For those I rub shoulders with, it's no secret that I've snubbed my nose at faintest idea of an iPhone for over a year now. I've even blogged my snubbing remarks here and here.

So let's just say the tables have turned. I bought an iPhone 3G on opening weekend. News outlets will tell you that they sold a million units in the first 3 days, while it took them 74 days to reach the same milestone on iPhone v.1. So very literally, I'm one in a million now. But the question is, should you believe the hype?

Apple says it's twice as fast. Coming off of my well featured Treo (which had email, touch screen web browsing, etc), I would say the 3G unit is far more than twice as fast. As far as mobile data speeds are concerned, this thing is way faster. The phone imported all 7 email accounts from my Outlook (Win XP), and it checks all the accounts at lightning's pace.

The web browsing is just insane. Though the 3G unit's network is the fastest cellular network out there, it will pick up any available WiFi networks in reach. Being honest here, I only sense a mild speed difference between fully connected WiFi networks and the 3G network from ATT. The multi touch zoom in/out and drag while browsing is without doubt the most efficient mobile web browsing available.

Not even being an avid iTunes user, I easily synced the phone to my XP Pro running Dell, and threw a couple music and photo albums on the phone. Continuing to play around, I downloaded Bloomberg's free application for financial markets news and quotes. It also comes with a Google Maps app complete with pin point GPS location. So if you're lost in the car or otherwise, help is right in the palm of your hand. Bottom line, It was all a snap. A dumber than average monkey could work this thing like a pro.

Final remarks. I was once an iPhone doubting skeptic, but now I'm not only drinking the Koolade, I'm ready to serve it up to others. It is by far the best smart phone device out there.