The 3GS has been on the market for several weeks already. People have responded to it, some good, bad. Here are some notable stories from all over the web.

iPhone 3G S image courtesy of Apple

iPhone 3GS Helps AT&T generate its best sales day
According to AppleInsider’ story the iPhone 3GS helped AT&T achieve it’s best sales day ever. They even broke other records with the launch of the iPhone. Here’s an excerpt.

The leaked e-mail characterizes “iLaunch Day 2009,” its nickname for the June 19th iPhone 3GS release date, as the “best-ever sales day” and just second in terms of actual floor traffic. Many of its other sales-related records were also shattered at the same time, ranging from the number of upgrade eligibility checks made in a day to the sheer volume of orders taken through AT&T’s website.

3GS smokes competition in OpenGL Benchmarks (via Extreme Tech)

The new Apple iPhone 3GS feels fast, but it’s always good to see your feelings confirmed with hard numbers. Laszlo Kishonti, creator of the JBenchmark benchmark suite that I use on all Java-based phones, managed to install his GLBenchmark OpenGL benchmark onto both an iPhone 3GS and iPhone 3G (please, don’t ask how) and watched the new model smoke the competition on low-level tests.

With great power comes… great electricity.. iPhone 3GS users complain about battery life (via LA Times)

Buyers are finding that the device, introduced two weeks ago, has trouble making it through a workday without a rest stop at the electrical outlet. It’s proving to be something of an Achilles’ heel on Apple Inc.’s flagship device, more than 1 million of which were sold in the first weekend.

The iPhone 3GS is hot! I mean literaly (via TMCnet)

The first known public account of the problem originated in France where one 16GB 3GS user noticed that his phone was hot during use. Later, the owner discovered that the white backing on the device had turned pink-toned near the spot where the battery is stored, the report said.

So there you go, some iPhone stories to help you decide if you really want one or if you’ve gotten one already, see if it was a good decision.

I finally got to try the push notification service of iPhone OS 3.0. I upgraded my iPod Touch to the 3.0 software last week and downloaded AIM for the iPhone. Being the cheapskate that I am, I just got the free version.

AIM for iPhone and iPod Touch

One of my biggest gripes before with instant messaging on the iPod Touch was that I always had to have the application on or else I would be disconnected from the service. If I’m waiting for someone I can’t do anything else on my iPod Touch. Hence I didn’t really use my iPod Touch much for instant messaging.

Push service finally comes and I think it’s an answered prayer. I tried it and it works. I could do other things with my iPod and receive notices when messages arrive. Cool. Yup until I encountered one problem. I’m still unsure if it’s just my particular set up or this happens to others as well.

I connected with AIM on my iPod Touch and it was working well. One thing I forgot was to sign out on my iPod Touch, I got so used to being signed out upon exiting the app that it didn’t cross my mind. So I transfer to my laptop and use Adium. I’m connected to AIM and I’m able to send messages. Unfortunately I wasn’t getting any replies. I just see the icon change to a “writing symbol” but I don’t get the replies of the person I’m talking to. I found out that the messages were being sent to my iPod Touch. It doesn’t go to both.

So now I have to constantly remember to sign off on my iPod Touch or I won’t get my messages. That’s quite a drag…

iPhone software minus the gesture recognitions has pretty lame features like the lack of copy and paste, linear inbox of text messages and replies, search capability, etc.

The iPhone 3.0 already has a copy and paste functionality however; multi-tasking is not yet allowed. According to Apple, background processing decrease battery performance, it doesn’t allow the iPhone to go to sleep mode, doesn’t allow the iPhone to operate at the lowest power.

With all the excuse, Apple is one of the few companies that dictate what features would come into their products. Unlike Microsoft which dumps everything to users trying to become a vendor for everyone. Apple’s target market is at the high-end but it still doesn’t mean they can cut features as much as they want. Apple is using it’s branding power to silence critics, to silence their consumers and still glorify their products.

How about you? Do you wish the iPhone 3.0 has multi-tasking abilities?

Image from Apple.

With 1 million units sold in the first 3 days of its release, the iPhone 3G S, Apple’s newest version of the iPhone shows us that it’s still the one to beat. While the Palm Pre is an impressive smart phone, it still paled in comparison to the iPhone in terms of sales. The lines weren’t as long as the previous launches of the iPhone but this is partly due to Apple accepting reservations and orders online.

iPhone 3G S image courtesy of Apple

The new iPhone 3G S still looks pretty much the same as the iPhone 3G it follows. To the untrained eye they look exactly the same. Minor tell tale differences separate the new from the old. Details such as silver lettering that is similar to the Apple logo distinguish which is which. Also the iPhone 3G S is the only model with 32 GB of memory. So if you see 32 at the back, it’s a 3G S.

What’s under the hood is what matters. The 3G S boasts of a performance boost that is indeniable. It launches apps faster, performs tasks quicker and is just overall a much more responsive device. It also supports the OpenGL ES 2.0 standard that will allow better graphics performance. Games should see great improvement with the 3G S.

Apple knew to leave well enough alone. The design of the iPhone still makes it arguably the best looking smart phone around. It works so why change it. Instead Apple focused on the small things. Improving performance, software, and adding small touches.

The camera is now much beter with auto focus and the ability to take videos. It’s by far not the best in the market but it’s a step up. Besides you don’t get a smart phone just for it’s imaging capabilities. If you’re worried about that it’s best to get a dedicated camera.

The new 3.0 software which was downloaed over 6 million times already offers great improvements as well. Apple may have been really late in adding cut and paste but at least they did it right. I must say it’s easy to use and it does work. The landscape mode of the keyboard makes it easier for people with big fingers to type. MMS, text forwarding, etc.. All of this contribute to making the iPhone a much much better device.

While Apple faces stiff competition from the likes of Blackberry and now it seems from the likes of Palm as well, it still is in my opinion the smart phone to beat. Blackberry might have better business features but the iPhone is the overall winner. With 50,000 apps and counting available to you at the app store, it’s just the most flexible phone around.

The iPhone 3G S while highly, anticipated made it’s debut in a more subtle way than its predecessors. Gone are the long lines that used to be a fixture at Apple stores during the launch of the previous models. This was a result of Apple taking pre-orders for the iPhone, thus eliminating the need for people to camp out at the stores.

iPhone 3G S image courtesy of Apple

There were still people who camped out at stores. Just not in the volumes previously witnessed.

A couple of days ago, the 3.0 version of the iPhone OS was made available. This upgrade brings a lot of the feature of the 3G S to the previous models of the iPhone. The most sought after feature of the new OS is the addition of copy/paste. Finally! Welcome additions as well are SMS forwarding, tethering, spotlight search, etc.

Read about the launch of the iPhone 3G S here. Apple’s official press release can be found here.

Apple’s WWDC 2009 is underway and it opened with the keynote speech which featured some new Apple stuff. Below is a roundup of the notable items.

WWDC 2009 - Image courtesy of Apple

New MacBook Pro Lineup

I don’t think anyone saw this coming. At least not for this event. Apple just revamped it’s MacBook Pro line. Releasing an all new 15 inch MacBook Pro which now sports a similar battery to the 17 inch. Promising battery life of up to 7 hours. Another notable thing is the swapping out of the express slot with a SD card reader.

Another thing is that the MacBook Aluminum is now rebranded as the 13 inch MacBook Pro. It shares similar specs to it’s 15″ brother. The 13 inch model also now comes with a FW800 port.

What’s also outrageous (in a good way) is that the MacBook Pros prices have been reduced significantly. The 13″ starts at $1199 while the 15″ starts at $1699.

The white polycarbonate MacBook now remains as the only MacBook model available.

MacBook Air updated

Apple also updated MacBook Air models. The new entry level MacBook Air sports a 1.86 Ghz Core 2 Duo processor with a 120GB Hard drive while the higher end model has a 2.13 Ghz Core 2 Duo processor and a 128GB Solid State Drive. The 1.86 Ghz’s price starts at $1,499 while the 2.13 Ghz is priced at $1,799. Making both of them easily the most bang-for-buck MacBook Airs yet.

Snow Leopard

A preview of Snow Leopard was demoed during the keynote. What can I say except that I’m really excited to upgrade to Snow Leopard. Apple is also making it available to exisitng Leopard users for a low low $29 for a single user license and $49 for a Family Pack. Beat that Windows!

There are a lot of great features that come with Snow Leopard, such as a rewritten Finder, Expose controls via the dock and the new Quicktime X.

However with all of these refinements I think the most important of which is Exchange support. Sure, not all will agree but I think it’s the most important feature because it now allows Macs to really compete and penetrate the corporate market. Companies rely on Microsoft Exchange for their corporate communication needs and now the Mac can play with them. That means IT companies can now adopt Macs for some if not all of their users. That will significantly help improve market share for Apple.

iPhone 3G S and iPhone 3.0 OS

The iPhone and the iPhone 3.0 OS were the most anticipated announcements of the keynote. Apple previewed the new OS which I must say is getting better all the time. I can’t believe people are actually clapping and shouting with the announcement of the copy and past feature and MMS. It’s something that people have been really clamoring for. However true to Apple form, they won’t do something unless they can do it right. I think their version of copy and paste is good and will work really well with the iPhone interface.

The 3.0 software boasts of a 100 new features. I mentioned copy and paste, other notable features are spotlight search, new Safari, landscape version of the keyboard, better parental controls, the ability to record and send audio, voice control app, etc.

What I really liked was the “Find My iPhone” feature. This is available to iPhone users who are Mobile Me subscribers as well. In the event that you lose your iPhone, you can login to Mobile Me and send your iPhone a message. It will also tell you where your iPhone is. If in fact it has been stolen and not just misplaced, you can send it a command to erase all of your data. Some people are saying that there might be a privacy issue and that people can use it to track you without your knowledge, but this technology has already been embedded in most phones sold in the US which have built-in GPS chips to help authorities track people in case of emergencies. So this is not something that’s exclusive to the iPhone.

Some very cool demos were shown during the keynote albeit there were some malfunctions or mishaps that occured. I love medical app from AirStrip CC which allows doctors to monitor patients with a remote sensor. It feeds the iPhone the relevant data of the patient and can alert doctors when certain parameters are reached. I’ve always been a proponent of better technologies for health and medical services. This looks to really be a promising one.

All in all the WWDC keynore was great. Steve didn’t make an appearance though but it’s ok. It shows that Apple can exist and put on a good show even if he’s not there. It would have been better though but the other guys at Apple still did a good job.

Apple took the wraps off some high-profile new products at the WorldWide Developer’s Conference in San Jose. Chief among them was the next upgrade in the iPhone, the iPhone 3Gs. The 3Gs is being touted as up to twice as fast as the iPhone 3G,with longer battery life, a 3 megapixel camera with autofocus, video recording, and hands-free voice control. A ton of new capabilities are built into it. The 16 gigabyte iPhone 3Gs retails for $199, with a 32 GB model for $299.

Also today, the iPhone 3G, the last generation 8 GB model, is available for an incredible $99.

Read more

So many news were circulating that Apple should launch their own netbooks given that the netbooks market is going to continue to grow astronomically in the next few years. One question is that Apple is not the kind of company that joins the bandwagon, instead they are the company that start building new technologies. They are said to be an innovative company?

Anyways, Apple doesn’t want to join the netbooks but they cannot turn their backs on it. Instead, they are planning to launch an iPod touch like gadget, but with a bigger screen. Apple avoids having a product labeled netbooks because of branding reasons, while they do not want a tablet PC like gadget either.

Their sweet spot is between iPod touch and a netbook. The rumor price is around $500 to $700 USD.

Image from iPhone product pages..

The award winning family board game, Zooloretto, is now available in Apple App store. Developed by SpinBottle Games, this game for your iPhone or iPod touch allows you to become a zoo manager who needs to plan the zoo, breed animals and attract visitors for the zoo’s success. Too many pandas and monkeys in a small space will cost you more bamboos and bananas. So it’s up to you to plan the best for these animals.

The Zooloretto app is based on a popular board game designed by Michael Schacht and originally published by Abacusspiele. Zooloretto won the prestigious Spiel Des Jahres award in 2007, the 2007 Japan Boardgame Prize as Best Foreign Game for Beginners and is a two time winner of “Best Game” in the Family and Children categories at the Golden Geek Awards.

Zooloretto goes for $4.99.

Image: Chillingo

The cover of this week’s “The New Yorker” magazine was made through an unlikely tool: an iPhone. Yes, you read it correctly! Jorge Colombo, a Portuguese born artist created the digital artwork using the Brushes app on his iPhone. It’s a $4.99 application that allows you to create drawings on your iPhone or iPod Touch using your fingers.

Brushes screen shot

In the hands of a gifted artist such as Jorge, the results of this application is short of amazing. You’d never guess that the cover artwork was done with the iPhone.

The great thing about drawing with an iPhone as your tool is that you can draw in the dark. The backlight makes it easy to draw under dim or low light situations. The draw back is that it’s harder to draw under sun light.

The Brushes application can simulate several brushes, as well as a host of colors including transparencies. Brushes also saves your strokes in the file and you can actually use the Brushes Viewer application for Mac OS X to view the step by step process of what you just did. The viewer application is free. You can export them as QuickTime movies.

Check out the story at the New Yorker blog. More information about Jorge can be found on his web site. Download the Brushes application here and visit the official web site here. Watch how the cover for “The New Yorker” was made below.