Before moving forward with the review, let me just say that Scrabble for the iPhone and iPod Touch doesn’t disappoint and it is well worth $9.99!

EA seem to have put a lot of thought into the opening splash screen with all the fancy animations.  That being said, if they’d put a little more thought or even placed themselves in our shoes, they’d understand that it gets annoying after sitting through the splash screen three or four times.  There isn’t a way to skip through or speed up the LONG 20 seconds, so your only option is to patiently wait for it to finish.  After the fifth or sixth time, I have this urge to launch my precious iPhone 3G towards the nearest wall (yes, I know it’s misplaced anger and the iPhone doesn’t deserve it – but hey it’s the only tangible object in my hands).  Once you get past the 20-second load time a menu pops up with options for Quick Play, Custom Play, game Options, Statistics or see More Games by EA.

Quick Play is you vs. computer.  In Custom Play menu, you’re presented with options to select game modes (Solo Game, vs. Computer, and Pass ‘n Play).  Solo Game lets you change the Game Style to Classic or to 75 or 150-point and 8 or 12-rounds.  Depending on how good you are with formulating words from letters, you can pick the difficulty level ranging from Easy, Normal or Hard.  If you like, you can even turn of or on the Duplicate words.  The Game Style doesn’t change for Pass ‘n Play option.  It allows 1-2, 1-3 or 1-4 players.  Make sure to Pass ‘n Play with people you know and trust, and not to mention has good personal hygiene [Vincent's tip] With the iPhone 3G in short supply, you never know if that dude is going to run off with it!  Since you actually have to hand over the iPhone to the other players, make sure their hands are clean; last thing you need is for your iPhone to be the conduit for unwanted GERMS.  Of course, these would be moot points if EA implement a new feature for multi-player over WiFi or 3G.

Under the Option menu, you can turn on or off the Game Music and Game Tips, change volume, SFX Level and Rest the game.

Visiting Statistics provide you with date pertaining to your Best Game, Best Word, Best Turn Wins, Draws, and Losses.  Should you need help, it’s only a click away.  If you love EA games and want to learn more about the company, click on About, and to see other offerings, click on More Games.

Moving tiles to the game board is as easy as holding your finger down on a tile until it turns dark and then drag it up where you want it.  The game board automatically zooms in, in placement mode.  I found that it doesn’t matter the size of your fingertip, you might find it difficult to see where you’re trying to place the tile.

[Scrabble's tip]: TWO-FINGER CONTROLS, let you use two fingers to hold a tile and move/zoom the board at the same time.

I don’t know about you, but when I play Scrabble, I like to move my tiles around in the tray.  The process helps me to think through creating the best words possible.  I’m delighted that EA lets me do just that, move the tiles around with my fingertip.  Or, if I just want random jumbled tiles, all I need to do is press the Shuffle button or shake the iPhone or iPod touch and voila – the titles are randomly rearranged.  Other game play includes swapping out a completely new set of tiles by tapping the Exchange bag; by doing so, you’re forfeiting points for that round.

EA gives you the option to “sort of cheat”, if you’re really-really stuck figuring out a word.  You can press the heart button and bam – the Scrabble word-god places the best word possible on the game board.  You do have the option to decline using it.

Every now and then, you get a “blank” tile that you can use as any letter you like.  When you place it on the game board, a window pops up letting you choose the letter that you want to use.

Scrabble is available for iPhone, iPhone 3G, and iPod touch running iPhone OS 2.0.  It’s an awesome implementation of Scrabble mainly due to the iPhone’s gorgeous 3.5-inch touch display.  It’s intuitive and easy to learn to play, and I highly recommend it.  And as I stated earlier in the review, it’s worth the $9.99.

Scrabble for iPhone & iPod touch OS 2.0

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4ZQwmo3ZxqA[/youtube]

Don’t let the girl at the start up menu scare you. When I played early in the morning, she asked me “morning already?” When I played outside of my regular time, she told me that I normally play at night and it’s not nighttime yet. The first couple of times that this happened it freaked me out, and to be honest, it’s still a little creepy! The game has a feature that allows the player to draw the number on the screen with their finger. However, I was having problems with this feature: the game wouldn’t recognize my numbers, and created more aggravation than it was worth. I finally switched back to the number pad. I was also unable to change the player’s name. It shows up as Julia every game. I know this is a small issue, but if I paid for the game I want to be able personalize it with my name.

You no longer have to go searching in newspapers for a Sudoku puzzle to play, all you need to do is open the Platinum Sudoku.

Griffin elan Form, Nu Form and Wave case for iPhone 3G Cases

Griffin elan Form for iPhone 3G Cases

Assembling the Elan Form and Nu Form is easy as pie – they snap together and come apart vertically along the sides. From an aesthetic point of view the cases look smooth, and they add a nice, contoured feel to the handset. The Wave Case is a little trickier to assemble and take apart; make sure to watch the video below to see “how I do it”.  If both form and function is your thing, then the easy slide-off bottom section is perfect for when you need to dock the iPhone 3G.  Unfortunately the Wave Case doesn’t offer the same easy dock feature, so you’ll need to take it apart if you want to sit your iPhone 3G in the actual Apple dock.

Griffin Nu Form for iPhone 3G Cases

When it comes to the fundamentals, it doesn’t matter which case you opt for: each is designed to give you full access to the microphone, speaker, and Dock Connector, hence the open bottom design.  The top is fully open as well, freeing up the headphone port and Sleep/Wake button.  There’s a cut out on the back for the camera and the left side is fully cut open for access to the side controls.

As I mentioned above, all three cases come with a rigid, non-adhesive clear plastic screen protector, and there’s a black cleaning cloth included in the package too.  This is an excellent way for Griffin to add value to their cases.  You may or may not like the screen protector.  I usually don’t use a screen protector at all and leave the glass opened; I’d be interested to know what you do, so leave what you think in the comments below.

Griffin elan Form, Nu Form and Wave case for iPhone 3G Cases

The bottom line: the elan Form, Nu Form and Wave cases for the  iPhone 3G are well-made cases with a sleek design while also protecting your iPhone 3G from drops, dings and scratches.

Griffin Wave case for iPhone 3G

Demo video fo Griffin elan Form, Nu Form and Wave case for iPhone 3G

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VsKmTL1125w[/youtube]

Buy Griffin elan Form for iPhone 3G @ MYiPhone.com

Griffin elan Form image gallery

Griffin Nu Form image gallery

Buy Griffin Nu Form for iPhone 3G at MYiPhone.com

Griffin Wave case image gallery

Buy Griffin Wave for iPhone 3G at MYiPhone.com

Looking at the phone it’s just as sleek as my iPod Touch, though considerably thicker. At it’s thickest point, it’s actually larger than the original iPhone. While that may sound unattractive, Apple has smartly curved the entire back of the case, making it seem much slimmer than it actually is. The shape contours to my hand quite well, and the weight feels about perfect; not too heavy, not too light. The plastic case worries me a bit since it’s likely to get scratched easily (though none yet), and does get a lot of smudges, however, it does look better than the original backing.

The first thing I did after walking out of the store (after letting half a dozen people in line fondle it) was make a few phone calls, all of which were crystal clear. All of my subsequent calls have been equally as clear.

As soon as I got home, I plugged my shiny new phone into my PC so it could sync. I had already browsed the App Store and chosen several new programs, so I kept myself busy as I waited for my music library to transfer to my iPhone. Some of the more useful apps I installed were the iTunes Remote, YPmobile, BoxOffice and AIM. There are plenty more to choose from, which is a good part of what sets the iPhone above the competition.

I’ve owned smartphones in the past, and downloaded applications, but there was never a centralized place to get these, and rarely did I ever find anything really useful that was free. Apple’s App Store is simple to navigate, and even allows you to download programs straight to the iPhone from anywhere (unless it’s over 10MB, then just tap into a Wi-Fi connection or sync it to your computer).

Since I’ve already been using my iPod Touch for some time, the iPhone’s Safari browser wasn’t anything new to me. However, it had only worked while tethered to a Wi-Fi connection, which wasn’t always that handy. I’d love to tell you that the 3G speeds on my iPhone were great, but unfortunately I don’t have 3G service in my area. In fact, most of the US is without 3G coverage, which is just disgusting. What’s the point of releasing a 3G phone, when most of your customers can’t take advantage of it? Luckily they are putting up new towers in my location this September which will enable 3G. Until then, I’m stuck with EDGE speeds, which are lackluster at best.

The lack of 3G coverage in most of the country brings up another sore spot. AT&T is asking an extra $10 a month for their unlimited data package. I totally understand the increase, as you’re paying for the faster connection, and will thus likely use more data. I’m cool with that. However, when most of your customers don’t have 3G coverage, why force everyone to dish out the extra cash? Bad form, AT&T.

While we’re talking about disappointments, I’ll go ahead and mention the rather dull camera which is leftover from the original 2.5G iPhone. This is an area that many people have asked for an improvement in, yet it was left untouched. A 2MP camera isn’t anything to write home about, especially when there is no flash, and you can’t zoom or shoot video. I don’t use MMS much, but seriously, I thought every phone came with it, you’d think Apple would be able to add this to the iPhone’s arsenal of features. The GPS is also a bit of a disappointment. It’s not accurate enough for turn-by-turn directions, which I think many of us were hoping for. That’s not to say that it doesn’t still have its uses. I really enjoy it being able to geotag my photos and search within Google Maps without needing to enter my location.

So far the battery life hasn’t been too bad. I’ve only charged it twice (though it does pick up a bit of a charge while connected to the stereo in my car, so lets say two and a half charges) since Friday, and once was the initial charge shortly after I got it. A few things to consider with this is that I’m not the heaviest talker (I rarely use 200 of my anytime minutes a month) and I am still stuck on EDGE speeds.

So in all, I’m pleased with my new toy. Like any other product, there is room for improvement, but some of the largest shortcomings from the original iPhone have been addressed. Would I recommend the iPhone to others? Yes and no. If you don’t own and iPhone and have thought about buying one for a little while, I’d definitely take the plunge and buy the iPhone 3G. However, if you already own the original, you very well may just want to stick with what you have. You also get the 2.0 software update which allows you to have the same 3rd party apps, which is one of the major things that sets it apart from the rest of the pack. There’s also a good chance that you can’t even get 3G service (in the US) unless you’re in a major city, so you may as well stick with your trusty 2.5G device.

iPhone 3G Live unboxing at Apple Store on 5th Ave. in NYC

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g3MLtbf0OXU[/youtube]

Feel free to submit your iPhone 3G unboxing pics/videos to iPhone Buzz — we’re doing a special feature on iPhone 3G around the world.

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qfLucjFMNBk[/youtube]

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6mjIgSUMlVQ[/youtube]

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YbTKc6ft-mM[/youtube]

[ePrice via iTechNews]

Although there are points untouched by each review, particularly the new Apple App Store, each reviewer concentrates on a mostly different area.  Mossberg is heavy on the new data functionality, with the 3G connection boasting speeds between three and five times that of the original iPhone.  In his own battery tests, he got 4 hours 27 minutes talktime (actually three hours less than the first Apple handset managed) and 5 hours 49 minutes on 3G.

Baig, however, had no 3G coverage in New Jersey, and as such focused more on the new GPS functionality.  Accuracy is praised, especially when driving, which he found made it all the more frustrating that Apple didn’t supply native live directions.  Maybe a little more cynical than Walt, Ed criticised some lack of backward compatibility with accessories made for the previous iPhone.

Finally, Pogue concentrates more on the iPhone 2.0 software and on how it makes the handset more complete.  That Apple still avoids some “standard cellphone features” remains a frustration; like his fellow reviewers, David found that audio quality of the handset is much improved.  This seems to hold true both for incoming and outgoing voice calls, as well as the speakerphone.

Do Mossberg, Baig and Pogue think you should buy an iPhone 3G?  It seems very much a case of how decent the 3G coverage is in your area as to how impressed you’ll actually be.  Battery fluctuations aside, the data capabilities are finally – network depending – able to live up to what Safari on the cellphone can handle.  However the software updates will be available to existing iPhone users, and given the rising costs of AT&T service you could be forgiven for not immediately spurning your original.

iPhone Buzz will be at the launch of the iPhone 3G this Friday, bringing you our own thoughts and opinions as soon as we have the cellphone in our hands.  See you then!