The iPhone 3G s is the latest from Apple, but is it a stupid smart phone?

It's the newest in smart phones, and it's bound to sell better than its predecessor, the iPhone 3G. This one is hyped with the letter "s" which stands for speed, twice as fast. But it looks almost identical to a 'regular' iPhone 3G and does twice as fast mean much when it comes to these gadgets? Has it been hyped by Apple? Has this Apple fallen from the tree like the sound of one hand clapping?

It does process tasks twice as fast, with data speeds increased to 7.2Mbps HSDPA (which is nowhere to be found in Pennsylvania, I checked). The newest iPhone's camera has been upgraded to a 3 mega-pixel unit with tap-to-auto focus and auto white balance. The tiny camera even supports 30fps VGA video recording with editing features so users can create their own real-time docs. Other features with the newest iPhone 3G include a built-in compass, Nike+ support, and its own itty-bitty battery that gives you 5 hours of 3G talk time and 9 hours of WiFi use for those absurd moments of messing around time in an Internet café of your choice. You get a voice control interface with the 3G s that allows you to make calls or even control iTunes, and your gadget's "fingerprint-resistant oleo phobic coating" will make it seem like you never touched it even if you're afraid to. 3D graphics and an associated display, so let your games begin …

The newest smart phone boasts cut-copy-paste just like the iPhone 2.0 never had, even though you craved it, you know you did. Now you can paste words and photos, even between applications, like a pasty-faced fool. MMS capability means that you don't have to rely on email alone to text messages or snapshots. Lose your 3G s? The thing has 'Find my iPhone." Probably a small nuclear explosion in your neighborhood will alert you to where it's hiding, I don't know. This feature also allows you to remotely erase all data from lost or stolen iPhones, and then reload the information using iTunes if your device is rediscovered.

So what's not to like? It's hyped as God in a gadget, but is it really supernatural? Errr, no, not really. Everything on the iPhone 3G s can be found on most smart phones available in the market – Nokia, Blackberry, HTCs and Palmtops, for instance, even come with more features in some cases. It's a great music phone, but it doesn't even come in chartreuse. It's common, like a duck among geese, or a mouse among rats, or a pigeon among birds.