Recently released on O2 is the mobile phone that everyone's been talking about: the Apple iPhone 3G. But is it the saviour of mobile phones that Apple fans have sad it will be?

The history of the Apple iPhone 3G

Before we take a look at the brand new Apple iPhone 3G, we need to take a look at what's gone before, and what's led up to the newest version. The first time Apple forayed into the world of mobile phones was with the original Motorola ROKR, a phone that came with iTunes. And it was... well, an unmitigated failure, basically. The mobile phone itself was rubbish, and the iTunes support was pointless. It's fair to say that the deal with Motorola did Apple no favours. Well... except one; it convinced them to go it alone and actually make their own mobile phone, without help from anybody else. It was a high risk move, but if they did it right, they could reap the dividends!

Apple iPhone, take 1 - one of our 3G's is missing

In 2007, their plans came to fruition, with the original Apple iPhone, released on O2, a touchscreen wonder that shocked the world when it came. It was innovative, it had a unique operating system, a screen bigger than other mobile phones, and it, basically, wowed people round the globe. Key to that were features like iTunes built in, and the Safari web browser, that was a fantastic browser for viewing the internet. however, the problem was, it didn't have 3G. It had EDGE. And EDGE, as a data connection, is rubbish, compared to 3G. So, the Apple iPhone had a brilliant web browser, but it was ruined and crippled by the lack of 3G, meaning other mobile phones left it in the dust. That was a situation that couldn't continue.

And so, now, there's a new version, the Apple iPhone 3G. And now, it DOES have 3G. So, can it now compete against other mobile phones?

Apple iPhone 3G - the new hope

Released in the UK on July 11th, the is the newest, most updated and powerful version of the iPhone yet. Available exclusively on O2, it takes all the bits that were good about the first iPhone, and adds 3G data speeds (FINALLY!). Which means that finally, the Apple iPhone 3G can compete on a level playing field with other mobile phones. Also new in this version is GPS, and when combined with GPS, it does turn the Apple iPhone 3G into a powerful sat-nav tool. However... as well as bringing over the good bits from the first iPhone, they also carried over the bad bits into the Apple iPhone 3G. So, the camera is very poor, the battery is built-in and can't be swapped out if it goes, and there's option to copy/paste. What is most annoying, though, is Apple's insistence that they know best, and that people don't WANT a good camera, and so on (which is just plain wrong). However, with the new pricing from , it actually is, for the first time, an enticing prospect.