What's the difference between iphone 3 and 3g?

I'm buying an iphone soon, but what's the difference?

3g is an improvement of the 3 so you'll see things like a faster processor, RAM capacity, a better camera (both quality and editing wise), a digital compass compatible with Google Maps. Battery life is significantly better than generation two and slightly better than 3. However, since the generations are older, the iOS (Apple's operating system) updates are only partially supported.

There was never an iPhone 3. I don't understand why this is such a common mistake. There was the 3G & 3GS.

I wouldn't recommend either of those though. The 3G long has stopped receiving updates & can't run most apps since they require a higher version of iOS than it could run. The 3GS will not get iOS 7 when it comes out this year & effectively is the next one to stop being able to run apps (though it shouldn't happen for years out).

Anyway here is a more comprehensive difference link
http://www.gsmarena.com/...hone2=2826