I've been receiving a lot of emails and questions about the new iPhone clone with 3G, which is often either called the i9+ plus or the CiPhone. People want to know if it's a good phone, if it's better than the i9, or how it's different and upgraded from previous models. I'll try to answer these questions in the following article.

Some Misconceptions About The i9 3G: Many people who email me assume that this phone works on 3G wireless networks. At this time, it doesn't. The 3G really just means that this is the 3rd generation model of this phone. Like the previous i9 and all of the clones, this phone works on networks that use GSM sim cards. Examples are T Mobile, AT&T, Fido, and Cingular. You can also use the prepaid or flex pay options in these networks as well as go with a contract. Go phone sims work as well as the prepaid T Mobile cards. The phone has a WAP browser that uses GPRS. It's pretty fast and if you install a compact browser like opera mini, it's even more so.

How The 3G Is Different From The Previous i9: The main difference is in the icons and main page. There are now 10 pages of icon options, allowing you to customize the phone much more. Basically any tool or application on the phone can have it's own icon. Examples are stocks, maps, You tube, games, etc. And, you can drag the icons to where you want them placed so that the ones you use the most are on the top.

Additionally, the appearance is different. The housing on the third generation comes in different finishes like white and red (as well as basic black.) This housing is thicker and shinier and looks a bit different from the typical black. Many people really like this newer, more unique look, as well as the ability to customize the phone more.

This newer model is a touch sleeker, but nothing earth shattering. Nothing has been taken away. It still has the Java. It is still a quad band. It still has dual sim active. There's still your typical web browsing, email, SMS, MMS, MP3 / MP4, Bluetooth, ebook reader, FM radio, camera / web cam etc.

I have heard that these newer phones can hold 16GB of memory, but so far I've only seen the 8GB variety. This may change as more become available. Price wise, there hasn't been much change. You can still get both of these phones for barely over $100.

People will often ask me if it makes sense to upgrade just now. That depends on how much you like the way the new model looks and how important the icons are to you. Both of these are great phones that more than get the job done on the cheap.