PALO ALTO, Calif. -- I picked up my new iPhone 3G S at the store early today, and after several hours of testing, I'm impressed so far. Not only did I find it a lot faster than the 3G for loading applications, I also quickly came to appreciate its new video capabilities and its voice control.

The new phone looks virtually identical to its predecessor. And since Apple (NASDAQ: AAPL) just issued a free update of the iPhone operating system for previous iPhones, many of the new features are also available on first- and second-generation iPhones, and even the iPod Touch (although iPod Touch users will have to pay $10 for the software).

But there are some things you only get with the new hardware.

For example, with the 3G S and the older 3G side by side, I launched several applications. AOL Radio, Facebook and Safari all loaded about twice as fast on the 3G S.

There is technology in the new phone that will use AT&T's faster HSPA 7.2 megabit data network, but that network isn't yet available.

However, I still found Web surfing in Safari to be noticeably faster on the new phone compared to the 3G connected to the same Wi-Fi or cellular network, presumably because of the new phone's faster processor.

Get the full story here at Datamation.com.

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