Biting the Apple. Again

The first thing you notice with the new iPhone, the 3GS, is that the box is smaller.The device Apple sent me to slaver over/evaluate holds 32GBs of data; it was a slim white thing of loveliness, with the same dimensions as the 3G.

To look at there's virtually no difference. I did notice the bezel around the camera lens is slightly more raised on the Ess, but other than that, you'd need better eyes than mine to tell them apart. Also, the USB connector didn't have little release clips on either side; the 3G one did.

Perhaps more fascinating, the test unit arrived with a prepay card in it, which worked fine. So you can do this here in NZ ... if you're happy to pay well over a grand for the standalone iPhone 3GS for the privelege.


Of the new features, the following impressed immediately:

The camera

The camera is one immediate difference in operation. Turn the app on and you can choose between video or still mode, for a start. Also, there's that cool 'tap on what you want it to focus on' feature. The pictures it shoots are definitely better.

Voiceover

Another thing the iPhone 3GS has that the 3G doesn't is Voiceover, a development of Apple's accessibility software for the voice impaired, something built into OS X on Macs that you can turn on when you set up a new Mac for the first time, or sometime thereafter.
Now you can turn VoiceOver on in iTunes for the iPhone 3GS. It's under the Summary tab in iTunes when the Ess is connected, under the button at bottom centre that says 'Configure Universal Access'.

Now, I was rather hoping VoiceOver meant I could use the iPhone like the new shuffle, but no. When I'm riding a bike, sometimes I want to know what's playing, coz sometimes I don't know, or I forget or whatever. This is really cool with the new shuffle and works very well, but I don't like to miss calls so I normally go out with the iPhone instead. So I turned VoiceOver on ... and it works all right, sure. With an Australian accent! I got a stream of 'Seenk in progress: deed' messages. In other words, 'Sync in progress: did'. I think.
(Australian readers - in New Zild this would sound more like 'Sunk in progruss: dud', right?)

However, it didn't really fit the bill for telling me playlist info. VoiceOver lets you control every single action and it even tells you what key is what to type messages. You tap something, and the Ess tells you what it is. But then you have to tap it twice to input the letter. In a very good thing, since presumably you can see if your finger's moved off that particular letter, you can tap twice anywhere on the screen to input the letter VoiceOver said. Tap icons, words, even the tiny status icons at the top of the screen and you're told what they are. "Messages." "Calendar." "Mail - 365 new items ..." The handiest message, possibly, was the clear indication of battery strength: "45 per cent battery power."

VoiceOver would be a boon, I imagine, to someone actually sight impaired, but having this slow, spoken interface for every little operation is quite a slowdown for sighted users. I would really like Apple to put the shuffle-like voice control in the OS, please, as the Ess is clearly capable of it. David Pogue at the New York Times wrote a fairly detailed article on this new feature for anyone who's interested.

Speed

Unlike when I'm testing a Mac, I couldn't run any speed tests as such on the iPhone, using utility software. On the iPhone I'm limited to timing how quickly apps load and wireless speeds, which you can test using free apps.Loading the game iFighter by Epic Force - iPhone 3G, 20 seconds from icon press to start screen - iPhone 3GS: 8.6 seconds.
On the 3G, there was always a slight glitch just after game play starts - a split-second freeze. This was gone on the GS - presumably the graphics loading has been smoothed out by the extra power of the device.

Nine seconds to launch B.iCycle (bike computer), which always seemed too long, especially when I was huddled in the wind and just wanting to get peddlin'! On the 3GS, a much more bearable 4.4 seconds.

Ten seconds to launch the Lonely Planet San Francisco city guide; 3GS two seconds.
Six seconds to launch Traverter in Currency mode. 3GS - under 2 seconds.

I also tested wireless and cell-net speeds, of course, from the same location, so with wireless on and wireless off. On the 3G, Xtreme SpeedTest (it's an app) gave me a maximum of 3719kbps download (2727 average) and 255kbps upload (peaking at 258) over my home wireless network.

A day later on the 3GS, I got a max download of 2851kbps (averaging 1838) and an average upload of 181 (peaking at the same rate). Another test an hour after that gave me a higher average of 1978 (3682 peak) on the download and 185/188 upload.
Just on the Vodafone 3G cell network, the 3G averaged 347 download and 43 upload, the 3GS 117 and 73. Overseas, people also noted these disparities.

So, hmm, the wireless thing seems to lag on the new phone, but everything else is considerably snappier. (Feel free to send in your speeds on iPhones and other devices, out of interest. My tests were conducted inside a wooden villa in Grey Lynn). In practice, though, I didn't notice any disparity or lag.

Sound

One thing I did appreciate immediately on the 3GS was that the volume controls on the Apple 'In Ear Headphones with Remote' now work properly. The stop/start/replay centre button functions worked on the 3G, but not the volume, so I always had to grapple for the iPhone itself to change the volume. Much better!

Lust

And here's the rub: I have to send this 3GS back to Apple in a few days. After two days, I absolutely had to have an Ess for myself ... so yeah, I went out and upgraded. Damn the temptation of the Apple! But thanks, Vodafone store employees at 171 Queen St, for making it so easy.

 

- Mark Webster mac.nz