The New iPhone Breaks Ground — and News

By Brian Stelter

From Our Colleague, Brian Stelter, at Media Decoder:

iPhone The iPhone 3G S

Apple may have just taken another groundbreaking step in the age of citizen journalism.

In its introduction of the next-generation iPhone on Monday, Apple demonstrated a new video recording function that will turn millions of the company’s phones into video cameras. Perhaps most important, the software includes a “send to YouTube” option, suddenly making it simple to upload iPhone content to the world’s foremost video Web site.

The possibilities for on-the-scene videos of breaking news are profound. The iPhone isn’t the first platform to include a “send to YouTube” option, but it is the most popular, and it will very likely lead to increased uploading of eyewitness video. Read Full Post

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Michael June 8, 2009 · 9:08 pm

I’m so sick of tech bloggers trumpeting every new advancement Apple adds to the iPhone, while it catches up to, oh, about 2004 in its feature set. MMS? Video? Wow, I haven’t had a phone do any of that that before! This must mark a new era in “citizen journalism”! Give me a break.

William Che June 9, 2009 · 1:47 am

“The New iPhone Breaks Ground…”
This is the type of hyperbolic coverage for the non-tech inclined masses that ensures Apple will continue to dominate in their market segments. One can probably find that the iPhone is one of the few phones sold in the last 3 years that DID NOT shoot video. The use of the word groundbreaking is especially distasteful; inevitable would be more appropriate.

Ravi June 9, 2009 · 3:15 am

Mr Media Decoder, please decode properly.
Video is not available in 3.0 software. Only on 3GS new phones.
They haven’t sold millions of them yet.
Nothing new in this release. Everything they are releasing is already there from ages in lot of other phones.

Anders June 9, 2009 · 4:00 am

America, where are you? Mobile phones have had video cameras for years – and much better ones than the iPhone’s, too. The new iPhone is exactly what the old one was – a fairly crappy phone with a great user interface.

Kujtim June 9, 2009 · 4:03 am

I used the iphone 3G for about three weeks, and I really got sick of it! battery life limited to max 1day, no mms, no group ringtones, no easy access to files and folders, no option to mark or unmark all contacts and messages at once, and basicly everything goes through iTunes. If you want to make hell out of your life, then get an iPhone!
Regards,

DB June 9, 2009 · 7:16 am

Michael, we all know video recording on your cell phone has been around for years but the difference is that Apple takes that technology and adds productivity and an ease of use that no other cell phone company or even electronics/computer company has yet to figure out. It’s really just the software and the intuitiveness of it. If you don’t have one yet, I suggest you buy one, you won’t regret it. If you have a windows pc at home and you’re getting close to an upgrade, I suggest you purchase a mac. You can’t go wrong. Trust me.

Will June 9, 2009 · 8:43 am

Michael-
Although you may be correct about some features coming to the iPhone that have been implemented on phones years ago, you must acknowledge one thing, iPhone Apps. This is a gold mine proven by the fact that there are tons of venture capitalists ready to pour money into promising iPhone developers. This in of itself will revolutionize the software industry. Sit back for the next few years and watch it take off.

Fred – Norfok VA June 9, 2009 · 9:09 am

AT&T is the weakest and most annoying aspect of the iPhone. AT&T, the network with fewer bars in more places, was not in and of itself enough of a deterrent to keep me from buying the iPhone 3G, but because of AT&T I wouldn’t do it again.

andrew June 9, 2009 · 9:34 am

At first I wasn’t too impressed with video recording either. But the ability to trim the video on the device is quite impressive.

Jim June 9, 2009 · 9:34 am

@Michael is right, the new iphone release is incredibly underwhelming. Seriously, you are celebrating a 3.0 megapixel camera? The industry is at 5-10 on the high end. And there are plenty of phones who could share video for years. 3.0 update plus iPhone 3GS means the iPhone now does most of the functions a jailbroken iPhone could do a year ago. But wait, it STILL can’t multi-task.

Jodi O Ryan June 9, 2009 · 9:59 am

This is a great article. Thanks. I bought the original iPhone in December 2007. It will be two-years this December (2009).

Some questions that are not answered by Apple or AT&T:

– What are the technical differences between original iPhone and the new GS? (Why ONLY focus on G and GS, when people still have the original?)

– What is the price differences (data plan, etc.) between original and new? (Again, why just compare G and GS?)

Can anyone shed light why no one is talking about the first and the most recent iPhone?

Edd June 9, 2009 · 11:39 am

The fact that the iPhone now has a video camera or MMS is not what makes it special. It’s how it implements the feature that is spectacular. In typical Apple style, the iPhone is surely late with it’s features, but it boasts the features in a way that no other device has thus far.

The simplicity and ingenuity behind the UI that drives that feature – and every other feature – is also a very underreported aspect of the iPhone that’s pushing it to the top of the industry. A hallmark of good UI design is that the user does not notice it, which is something that has definitely been achieved.

Of course it would be nice to have had these features a long time ago – but would they have been executed in such a fashion if Apple were unable to learn from the mistakes and successes of others (and undoubtedly, their own)? I think not.

Bill June 9, 2009 · 2:15 pm

I find it fascinating that so many Applephiles seem to know 10 days before release that the new iPhone video will be superior to anything already done — quite a while ago — on other phones. I think back to the original MAC commercial with “other” computer users blithely marching off a cliff. I think the commercial was ironically ahead of its time.

Chris Albertson June 9, 2009 · 2:27 pm

I always find it interesting how readily Apple generates JBV (Jealousy-based Venom). The new iPhone is way ahead of the rest, but they have to find something wrong with it!

Amazing.

Brian June 9, 2009 · 2:52 pm

Along with Jodi’s questions…

I’d like to know for sure what new features will work with past 3G iPhones. I got mine in March (should have waited, but needed a phone, it was a birthday gift and you have to buy eventually, knowing something new will make you yell Doh!).

Will voice-commands work with non-GS phones? Is Apple’s list of features for the new phones in the comparison on their site valid for older 3G phones that have 16gb too?

For those of us who signed the stinkin 2-year contract with AT&T (knowing it was a deal with the devil but not being able to resist any longer), is our only option to sell our 3G iphone and pay full-price for a non-subsidized new GS or will AT&T allow some subsidizing to upgrade? Any trade-ins?

Apollo June 9, 2009 · 2:54 pm

Funny all the apple haters here. All I know is the iphone set the pace for the next generation of phones regardless of all the individual features. LG, Blackberry, etc have all produced copies of the iphone, funny how apple hasn’t tried any copies of LG or blackberry phones. hmmmm

William Buchanan June 9, 2009 · 5:22 pm

The best news from Apple and the iPhone would be that they would not be tied to ATT!

connie haddad June 9, 2009 · 7:24 pm

I am furious that G3 i-phone owners are unable to purchase the updated G3s phone at the reduced cost being offered to new customers. This is an unfair business practice obviously intended to attract new ATT service customers. I consider this to be discrimination against previous i-phone users and am seriously considering discontinuing my ATT service even if I am penalized. I am then going to buy the Palm Pre and transfer my service to Sprint. On principle, I can not support ATT/Apple’s unfair and discriminatory business practices.

David Garver June 9, 2009 · 7:39 pm

I think it unfair of At&T to not offer the iPhone G3s to the buyers of the G3 at a reasonable rate-why should the early adopters who spread the gsopel of the iPhone have to either wait or pay more for the new service-seems like an unfair business practice htat will lead to legions of customers leaving AT &T now or as soon as the iPhone is available on other carriers-bad business and dujmb!

David V. June 9, 2009 · 8:58 pm

Some are criticizing the iPhone’s camera for sub-par resolution, but in fact it adding pixels to these tiny camera’s doesn’t make sense. Given the same sensor technology and small lens, the iPhone 3GS would actually be better off with a 2 megapixel sensor than with the 3 megapixel it has (no doubt a concession to marketing needs). Similarly, most other phone cameras sporting 5 MP (and more?) produce worse images than they would if they had 2 megapixels using equivalent sensor technology. (The reason: Small lenses and apertures cannot resolve more than 2 megapixels, and increasing the pixel count increases the noisiness of the result.)

(There are a few exceptions: Phones that are really full-fledged compact cameras. However, these are bulkier and currently miss much of the other functionality — like web browsing — of the current crop of “smartphones”.)

Brian June 9, 2009 · 9:04 pm

These links should answer a lot of the questions posted here.

//www.apple.com/iphone/compare-iphones/
//www.apple.com/iphone/softwareupdate/

David V. June 9, 2009 · 9:22 pm

@Jodi:
Key differences between original iPhone and iPhone 3GS:
– GPS (also on 3G)
– Compass
– 3G wireless connectivity (also on 3G)
– improved camera (video, better low-light stills)
– voice control
– MMS (also on 3G for non-video media)
– higher performance (speed, memory)
– Nike+iPod features

(There are a few other items like a flush audio jack and a smaller A/C adapter.)

However, the original iPhone is arguably better built. Also, battery life comparison is a little hard: I expect the new model to outlast an original iPhone that has gone through 1-2 years of charge cycles though.

Regarding the AT&T plan: The voice part of the plans are the same, but the basic 3G data plan is more expensive ($30/month instead of $20/month for the original EDGE plan) and no longer includes any SMS by default (you’d have to add $5/month for that).

@Brian:
See also my list for Jodi above: I’m afraid voice-control is 3GS only (it has hardware assist).

After some time of going through the original 3G contract, you become eligible for a partial subsidy, which gets you the 16GB 3GS at $399. Check //buyiphone.apple.com to see if you qualify. Once you’ve gone through 18 months of your 3G contract, you’ll probably be eligible for a fully subsidized upgrade.

So patience may be the best option.

(I bought the original phone myself the first day it became available, and figured at the time I would upgrade it on a 2-year cycle. Thanks to Apple’s free&easy software upgrade policies, it’s still a very serviceable phone, albeit quite scratched now.)

saltykittysnacks June 9, 2009 · 11:14 pm

Apple is to consumer technology as Madonna is (used to be?) to pop music–a great polisher, marketer and disseminator of things invented by other people. Kick-ass design, but derivative/copycat technology.

There’s nothing wrong with Apple playing this role–it’s actually a good thing from the perspective of getting technologies out to the public–but to call Apple’s decade-tardy catchups “groundbreaking” is a bit much, especially since the press should know better.

Other problems are that (1) those who come up with the technology and take the financial risk of being early out of the gate (e.g., Creative with its unwieldy Nomad Jukebox MP3 player that still has way better sound than the iPod) don’t get credit, and (2) Apple’s dominance in certain areas–supported by the ignorance of consumers and the media as well as the lack of truly globalized markets in things like cell phones (ever try to buy a Sharp (Japanese) cell phone in the U.S.?) leads to a certain sterility and group-think by those wowed by Apple’s formidable marketing machine.

This dominance also allows Apple, with its global knowledge of and access to technology, to be agonizingly lazy about including features (cut and paste and video capture on the iPhone? really? gap-free music playback on the iPod? yawn…) that they really have no business omitting given that the technologies have usually been fully implemented in other products for 10 years or more.

In the end, I suppose you can’t really blame Apple so much since the other true heavyweights like Sharp have decided not to compete against Apple on its home turf in the U.S.

Tom Morrongiello June 10, 2009 · 12:07 am

I have a Nokia… old-school phone… always picks up plenty of signal on AT&T

If I get an iPhone will the iPhone’s radio pick up signal as well as my Nokia does?

(tethering will be the killer app that drives me to change)

Leon Freilich June 10, 2009 · 11:37 am

SMARTPHONES

The Keys of the Kingdom, they purr

In a voice that’s flirty,

Are found in only one place

And that is QWERTY.