The iPhone has always been sexy and now it’s even more of an object of lust, with the iPhone 3GS.

The additional letter to its name promises an experience that never fails to set every heart pumping – - speed – - that’s what the “S” stands for in the iPhone 3GS.

But there’s much more to the device which Apple describes as “The fastest and most powerful iPhone yet”.

On the surface, the newest incarnation of Apple’s foray into the mobile handset arena doesn’t appear any different from the earlier iPhones – unless you pay attention to the fine print on the back of the phone body.

You need to power up the iPhone 3GS and watch it rev into action as the changes are all on the inside.

Running the same app on an iPhone 3G and iPhone 3GS that both came with the same Singtel 3G plan, the 2008 model ended playing catch up with its progress bar still at the halfway mark when the iPhone 3GS began running the game.

When testing out news apps, which is all about pulling large amounts of data, I found both the categories and stories were downloading much faster onto the new iPhone.

It also turned out that for news apps which offer videos such as the Channel NewsAsia and AP News app, the clips didn’t just load up quickly, they also played relatively smoothly, even on a 3G connection.

Switching to WiFi, the iPhone 3GS offers an even better experience.

It was much faster to launch internet browser Safari and had no problems loading image rich pages such as the home page of channelnewsasia.com.

The new iPhone 3GS now offers a 3 megapixel camera, which although is an improvement on the earlier iPhone model, it’s still a far cry from other manufacturers that are offering more megapixels on mobile phone cameras.

The iPhone 3GS also doesn’t offer flash photography or a zoom function which other phones boast of, but it does offer auto focus and even macro shots.

Before the iPhone 3GS is given a write-off for camera functions that fall short to other handsets, it’s important to note that with the iPhone 3GS, users don’t have to fiddle around with buttons or settings.

The iPhone 3GS in camera mode will show up on the generous screen, a square that’s much like the auto-focus ‘target’ found in most still cameras.

To change or sharpen its focus, as well as adjust the lighting, all it takes is to touch the square.

The iPhone 3GS camera is supposed to be able to handle low light conditions, however when the device was put to the test in three different low light conditions, the results weren’t great.

However, a trip to the kitchen for a macro shot of what was to go into the cooking pot, proved results as outstanding as the meal that the vegetable became a part of!

Another feature of the camera which is not available in the earlier iPhone and most other mobile devices, is the video capture and trim-edit function which allows users to easily share their clips.

The Spielberg-wannabes can also go ahead and shoot up to 2GB of video per clip, but uploading the clip will definitely be another story altogether.

A useful feature on the iPhone 3GS is the Voice Control function that helps to either place a phone-call or launch the iPod function for music.

There is a list of languages from Polish to Mandarin, which you can choose from under Settings to personalize the Voice Control function.

However, accuracy becomes slightly compromised when mixing languages – in one instance a command in Mandarin and English for a song to be played, resulted in a phone call to a contact instead! The second attempt confused the iPhone 3GS which closed off the function, while the third try saw the correct tune being finally played.

To test the phone and the Voice Control further, I placed a call from the contact list.

The device had no problems in detecting that there was more than one number listed for the contact and reacted accordingly to put the right call through.

The new iPhone which is only a fraction heavier than its predecessor can run a little hot, which is quite similar to the earlier iPhones.

Some may also wonder if the compass built into the new device and leveraging on the iPhone’s in-built GPS is really worth it – but it has its uses, especially when merged with a map for those who can never tell which side up to hold a map.

If you aren’t among the many who’ve booked a spot to be among the first in line on July 10-12 to get the iPhone 3GS from Singtel which is the only telco that’s offering the handset, you’ll have to wait it out.

Alternatively, since Singtel is offering new bundled deals on the iPhone 3G,you can make do with the earlier version of the iPhone since no one can really tell apart the 2008 and 2009 models, until you get the real deal.

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