At the Worldwide Developers Conference today, Apple announced the launch of the next-gen iPhone 3G S, coming June 19. It comes with faster processor speed, improved battery life, a video recorder, voice control and more memory for the money.
Apple fanatics got their wish answered today at the Worldwide Developers Conference in San Francisco. After much speculation on the details, Apple said it is finally prepared to release the iPhone 3G S, the successor to the iPhone 3G.
Apple's senior vice president of Worldwide Product Marketing Phil Schiller told the audience the iPhone 3G S will be released on June 19 in the US and Canada, and in more than 80 countries by August. It's priced similarly to last year's iPhone 3G announcement but comes with supersized storage: $199 for the 16GB model, and $299 for 32GB.
The iPhone 3G S is much faster than the previous Apple smartphone. The RAM has been doubled, and the processor allows apps to run at least twice as fast. "iPhone 3G S is the fastest, most powerful iPhone yet and we think people will love the incredible new features including autofocus camera, video recording and the freedom of voice control," Schiller said in a press
release.
The 3G S also offers a 3-megapixel camera and video recording/editing, voice control operation to call contacts and play iTunes songs, a universal zoom function that magnifies the entire screen and a built-in digital compass.
Most importantly to many users, the iPhone 3G S enjoys improved battery life: Apple says the new model will get 9 hours of Web surfing, up from 6 hours on the current iPhone. Talk time remains at five hours, though.
Schiller also announced the the year-old iPhone 3G is available for $99 for the 8GB model.
Also, iPhone OS 3.0 software will be available on June 17 as a free software update via iTunes 8.2 or later for all iPhone customers. The new operating system includes 100 new features, such as: Cut, Copy and Paste; MMS; Spotlight Search to search across iPhone or within Mail, Contacts, Calendar and iPod; landscape keyboard for Mail, Messages, Notes and Safari; and the ability to capture and send audio recordings on the go with the new Voice Memo app.
The new software upgrade also stars the Find My iPhone feature that works together with MobileMe so users can locate their lost iPhones on a map, send a message that will appear on the screen or play a sound to help find the unit even if it is set to silent. And new iTunes features available with iPhone 3.0 software include wirelessly downloading movies, TV and audio programs as well as iTunes U so students can download learning materials on the go.
DigitalJournal.com also learned the new iPhone 3G S will be available in Canada on June 19. No Canadian pricing has been announced yet.
