All right boys and girls… It’s time for the big show. For months now, it has been glaringly obvious that Apple would introduce its third-generation handset at WWDC today and sure enough — it’s here. Apple addicts around the world are rejoicing and Apple haters around the world are refining their arguments as to why the iPhone is a non-factor. Love it or hate it, hit the jump to find out how the new iPhone 3G S shapes up.
What we all knew/was rumored:
- Size — The new iPhone 3G S comes with either 16GB or 32GB of internal storage, a 100% bump from the 8GB and 16GB iPhone 3G offerings.
- Guts — Many will tell you that the most significant improvements are found within the new iPhone’s guts. We knew A2DP support was coming, a nice addition of course, but Apple also confirmed today that the new iPhone sports a faster processor and a 7.2Mbps HSDPA-compatible radio. Huzzah.
- Camera — The old 2 megapixel sensor has been bumped up to 3.2 megapixels and there’s still no flash. Apple also added auto-focus and geotagging support.
- Video — This little guy is all about video — 30fps video recording, video editing, video sharing… Yay.
- Compass — Know where north is. Yay.
- Battery life — The new kit features 5 hours of 3G talk time and up to 24 hours of music playback — according to Apple at least.
- OS — Tethering is now covered, though we still don’t know how AT&T will handle it, and the Find My iPhone feature we scooped is a done deal (available to MobileMe subscribers only). Oh and turn-by-turn nav is game on… TomTom was on hand at the keynote to demonstrate its iPhone app/accessory combo. 3.0 will be available beginning June 17th — free for iPhone owners, $9.95 for iPod Touch owners.
- Price — As expected, the new iPhone 3G S will ring up at $199 for the 16GB version and $299 for the 32GB version. The current 8GB iPhone 3G will hang around and drop to $99 starting today.
What we didn’t know:
- The 3G S looks exactly like the 3G — no matte rubbery finish, no matching bezel.
- Voice Control is now built in, hi 2002, so you can dial by voice, control iPod playback by voice and so on. We have to admit though, saying “play more songs like this” to initiate the Genius feature is cool.
- Integrated hardware encryption.
- The iPhone 3G S goes on sale June 19th in the US.
In the end, the jump from second to third generation is very reminiscent of the jump from first to second generation; this is more of an upgrade announcement (as we expected) as opposed to a new product launch. The man of the hour is still OS 3.0 if you ask us, and most of its features are backwards compatible. Those of you in love with your current iPhone but looking for a little more oomph will certainly be pleased while those of you holding out for things like a physical keypad, modern camera with flash, etc will have to continue to look elsewhere for another year. Sound off in the comments section and let us know if there will be a new iPhone 3G S in your future.
written by Duy Phong
\\ tags: 3G, App, Apple, Free, Game, Iphone, OS
Yes, yes, the much rumored $99 iPhone finally came to light. But what about those 16 giggers? One of our AT&T ninjas just hit us up to let us know that the iPhone 3G 16GB model is available for $149 on a 2 year agreement on AT&T. Since Apple seems to be only touting the 8GB 3G model for $99 on their site, we’re guessing this is a “while it lasts, bitches” situation. Seriously though, you’re not going to spring the extra $50 for a brand new iPhone 3G S 16GB model? Also we’ve been told AT&T stores can now pre-order the iPhone 3G S for customers starting immediately, just like Apple.com.
written by Duy Phong
\\ tags: 3G, App, Apple, Iphone, OS
How endlessly predicted, Apple today unveiled a new iPhone at WWDC, the iPhone 3G-S – the “s” stands for speed. Although it looks almost exactly like the 3G, it is much, much faster – some tasks are almost four times faster. Increased data speeds to 7.2Mbps HSDPA and the camera is now a 3-megapixel unit with tap-to-auto and auto white balance – and as expected, now supports 30fps VGA video recording with editing. You also get a built-in compass, Nike + support, and a new battery, the 5 hours of 3G talk time and 9 hours WiFi Internet use. There are some surprises, too – hold the Home button is now a new voice interface that lets you store everything from calls to iTunes and Apple touting a new “fingerprint-resistant coating oleophobic.” New and end-of-contract pricing will be $ 199 for the 16GB and 32GB for $ 299 when it comes to selling the 18th Stateside in June, and in 80 other countries in August – and the current 8GB 3G will remain on sale for $ 99, with immediate effect. You need a bit more if you are mid-contract if: – $ 299 for the 3G and $ 399 / $ 499 for the 3G-S.
written by Duy Phong
\\ tags: 3G, App, Apple, Iphone, ITunes, OS
It will not be available en masse to 17 of the month, but the Gold version of iPhone OS 3.0 is now available for developers – a promising sign that applications using a wide range of 3.0 ’s new functionality (push notifications, in-app payments and the like) by the time it takes to the public. We are toying around with the latest cutting here and have noticed a few small changes from beta 5, nothing groundbreaking, but still remarkable. The most important thing is that iTunes now offers movie , TV and music video downloads directly from the phone, which has the lower navigation bar a little too new. We have also found that the App Store’s nav bar has been redesigned a bit to see a “More” button you will find top – 25-and redeem links. The store in the Settings screen displays a nicely formatted account information screen – Nice, we suppose – but unfortunately, MMS configuration is still lacking, it is unclear whether AT & T need to be an update if it works for the conversion. Immerse yourself in the gallery for a closer look.
written by Duy Phong
\\ tags: App, Application, Download, Iphone, ITunes, OS
Apple is pretty clever with the hard data of the iPhone 3G-S, but apparently T-Mobile Netherlands has not the message – it is only a book information page with a list of 256 MB of RAM and a 600 MHz CPU. This is from 128 and 412MHz in the first generation and 3G, and it is in fact exactly what was said. Of course, the 3G-S, that the new PowerVR SGX graphics support OpenGL ES 2.0, so the overall speed of promotion is probably more than just pure clock speed, but we will find for sure if our hands on one.
written by Duy Phong
\\ tags: 3G, App, Apple, Iphone
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