iPhone 3GS: still the best?

Alex Zaharov-Reutt
Monday, 29 June 2009 15:34

Business IT - Technology

I then noted that I knew Apple never commented on future products, but that it sure would be great to see this kind of anti-fingerprint screen on some kind of future as yet unannounced larger iPhone or Macbook touch screen netbook or future Apple device.

Frank’s response was that “You have to start somewhere” which naturally confirms nothing, while to me, hinting the obvious that the best is always yet to come, something we always expect from Apple even if they sometimes take a generation or two to better deliver it.

I asked if Apple would ever make a future iPhone with 850MHz, 900MHz and 2100MHz 3.5G compatibility so Optus and Vodafone users could in future get 850MHz like coverage in rural and regional areas, and while Frank had no comment on that question, we can only presume that it will come one day.

I also made mention of the fact the iPhone doesn’t yet properly multitask, and hoped that it would come in the future, not that Frank could say anything about that either.

I have definitely noticed the faster speed the iPhone 3GS delivers, thanks to its new processor and double the memory, which is supposed to be the same as that being used in the new Palm Pre.

I was recently in the US and got to see the Palm Pre at a Sprint store. It’s very impressive, delivering a very iPhone-esque multi-touch experience with a modicum of “web apps” multitasking by flicking cards up and across the screen, but without a true SDK for native apps, the Palm Pre is a brilliant but still shallow copy.

So it’s nice to see the iPhone 3GS using similarly upgraded components and really being able to notice the difference.

Using the iPhone 3GS and comparing it to my original iPhone 2G, upgraded to OS 3.0, the 3GS does everything noticeably faster, save for one thing.

All apps start up much faster, but when pressing the “home” button to get back to the main screen of icons, my old 2G iPhone always did it a half second faster than the 3GS. Naturally it’s starting up apps, not getting back to the home screen, that I always notice, but it’s an interesting quirk.

Playing games is an area you really notice a difference, too. Reports online say Wolfenstein 3D is now actually playable, and personal testing of Crash Bandicoot Nitro Kart 3D on both the iPhone 2G and the 3GS shows a massively welcome upgrade in smoothness, frame rates and fluidity.

It doesn’t make Crash Bandicoot unplayable on an iPhone 2G or 3G, far from it, but it’s so much nicer on the 3GS.

All this extra power is wonderful, of course, but it does open up a divide for apps that work best, or only, on the 3GS, while inviting programmers to push the 3GS to its limit requiring an even more powerful iPhone 3GS ][ or 4G in 2010, but that’s all in the future.

What's one bug I've discovered that Google doesn't yet know how to fix? Along with thoughts on Voice Command and more? Please read on to page 4!