment. Here's a rundown of the major hardware changes: Speed The iPhone 3G S comes with a bevy of new features including a speed boost of up to 2X on everything from viewing email attachments to launching applications. Probably the biggest improvement you, the end user, will notice is how fast Web pages load. The new iPhone hardware builds upon a massive increase in javascript performance in the new software of iPhone OS 3.0. Combined, the two advancements should make the web even more accessible than it was before. If you upgrade from an original iPhone (like me), the improvement should be even more astonishing. It also allows for the 7.2 Mbps HSDPA standard, which means even faster 3G is supported. The iPhone 3G S should also allow for better 3D gaming as it includes hardware support for the OpenGL|ES standard. Video and Camera Phone 3G S shoots 30 frames per second VGA video with a 3 megapixel camera that allows you to tap anywhere on the screen to focus on a particular object. You can even scrub through the video and trim to just the parts you want and then share the video on YouTube or MobileMe. People have been asking for this feature since day one. Now you can have it, no jailbreaking required. Personally, I expect the ability to trim videos to revolutionize the quality and ubiquity of cell phone videos. Nobody wants to share a 4 minute video on the web when the last 20 seconds are the only bit worth watching. Also, the new camera features autofocus and auto white balance while also allowing you to macro focus up to just centimeters away from an object. This means apps can really make use of text and photo recognition software. Expect these types of apps to really start to take off with the new hardware too. Voice Control While other phones have been voice dialing for years, iPhone has been sorely lacking. There have been apps which have tried to fill this gap, like Google's Mobile App, but Voice Control looks to be the official answer. You can activate Voice Control by holding the home button and then dial anyone in your address book. You can also play a song from your iPod too by saying, for example, "play songs by Queen" or "play playlist Top Rated." You can even activate the Genius feature by saying "play more songs like this." Compass A built-in magnetometer, or compass, had long been rumored to be in the works for the new iPhone. While iPhone 3G's GPS is good, a compass adds one very important piece of information to users - direction. The built in map app, for example, will reorient according to the direction you're currently pointing. This should make navigation just a little bit easier. Battery The battery in the iPhone 3G S lasts somewhat longer. While talk time 3G is about the same (5 hours), if you chat on 2G your talk time improves from 10 to 12 hours. Using the Internet on 3G is about the same too (5 hours), while surfing the Internet on Wi-Fi improves from 6 hours to 9 hours. Video and audio playback will also see improvements - video playback goes from 7 to 10 hours and audio goes from 24 to 30. Nothing amazing here but certainly some decent improvements. Anti-Grease Support Your fingerprints should have a harder time making the iPhone ugly thanks to a special coating on the exterior of the device. Now you can be greasier than ever. Oh happy day! Nike + iPod The iPhone 3G S also includes support for the Nike + iPod sensor. So if you buy a Nike shoe plus the sensor, it will communicate directly with your iPhone and provide you tons of information about your workout.

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