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It's hard to answer if it's worth for an owner of a original iPhone to upgrade to the new iPhone 3G. However I can share some points to ponder on before giving that jump to the new iPhone 3G.

If you truly need the 3G because you will get better service in your area -- or you're out and about and need the faster Internet access, then it might be worth for you to invest in this new phone. Otherwise think twice before jumping in and bringing some more bills to your desk.

So Apple has been boasting "Double the Speed Half the Price", but is it so? Is the price half? Although the cost of buying the phone has dropped to being only $199 for an 8 GB iPhone 3G and $299 for a 16 GB model , AT&T also charges an upgrade fee of its own, which when adding up to the cost of the phone, will total the price a bit higher. Toss in taxes, and notice another $40 heading out of the wallet. Next, consider the cost of the required AT&T's new data plan for iPhone 3G, it is $30 per month instead of being only $20 per month. Add it up per year and it's another $120. Now I am sure that you use some text messaging, so add in the monthly fee of $5 per 200 messages. If you happen to be a heavy text message sender you will need to have more than that.

So over the life of the phone, most customers will end up spending more than they did for their first generation iPhone.

What do you get if you jump for the iPhone 3G hardware? Access to the 3G network - but only if you live in one of the 280 U.S. cities now served by AT&T 3G, with AT&T expecting to broaden coverage to 350 cities by year end. According to the New York Times, 10 states in the U.S.A. don't have any 3G coverage at all.

I find the First-Generation iPhone's battery life to be pretty marginal. When being on the go all day, it often runs out of juice in the late afternoon, unless steps are taken to adjust power consumption. Upgrading to the new iPhone 3G will just get matter worse as the 3G consumes more energy. Of course, there is the option of getting a iPhone car charger or an additional home iPhone charger, to have it handy, but hey! isn't an iPhone all about having less devices in your pocket?!

If you can hold off, try to wait as long as you can. First of all, there's a decent chance that Apple will introduce some cool upgrades around the holidays. If it skips the holidays, then the Macworld conference in January may deliver some interesting news. By then, you could have a phone with more memory and a better camera, and maybe even improved battery life.

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