Nobody's perfect, not even the iPhone 3GS. While it may have a faster processor, more features, and a bigger app store than most other smartphones on the market, it still has one big weakness: battery life. Issues with battery life are pretty much inherent to the idea of a smartphone. Web browsing, MP3 playing, video streaming, playing games and even the occasional phone call all take a toll on your phone's battery.

The iPhone 3GS, however, has more of an issue with this than most phones, due in part to the fact that it has an even smaller battery than the iPhone 3G. iFixit.com states that the 3GS's battery is about 15% smaller than its predecessor. That's a fairly substantial decrease, and it leaves the 3GS only able to handle around 7 hours of calling. A full hour less than the iPhone 2G got.

This is fairly understandable; Apple was only going with what her customers wanted. A slimmer, sleeker phone with more features than ever. Smartphone owners have always been willing to sacrifice battery longevity for the ability to browse the Internet and play Space Invaders at all hours of the day.

But, according to the LA Times, the issues customers are having with the iPhone is that, when you factor in browsing and texting and calling, the 3GS's battery can barely last a full day at work. Pre users (who also get very little time out of a charge) can at least swap out batteries. If your 3GS goes dead and you don't have an outlet nearby, you're SOL.

The LA Times quotes Allen Nogee, a wireless tech analyst at In-Stat as saying, “There's not really a solution in sight,”

So, iPhone owners, don't blame Apple for the terrible battery life of your 3GS. They just made it the way you wanted it. In a few years, when battery technology gets better, we'll hopefully start to see some improvements in smartphone longevity. Until then, those of us who want to spend our lives hunched over the pale glow of an OLED screen will just have to make sure we always take our chargers with us.