iPhone 3GS

In the nearly endless summer of 2009, Apple Inc. released the third generation iPhone, called the iPhone 3GS. Apple came out with brand-new commercials before the release, creating a lot of hype. On release day, they were expecting more than 500,000 units to be sold, but in reality, more than 1,000,000 iPhones were sold over the entire weekend from June 20 to June 21, 2009, much more than first predicted. For iPhone owners, like Kenny Gouin ’10, it is simply “the Jesus Phone.” I got a close-up look at the iPhone 3GS and saw what made it the “king of kings” (of phones).

First off, the iPhone 3GS has a 3 megapixel digital camera with auto-focusing. The camera does pretty decently in normal lighting, although it doesn’t do so well in low lighting. Since there is no flash, near-darkness shots won’t work either. In addition to the auto-focusing, there is manual focusing, where you simply tap on-screen who or what you want your shot to focus on. There is also, for the first time ever, video recording. You can take high-quality VGA video in portrait or landscape, edit it, and then immediately upload it on YouTube, email it, or sync it to your computer via iTunes. Only drawback with the camera feature, there is no zoom.

The new iPhone also contains Voice Control. Voice Control lets you use your phone simply by using your voice. Need to make a call? Whip out your phone, go to voice control, and simply say the person’s name who you want to call, and Voice Control will call that person for you. You can also use your music library with Voice Control. Simply say “Play (whatever).” And your phone will start playing the first song in the library from that artist.

Other cool features on the phone include a built-in compass, which automatically reorients the map to your view like a GPS navigation unit. Cut, Copy, and Paste, which allows you to cut, copy, and paste words and pictures from just about anywhere and paste it, in just about anywhere. It also comes in the greater sizes of 16GB and 32GB. So why don’t you go down and treat yourself this year to the one and only Jesus Phone.