iPhone 3G is finally official, starts at $199, available July 11th 2008

[pithyperz]

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It's been a long, leak-filled wait, but Apple finally took the wraps off its 3G iPhone. Thinner edges, full plastic back, flush headphone jack, and the iPhone 2.0 firmware -- Apple's taking a lot of the criticisms to heart from the first time around. Obviously 3G is at the forefront, but they're also making sure it's available all over internationally, works with enterprises, runs 3rd party apps... and does it all for cheaper. Apple claims its 3G speeds trounce the competition, with pageloads 36% faster than the N95 and Treo 750 -- and of course it completely trounces the old EDGE data speeds.

Battery life isn't getting put out to pasture though, with 300 hours of standby, 8-10 hours of 2G talk, 5 hours of 3G talk, 7 hours of video and 24 hours of audio. GPS is also a go. Apple is using A-GPS, which supplements regular satellite GPS data with info from cellular towers for faster location. (WiFi data is also worked into the mix, which should give users a pretty solid lock on where the heck they are on this planet.) Unfortunately, as expected there's no front-facing cam, and while its edges are thinner than before it's still about a millimeter thicker at the center (12.3mm over 11.6mm before). Apple hopes to launch in 70 countries this year, with the black 8GB going for $199 and 16GB for $299 in black or white. (Both price points require a contract, of course.) Apple will be hitting the 22 biggest markets, including the US, on July 11th. More info after the break.

Update: Just bought an iPhone? Listen up: "Customers who purchased a 2.5G iPhone on or after May 27 and want to swap it out for a new iPhone will be able to do so without incurring an additional handset charge for the new device. They will of course need to turn in their 2.5G iPhone." And for the rest of you, AT&T says there's no way to buy it without agreeing to a contract. So sorry.

Other tidbits:

* It's a teensy bit thicker. 4.5 by 2.4 by 0.48 inches (115.5 by 62.1 by 12.3 mm), and weighs 4.7 ounces (133 grams).
* Radios galore: Wi-Fi (802.11b/g), UMTS / HSDPA (850, 1900, 2100MHz), GSM / EDGE (850, 900, 1800, 1900MHz), Bluetooth 2.0 + EDR
* A SIM ejector comes in the box, at last. That would be a paper clip.
* There's no dock included, just a USB power adapter and dock connector.
* On AT&T unlimited iPhone 3G data plans for consumers will be available for $30 a month, on top of voice plans starting at $39.99 a month. Unlimited 3G data for business users will be $45 a month, on top of voice. There's a minimum two-year agreement, but we're not positive what that'll look like for those currently enslaved to an AT&T contract -- you could be looking at a solid four years of time if you just took the plunge.
* Apple's new MobileMe service will be coming with the iPhone 2.0 software, bringing push email and contacts for all.
* Apple's official page is here, and you can watch the new ad here.
* Available on July 11th in: Australia, Austria, Belgium (French), Belgium (Dutch), Canada (English), Canada (French), Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Hong Kong, Ireland, Italy, Japan, Mexico, Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Portugal, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland (French), Switzerland (German), UK, USA
* The rest of these are slated to get the phone this year: Argentina, Botswana, Brazil, Cameroon, C. African Republic, Chile, Colombia, Croatia, Czech Republic, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, Egypt, El Salvador, Equatorial Guinea, Estonia, Guatemala, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Greece, Honduras, Hungary, India, Ivory Coast, Jamaica, Jordan, Kenya, Latvia, Liechtenstein, Lithuania, Macau, Madagascar, Mali, Malta, Mauritius, Nicaragua, Niger, Paraguay, Peru, Philippines, Poland, Romania, Senegal, Singapore, Qatar, Slovakia, South Africa, Turkey, Uruguay.
* On the chatting front, developers will be able to ping a centralized push server with their apps, to keep down battery usage and app overload on phones.
* No mention has been made of MMS, video recording or built-in iChat. What gives, Apple?
* Yes, it's in the FCC.

[COMCAM]

when it will land here, it will cost more

[chadix24_7]

search before posting. similar threads already exist.

[rl]

nice, cant wait to have this, actually it would be only be a slight price difference

[o0ace0o]

wow mayuntag maabut na diri or ma unlock dayun nya baligya diri
hmm ang price kaha murag mumahal lagi sd kaayu

[spoken]

$199 na cya kng nka subcribe at&t... pinili ra ang baligyaan ana...

[samsungster]

how much kaha here??

[Jack Ryan]

anybody can purchase iPhont 3G. peopole are actually insane they even camping outside AT&T and Apple Stores. but do u think that it is REALLY a practical thing to buy iPhone 3G? it only add features like 3G and GPS the rest are being nothing less than the same as old model. if u have older models just upgrade to 2.0 (but not now).

here are some practical questions:
r u on the go like u need internet browser every minute? i don't think so
do u always shop at AppleStore site? i don't think so
do u need 3G? - i don't need it
do u need GPS? - i don't need this i have TomTom.

think twice prior to purchasing or subscribing, it's really not a wise decision to make.
3G is already v2.0 and it's a tricky version as what reviewers have quoted... but will just wait and depend with these guys YiPhone (GeoHot) and(vs) Dev Team.


just a piece of a pie

[dharsam]

important point at least ni barato nya affordable na at 200 dollar i think ok na sa feature nya with a 8gig memory

[softtouch]

anybody can purchase iPhont 3G. peopole are actually insane they even camping outside AT&T and Apple Stores. but do u think that it is REALLY a practical thing to buy iPhone 3G? it only add features like 3G and GPS the rest are being nothing less than the same as old model. if u have older models just upgrade to 2.0 (but not now).

here are some practical questions:
r u on the go like u need internet browser every minute? i don't think so
do u always shop at AppleStore site? i don't think so
do u need 3G? - i don't need it
do u need GPS? - i don't need this i have TomTom.

think twice prior to purchasing or subscribing, it's really not a wise decision to make.
3G is already v2.0 and it's a tricky version as what reviewers have quoted... but will just wait and depend with these guys YiPhone (GeoHot) and(vs) Dev Team.


just a piece of a pie

You are quiet right here in my opinion.
GPS is useless here in Cebu, and 3G... I think its uselss too. What you do with your phone is SMS most of the time, right? And sometimes calls, or use it as MP3 player, and thats is usually...