iPhone 3GS : The S Stands for SuperFantasticAwesome

Oh Apple, you and your mind games. You somehow made 45% of the touch Smartphone market fall in love with you and your iPhone, even though your first iteration was flawed in so many ways. Then you made some aesthetic changes, upgraded your firmware and renamed your device the iPhone 3G, even though this was the second generation and totally goes against your traditional naming convention. Flawed still, you updated the firmware, made some changes under the hood, and added an S to the name. After all the runarounds, the dropped calls and your walled garden, the world still can’t quit you.

The spectators at WDC ‘08 went batshit crazy when Apple’s senior V.P. of worldwide marketing Phil Schiller announced the coming of the iPhone 3GS and with it, iPhone firmware 3.0. While the changes in hardware were great, it was shadowed by the titan that was firmware 3.0. That’s where a bulk of the changes in the iPhone occurred. With it, users new and old were given voice memo recording, cut copy & paste functionality, ability to send MMS messages, landscape keyboard for all basic operations, tethering, accessory support and spotlight search; the main points highlighted.

So what makes the 3GS special? Those who chose to go with the 3GS got the benefits of having a 3MP autofocus camera with video capabilities, voice control, a digital compass as well as processor, RAM, on board memory and battery boosts which make quite the difference when comparing to its sibling. With so much more to love, what is there to hate? Well not a whole lot really. Apple’s walled garden mentality makes it hard for those who want to customize and make the phone unique to do so. Also, Apple hasn’t won any points with their App Store authorization process, namely the Google Wave fiasco. Lack of any type of flash makes using the camera at night a pain and the phone still lacks multitasking and flash, which is a gripe for some people. Reception is an issue for some markets, namely in the U.S., but this is more AT&T`s issue than Apple’s.

What the iPhone does wrong, it makes up for in what it does right. Yes, these are functions that every other touch Smartphone had, but Apple has a way of making them exciting and worth the wait. The iPhone 3GS raises the bar for its competitors and continues to make a solid touch Smartphone. While it isn’t perfect, it’s one of the best we’ve got, and that isn’t bad.