There have been a lot of people out there who are very disappointed with the third generation iPhone — iPhone 3G S. They’re saying that it is pretty much the same phone as the current iPhone 3G, or that the upgrades are not enough to warrant purchasing the new iPhone 3G S. I’m here to say, think again - the upgrades are very significant indeed.

More after the break!

Let me first address one of the biggest — and for some only — gripe: “it looks the same as the iPhone 3G”. True, the iPhone 3G S has the exact same size as the iPhone 3G but is slightly heavier. Is that really a bad thing?

Sadly we live in a world that has major hang ups on looks and status. Sure Apple could have changed the glossy back to a matte finish. Or perhaps they could have done away with the chrome bezel and raised the phones headset speaker up a bit, etc… Those small changes may have been just big enough to require different accessories like cases and battery packs, rendering previous items useless and causing you to have to go out and spend even more money.

The next thing I’ve been hearing an awful lot is “there are not enough updates to warrant me upgrading” or “I expected a lot more from Apple”. I think that too many people expect Apple to revolutionize the cell phone market every year with an entirely new iPhone. Wake up call — it’s not going to happen! They did it once with the first generation iPhone that revolutionized the market and each year since then they’ve improved upon it. And the improvements are not irrelevant like some of you may think:

• 3 megapixel camera with capability to record VGA resolution video at 30 FPS
• 7.2 HSDPA (up to twice as fast as 3G)
• Improved battery performance
• Faster processors
• Double the amount of RAM
• Up to double the storage capacity (32GB)

According to Apple, the performance difference between the 3G and the 3G S alone is on average 2x. That is not to be overlooked. It’s no different than someone who says a normal DVD is fine for them and see no need for a Blu-Ray player — that is until they actually watch a Blu-Ray movie and are blown away. That’s how I feel current 3G owners who are not going to upgrade will feel once they get their hands on a 3G S. Blown away.

Now don’t get me wrong, for a lot of people the iPhone 3G is perfectly fine. And why not, it is a great phone. This is geared more towards the people out there who feel Apple has just put this phone together simply to get a phone out there without making great improvements. You my friends, could not be further from the truth. Looks don’t mean everything.

Ok, so that list right there is why I am upgrading and by no means is it a small upgrade in my book. If you’re upgrading, tell us why in the comments. And if you’re not, tell us why not as well.

This is a story by the iPhone Blog. This feed is sponsored by The iPhone Blog Store.

TiPb vs. TiPb: Why I AM SO Upgrading to iPhone 3GS

UPDATE: Enable your iPhone via Settings > Email > Mobile > Find my iPhone. Then go to me.com, login to your Account tab, and choose Find My iPhone from the sidebar. Voila! Thanks to everyone who sent this in. Screen grab after the break!

ORIGINAL: Apple just announced via their MobileMe News “blog” that:

Find My iPhone can be found at me.com today, but you also need iPhone OS 3.0 (available on June 17) installed on your iPhone to use the feature.

You can learn more about Find My iPhone by visiting What’s New for MobileMe.

We don’t see it yet, but if you’re a developer already rocking 3.0 and MobileMe, hit http://www.me.com and let us know if/how it works for you!

This is a story by the iPhone Blog. This feed is sponsored by The iPhone Blog Store.

UPDATED: Find my iPhone for iPhone 3.0 on Me.com Today!

Looks like Rogers will be bringing back the $30/6GB data plans just in time for the iPhone 3G S launch!

Last year, to help defuse some of the negative publicity surrounding Canadian data rates in face of the iPhone 3G launch, Rogers extended a hand to data hungry users in the form of this plan — for a limited time only.

Recently Rogers brought the plan back for their Android handset as well, but it’s great to see it specified for our new iPhone.

Pricing is also given above for current, 2008 iPhone 3G hardware. We thought $99 would be the cheap rate, but it looks like either it’s not going down that far, or the system just hasn’t been updated yet.

Hopefully we’ll get more as the June 19 launch day approaches.

This is a story by the iPhone Blog. This feed is sponsored by The iPhone Blog Store.

Rogers Canada Brings Back $30/6GB Data Plans for iPhone 3G S

AT&T (via Macrumors) has posted the above video in hopes of clarifying how customers, new and existing, can get a brand new iPhone 3G S come next Friday:

On launch day (June 19th), two lines will form at 7 a.m. local time at the AT&T retail stores. Customers who had pre-ordered from retail stores will be able to pick up their iPhone 3GSs at that time, while customers who wish to purchase that day will have to wait until the store opens at normal business hours.

Pricing is still $199/$299 for 16GB/32GB on new activations with full subsidies. Customers already under contract, having already received subsidies last time around, can expect to pay up to $599/$699 (though some discounts might bring that down a tad).

So, does the video help answer your questions, if not allay your frustrations?

This is a story by the iPhone Blog. This feed is sponsored by The iPhone Blog Store.

AT&T Posts iPhone 3G S Info Video

Ngmoco takes classic gaming concepts and genres, re-interprets them for the iPhone, and then makes them look better than anyone can believe an iPhone game can look. Star Defense, a galaxy-spanning take on tower defense, is no exception.

Shown off yesterday during the WWDC 2009 keynote, not only does Star Defense let you travel from planet to planet, touch, spin, and zoom your way around, deploy your firepower, and try to keep ahead of the deadly hoards of S’rath out to harshen your tower’s mellow, but it lets you challenge your friends over Facebook or Twitter for extra fun.

Star Defense is available now [$5.99 - iTunes link]

When iPhone 3.0 launches on June 17, Star Defense will use in-app purchases for expansion packs. For $2.99, for example, you can buy another galaxy of planets. A Plus Network will also allow for network play, leader-boards, and other online gaming features.

I had a chance to try the pre-release version out during the media tournament, and even though I didn’t fare to well in the rankings, I had skads of fun.

Think you can out score me? (Yeah, I do too…)

This is a story by the iPhone Blog. This feed is sponsored by The iPhone Blog Store.

Quick App: Ngmoco Launches Star Defense for iPhone

It was a long time coming, but as part of yesterday’s WWDC Keynote, TomTom co-founder Peter-Frans Pauwels demonstrated their company’s solution to turn-by-turn GSP navigation for iPhone 3.0, and interestingly, it comes in two parts:

• The TomTom navigation application for iPhone; an Apple version of TomTom's award-winning turn-by-turn navigation software, including IQ Routes and latest maps from Tele Atlas;

• The TomTom car kit for iPhone; a specially developed car kit for secure docking, enhanced GPS performance, clear voice instructions, hands-free calling and in-car charging.

No word on pricing or availability yet, though it will be at some point later this summer, after the iPhone 3.0 release on June 17.

Was it worth the wait, and what kind of pricing are you anticipating (or hoping for)?

This is a story by the iPhone Blog. This feed is sponsored by The iPhone Blog Store.

TomTom Announces Turn-by-Turn GPS Navigation for iPhone 3.0

It’s been a busy day here on TiPb, so just in case you missed anything, here’s a roundup of all our WWDC 2009 news and coverage.

• TiPb WWDC 2009 Live Meta Blog
• Apple Posts WWDC 2009 Keynote Live Stream
• Apple Announces iPhone 3G S - Ships June 19
• Apple Posts iPhone 3G S Guided Tour
• iPhone 3.0 Release Date: June 17
• 2008 iPhone 3G Now Priced to Move! $99 Starting Today!
• iPhone 3G S — What We Didn't Get
• AT&T — MMS Later. Tethering… Um… Er… Bai!
• AT&T Responds: iPhone 3.0 MMS and Tethering
• Rogers/Fido to Sell iPhone 3G S in Canada, $199/$299 on June 19
• iPhone 3G S — Apple Delivers Mobile Video to the Masses
• Apple Demonstrates Voice Control for iPhone 3G S
• iPhone 3G S - 2x Faster, but Still no 802.11n
• MobileMe Update Coming June 17: Find my iPhone, Remote Wipe, iDisk Mobile, File Sharing, Public Folders
• Apple Releases iPhone 3.0 Gold Master to Developers + WARNING!

This is a story by the iPhone Blog. This feed is sponsored by The iPhone Blog Store.

WWDC 2009 News Roundup: iPhone 3G S and iPhone 3.0

Yeah, we’re the entitled generation. We want everything, we want it now, and free isn’t good enough — you better pay us to like it!

Well, most of us aren’t that bad, but our expectations have no doubt been set high, almost impossibly high.

So, while Apple is touting their faster, video shooting, voice controlling, compass spinning new iPhone 3G S, we just want to remind them of just what we didn’t get… after the break!

• No new casing. No colors. No matte finish. No black bezel. No aluminum unibody. Nothing. The iPhone 3G S is stuck inside the same shell as last year’s model. Doesn’t Apple know that smartphones are fashion accessories now? How will other people know that we have better, newer versions than they do if the casing doesn’t show it off?

• No HD. No OLED. No Hi-Res 480×800 display. No 16×9 display. No HD-Radio. No HD out via AV cables. Nadda. When even Windows Mobile and the Zune have better screen specs than what Apple produces, well… it’s like looking up at the end of the movie and seeing the monkey on top of the horse.

• No Mobile iChat Video. So what if AT&T’s network would come crashing down around our ankles the first time Kevin Rose jumped on it, Mobile iChat with a front-facing camera for video is something we wanted. International readers, we’re sorry AT&T is holding you back. We realize the Asian iPhone likely already materializes holograms….

• No CDMA. No Verizon. No China Mobile. No EDVO Rev whatever. The iPhone 3G S stays locked to GSM.

• No 802.11n. We got faster CPU, faster GPU, faster web rendering, faster HSPA cell data, faster everything — except Wi-Fi. Sigh.

• No FM Transmitter. Um. Okay. We don’t really care about this, but if you do, we’ll share your rage and incredulity.

• No MobileMe 2.0. We got Find my iPhone. Remote Wipe. iDisk (iDisk?!). But we didn’t get server-side email rules, server-side calendar subscriptions, no remote back ups, no photo sync. And that stinks!

• No Multitasking Background apps Except for Apple’s built-in apps, which have always multitasks, the newer, faster, stronger iPhone 3G S doesn’t even provide for limited 3rd party apps.

• No glowing Apple logo. Come on. You know you wanted it. It would have sold more units than multi-touch. What. Were. You. Thinking.

• No Steve Jobs. No cameo. No “one more thing”. No phone call. No voice mail. No video. No poppa.

Did we miss anything? Were there any other new hardware or hardware/software features you really wanted that evil Apple still haven’t given you?

Sound off in the comments!

This is a story by the iPhone Blog. This feed is sponsored by The iPhone Blog Store.

iPhone 3G S — What We Didn’t Get

While Apple will no doubt post a high quality version in their iTunes podcast feed in the next couple of days, if you absolutely have to watch the WWDC 2009 Keynote address — where Apple introduces the iPhone 3G S — right now, the streaming QuickTime version is available for your enjoyment.

Go watch it at Apple.com!

This is a story by the iPhone Blog. This feed is sponsored by The iPhone Blog Store.

Apple Posts WWDC 2009 Keynote Live Stream

We’ll just pass then the mic and let you tell us what you think in the comments!

Regarding MMS:

We absolutely will offer MMS on iPhone 3G S in late summer once we complete some system upgrades that will ensure our customers have the best experience with MMS.  These upgrades are unrelated to our 3G network.  When MMS is ready, we will let customers know.

Regarding offering a tethering plan:

We plan to offer one but we don't have an announcement to make at this time.

Joe Chandler
Executive Director
AT&T Corporate Communications

[Thanks to Phil for bringing this one home!]

This is a story by the iPhone Blog. This feed is sponsored by The iPhone Blog Store.

AT&T Responds: iPhone 3.0 MMS and Tethering