There’s been a lot of missed iPhone 3G news while we were gone, so we wanted to make sure we kept everybody up-to-date with this round-up post. We’ll include information from a few reviews, information about how much the iPhone 3G costs to make, what it looks like under the shiny black (or white) case, a couple of tips, and info about why it might be a pain in the butt to return a defective phone.
First Reviews
We are holding off on our review until we’ve had ample time to play around with the iPhone 3G and really get a feel for what it’s like. Look for our review in the next week or so. Until then, some sites have already posted reviews on certain aspects of the phone, and here’s what we were able to learn from them:
- Battery life varies, A LOT which means your experience will probably be different than mine. Gizmodo took a look at nine different 3G battery life test results and not one was the same. The bottom line from all of the tests seems to be that if you’re doing heavy browsing, your battery is going to drain pretty quickly. (READ)
- The Pandora add-on “rocks” according to TechCrunch. They say “streamed music plays flawlessly over Edge and 3G networks – during a 40 mile drive I didn’t once run into any kind of skipping or static. Even better, the app currently has no advertisements playing, though we can probably expect that to change.” (READ)
- Engadget has posted their reviews already and pointed out the good and the bad. One thing they aren’t impressed with is the battery life and the glossy black plastic back. The good is that calls are a lot clearer and 3G speeds are impressive. (READ)
- Popular Mechanics did a quick out-of-the-box review and included a video. They compared the iPhone 3G with the “old” iPhone and the Samsung Instinct. What they found was that the original iPhone had a better backlight, the Samsung Instinct was the winner of data speed (although it was far more difficult to navigate and read than the iPhone 3G), and the call quality winner was the iPhone 3G. (READ)
Where to find an iPhone 3G
The iPhone 3G isn’t going to be too easy to come across in the following states where the devices are completely sold out:
Connecticut, Delaware, Hawaii, Indiana, Iowa, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maryland, Michigan, MInnesota, Missouri, Nebraska, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New Mexico, Oregon, Rhode Island, Tennesse, Utah, Washington, Wisconsin
(READ)
How Much Does the iPhone 3G Cost to Make?
iSuppli estimated that the original iPhone cost Apple about $227 last year to make when it launched. Now they are saying that the iPhone 3G costs Apple about $173 in parts. It appears as though Apple found ways to make the new iPhone 3G more cost-effective which could ultimately help their market share grow. (READ)
Oh, and in case you were wondering what it looks like inside, take a look:
(READ)
iPhone 3G Tips!
Gizmodo points out how with the new iPhone 2.0 software, if there are YouTube videos embedded into a site, you now see a preview of them. Once you tap to view the video, it will take you to the YouTube player, and then once you are done with the video, you press done and you’ll be taken back to the page you were on in Safari. (READ)
Keyboard shortcut
Another tip comes from Lifehacker where they explain a domain keyboard shortcut. This trick will give you quick access to more than the “.com” keyboard shortcut. Now you have “.org,” “.edu,” and, “.net” shortcuts available. (READ)
Jump to search field in Contacts
This is a feature that comes with the new iPhone 2.0 software — you can easily jump to the search field in your contacts on the iPhone by tapping the status bar at the very top (like what you would do in Safari). (READ)
Need to Exchange that iPhone 3G?
Unfortunately, there will be some of you who get your iPhone 3G only to find that it is defective. One person has already experienced this and the process of exchanging it wasn’t very pleasant thanks to AT&T. Luckily Apple took care of them and went out of their way to resolve the issue. (READ)
Even though I highly appreciate Apple products in terms of design and aesthetics, I’ve never considered purchasing Apple hardware because it’s generally over-priced and several critical applications I need to use just aren’t available. Also, Apple fan-boys are insufferable tools. More on that later.
Anyhoo… I’ve been in need of a new cell phone for over a year now, I’m already on AT&T (involuntarily transferred from Cingular), and I’m eligible for an upgrade, so I figured what the heck ~ might as well go for an iPhone since it’s 3G and the price is now somewhat reasonable.
So I stopped by my local AT&T store on Sunday to scout things out. First of all, I was blown away by the insane level of fan-boyism in the place. I can’t imagine what it would be like at an actual Apple store. I’m sorry, but what a bunch of geeks. Second of all, I couldn’t believe that they had none in stock. Apparently the place was just packed with a bunch of Apple-lusting dweebs who had nothing better to do that stand around and pat each other on the back while rubbing their own nipples and dreaming of the divine gadget that they would have in “7-10 days”. Needless to say, I got the hell out of dodge.
Well, I live in MI, and 7-10 days has now turned into more like a month from what I hear. And after making a few phone calls and checking Apple’s “availability widget”, I’ve deduced that there aren’t going to be any iPhones available in this state for quite a while. I have to say that Apple really blew it because I’d probably have purchased one if they’d properly estimated demand. I guess I’ll just get a CrackBerry after all.
Apple fan-boyism at AT&T? I’m actually a bit surprised. While we were in the AT&T store, I didn’t really pick-up on any of that at all. I’ve definitely seen that at Apple, but it surprises me that AT&T was like that.
From the sounds of it, Apple stores had way more iPhone 3G’s in stock than AT&T stores did, so you may have had better luck going that route. I also haven’t heard Apple or AT&T quoting anybody longer than 7-10 days, so you’ll have to keep us posted on how long it actually takes.