Apple’s iPhone 3G was starting to look quite lame in comparison with the Nokia 5800 and the launch of Samsung’s Omnia HD, Toshiba’s TG01, Sony Ericsson’s Idou and especially the Palm Pre.  The freedom Symbian offers developers and users alike to create and run applications that not only run in the background but can use the hardware as well, was starting to tell on existing iPhone owners.  Having great applications like LastFM, Twitter, Facebook et al that can’t run simultaneously in the background whilst you write an email is a right pain.

Version 3.0 resolves many of the glaring omissions, but still leaves the iPhone looking like a glorified Palm Pilot with still only a lone third party app running at any one time.  According to Apple this is to save battery life, which is true enough, but it seems strange that older Symbian and Microsoft handsets are able to accomplish this battery demanding task whilst still giving a fair standby time.

So with no new hardware announced (though O2 are starting to dump the 3G so there must be a new model soon) is it worth just updating to 3.0 or move up to the Nokia 5800 or N97 which do more at a better price?  Stick I reckon.  But if you are looking for a new handset in the next five months the Palm Pre and Omnia HD are the ones to spend your pennies on.