Breaking: Apple confirms July 11 launch for 3G iPhone

by Stevie Smith - Jun 9 2008, 17:26

Taking to the stage today at the annual Worldwide Developers Conference in San Francisco, Apple CEO Steve Jobs surprised absolutely no one when he confirmed the tech industry’s worst kept secret: Apple is to launch an upgraded second-generation iPhone that will function on superior 3G network technology.

Opening proceedings by announcing that the Mac OS X 10.6 operating system (codename Snow Leopard) will be given an airing during the conference, a typically casual Jobs took only a matter of minutes to outline Apple’s ongoing business ethos before then turning gathered attendee attentions to the performance and future of the iPhone.

Hailing the success of the recent iPhone SDK (software development kit) release, which racked up quarter of a million downloads in its first three months of availability and attracted the attention of 25,000 developers (with 4,000 accepted applicants), Jobs also talked up various features of July's iPhone 2.0 software arrival before shifting towards the thundering rumour storm surrounding the new 3G iPhone.

Described as “something that’s near and dear” to his heart, Jobs revealed the new 3G iPhone to the gathered attendees, saying that Apple has “learned so much with the first iPhone,” which has helped the California-based company to figure out its future challenges for the iconic device.

In an aesthetic sense, the new 3G model is somewhat thinner around the edges than the original handset, and is furnished with a black plastic backing plate, metal buttons down the side, a flush headphone jack, enhanced audio capabilities and an onboard camera. The smartphone will arrive with its screen unchanged.

With power consumption often cited as the main reason why Apple didn’t include 3G for the June 29, 2007 launch of the iPhone, Jobs outlined that a single charge from the new model will provide 300 hours of standby time, 5 hours of 3G talk time (10 hours of 2G), 5-6 hours of Web browsing, 7 hours of video playback and 24 hours of audio operation.

In terms of availability the 3G iPhone will be launched simultaneously on July 11 across 22 initial territories, with a total of 70 expected to receive the touch-screen phone in the coming months. Pricing will see the 3G model vastly undercutting the original smartphone, arriving through $199 USD (8GB) and $299 USD (16GB) hardware choices.

Third-party developers of note appearing on stage to hawk their iPhone applications during the keynote included the likes of eBay, SEGA and the Associated Press. ebay showcased its new Auctions feature, a free app that allows iPhone users to track active auctions they have bid on, while SEGA revealed a polished and honed version of its tilt-sensitive iPhone videogame title Super Monkey Ball. The Associated Press revealed a customizable location-sensing application that delivers a local news feed directly to the user's handset.

From an independent standpoint, developer Mark Terry unveiled his Band creation, an App Store offering due to arrive by the end of June that allows iPhone users to craft various forms of music via a touch-screen piano, drum set and guitar. This will likely prove a hot purchase on the App Store -- which has been expanded to cover 63 countries -- especially considering the current popularity of videogame titles such as Rock Band and Guitar Hero.

Apple's Worldwide Developers Conference is being held at the Moscone Center in San Francisco between Jun 09 and Jun 13.

Around the Web