Meet New iPhone 3G, At Last!

Posted on June 10, 2008
Filed Under iPhone General, iPhone Reviews

Yes, we got GPS, 3G, and lower prices, but some highly anticipated iPhone rumors, such as additional iPhone models or videoconferencing, didn’t get the realization.

The $199 price tag for the 8GB version and $299 for the 16GB model get people excited. Considering the iPhone 3G features, the price is reasonable and it will get its lines after July 11, when it gets on sale.

AT&T announced that the data plan fee of $30 per month is required for the iPhone 3G, that is $10 more than the EDGE-only plan. And even if you’re a current subscriber, you’ll need to resign a 2-year contract with AT&T.

The iPhone 3G is only about 0.02 inches thicker than the Edge-only model, and the new model is nearly 0.1 ounce lighter than the old model.

You’ll be able to browse and get access to data while on a voice call, even not in Wi-Fi range. The new 3G iPhone will have two times quicker connection over HSDPA network than over the old EDGE. It’s really fast enough for video and music, but yet there’s no word on the opportunity to download videos, songs or podcasts from iTunes. A future firmware upgrade can make it possible.

The battery life is promised to be 5 hours of talk time, 7 hours of video and 24 hours of music. But as a rule it is often less, we’ll see.

With announced GPS, live tracking of your position looks great on the iPhone. Additionally, Loopt has announced a GPS social-networking app to indicate your nearest friends. Finally, the iPhone switches GPS off automatically when not in use.

Unfortunately, the rumors on videoconferencing didn’t come true: no front cam for video iChat. Video syncing with iTunes and wireless music wasn’t confirmed as well. And no 32GB model or higher, no original EDGE-only iPhones, and only in black and white flavors.

Considering service side, the upcoming MobileMe will now get over-the-air syncing of Address Book contacts, e-mail and photos, events from iCal, and now Outlook Windows users are on the list. MobileMe is still $99 per year, not bad considering the doubled 20GB of online storage compared to the old .Mac.