iPhone 3G S begins shipping to customers
Introduced last week and due in stores on Friday, several people are reporting that shipments of the iPhone 3G S have started.
(Credit:
Apple)
One AppleInsider reader reported that his 32GB black iPhone shipped from China. Other early iPhone buyers are reporting on Twitter that Apple sent them shipping confirmation e-mails as well.
So far, nobody has been given a date when the phone will arrive, but presumably it will be on or before Friday, when the iPhone is due to arrive at retail locations.
The iPhone 3G S has many of the same features as its predecessor, although it does come with a few notable additions. At the top of that list is a faster processor, giving the iPhone the ability to load apps three to five times as fast as the previous model.
The new model also gets a three-megapixel camera and the ability to record video that can be edited directly on the phone. Built-in voice control and a magnetometer with a compass app round out the new features of the phone.
The iPhone 3G S costs $199 for the 16GB model and $299 for the 32GB model. Both models come in black and white.
Jim Dalrymple has followed Apple and the Mac industry for the last 15 years, first as part of MacCentral and then in various positions at Macworld. A guitar player for 20 years, Jim also writes about the professional audio market, examining the best ways to write and record songs on a Macintosh with Logic Pro and Pro Tools. Jim is a member of the CNET Blog Network and is not an employee of CNET. 
Buy out your contract, or pay the full price of the phone, or just wait until your contract is up.
Or, you can just wait for the 4th generation iPhone that will probably be out this time next year.
Have you or the rest of the US been living in a bubble during the whole cell phone revolution?? How did you think that a $6-700 phone all of the sudden is $199? Its called subsidies and every single cell phone company in the US does this. It doesnt matter if its an expensive iPhone or a free motorola throw away phone. You get the subsidies when you sign a long term contract. Then you want to blame others when you dont actually read that contract. I am not a huge fan of AT&T but they havent done anything that is not industry standard here.
AT&T paid $880,000,000 in subsidies to Apple in Q1 of 2009. So they should just pay another almost billion dollars to Apple again and say hey its ok we can just throw your contracts out and start fresh? What if you leave after the second two years so maybe you have a total of 2 1/2 years under AT&T and they have paid $400 worth of subsidies which was supposed to guarantee them 4 years of pay back.
This is why this countries economy is in the toilet, no one thinks past the weekend in front of them. Everything is short term give it to me now. Oh those companies can afford it they make tons off us. No one forced anyone to buy the 3G, read your contracts and grow up.
Note, Jaybarrow, you're not shocked or complaining, your comment just reminded me of it and that stupid Twitter group.
But yes, I have a 2G iPhone and while my contract isn't up until November, I am still eligible for the upgrade price (and have so pre-ordered mine). I haven't had to change my number or anything. Well, just the data plan which has now leveled the playing field for all smartphones.
zmonster on the other hand down there is living in that weird bubble where you can buy a new phone for a discounted price and then all of a sudden by another one at the same nice low subsidized value.
No one "loses" their number anymore. Cell phone numbers have been portable for over two years now.
Also, the reason the first generation iPhone users get the discount has nothing to do with how close to ending their contract is. We didn't get a subsidy for the first generation iPhone. Therefore, AT&T isn't losing additional money by giving us the subsidy for the 3G S.
Apple says that everyone wants their iphone... that's a surprise!
Who woulda guessed that Apple depends on propaganda and trendiness and "shortages" to show "demand" for their product.
Apple has never done that before..... /S
You're acting like there is no demand for the iPhone and that Apple is artificially inflating sales? That 17 million iPhones haven't been sold?
Location SHENZHEN, CN
Date 06/15/2009
Time 9:08 P.M.
Description ORIGIN SCAN
iphone 3G - July 2008
iphone 3Gs - June 2009
Couple months? Try once a year. I guess you dont really know it all.
I am very disappointed to have waited on hold at 800-My-APPLE for about 40 minutes to learn that once again I will not be buying an iPhone.
Until I can use a full-sized keyboard with the iPhone, the iPhone and the iPod Touch are just toys, to me.
As someone who has been a consultant for purchasing and trouble-shooting Macs for 25 years, now, it is really embarrassing that I have not been able to recommend the iPhones: as phones, they are mediocre, as PDAs their utility is crippled by inability to use an external keyboard -- they are 98% toy. At present, I am still recommending that serious-minded people get a good cellular phone and a good PDA (like the Palm Pre and a micro-keyboard), rather than an iPhone. Until iPhone can be used with an external keyboard, that will remain my recommendation.
I honestly do not understand the hang-up. How many more iPhones would you sell if an external keyboard could be used with an iPhone/iPod to take meeting notes, to get work done during commutes without lugging a laptop, to chat, etc.
It is a different world today than when people *weren't* buying portable keyboards in great numbers for their PDAs. If there was BlueTooth keyboard access, or a keyboard-dock built specifically for iPhones/iPods, Apple would sell a great many more iPhones/iPods, and whoever was making the keyboards would do well, too.
Think about all the folks who keep knocking Apple for failing to make a sub-notebook... with all the other features in the iPhone/iPod, allowing data entry and interactivity with external keyboards would go a LONG way toward filling that gap.
So, once again, even with the price breaks on the new iPhones, I am not going to buy one, and I am not going to be recommending them to business clients.
Call me when I can use external keyboards.
Thanks.
As for one as part of the iPhone, it would completely go against the design principle of the unit. Secondly a non physical keyboard is WAY more productive when it comes to the apps and the way the iphone works. Its infinitely changeable depending on which way you have the phone and also what application it happens to be using. This is especially true for foreign language typing.
Take the pre, nice phone and I did really like it. But the huge limiting factor of its keyboard is when I browse the internet I use my phone in landscape. To do that in the Pre you have to keep turning the phone around to type anything in. This is the same with email and everything else. Now I know the iphone didnt have landscape for email or text before 3.0 (I did through jailbreak) but it can do it.
I will admit that typing on an iphone vs a blackberry does take time to get used to, but in landscape mode the keys are very nice and spacious and I can type very fast. In fact half the time I write on these forums its on the iPhone.
the on screed keyboard takes anywhere between 2-3 weeks to get used to
I do hope Apple allows custom software keyboards like android though !
That being said, I'm not sure why you would want to carry the keyboard for the iPhone? Might as well get one of the Netbooks. Although, I could see the appeal of not having to carry another device with you. Still would need a proper app for taking notes...which could of course change now that you can sync notes natively (without the use of 3rd party program like Missing Sync).
They are worthless.
www.Apple.com/ipone/buy
www.apple.com/iphone/buy
The second one was just walk up, buy it, go home. Much easier.
I expect there will be some lines though as the first gen models and diehard fans will be out of their first contract and will be able to stand in line this time.
The only difference in the 3GS is the camera, video capabilities, compass, higher performing CPU and GPU.
Everything else everyone has complained about such as MMS, Tethering, Locate-My-Phone, Remote-Wipe, Cut-Copy-Paste, Landscape KB etc are all software upgrade via iPhone OS 3.0. You can keep you 3G and get all these.
Most importantly, the 3G and 3GS seems to be HSDPA 7.2 compliant so when ATT turns on the higher speed later on this year, both 3G and 3GS users will benefit just the same.
I got all this by carefully reading Apple's specification. Does anyone have any more on this? Especially first-hand specifics?
I also saw the presentation video and Apple did say 3GS runs at 7.2.
We have a gen 1 iPhone, so it is definitely upgrading to the 3GS. We will keep our 3G for now.
Why can't they give discounted upgrade pricing depending on how long you have been under contract? Wouldn't ATT and apple both be happy if they could have all of their customers using a better phone.
If you're looking for the latest and greatest on gadgets, and it seems that you would be - you should of done your homework. You could have easily found out that there would be a new iPhone being released in the summer, either by googling the info, or just looking at Apple's history of the iPhone.
Secondly, don't be so bad about your purchase. You'll still be upgrading to OS 3.0 come Wednesday.
Rescheduled Delivery: 06/16/2009
Shipped To: REDWOOD CITY, CA, US
Shipped/Billed On: 06/16/2009
Product: WORLD EASE
In Transit - On Time
Scheduled Delivery: 06/17/2009
Shipped To: CALABASAS, CA, US
Shipped/Billed On: 06/16/2009
Product: WORLD EASE
Service: EXPRESS
Weight: .50 Kg
Cool! It will be in time to get the phone and the 3.0 software upgrade.
to correct,
2G OVER TWO YEARS CONTRACT UP, DID NOT CANCEL JUST UPGRADED-199$ easy
worth it for me, YES ITS : MMS AND VIDEO ,FASTER NETWORK ,GPS, 2.1 BDR,
AND MORE FOR FIRST GEN LOVERS CANT WAIT TO JAILBREAK 3.0 ON MY 3GS
DEVTEAM RULES!!!
- by bythebayMD June 16, 2009 6:38 AM PDT
- i got a shipment notification email early this morning. They said to expect delivery on June 19.
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- by subie09lega June 16, 2009 7:11 AM PDT
- According to UPS, mine is scheduled to deliver on 6/18. I don't really expect it a day early but it will be cool if it does happen!
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