Twice as fast. Half the price. That’s the tagline for Apple’s iPhone 3G. The new device will be surfacing a month from tomorrow — on July 11. Pricing will start at $199.

No doubt you’ve already read something — a news article, blog entry or the back of a cereal box — extolling the virtues of this new mobile offering. So I’m going to focus a little bit on 3G and what that brings users, then extol virtues.

3G stands for third generation of mobile phone standards, and the networks that support it are wide area. Think fast and full of capacity. These networks can deliver more services. For the iPhone, that includes faster web surfing, faster email and better video delivery.

These have existed practically forever in Asia, but finally found their way to the United States on a slow boat piloted by Verizon in 2003. (An earlier implementation withered on the vine — or should I say, wire?)

3G phones already exist. The AT&T Tilt 8925 Smartphone, the Nokia N91, the Sony Ericsson K800i are just three examples.

What sets the iPhone apart from these others? It’s not price. The Motorola RAZR V3xx ranges from $39.99 to $99.99 — with a two-year service contract. The Palm Treo 750 SmartPhone, a $500-$600 phone, is only $149.99 with a two-year service plan.

But, as Treo reviewer y2kinfos points out when talking about his or her phone: “…Most of you guys know when u have a PHONE + PDA + CAMERA + BLUETOOTH + WINDOWS MOBILE + UPGRADABLE MEMORY, there is nothing else you would need more apart from GPS…”

Mr. Jobs has delivered the GPS. Plus, the iPhone now supports Exchange, which makes it much more enterprise-friendly. And you get an iPod built in. That’s a sweet package.

But service is still restricted to AT&T. And AT&T’s 3G coverage doesn’t exist in my part of California. In fact, if you look at AT&T’s service coverage viewer, you’ll discover that 3G is mostly a big-city feature in the United States. That means your iPhone will revert to poky old 2G in the byways of Sante Fe, Lubbock, Wichita, Lansing and hundreds of other small and mid-sized communities. It’s like having a really great toy and not being able to get the batteries to run it. Steve, can you hear me now? That’s the problem I want you to solve next, please!

Posted on June 10th, 2008 by dian