{Reason 3}
GPS: Because wherever you go, there you are.

Sure, other mobile phones have GPS receivers built in. There are even some phones, like Garmin’s nüvifone, whose sole purpose, other than making calls, is to function as portable navigation devices (PNDs). But this, after all, is not just any mobile phone—it’s the iPhone.

Those who make portable navigation devices have reason to fear the iPhone 3G’s impact on their business. iPhone 3G users have everything to gain, including a better sense of where they are and how to get where they’re going.

The original iPhone isn’t completely devoid of location-based features, of course, but Apple says that the A-GPS (the “A” stands for assisted) in the iPhone 3G uses a unique approach to finding the closest satellites, which means Google Maps on the iPhone 3G can tell you almost instantly where you are—and, of course, how to find what you’re looking for (Pizza? Coffee? Sushi? Leather goods?) or get where you’re going.

The iPhone 3G can also put you on the map by triangulating your position using Wi-Fi and cellular towers—you know, just in case the satellites are on the blink. Combine that with its Wi-Fi capabilities, and you’ve got a very powerful pocket tour guide to any new city you visit. In the typical Apple style of couching a techie explanation in “Isn’t it amazing?” simplicity, Steve Jobs demonstrated at the June 9 keynote how the iPhone 3G could track a user’s location as they drove down San Francisco’s famously zig-zagging Lombard Street. In our tests, the iPhone3G’s GPS feature worked well in most locations. Tap Maps and the phone “sees” your location and shows your movement in real time (this works best in a moving vehicle, of course)—pointless fun if you know where you’re going, but immensely useful if you’re lost.

Parks Associates Research Director Harry Wang says it remains to be seen how much of the PND market the iPhone 3G bites into, but “PND manufacturers should be concerned about iPhone’s GPS functions and the trend it will lead.” It comes down to apps that call on the phone’s GPS function, Wang says. “Apple developers hold the key to successful adoption of the GPS function on the device, because GPS technology is no differentiator, the applications and content are.”

Finally, built-in GPS means photos shot with the phone’s camera are automatically geotagged with the shot location’s latitude and longitude—a feature with negligible everyday usefulness for the average user, but a fun nice-to-have function, especially for Flickr nuts.

{Reason 4}
Exchange Support: Because you work, so the iPhone should too. 

Out of the box, the iPhone 3G comes ready to connect to most corporate networks. By adding support for Microsoft Exchange, Apple is making a play to put an iPhone into the pockets and briefcases of business users everywhere. If you currently carry a BlackBerry for access to work-related resources, in addition to your personal cell phone, the iPhone 3G could be everything you need in one slick package. And thanks to Apple’s inclusion of enterprise-level security tools, convincing your IT department to support the iPhone just got a whole lot easier.

For business users, the iPhone 3G’s push features are what make it a must-have device. Changes made to your contacts and calendars, as well as new email messages are sent to your iPhone in real time. This is in contrast to the old system where you had to manually check for new email, or wait for the next sync for recent changes to show up across your devices. This makes using email on the go much easier and allows mobile workers to keep important information in sync with colleagues back at the office.

Via MobileMe (www.me.com), Apple has also created a way for individual users to take advantage of most of the features available to enterprise users. Using the $99-per-year service that Steve Jobs calls “Exchange for the rest of us,” your contacts, calendars, and email will still sync automatically via “the cloud.”

From a security standpoint, iPhone 3G also comes ready to handle enterprise-class security. A built-in Cisco VPN supports IP-based encryption, and the iPhone 3G also supports IMAP email, bulk device-configuration, and a Remote Wipe option, allowing enterprise users to remotely erase confidential information when company iPhones get lost or stolen.

{Reason 5}
The App Store: Because a smartphone without apps ain’t so smart.

When Apple announced that third-party developers could write native applications to be sold via a wireless App Store on every iPhone and iPod touch, the response was huge—the SDK was downloaded more than 250,000 times in three months, 25,000 developers applied for the paid iPhone Developers Program, and this June’s Worldwide Developers Conference, featuring 62 iPhone sessions, sold out. Mobile development is exploding, with the 500-plus apps in the App Store leading the way.

Third-party apps mean your iPhone can be a true computing tool, not just a call-making iPod. And getting apps is as easy as buying a new song in iTunes—on your Mac or over the air. No typing a credit card number, no discs, no emailed license codes. You tap “Install” in the App Store on your iPhone, then your iTunes account (linked to your credit card) is charged and the app is loaded on your phone.

Don’t worry about someone else going on an App Store spending spree if you ever lose your phone—the Store prompts you for your iTunes account password when you want to install any app, paid or free. The apps are synced back to iTunes 7.7 when you dock your iPhone, so you should be able to load them to another iPhone in case you end up upgrading later. While Apple touts Remote Wipe as a key feature of the iPhone 2.0 software, it appears that feature applies only to enterprise customers (whose IT departments can set up and remotely manage a group of iPhones across a company), but we hope Apple provides some way for regular Joe customers to de-link a lost or stolen iPhone from their iTunes account over the Internet.

But do you even need an iPhone 3G to take advantage of the App Store? Not at all—it’s open to iPhone users as well as owners of the iPod touch (which uses Wi-Fi). Apps smaller than 10MB can be downloaded to an iPhone over the 3G or EDGE networks, which means the iPhone 3G, in a 3G network area, grabs them about twice as fast. Apps larger than 10MB can be purchased over Wi-Fi on either iPhone or the touch, or bought within iTunes and synced to the device. At launch, more than half the apps were $5 or less, with entries in nearly 20 categories, and more will be added in the coming months. This phone is starting to look pretty smart indeed.

Still Can’t Commit?

If the iPhone 3G sounds too risky (not sure if you’re in a 3G coverage area? Don’t know if 16GB is big enough for your needs?), don’t worry too much about getting locked into a two-year contract—as long as you remain vigilant. After signing up for your iPhone 3G data and voice plan, you still have 30 days to change your mind before you’re subject to the $200 cancellation fee. To get out of your contract within those first 30 days, bring your iPhone in its packaging and all your receipts and paperwork to an AT&T store. You won’t get to keep your iPhone 3G, though—the purchase price will be refunded. So take heart, commitment-phobes, but don’t space on the date: We suggest setting multiple reminders for yourself in iCal, Google Calendar, or whatever you use, starting a week before the deadline and increasing in urgency until zero hour.