New iPhone-Did They Make the Right Calls?: Financial News

LONDON, UNITED KINGDOM--(MARKET WIRE)--Jul 17, 2008 -- Editors Note: A photo is included with this release.

The new iPhone 3G was released last week amidst promises of better battery life, faster data transfer and improved functionality, but has Apple listened to what users really want?

Unique research by Reevoo.com has uncovered an in-depth wish list of improvements from 107 genuine purchasers of the original iPhone. The spec for the new iPhone 3G was then compared to see how they matched up.

Wish List top five - for the full list, see Reevoo's blog Decide What to Buy

 

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Speed: Original iPhone owners         The new iPhone has 3G technology so
complained about internet browsing    that browsing the net is much
speed, with many citing the           faster
absence of 3G as one biggest
opportunities to improve iPhone

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Battery life: From 107 reviews, the   Apple says that it has increased
original iPhone only scored an        battery life to 300 hours on
average of 6.8/10 for its battery     standby, 10 hours of 2G talk, 5
life. As well as improvements         hours of 3G talk and 7 hours of video
in the battery life itself,           playback. However you still cannot
iPhone owners also wanted to be       change the battery
able to change the battery

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Ringtones: Users wanted to be able   This is now possible, however it is a
to set their own music as            bit fiddly for the average user,
ringtones                            requiring manual reformatting of music
                                     files

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Camera: Consumers thought the old    Apple has kept the original specs for
iPhone's camera was one of its       the camera on the iPhone 3G, which
worst features. They wanted to see   will disappoint many consumers. There
a camera with a flash, more          is no flash or video capability and it
megapixels, the ability to zoom      is still only 2 megapixels
and with video functionality
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Text messages: Original iPhone       Apple has now improved the iPhone's
users were very frustrated with      messaging features so that you can
its SMS functionality. People were   now send messages to multiple
unable to carry out the most basic   contacts. However, you still cannot
functions such as forwarding         send multimedia messages
text messages, sending messages to
multiple contacts and sending
pictures and business cards.
Users also would have liked to be
able to navigate more easily
through words and letters in text
messages

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The new iPhone is definitely an improvement on the first. The unique internet browsing experience can now be enjoyed with the addition of 3G technology. Users can use maps and tracking with GPS and the whole iPhone experience will get much more interesting with the opening of the App Store.

However, while you can now send messages to multiple contacts, there is still no multimedia messaging functionality. There have been no improvements to the 2 megapixel camera, which still doesn't have a flash or video capability.

Those who were hoping that Apple would improve basic functions such as multimedia messaging and video and camera capabilities may be disappointed. There's no denying that Apple has improved much of the functionality shortfalls identified in Reevoo's research of genuine customer reviews. And with one million global sales in the iPhone's opening weekend, it's clear that consumers will sacrifice some functionality for the Apple brand and category-leading design.

Shoppers can also keep up-to-date with the latest consumer news and reviews on Reevoo's blog at www.decidewhattobuy.com.

When shoppers buy goods online from any of Reevoo's 52 retail partners, including Woolworths, Currys, Dixons and the Carphone Warehouse, they are asked to rate their purchases. Their comments - good, bad or indifferent - are then published on both the e-tailers' websites and on www.reevoo.com.