The 3GS Apple iPhone features some major changes over the 3G model. These major changes have mainly to do with performance and media applications.

The iPhone, manufactured by Apple, is the trademarked name for Apple's mobile phone.

It is the most popular and most sort-after smartphone on the market today. It is considered the best, and is the benchmark that other mobile phone manufacturers strive to achieve with their smartphones.

The iPhone is also commonly known as an iPod Phone. It was first introduced at MacWorld San Francisco, on January 9, 2007, by Steve Jobs, but only first went on sale June 29, 2007, in the USA.

iPhone Models

There are a number of iPhone models as well as a number of generations.

The Original

The first generation called the Original had quad-band GSM (it could support four frequency bands of GSM the Global System for Mobile communication). The manufacture of first generation has been discontinued.

3G iPhone

The second generation, the 3G iPhone features a big leap over the original phone by adding some key new features. The key new feature was 3G wireless connectivity, giving the iPhone the newer and faster 3G data speeds (a twice as fast as the original iPhone), and assisted GPS.

There were two models, the 8GB model and the 16GB model. The 3G also included a 2.0 megapixel camera. Also, the 3G, like the Original, maintained the 3.5-inch touchscreen display, and the Mac OS X, which is Apple’s desktop operating system.

This iPhone was first released on July 11, 2008. Another significant factor was that the 3G also debuted at a far lower price than the original iPhone.

3GS iPhone Features

The third generation was the 3GS iPhone released on June 19, 2009, with the iPhone OS 3.0 operating system, improved performance, increased megapixels, video capability and voice control.

The 3GS is basically the 3G but with some major changes and a few new features added to it. These major changes have mainly to do with performance and media features. 3GS iPhone features include:

• Performance: The 3GS features a 7.2 Mbps 3G network connection giving much faster speed performance overall over the 3G model's 3G connection
• More storage space: There is now double the storage space with two versions, 16 GB and 32GB
• Touchscreen: The 3GS comes with an oleophobic coated touchscreen which keeps the screen smudge-free
• Voice control: Not only does the 3GS 's voice control allow you to make calls by speaking into your phone, it also enables you to control your music playback as well as a few other functions
• Video camera: The camera has been upgraded to 3.2 megapixels with autofocus, and can now also record video at 30 frames per second. It also has built-in video-editing
• Video-Editing: Built-in video-editing software, allowing sharing over text, email and YouTube
• Compass: The iPhone 3GS's compass together with the built-in GPS can help you from getting lost
• Tethering: Some cell phone service providers allow tethering whereby you can connect your 3GS iPhone to your computer and use it as a modem allowing you to surf the Web at 3G speeds
• Built-in Bluetooth
• Built-in GPS
• Improved battery life
• App Store support

The focus is now on the current third generation models although the second generation 3G is still being sold. The new generation iPhone 4 has recently been introduced and is now also available.

Getting Started

On the outside they both look the same. On the front, there is only the Home button. By pressing the Home button you will access the iPhone's graphic interface, which has four primary function icons on its lower surface: Phone; Mail; Web; iPod

Clicking on any of these primary function icons will give you the functional interface for the features for that particular function.

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