iPhone 3G reviews are less than glowing

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Posted Thursday, 10 July 2008, 01:43 HST @404

The first reviews of the iPhone 3G are coming in, and they are less than glowing. Two of the reviewers are iPhone users who have been using new 3G models provided by Apple for a while.

Walt Mossberg of the Wall Street Journal likes the iTunes App store and 3G bandwidth, but he did not like the shorter battery life. During one day of testing, his iPhone ran out of power.

Mossberg also notes that the AT&T’s new data plan pricing means that the iPhone 3G is more expensive than its predecessor. His article called Newer, Faster, Cheaper iPhone 3G has a video review, and a good amount of detail.

David Pogue of the New York Times has his review in an article called For iPhone, the ‘New’ is Relative. Pogue seems to agree with Mossberg that current iPhone owners shouldn’t rush to the store for a new iPhone.

There’s still no voice dialing, video recording, copy-and-paste, memory-card slot, Bluetooth stereo audio or phone-to-phone photo sending (MMS).

Upgrading to the iPhone 2.0 firmware will provide access to official applications, along with many of the software tweaks in the 3G model like Microsoft Exchange support. The firmware won’t make an old iPhone use 3G frequencies or upgrade an old unit’s psuedo-GPS, however.

I’m less interested in getting an iPhone now, and more interested in looking at an iPod Touch, the WiFi-only cousin of the iPhone. The Touch won’t make phone calls, but I can buy an old unit and add the iPhone 2.0 firmware for $10, or just buy a new model.

Want to see the insides of an iPhone 3G? iFixIt from New Zealand has posted plenty of pictures. At least the battery is no longer soldered onto the board connections!

Image courtesy of dotmotion through a Creative Commons license.