iPhone 3GS is Javascript speed winner
By Michael W. Jones
There is some question as to which new smartphone is the fastest, with some tests giving the Palm Pre the nod in some areas. Now a new test shows that the new iPhone 3GS is faster in another.
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When users talk about their computers, there are no bragging rights more important than speed. And make no mistake about it, the new breed of smartphones are nothing less than highly portable powerful computers that also happen to include a cell phone app. Given the importance of speed, media-based computing labs and forums are rushing to compare the quickness of these new phones, especially the new iPhone 3GS, the new Palm Pre, and the Google G1.
A few days ago, a CNET videocast found that the Palm Pre whipped the competition in two out of three measures of smartphone computing speed. The Palm was fastest loading a Web page as well as taking and sending a photograph. The Apple 3GS was by far fastest at booting up. It was hardly a scientific test, but it could certainly be taken as an indication.
Now there is news from ZDNet that Medialets has done a much more scientific test to determine the comparative Javascript speed of three smartphones, the iPhone 3GS, the new Palm Pre, and the Google G1. Medialets gave the matter significant thought and came to the conclusion that perhaps the fairest test of all would be a comparison of Javascript execution on the three phones, given that all three share a common component (the open source package WebKit) that is used in executing Javascript.
In terms of improvements in the successive generations of the iPhone, the 3GS performed 3 times better than the 3G and 8 times faster than the iPhone original. It is clear that Apple is making progress with its mobile platform. At the same time, the iPhone 3G was three times faster than the Palm Pre, which performed at almost exactly the same level as the year-old 3G. The Google Android G1 was not even in the race, running the test over five times slower than the new iPhone 3GS.
These will not be the the last speed tests, but so far the iPhone stacks up well against the competition. There are a few new Android phones due out soon, and we may see them catch up a little. Palm is probably going to have to live with the dismal performance of the Pre, unless this Javascript test was a freak somehow. For now, the smartphone money is still on the iPhone.
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