After initially getting my iPhone 3G and its first impressions I spent time playing around and tweaking it to my settings and requirements.  I’ve had experience with smart phones and PDAs before so I knew what standard I was expecting before I used it.  Also when I looked at the capability’s of the device I also knew there was nothing brand new which I hadn’t seen before on a device. With all the hype surrounding Apple’s iPhone I couldn’t wait to truly delve deep into the device.

Design

From the pictures you can see that without doubt this is a stunning looking device with it’s smooth curves and shiny surfaces.  With the new addition of a plastic shiny back compared to its silver aluminium of last years model it really completes the look of the device.  The downside of this is the bigger potential to scratch the back and this has been found by many users so I totally recommend you never take it out unless you have a case on it.  Another saviour is the change and removal of the recessed audio port so now you can use any headphones in them. Finally something is fixed which Apple should never have put in it.  The 3.5″ screen is the same size as last years rendition and still has that real crisp sharp image that you want on a portable device.  It is truly amazing how good movies and games look on it and Apple have done a good job in maintaining this quality across all their products.

In built GPS

This iPhone has built in GPS to assist the wireless location based service that proved popular on the first iPhone and iPod Touch.  From my experience it can be temperamental however I believe this is a system flaw and should be rectified in the next update.  When it works it seems to pick up my position quite correctly and refreshes position every few seconds which is as good as an external bluetooth GPS unit. The biggest flaw with the GPS is that it is expensive to use on the go as the Google Maps need to be downloaded from the internet every time – there is no offline maps.  Tomtom the famous GPS maps company are working on an iPhone version of their award winning navigation software and these will feature maps so you don’t have to go online every time.

Camera

In my opinion the worst piece of hardware that Apple has put in the iPhone is this measly 2 Megapixel Camera.  On the market it seems industry standard is coming onto 3 Megapixel for standard phones and for the iPhone to be the best it’s certainly lagging behind.  It benefits from GPS geotagging which comes as a nice option but it still doesn’t make up for the lack of video recording capabilities.  Unfortunately I don’t see Apple fixing this until the next generation of iPhones and it was something I really looked forward too.  The idea of this mobile device where all my media could be viewed and taken is not complete and the 2 Megapixel camera is sub standard today.

Apps

To be honest the user interface is the same on any of the three devices: iPhone, iPod Touch and iPhone 3G if you have the newest software update.  With this in mind I am not going to bore you with information about the supplied apps but what I will tell you is that they won’t be enough for most users and you’ll be buying and downloading new apps (including free ones) from the iTunes store very quickly.  I’ve already done a lot of this, it’s fun in itself, and I’ve video reviewed a couple of paid games on the site here.

Koi Pond App Review

Crash Bandicoot Nitro Kart 3D Review

Real Football 2009 Review

Conclusion

So the iPhone 3G is a marvellous piece of gadgetry and will definitely be one of the must haves of 2008 despite its few flaws and with Apples meticulous attention to detail lets hope they roll out some updates to solve these little niggles.  I think if you’ve got an iPhone first generation I see it as a hard case in convincing yourself to get this baby, there is not that much difference I believe to warrant paying for an upgrade.  On the other hand if you’re a brand new iPhone pursuer then this is the time to jump in.  You have to have one to realise its full potential and I think you’ll have as good a time as I have.  Well I hope this phone lasts me for over 3 years and make me more organised as well as make my day to day life easier.