OK, what’s with the recent hype of the Apple IPhone? Everybody wants an IPhone. But the question is, does everybody need an IPhone? Do you know what you are paying for or are you simply joining the queue to make Singtel richer just because everyone wants one?

First and for most, I would like to clarify that I am not a Mac fan so the dynamics of the Apple IPhone didn’t quite attract me at first glance. In many ways, the IPhone 3GS is a mirror image of the IPhone 3G; externally there’s no difference. It’s inside where all the changes have happened, with Apple issuing a beefed-up CPU, new internal compass, larger capacities for storage, and improved optics for its camera.

More to the point, the release of the 3GS coincides with the launch of IPhone OS 3.0, a major jump from previous versions of the system software featuring highly sought after features like cut, copy, and paste, stereo Bluetooth, MMS, tethering, video recording, landscape keyboard options for more applications, and an iPhone version of Spotlight. At a glance, what Apple seems to be doing is less a reinvention of the wheel and more like retreading the wheel it’s already got.

The best part about the IPhone has to be the applications. With the IPhone, one has access to a wide range of games and applications which can be easily installed onto the device. Stocks quotes, excel spreadsheets, youtube, facebook, football manager, etc all at your finger tips.

However, the cam functionality of the IPhone 3GS leaves much to be desired. A camera tweak is a big deal for IPhone fans. After all, they’ve had to suffer through not one, but two iterations of a phone with a paltry 2 megapixel camera, no autofocus, and no flash. The 3GS upgrades the built-in camera to a 3 megapixel version – not insanely great, but at least competitive – and has added an autofocus function with a nifty software tie-in.

Instead of having to use a gross physical button to snap your shots, the IPhone continues to rely on its onscreen trigger, but cranks up the use of that big display by allowing you to focus in on subjects based on where you tap.

So is the IPhone the right phone for you? I guess it is still very much your call.

Tags: Apple
This entry was posted on Saturday, October 17th, 2009 at 12:00 am and is filed under Gadgets. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.