Will the iPhone 3G become the reference in terms of multimedia phones?  New features naturally include 3G for web-browsing, a GPS chip and a compatibility with Microsoft Exchange. With all this onboard, this new incarnation could well be the ultimate handset.

Dressed to impress?  A new glossy coat
Slightly thicker than its predecessor, the iPhone 3G is also curvier. The rear of the handset is now made of glossy plastic. The move from aluminum to plastic seems necessary with all the radio and frequency requirements. Though we did prefer the chic aluminum shell, this one has the advantage of not heating up after a few minutes of phone conversation.
This model will also accept any standard headphones (3.5) without the need for an adaptor.

Software that means business
With its new OS and support for Microsoft Exchange ActiveSync, Apple is aiming for the heart of the business market. This iPhone delivers push email, calendar, and contacts without wasting any time. Also if you happen to loose your iPhone, Apple will take care to delete all the stored data, just in case.
A new calculator icon enables you to use the device as a pocket calculator. When you tip it into landscape mode, it transforms into a scientific calculator.
Precious time is gained as you can now delete more than one mail at once. Searching for contacts is also made easier thanks to a dedicated icon.
Owners of the iPhone Edge can get an update of this version 2.0 for free.

Faster but power-greedy
3G seems to be the magic word in the mobile phone world at the moment. It certainly makes life easier in terms of web-browsing because it is clearly very fast.Web pages and attachments download quicker than via EDGE. However what you gain in terms of speed, you loose in terms of battery life. 3G is a greedy one. The most you will get out of the iPhone with 3G switched on  is 4 and a half hours, using a bit of  iPod, making a few phone calls, sending some text messages and watching some 4 clips on Youtube.
However you can easily choose to disable the 3G and wi-fi, you can glean a few extra hours. It will always be less than what the iPhone Edge had to offer (2 days on average without exaggerating on the multimedia).

GPS that can prove useful
The phone's GPS chip is another new feature, which incidentally also affects battery life, but can too be activated only when needed. Thanks to this feature is it is easy to find your location, get directions and always know where your phone pictures were taken. (geotagging).
It takes less than 5 seconds and a click to be located on a map via satellite. From there you can get directions and track your progress along a route, which will once again appear in no time.
There's nothing preventing you from using the GPS in a car, but better have someone reading out the instructions to you as it does not deliver driving directions aloud.  It might also be a bit dangerous as it will be necessary to reactivate the screen at regular intervals.

Blue circle shows you where you are	Getting directions...	Displaying a list of turn-by-turn directions

Directions are however intended for drivers only which is a shame for those who just want to walk from A to B and care little about one-way streets. You can always go by the blue circle which indicates where you are and switch to another path while following the highlighted map route map that will continue to track your position.
You can also search for points of interest by keyword; handy to find your way to a pub or newspaper agent!

How it compares to the Edge

Everything that made the first iPhone a success is still around -and in some cases has been improved- in its second incarnation :a user-friendly interface,  an excellent web-browser, a good quality multimedia player and an excellent phone ( calls are even clearer on the latest version). So is it necessary to ditch the Edge for this newer model ? Not at all, if you update the software you can stick to the original iPhone. It gives you pretty much everything except access to the 3G network and GPS.

Portrait without Flash	Portrait 10x15 cm	Portrait 20x30 cm

Room for improvement 

Some will complain that the quality of the photos could be better, that there is no MMS functionality, others -like us-  will regret  that one cannot shoot video, play Flash  … but everyone will have to agree that that the iPhone is one revolutionary telephone, be it in its first or second version.