gdgt

The original iPhone passed me by but I was a 3G owner for an entire 12 months. In fact I was first in line (4 o'clock in the morning) at my local O2 store on the day of release. In that year I can honestly say the iPhone became not just a device for making calls or sending texts but an invaluable life tool.

The app store blew it all apart, increasing it's usefulness multiple times over any other phone I've ever owned. For the first time browsing the web on the move was a pleasure not a chore & I felt connected via phone, text or email to all my contacts like never before. Best of all, it's a design classic and something that you can have on your person every moment of every day if you so choose.

When the iPhone 3GS came out it was a no brainer for me to upgrade. This thing is fast and the 3.0 firmware upgrade eliminates the vast majority of issues I had with the 3G handset. The video capture is brilliant and the ability to fire off an instant email or upload to youtube makes sharing it so much simpler. Like the majority of apps on the iPhone, the UI makes tasks that are a chore on other devices a pleasure to use, which is why youtube mobile uploads have spiked and AT&T are running scared about data usage.

I quiet upgrade was the bluetooth A2DP functionality, which is a blessing for me as I have a stereo bluetooth install in my car. Now I don't need to plug in an extra dongle and the call interrupt works perfectly. Even the voice command software is spooky in its accuracy.

The iPhone is an integrated part of my life, so for me I practically had to upgrade. If I was a more casual user, then maybe the firmware update would be enough to keep me happy for another 12 months.