Yes that's right, I am doing a total 180 spin and canceling my plans to pick up a 3G iPhone Friday morning. Why? Well the reviews have been coming in today as the embargo was lifted, and they are not.. glowing.

No one contests the 3G is indeed faster, and there is tasty GPS. However that GPS is not entirely perfect, and 1/3rd of the time is no more accurate than the existing cell tower triangulation. Even when it is as accurate as it can get, its still not accurate enough for turn-by-turn directions due to its small antennae. (And my shiny new Accord Coupe already has GPS in it anyways). With the 3g, while it is indeed much faster, they are all saying the battery life, which on my current 1st gen I can get around 2-3.5 days of use without charging, with my mail checking every 30 minutes... is shortened down to one day at best, and with heavy use wont even make it though the end of work.

The only remaining advantages then are the App Store and the new 2.0 software, both of which I get for free for my existing phone Friday morning, and the fact its costing half as much. However with AT&T's increased pricing for data for the 3G phones, at the end of your two year contract you have paid out to AT&T TWICE what you saved on the cost of the phone.

So looks like I will be happily keeping mine, updating it first thing Friday morning, and call it a day. Or at least until a 3g 2.0 comes out with better battery life and a better GPS.