2008 WWDC iPhone 3G Announcement

As some of you may have heard, Apple has this little product known as the iPhone. It seems to be selling well (at least that’s the word on the street). Currently, only Apple and AT&T are authorized dealers, plus iPhones are not yet available in Vermont (as Don has blogged about in the past, and that Emily mentions below), so we’re anxious to see what everyone’s talking about…

Anyway, all joking aside, the iPhone took center stage yesterday at WWDC as Apple announced the iPhone 3G. iPhone 3G features some much-talked-about updates; here are some highlights:

• 8GB model: $199 (HUGE price drop from $399)
• 16GB model: $299 (also offered in White)
• GPS capability: uses cellular towers along with satellite data for accuracy and faster speeds
• 3G technology: with pageloads 36% faster than the N95 and Treo 750 and up to 2.8x faster than EDGE technology
• flush headphone jack: means no more special adapter!
• full plastic back: replaces the former metal backing (I’d like to see this in person because methinks metal would be preferable… maybe there’s a wireless signal benefit to plastic? We’ll get back to you on that one.)
• international availability with full language support
• 3rd party and enterprise support with SDK (Software Development Kit)

Many of the features had been leaked before the conference, so the changes weren’t a surprise to many, but they were definitely welcome. Apple deserves praise for making the once elite $599 iPhone accessible to the masses–if the July 15 rumor regarding iPhone success in Vermont proves to be true, I think I might just have to get in line!

Check out the full specs here.

*requires 2-year AT&T service plan