A Weekend With the iPhone 3G S
Recording my first iPhone 3G S video! on 12seconds.tv
“I don’t get it. Why are you so excited about buying the exact same phone?” I heard that more than a few times. And, though I defended my move from first-generation to brand-spanking-new iPhone, part of me was worried. After playing with the new features, would the novelty would wear off and buyer’s remorse sink in?
After a long weekend of pictures, video, web browsing, file transfers, app downloads, and voice commands, I can happily say this is not the same phone I’ve used for the past year and a half.
Apple made the account transfer process completely painless. I know some people have been having trouble with phone activation activation, and maybe it was because I got to the store so early, but a helpful Apple Store employee at the Towson Town Center had me up and running in about two minutes. I was completely unprepared for her to smile and say, “That’s it!” My total time in the Apple store couldn’t have been more than five minutes.
There were obvious hardware differences made to the iPhone when the 3G model came out last year, but they’re all new to me now. Migrating from the metal design, the curved plastic case just feels more natural in my hand. Comparing the two, I didn’t notice a huge difference in weight, but the iPhone 3G S appeared to be just a hair lighter.
The speaker on the 3G S is fantastic compared to my old iPhone. The speakerphone is actually useful, and I was astonished at how good the audio from music and movies sounds. Recordings from the new Voice Memos app the audio sound clear and sharp, even better than my old iRiver pocket audio recorder which I used for podcasts a few years ago. In a pinch, the phone could be used for good-quality on-the-spot interviews.
And then there’s the new camera. The jump to a 3.0 megapixel autofocus camera is amazing. No, it won’t replace my DSLR, but I’m sure I’ll produce some print-worthy shots with this camera, at least in well-lit conditions. The absence of a flash will still make some photos tough to take, but for quick snapshots, it’s just what I need. Here’s a close-up I took of some raspberries at my parents’ place over the weekend. I love the macro focus.
I will have to do some side-by-side comparisons, but I have a hunch that the video produced by the new iPhone looks slightly better than what was produced by old Flip camera. Though it records 640 by 480 standard-def video, the iPhone 3G S even performs better in low-light conditions than my Kodak Zi6, which severely drops its frame rate. (To be fair, the Zi6 totally rocks the 720p high-def in bright light, and with a digital zoom to boot.) Here’s a video of my sister spinning fire in the dark. (Yes, I know, my sister is amazing!)
The video camera records in both portrait and landscape modes, but I’m not certain whether or not I like that. While a vertical 480 by 640 clip looks interesting and could be useful, nearly every video sharing service will have to come up with a way to handle these odd-sized files. For example, 12 seconds rotates my video to the more traditional 640 by 480 orientation, which causes my entire video to look like it’s on its side.
Macro focus on the iPhone 3G S! on 12seconds.tv
Trimming a video clip is ridiculously intuitive. Tap-and-drag either end, press play to preview, then tap the “Trim” button. Done. When connected to your computer, the videos sync up in iPhoto along with your pictures. I’m surprised but thankful that iMovie is left out of the mix, but it makes me wonder if Apple has plans to combine iMovie and iPhoto at some point down the line. It seems almost silly to have to drag movies out of iPhoto and into iMovie if I want to stitch a few of them together.
As cool as all these video features are, I still believe it should have been a launch-day feature two years ago. The fact that it took this long to appear in Apple’s high-end smartphone is, frankly, embarrassing.
The iPhone’s “tap to focus” for still photos is absolutely killer. I wouldn’t be surprised to see that feature in DSLR and other digital cameras very, very soon. It’s intuitive, smart, and works incredibly well. Just touch the part of the image you want to take a picture of. Then, take the picture.
And the speed! This phone runs faster on the 3G network than my first-generation iPhone ran on my wi-fi connection. The combination of the 3.0 firmware and the new, faster processor is wicked. Apps download and install almost instantly. Websites load at blazing speeds. It compresses video, attaches to email and sends it within seconds. The jump from first-gen iPhone to 3G S is literally the same as jumping from dial-up to broadband Internet. It reminds me of the first time I had high-speed Internet at home.
So those are my initial observations. As I go through my first work week with the phone, I’m sure I’ll come up with more things to write about, or remember things I forgot to mention. So far, all of my fears and reservations about this phone have been squashed, and my entire experience so far has just rocked.
