Now, it is beyond doubt that almost anybody on the internet will have heard of the brand new iPhone 3G, and its release on July 11th. What people don’t understand anywhere near as well how will the iPhone actually impact our daily lives.
Update: Pay & Go delayed in the UK until November.
O2, on their website, appear to be keeping the original prices for the iPhone Classic, through the release of the 3G update. Although this is subject to change, I highly doubt it because their brand relies on consistencies. There’s already been enough confusion about prices. Having said that, they are introducing a £30/month tariff, with reduced calls/texts, but still with unlimited data. There has also been one other, major, change. Pay & Go.
In the UK, the O2 (the only UK iPhone provider) Pay & Go tariff charge has yet to officially released, although a temporary opening on the O2 websites suggests a fee of about £299. It also includes many other twists, what with their ‘bolt-ons,’ ‘add-ons’ and what appears to be free data for the first 6 months. The source is fairly reliable (these numbers were pulled from the O2 website recently) but I wouldn’t take it as Gospel, as the numbers had hastily been removed again, and so may change.
The idea is that after the 6 months of free, unlimited (fair-use policy) data, you are charged £3 per MB from that point onwards, or a monthly £10 fee. Wi-Fi is also available for free in this time from The Cloud or BT’s OpenZone. They are also likely to provide an automated method for switching from the Pay & Go to the Contract.
Texts and calls are more than likely to cost slightly over the O2 average, although the website made it clear that O2’s standard Pay & Go charges can be used with the iPhone. It is also worth bearing in mind that the more you top-up, the cheaper it becomes, as 25p/minute to non-O2 phones isn’t a particularly attractive thought.
The most hyped feature of the iPhone 3G is, well, the 3G. This means that it can access 3rd generation (an international standard) networks anywhere it is available. The speed difference on paper makes you ask; ‘how did I live without that?’ but when in a real life situation, I honestly doubt that there will be any noticeable difference.
It’s worth noting that Apple have once again neglected the camera built in to the iPhone. Still the old 2MP stills-oriented camera on the back of the iPhone. There have been rumors of a front-facing camera as a side-release but the chance of Apple actually doing this is slim.
A-GPRS will surely open a few opportunities for developers. This is a global satellite-based positioning service that when used in conjunction with the 3G connection to Google maps, you can easily see your current location on the map far more accurately than the original Wi-Fi/Cell triangulation service (which was, quite frankly, appalling - none the less a good idea that did work well before the GPRS). There are already rumors of a in-car Sat-Nav application in the works, although I can’t see how they’d manage to receive a quickly updating signal through a car roof.
You’ll also be seeing more businesses (perhaps even your own) adopting the iPhone as their company phone, thanks to the brilliant rates provided by O2/Apple, but more importantly the Exchange integration. This allows you to synchronize your work flow, much like the Mobile Me ‘push’ from the ‘cloud’ service.
All these features will add a little onto the depth of the iPhone, but it’s almost certain you won’t notice it, thanks to the all new plastic backing in a far simpler (certainly more ergonomic) shape. It’s clear that aesthetics are every bit as important to Apple, regardless of the price, or the multitude of features that would force this article to become simply too long if mentioned.
All of these features work together to hugely improve the native experience of the iPhone. However, the development of the Application Store and SDK has allowed developers (ammature and professional) to tap into the incredible power hidden in the iPhone hardware. This article has been targeted for the consumers’ perspective, so I’ll leave updated to the SDK to a later article.
It allows them to create unique software from incredible 3D Games to stunning medical software. They will blow your mind away on their own, let alone in combination with the creative talents of thousands of other developers only starting on the iPhone platform. You can purchase applications from the Application Store for a price fixed by the vendor (Apple and the developer), most likely in your interest.
This will undoubtedly have an impact on your daily life, as it allows you to transform your iPhone into an entirely new device at the touch of a button.
Overall, there has been enormous change for the average UK citizen, as much as the rest of the world, but it’s worth taking note of the subtle localised differences that go deeper than price blgsg.
(4 votes, average: 4 out of 5)
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