iPhone 3GS: Initial Impressions

In this article will detail my experience with our new iPhone 3GS’s. As the next few days progress and I get to work with the phone some more and take it through its paces, I will be adding some more bullet points to the sections below.

Pros:

• I have to say that I just love the interface. Once I got used to it and new what to expect, moving around the interface became pretty easy.
• Screen Keyboard-I wasn’t sure how I was going to like this but it is working out pretty well. I would rather have some tactile feedback but the letters popping up real big make it easy for these old eyes to see what I am typing.
• I loved how easy it was to setup the tethering and how well it worked with the 3G connection.
• So far I have seen a pretty strong connection in this area with the phone coverage. I will get back on this as I travel around the country side.
• The guys at the local AT&T store have been extremely supportive. Not only in the sales cycle but also in the post sale time frame where we are beginning to push the units into service. I wouldn’t have expected anything less, but its nice to see that happen.
• I was really impressed with the tight integration between my Garmin and the iPhone. Everyone in my phonebook is searchable easily on the Garmin to give me a heads up display to dial from. I am completely hands free once the call is made. From my initial calls with Nick from the car, it performed well even with the top down and moving along the highway. More testing will tell this tell more completely though.
• The number of applications available to enhance the iPhone’s capabilities is incredible. Whether you need a news aggregator, messaging device, car mileage tracking for work, or WiFi phone service the choices are all there. Most of the apps are either free or at a low cost.
• Got my Audible Books over finally. Had to click on the folder that they were stored in. Then I had to delete them from the iTunes library, those I didn’t want uploaded. Pretty lame that way.

Cons:

• Battery life – this is the one thing that I would have liked to see better. The caveat though is that while I am in the car I can have it plugged in, or if I am using it to tether my notebook, it will also be getting power. The only time it won’t be getting power is when it is in my pocket or when I am roaming around with it. In the next few weeks I’ll see if this becomes an issue for the way I am using it or not.
• I don’t have enough connections in my car for all of the gadgets I am plugging in. I’ll have to see if I can come up with a solution for that.
• There are some video incompatibilities with some of the video podcasts that I view. Initially I have seen this because the podcasts were downloaded using the Zune software. If I download them through the iTunes store they will probably be in the right format.
• The Zune Software and iTunes Software cannot be up and running at the same time. Just a comment. Not surprising though.
• Because you are carrying around a connection to the world’s information sources at your fingertips, if you are an information addict like me you will spend “way to much time” with this little device instead of the time with your loved ones. Be careful, it is addictive.
• Don’t like the earbuds that come with the phone. They hurt my ears.
• I have started loading up content on the iPhone with podcasts and my Audible books. I don’t have a way to connect this back into the car radio easily. Shane has come up with a solution… I’ll comment on this in another post after we have it installed. Thanks Shane.