Two major—and somewhat mixed—iPhone 3G consumer reviews tonight in advance of Friday's second-gen rollout. The NYT's David Pogue and WSJ's Walt Mossberg find a lot to praise in what really isn't a very different phone but each also sees some drawbacks that could be showstoppers for some. -- For iPhone, the 'New' Is Relative : Pogue likes the improved audio quality "which has taken a gigantic step forward. You sound crystal clear to your callers, and they sound crystal clear to you. In fact, few cellphones sound this good." He also picks up on the standard headphone jack (no more clunky adapters), the enhanced form factor, the 3G ability to talk and surf simultaneously, the software tweaks. But, he adds, "unfortunately, most of the standard cellphone features that were missing from the first iPhone are still missing. There's still no voice dialing, video recording, copy-and-paste, memory-card slot, Bluetooth stereo audio or phone-to-phone photo sending (MMS)." And a replacement battery will run $86. And he's not thrilled by Apple's ( NSDQ: AAPL ) choice of carrier in the U.S.: "There is, however, a catch: you don't get that speed or those features unless you're in one of AT&T's 3G network areas — and there aren't many of them." (Turning off 3G doubles battery life from five hours to ten.) Also, AT&T's ( NYSE: T ) increased service charges mean that "by the end of your two-year contract, the iPhone 3G will have cost you more than th ...
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Two major—and somewhat mixed—iPhone 3G consumer reviews tonight in advance of Friday's second-gen rollout. The NYT's David Pogue and WSJ's Walt Mossberg find a lot to praise in what really isn't a very different phone but each also sees some drawbacks that could be showstoppers for some. -- For iPhone, the 'New' Is Relative : Pogue likes the improved audio quality "which has taken a gigantic step forward. You sound crystal clear to your callers, and they sound crystal clear to you. In fact, few cellphones sound this good." He also picks up on the standard headphone jack (no more clunky adapters), the enhanced form factor, the 3G ability to talk and surf simultaneously, the software tweaks. But, he adds, "unfortunately, most of the standard cellphone features that were missing from the first iPhone are still missing. There's still no voice dialing, video recording, copy-and-paste, memory-card slot, Bluetooth stereo audio or phone-to-phone photo sending (MMS)." And a replacement battery will run $86. And he's not thrilled by Apple's ( NSDQ: AAPL ) choice of carrier in the U.S.: "There is, however, a catch: you don't get that speed or those features unless you're in one of AT&T's 3G network areas — and there aren't many of them." (Turning off 3G doubles battery life from five hours to ten.) Also, AT&T's ( NYSE: T ) increased service charges mean that "by the end of your two-year contract, the iPhone 3G will have cost you more than th ...