Do you own an iPhone and updated to 3.0 only to find that your iPhone is suddenly nothing more than an extremely expensive iPod touch? Cool me too!

I have been holding off on posting about the hate, hoping that Apple would have released at least a minor upgrade to their OMG SO AMAZING 3.0 software. However that hasn’t been the case thus far, and there are a lot of angry, confused, iPhone users with their geeky pants straps in a bundle out there.

I own a 16GB iPhone 3G (until tonight when I pick up my 3Gs). After updating to 3.0 when it was released not so long ago, I was so excited about the new features, and the new breath of life that had been uploaded to my favorite little device. Sadly, that was all shot to hell after a few weeks of usage, when I realized how much more annoyed I was with the phone overall compared to before the 3.0 update. Here are some highlights lowlights about how iPhone 3.0 is making my life miserable:

1. Horrible Battery Life – I’ve asked around with other iPhone users, and it seems that the horrible battery life as a result of the upgrade is only hitting iPhone 3G users (not necessarily being on 3G, as I am only on EDGE). I’ve talked to a couple original iPhone (2G) users and they have said the update actually improved their battery life. To put it in perspective, I charge my phone all night, take it off the dock at 7a.m., barely use it (due to horrible reception in my office building), and it is usually down to 20% remaining by 4p.m. when I am leaving. I can’t rely on my iPhone to last a normal work day with next to no usage? Fail. Major fail, actually.
2. More Dropped Calls – I have noticed that I am constantly calling people back. More bars in more places, AT&T? Really? Living in the mountains, I don’t expect perfect service, and actually know not to call people in certain areas while I’m driving because I know I am going to hit a dead spot, and the call will be dropped. However, there have been many times that I am in a wide open space and my call will disappear. Adding to the frustration, the phone will then show “Searching…” for a network for up to 5 minutes! So that conversation I was just on has to be picked back up, remembered, and started over again…5-10 minutes later.
3. Silenced Outgoing Calls – This is something that just started happening to me within the last couple of days, but has plagued a few other iPhone users I know. There have been several occasions where I go to make a call, and can hear the person on the other end but he or she can not hear me. This is so frustrating, probably more so for the person on the other end. However, after talking with other users it seems to be an outgoing-call-issue only. This might be the most frustrating problem with 3.0 because it defeats the purpose of owning a phone. If you’re having this problem, reset the device a few times and it should work.
4. Visual Non-Existent Voicemail – There have been plenty of times over the last few weeks that someone has called, left a voicemail, and I had no idea until almost 6 hours later when my phone suddenly decided to alert me. This was really bad when I first updated, but has only been in moderation now. Either way, a missed voicemail is a missed voicemail.
5. Glitches on EDGE vs. 3G – After talking to other iPhone users and experiencing this myself, I have noticed that the 3.0 software doesn’t seem to have any issues when I am in 3G service. I live in Cumberland, Maryland but commute to Morgantown, West Virginia every day for work this summer, both of which only offer EDGE. However, when traveling to New York City this summer, and to Altoona, Pennsylvania last weekend, I have noticed that the phone is a lot more responsive and I have never had a dropped call. Is it a 3.0 software glitch or an AT&T network glitch? Either way FIX IT! Also, if AT&T could go ahead and get some 3G service in Cumberland or Morgantown, I would really appreciate it since I am forced to pay more money for 3G service and cannot use it.

Though the list goes on and on (no MMS, no tethering), the important thing to remember is that all of these things can be cleaned up by a simple software update. However, that is also what makes it so frustrating. When 2.0 came out, iPhone users faced the same issues, but Apple had a software update ready in what seemed like a day. Where is 3.1? I guess we’ll just have to get used to this iPod touch with occasional cell service until the upgrade comes out.

*Note: I was going to post a series of screen shots from when my iPhone went “Searching…” for the network in the middle of a call for up to 10 minutes, but as I sit here with 4 bars of service, it won’t send the e-mail with 3 pictures in it.