Apple iPhone 3G Officially Announced

Mon 2008-06-09 - Posted by Patrick "MACMAC" MacMillan

Apple's Worldwide Developers Conference (WWDC) 2008 began today, and as expected, the iPhone 3G was officially announced. There's no reason to beat around the bush, the biggest change that this new model brings is obviously the addition of the much faster 3G radio with tri-band (850/1900/2100) HSDPA capabilities.

Here’s what Apple had to say:

“Apple today introduced the new iPhone 3G, combining all the revolutionary features of iPhone with 3G networking that is twice as fast as the first generation iPhone, built-in GPS for expanded location based mobile services, and iPhone 2.0 software which includes support for Microsoft Exchange ActiveSync and runs the hundreds of third party applications already built with the recently released iPhone SDK. In the US the new iPhone 3G is priced at a stunning $199 for the 8GB model, and just $299 for the 16GB model. iPhone 3G will be available in more than 70 countries later this year, beginning with customer availability in 22 countries—Australia, Austria, Belgium, Canada, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Hong Kong, Ireland, Italy, Japan, Mexico, Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Portugal, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, UK and the US—on July 11.”

The iPhone 3G has been highly anticipated ever since the original iPhone was first revealed sans 3G radio, so it’s a pleasure to see the final product. The technical specifications are as expected (same CPU, GPU, screen, etc), thanks to the incessant rumours/leaks during the last 6 months, but the price drop is a particularly nice surprise. While it features essentially the same design as the original iPhone, the tactile matte aluminium back has been replaced with a glossy plastic one. It should be interesting to see how well it puts up with wear and tear...

So has Apple finally created the perfect device for you? Let’s hear your thoughts!

Click here to read the press release.

Click here to check out the product page.

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