With all the attention surrounding the new iPhone 3G, I thought I'd mention a few things I like about the new iPhone and a few things I think it's lacking.

I'm sure everyone breathed a big sigh of relief when Apple chief executive Steve Jobs unveiled the new iPhone Monday. I was certainly caught up in the iPhone rumor tornado, and I was really ready for it to subside.

Now that we know the iPhone is going on sale July 11, we can all take a month's vacation from iPhone-mania.

Everyone knew the new iPhone would have 3G networking for faster Internet access. We also assumed the phone would run the previously announced iPhone 2.0 software that included full Microsoft Exchange support and support for thousands of newly created applications. Those are features I've really been anticipating.

The fact that the iPhone has GPS is icing on the cake. I can't wait for TomTom or Garmin to make their software available.

But as thrilled as I am about the iPhone, I'm also a little disappointed.

I was hopeful some of the other rumors would come true – namely a forward-facing camera for live video chats. I wanted to be able to have a face-to-face chat with my wife using my iPhone.

Heck, I want The Dallas Morning News photographers to be able to transmit live video back to our Web sites from their 3G iPhones.

The fact that the new iPhone's camera is the same mediocre 2-megapixel still model in the old iPhone is very disappointing. These photos are barely passable, and I want better.

Along with video iChatting, I also wanted the iPhone to record video clips, even if they're limited to 30 seconds or a specific amount of the onboard memory.

Speaking of memory, I also want more storage.

I'm not too upset that Apple chose not to include a card slot for external storage, but I really expected Apple to include a 32-gigabyte model.

The largest iPod touch has 32 gigabytes of memory. I suppose Apple wanted to emphasize the low price point instead of bringing the high-end iPhone up to the level of the high-end iPod touch.

I'm glad the 16-gigabyte model is only $100 more than the 8-gigabyte model, but I'd be happy to spend another $100 or even $200 to double it again. Apple should release a 32-gig iPhone for $399. Perhaps memory prices will drop enough between now and Christmas for that to be feasible.

Despite the features that were left out, I'll still be waving my cash at the Apple store on July 11 with many of my friends. I've been overjoyed at the experience of my first iPhone, and the thought of what's down the road is almost unbearable.

I really think the iPhone is going to change the way we live. I haven't yet decided if I'm going to camp out with the crazies – probably not.

As I recall, when the original iPhone went on sale, after the campers got their phones and the big rush subsided, the stores were pretty quiet at the end of the day.

Perhaps I'll see you there.

Jim Rossman is technical manager for Macintosh for A.H. Belo Corporation.

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