New 3G iPhone Hardware Roundup PDF Print E-mail (will not be published)
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Written by Otto   
Thursday, 15 May 2008 09:46

3G iPhone Hardware

So, you're trying to decide whether to buy the next iPhone when it's announced by Darth Jobs in his WWDC keynote on the 9th of June. We've already seen the details of the latest beta of the V2 software and its many improvements may be all you need - check out our roundup of the new features. However, like us, you may have a physical impediment that requires you to purchase every new device launched from Castle Cupertino. If so here's a list of what we think you'll gain with the updated hardware of the next-gen iphone...
3G - Well duuu, this is the entire reason for the new iPhone. We want faster data, (but we don’t want our provider to limit all that lovely new bandwidth). Ideally we'll have 3.5G UMTS/HSDPA speeds. Oh, and can we have it so that we can tether it to our laptop as a modem like we've been able to do with all our old smart phones for years.
Probability - 100%

GPS - We've used Google maps on the iPhone more than we ever imagined. The cell / Wi-Fi location guesser ranges from pretty damn good, to pretty useless so ideally we'll have a GPS receiver on board this time. Can we have a pedestrian route option too please? It’s not a deal breaker for us though and it is another battery hog that will probably need to be switched off most of the time.
Berble Probability Rating - 70%

Mobile TV - While this would be a software feature it would undoubtedly require the faster 3G network to deliver. It's going to be dependent on your service provider / region too we guess. To be honest we're just hoping for an iPhone Slingbox client and then we can watch whatever we want and not whatever crap is being served up. Orb already have an iPhone client too. As with VoIP and IM this all depends on Apple allowing this bandwidth hungry stuff over the cellular network and not just Wi-Fi.
Probability - 50%

New Front Camera - It's likely that there will be a front facing camera for 3G video calls and iChat. While we've never really used 3G for video calls in the past due to the expense (and the looking silly part) a Wi-Fi video chat that seems much more appealing. Who knows, if it is available over 3G and we can use it to chat to all our IM buddies we may be having video chat everywhere soon. Business types can call it "Video Conferencing" and get away with it too.
Berble Probability Rating - 90%

Better Rear Camera - We need a better quality camera and we especially need video recording. While we don't take much video on our phone there are two reasons we need it. Firstly along with the lack of 3G it's one of the main missing features the iPhone-knockers love to quote. The second reason is we'd love to see Qik.com support for the new iPhone for a bit of live blogging. Berble life-cast anyone? and I'm sure the kids would love to send video from their iPhone straight to YouTube like the excellent iMovie08 export option.
Berble Probability Rating - 80%

Flush Jack - How stupid was the crappy sunken headphone socket on the current model. In a device that seemed like a 10 year leap ahead in the smartphone world, this really annoyed us. It seems a certainty this will be fixed in the new phone. Throw out that silly adaptor and watch the accessory manufacturers cry.
Berble Probability Rating - 100%

Fatter Form Factor - The rumours on the physical aesthetics range from no change to gloss black to choice of black white or silver. Most people seem to agree though that the new device will be slightly fatter, hopefully not with the proportions of a 3rd Gen Nano though.
Berble Probability Rating - 80%

Improved Battery Life - We've found the iPhone battery life copes with all but the most intensive days. The MkII will need to hold on to that level of performance or improve upon it. While that's going to be difficult with the new radio, cameras and gps the rumours of a thicker case should suggest a higher rated battery too.
Berble Probability Rating - 60%

Biometrics - In an industry first Apple will do away with the fingerprint reader that’s so passé and go with iris recognition technology. To unlock your new iPhone simply hold the rear-mounted camera close to your eye and wait for the confirmation beep (OK, we made that one up).
Berble Probability Rating - 0%

 

 

Lastly news of a device using the new Intel Atom processor is appearing over the last day or so. With a resolution of 720x480 this could point to an uber-iPhone or perhaps a mini-tablet like the Nokia N810.


With a world of third party software about to be released for the platform and with the WWDC sold out for the first time ever, one thing's for sure, we'll be glued to the live blogs at the Keynote come the 9th, Ctrl-R in one hand, plastic in the other. Exciting times.

 

Speed comparison video comparing the iPhone's current
EDGE download speed with a simulated 3G iPhone
Last Updated ( Tuesday, 20 May 2008 20:42 )
 

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