When the iPhone was introduced,
In Video: Apple iPhone 3G Launch
I wasn't alone in waiting, but that doesn't mean the first-generation iPhone didn't sell well. In fact, the iPhone moved 6 million units worldwide, well enough to make Apple extremely competitive in the smart-phone market.
Regardless of whether you stood in line on launch day or you chose to sit the first round out, today's announcement probably got your attention. It certainly has tongues wagging everywhere. Apple is once again in the spotlight, and that has everything to do with the iPhone 3G features the
1. Price
The original iPhone was innovative and groundbreaking. It also was an expensive toy. Sure, around the country both technophiles and the masses lined up to procure the original iPhone, but at $599 and $699 for the 8GB and 16GB models, respectively, the audience remained somewhat limited. As time passed, as the models' prices dropped,
With Apple's iPhone price drop, announced today, you pay significantly less money up front at the time of purchase: The 8GB iPhone will sell for $199, just one-third the price that the 4GB iPhone sold for at launch a year ago. The 16GB model will sell for $299.
Those prices put Apple's smart phone into the reach of more consumers than ever before. Only four
2. 3G Browsing Speed
One of the biggest drawbacks of using a mobile phone for Web activities is the lag time. Much as point-and-shoot digital cameras frustrate their users with seemingly interminable shutter lag, cell phone users roll their eyes at how long it can take for a Web page to load.
The first-gen iPhone notably omitted 3G wireless in favor of the more widely available--and significantly slower--EDGE connectivity. A year later, 3G seems even more necessary than before, as Web pages grow more graphically intensive.
Now that a 3G-capable iPhone has been unveiled, it's hard to imagine going back to not having 3G. According to Apple, Web pages will load up to 2.8 times faster. That's a compelling argument: I've waited for what felt like hours for a PC World Shopping price-comparison page to load on my old EDGE-based Treo when I've been shopping in a store, for example. I'd much rather get the information I want sooner, rather than twiddling my thumbs and reaching for a cup of coffee.
Unfortunately, 3G wireless service on AT&T