Reported by: WXYZSan Francisco, CA -- In a world where computers are no longer just beige and cell phones are never mere telephones, the company that brought us the iPhone and iMac showed off its latest technologies Monday.
Apple’s annual Worldwide Developer’s Conference continually spawns rumors and guesses in advance of the event. What will Apple do next?
Monday, from San Francisco, Apple revealed quite a bit about its new iPhone:
- The latest version of the software running the iPhone - the new iPhone OS 3.0 - will be available on June 17
- Existing iPhone users can upgrade the OS for free while iPod Touch users will need to pay just under $10.
- The new iPhone will be called the iPhone 3GS. It has a 3 megapixel digital camera. You can just tap your subject on it’s screen to focus the camera lens
- Apple’s newest iPhone now captures video as well as still photos – something users have long requested.
- Substantially upgraded battery life
- Current iPhone 3G 8 gig will be $99
- New iPhone 3GS will be $199 for 16 gigs of file space and $299 for 32 gigs
- The new iPhone 3GS will be available on June 19
So what is the new iPhone missing?
In the United States, the iPhone is exclusive to AT&T as a cell phone and data provider. While more than 2 dozen other worldwide carriers will support MMS messaging in the new iPhone OS, AT&T will not support the service when the new OS launches. This will continue to make it difficult to receive – and impossible to send - text messages that include photos and video with a U.S. iPhone.
Similarly, Apple has added a feature that would allow Mac and PC users to connect their iPhones to a laptop and use the phone as a remote modem. AT&Twill not initially support this feature, presumably because it would bring a great deal of additional traffic to their data network.
