The Holy Grail of Cell Phones - iPhone 3G 8 GB

In my mind, there are two types of cell phone users in the world; those who just need a phone for phone calls and texting, and those whose day to day needs are met through their phone. I fall somewhere in between of that spectrum with the need to have the newest electronics device even though half of the functions the phone can do go un-used. I'm a long time fan of Apple's iPod, and after getting through the iPhone's debut wave of "oh my God" with my Blackberry Curve keeping me content, I slowly began to want an iPhone more and more.

After a mishap with the Blackberry and months of frustration with it already piled up high, I was in need of a new cell phone quick. I tend to have the "go for it" mentality with current electronics, so with the only hesitation being the few seconds it took to find which card to pay with, I walked out of ATT Wireless with the brand-spanking new iPhone 3G in the 8GB model. The 8GB is only available in black (my color of choice anyway), while the 16GB models have an optional white model available.

The initial iPhone launch was riddled with problems with getting the phone activated causing customers wait weeks to even use their phone. The iPhone 3G was announced sometime after the original iPhone's buzz began to fade (an Apple tradition), showing a thinner, faster product than the original phone. Standing vertical, the 3G comes in at 4.5" tall, 2.4" wide, .48 of an inch in depth, and weighs about 4.7 ounces; which is slightly thinner than the first generation iPhone. The screen is 3.5" wide when it's held horizontally, and it's one of the most eye pleasing screens I've ever seen. Full of color and detail, it's really quite amazing how such a beautiful display comes in such a tiny package.

When holding the phone up right, the physical button layout is simple. The speaker is a slit above the screen that is surprisingly high quality. I haven't had any real issues with hearing people. On top of the phone on the left is headphone jack, with the power button on the right. To power on/off all you do is hold the button down for a few seconds and just click it once to lock the phone. Thanks to the touch screen, "dope" calls from the pocket are a thing of the past. On the left side you'll find the silence switch and the volume buttons, and along the bottom is the microphone and external speakers and the charge/transfer port.

Now onto the features of the iPhone 3G. The most important button is the "Home" button centered right beneath the touch screen. The button is curved inward, so there shouldn't be anything in your pocket to worry about hitting it. When the iPhone is locked, all you do is press the button to activate the screen, and slide the icon on the screen all the way over to the right in order to unlock it and bring up the main menu (AKA home). No matter how many menus that you manage to navigate through, pressing the Home button takes you straight back to the home screen. Along the bottom of the screen is where the four primary icons are located: Phone, Mail, iPod, and Safari.

Phone
Shockingly enough, the iPhone can indeed be used as a phone. Touch the phone icon to bring up everything you need to connect to people, as well as listen to your voicemail. You can browse through your contacts to find someone to call, or you can add the ones you call the most to your Favorites list. This way all you have to do is touch the Favorites icon and touch the person you want to call and cut down time it takes to browse through your contacts list. While on a phone call, when the phone is brought up to the ear, there is a sensor that locks the screen so icons aren't being pushed by your ear. Even while on a phone call, press the Home button to bring up the home screen in order to text and surf the web simultaneously.

Mail
You can also synchronize an existing email account under the mail icon which eliminates several moments waiting on the browser to load and having to log in and junk. My primary email is through Hotmail, however for some reason my password and username were not able to be verified so I made a new email through Gmail (Google's email service) and synchronized my phone with that email instead. This feature is an option for casual users and a major convenience for those heavily dependent on email.

Safari
To browse the internet over the super fast mobile 3G network push the Safari icon (Apple's web browser) to bring up the browser. Type in the URL, tilt the phone horizontally or keep it vertical to view each web page, and voila... your laptop or computer may never feel the love again. It can be slow depending on connection and using the touch keypad takes some getting use to, but the quickness that even flash heavy web pages load in truly makes the iPhone the most versatile do it all electronic on the market. You can keep multiple web pages open at once that are easy to switch between, and by "pinching" the screen with your fingers you can zoom in and out on the web pages since trying to open tiny links with your fingertip is incredibly tough.

iPod
For the music junkies out there, the iPhone serves as an iPod as well with a pair of Apple's signature white earphones included. Not meant to be used as an album collection "catch all," even the 8GB model can hold most if not all of your favorite artists, including music videos. In fact, I even sold my 80GB model iPod for some extra cash because the iPhone has enough space to hold all of my favorite music that I listen to all the time. Transferring music from the computer to the phone is as easy as using the included port to USB cable. Obviously you will need iTunes installed on your computer, but if you don't it's a free download. Also, there is an iTunes store application on the phone that you can purchase music and download straight to your phone.

So much stuff to do, and I haven't even started on the applications on the home page. From the home screen you can text, keep track of events in the calendar, check an updated weather feed of multiple locations (right now I have the seven day forecast for both Indianapolis and West Hartford, CT), or check out the roller coaster stock reports if you're into that kind of thing. You can browse photos taken with the extremely crisp and clean camera located on the back of the phone. Many people will be very surprised at the quality and clarity of the pictures that the iPhone is capable of. The only complaints that I have about the camera is the lack of a flash to capture those dark moments, no video recording, and no zoom function. That's alright though, the excellent photo quality is good enough. Thanks to the special motion sensor that allows you to hold the phone horizontal or vertical, pictures can be taken either way that fits everything in best (web pages can also be viewed horizontal). I don't know why, but watching the screen rotate when you hold it each way is quite amusing.

Of all the things possible with this phone, these next three are what I use the most:

Text
Texting pretty much dominates all forms of communication today. Thankfully, texting on the iPhone is extremely convenient and accessible. Texts are organized by invidividual conversations and are received in the fashion of an instant message where you can scroll up and read the entire conversation. The most awkward learning curve with the iPhone is using a touch pad keyboard to text. It will feel weird at first but thankfully Apple has a very intelligent auto-correct program that recognizes common misspellings and errors in text and brings up the suggested word in a bubble right above the word you're trying to spell. If it's the right word just continue typing what you're trying to say, if not just press the "X" next to the word to leave it as is. The auto-correct is a Godsend, though it is incredibly frustrating when you're typing in a hurry and try to use slang words. Mainly, whenever I try to text "f*ck" of any variation, the auto-correct changes it to "duck," which has thrown people off everytime I send a text without noticing. Regardless, it's a wonderful feature to have.

My gripe with the iPhone and text messaging is the innability to receive MMS messages. Instead of receiving picture messages instantly and viewing them, a text message is sent saying that someone sent a multimedia message and to visit a link and enter the username and password given in the text - all just to view a picture that, with the iPhone's technology, should not be an issue. This format takes too much extra time and is overall just an unnecessary hassle.

Maps
The iPhone not only shines your shoes, but it acts as a GPS receiver too. The GPS is powered by Google maps, and with a simple address or even just a city or town name, you're given step by step directions to reach your destination. If you press the bullseye icon in the bottom left corner, your exact location is pinpointed by a blinking blue dot. This will definitely be one of the applications I use most.

YouTube
YouTube has come to be one of, if not "the," most popular sites to upload and post videos on the web. Instead of trying to navigate the site through the web browser, there is a YouTube application right on the main menu that is simplified down to a search box in order to find videos easier.

There are thosuands of applications that are able to be downloaded straight to your phone ranging from Myspace and Facebook mobile (cuts out the bullsh*t and lets you post, read, listen, etc. with ease), to photoshop-like programs, to all sorts of activities and games. These applications range from free downloads to $9.99 or more, and are designed to take advantage of the iPhone's motion sense capabilities and its touch screen.

Complaints
By now it's obvious that I firmly believe in the iPhone 3G, however it's not without its downfalls. As much as I want it to be, Apple's "do-it-all" is not perfect. Not just yet. First, the iPhone is basically an apple laptop super shrunk with cellular capabilities included. This means that it is basically a mini-computer, which means it runs on some kind of operating system, which leads to SLOWDOWN issues. Some applications and functions require quite a bit of juice to operate (such as GPS, surfing the internet, etc.), though the most major slowdown that I've encountered occurs while trying to access text messages.

The major defect in the iPhone is the battery life. Plain in simple - it sucks. On a full charge, I can text my girlfriend, check out a couple web pages, and listen to some music and not have to charge it for a whole 3 hours! There is an iPhone update to download that actually improved the battery life a little bit, but right now the battery is the main thing holding Apple back from the perfect product. Until then, I highly recommend purchasing the Outlet/Car two-in-one charger by Incase and keeping it with you at all times in order to avoid an untimely dead phone.

If you don't already have a two-year contract, the iPhone 3G 8GB is an incredible investment at $199. If not, look at spending around $399.99 to buy it outright like I did. The phone comes with a Media bundle that with the basic coverage plan, will run you around $100 a month. The new media bundle however DOES NOT already include unlimited text messaging. Even if you have had the $20 Unlimited Text plan for the past two years, it won't roll over onto the iPhone's "plan." The agent that sold my iPhone to me failed to mention that my text message coverage that I'd had for almost two years would be taken off. When I checked my account balance a month later to see what I had to pay, I was very surprised to see a bill totalling just under $600. Even though changes shouldn't be made to your plan unless you specify the changes, be sure to specify that you need the $20 unlimited text package. Thankfully, I was able to contact a very nice and helpful customer service operator that was able to fix my account by re-enrolling my plan with unlimited text and rolling back the enrollment date to when I bought the phone.

Overall
The iPhone 3G 8GB is an incredible phone. The monthly plan can be expensive and viewing picture texts are a pain in the a**, but everything the iPhone can do for only around $100 a month makes it well worth it. As a full-time working college student with little time at home, the 3G is perfect. Everyone has a reason for an iPhone.. what's yours?