Apple announces the next iPhone: 3G


IphoneApple’s annual WordWide Developer’s Conference got underway today in San Francisco. For the Apple faithful, this is Mecca, a time and place where the public gets to find out what the gurus at Cupertino have been working on for the last 6 months or more. Here’s the scoop.

Since this conference is geared toward the people who work on Apple’s products for a living, it has a distinctly geeky feel to it and many of announcements are designed to build enthusiasm for Apple’s platforms and developer tools.

Today, Apple’s CEO Steve Jobs outlined in his keynote speech that the company has 3 major areas of focus:

  • The Mac
  • Music
  • The iPhone

However all of Job’s keynote was dedicated to the iPhone, and the companion iPhone SDK (Software Developer’s Kit) which enables code-writers to create programs that run on Apple’s hugely successful mobile device.

The big, widely anticipated announcement was the new, "3G" version of the iPhone, which is now set to debut July 11.

The latest version will be much more affordable – at $199 USD for an 8GB model and $299 for the 16GB, and it will give users much faster data speeds. The speeds are apparently so good, they come close to offering Wi-fi performance over a cellular network.

Apple has been signing up mobile providers like crazy and claims that there will be no fewer than 70 countries worldwide which support the iPhone, by year’s end.

The new version of the iPhone has full Microsoft Exchange support, which will help alleviate many concerns that large companies had with rolling out the unit to their workforce which often number in the tens of thousands. It also sports GPS functionality with real-time tracking. This feature is key for many of the applications built specifically for the iPhone. Speaking of which…

Since the actual SDK was released earlier in the year, the topic turned to what developers had accomplished with it so far. The highlights were:

  • TypePad: a fully iPhone-enabled version of the popular blogging tool
  • eBay: an iPhone interface to the world’s largest e-commerce market place
  • Pangea Software: a slate of new games for the iPhone, many of which make innovative use of the iPhone’s built-in accelerometer, giving players the ability to steer cars or affect the behaviour of objects on-screen through the tilt of the device
  • Cow Terry: an application that lets you compose and mix music using a variety of instruments
  • MLB.com: an all-in-one solution for fans of the official game of summer, including in-depth stats and "real time" video highlights immediately after a play is complete
  • MIMVista: a stunning medical application which gives health care professionals detailed text and graphical information on their patients including medical imaging like PET scans
  • Modality: a pocket medical reference for students that allows users to see body parts and read descriptions
  • AP News: AP is updating their existing software to give users local news headlines based on where they are physically located. It’s also got a user-generated-content component, allowing iPhone users the ability to take and upload photos from their phone to submit to AP.

Also announced were:

  • MobileMe: touted as "exchange for the rest of us", MobilMe is a platform designed to unify photos, email, calendars and contacts from one device to another. Enterprise users already have this functionality but for anyone else, this will be a huge advantage. The service will cost $99/year and be powered by Apple’s iDisk storage, which starts you off with 20GB worth of space.
  • Apple’s next version of OS X, named Snow Leopard.

Related:

Smartphone rivals try to steal Apple’s thunder

Apple unveils faster iPhone

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15 comments

  4. Dano

    It still costs 9$ to simply open the website hotmail.com page. So who can actually afford to use the internet with
    Rogers refusing to offer an affordable entry level data plan. Date rates are outrages in Canada and until that changes wi fi enabled phones and hotspots are the only way to go.

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  5. Jason

    I don't know where you got the Fido information from Bryce. Rogers owns Fido but they are completely two separate mobile carriers. From what I see and understand Rogers is the exclusive carrier. Pricing as follows $219 for a 8gb and $319 for a 16gb. I found where you see the Fido logo when you go "where to buy", rogers has only posted the same information that apple Canada has posted. There is no announcement from the Fido section on the rogers website.

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  6. ash

    Great that apple is releasing a 3g iphone
    now the next thing is when r they releasing in canada

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  8. Sean

    According to Rogers' website "Something REALLY BIG is happening July 11" which is also the official release date for iPhone 3G….

    Here's hoping the data rates will bend to Apple's will. Apple (so far) has insisted carriers offer "all inclusive" plans to make the experience universal. Hope Apple has won this one for us.

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  9. Connie

    Does this mean Bell/Telus will bring the LG Voyager to Canada to compete with the Iphone?

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  11. soniya

    thx for the info kisske
    im so excited that the iphone is coming to canada
    i definitely hope that it will be available through fido as well…i am in the last few months of a three year contract with rogers and have realized i pay twice as much for my phone bill than a couple of my friends on fido! and bc fido shares the same network as rogers their call quality/reception is just as good as mine!

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  12. kate

    Look the things that LG makes suck big time there is so much wrong with LG products .so like LG cells and LG tv big screens are really bad and they dont honor there products either. i have a friend that bought a 42 inch LG tv and her tv broke down 3times in less than a year, and my hitachi 52 in bigscreen has yet to have anything go wrong and that was for the last 4 yrs . so my friend also had an LG cell and she just threw it in the garbage cause it was so bad in recption and she had it repaired 2 times in 4 monthes so like i said LG sucks big time but thats my personal opinon . kate

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  13. mPod

    I was initially excited at the prospect of the iPhone finally arriving in Canada, and 3G would be a nice touch, but then I reconsidered my emotions. I agree with previous posters that unless Rogers adjusts its data rates, it will be completely not worth it. I currently own an iPod Touch, and a separate phone. That will work for me. I doubt I'll switch over unless the July 11th announcement includes an ammendment of data rates.

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  15. igod

    Its too bad they are scrapping their old pricing system, cause although it seems like the iphone is cheaper now really its only cheaper to those who r signing up a new plan… if i had known that they would change their pricing strategy i wouldnt have gotten a 3yr term in feb :(
    i think the iphone will probally be like 600-800 w/o plan :'(

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