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Monday, June 9, 2008
The rumors can finally be weeded out and now we know to be true:
CEO Steve Jobs did not make mention if the 3G will be an unlocked phone, but with no AT&T presence on the stage and the push for 70 countries to have the 3G iPhone, it is most likely the next generation iPhone will indeed be unlocked.
As for subsidies, note that Steve Jobs stated the phone would be a maximum of $199. This definitely indicates you can expect stores, such as AT&T, to take a bigger bite out of the price and offer new customers another 50% discount to entice more users to the once named Cingular network.
Other highlights included (Firmware 2.0):
The 3G iPhone, which even Steve Jobs tripped over trying to say once, will be available July 11th, for $199 for the 8GB and $299 for the 16GB version which will be white (no photos shown.) While nearing Wi-Fi speeds for download, the 3G iPhone will also suffer in battery life when compared to the current version. Talk time is halved to 5 hours with standby at 300 hours. Web browsing comes in at about 6 hours with video an hour more and audio enjoyment clocking in at a full day. With browsing now 3.6 faster than EDGE and even 36% faster than Nokia’s N95 or the Treo 750, users of the new iPhone should be impressed with the speed gains until they have to plug into a power jack to recharge the internal battery.
What limited applications Apple did show off, they were far from limiting in what the iPhone SDK can do. Some really amazing applications where previewed such as God of War which rivaled that of the DS and even comes close to the PSP. Medical students and professionals will be happy with the two med-apps shown to the developer crowd available soon after the July App Store launch. Don’t worry sports fans, the MLB has you covered with its application that’ll keep you up to date pitch-by-pitch with any game in progress. The blues simulator from the Band application brought resounding applause to the Moscone West building when demonstrated as did the eBay application.
MobileMe, the replacement for .mac, nearly replicates the iPhone on Apple’s servers. Nearly looking identical to the Mac desktop versions of iPhoto, Mail.app, and iCal, MobileMe will bring Exchange-like features to the rest of the crowd. Pushing mail, contacts, and calendar events upon creation, iPhone users will always be up-to-date with MobileMe and firmware 2.0. The Gallery, pushing photos to the web, will allow users to share pictures on the go – finally! – anywhere one might have an EDGE, 3G, or Wi-Fi connection. The price remains $99 a year. No details were given pertaining to current .mac users.
