Today's keynote at the major developers' conference was filled with news, including the announcement that the new iPhone 3.0 software will be out on June 17. You can read more on Yahoo Tech. Apple senior vice president of iPhone software Scott Forstall used his keynote presentation to demo some of the 100 new features of iPhone 3.0. That includes copy and paste, landscape mode in all key applications, peer-to-peer Bluetooth-based multiplayer gaming, push notification, and more. Also announced was a new iPhone — the iPhone 3G S, which will be available June 19. You can read a nice overview on iLounge and a longer description in the press release. The "S" in the name stands for "speed."
That's because it has faster processing and data transfer speeds. You can get all the detail on Apple's iPhone site. The price will be $199 for 16 GB and $299 for 32 GB. The camera is improved. It has 3MB resolution and will now shoot VGA video, which you'll be able to edit directly on your iPhone. And it offers voice-controlled menus. And the current iPhone 3G? Who will buy one, with the new model available soon? Well, maybe you will, because it's now available for $99 starting today. Read more on the Washington Post web site. The coverage of the event on the USA Today website includes info on some of the new apps for the iPhone 3.0 software by independent developers.
Buying decision
The new iPhone 3Gs has some great new features, including a compass, which makes great sense. I haven't seen any special pricing for those of us who bought the iP3G late last year. When do we decide that one is obsolete?
It's awful tempting to get the latest and greatest, but spending $299 twice in one year on a phone -- plus another one for the husband or wife -- that's definitely reaching the status of an investment. Will there be a secondary market for our now-out-of-date iPhones?
Pricing is complicated
Hi, Tim. Don't know about the secondary market. But if you have a 3G phone already, you could be faced with paying $388 or $499 for the 3GS. You can read a good overview of the pricing in TidBITs, including information about the tiered pricing based on how far into one's contract one is. (Which may make your decision easier.)
Jim
Update status for iPhone3Gs
Hi Jim,
Did a bit more research and found that I would be charged $499 for the 32 gb version. I saw some comments on the iPhoneAlley link delivered via the iPhoneLife e-newsletter that indicated some folks won't qualify for the upgrade until 2010! Users can check their upgrade situation at the MyWireless site.
As for the "old" iPhone3G, I wonder if it would be worth keeping it around as a backup -- or even as a spare iPod?
Tim
sell to Gazelle
Hi, Tim. One option would be to sell it to Gazelle. They buy used iPhones, and seem to pay a pretty good price. I think I'm going to post about them.
Jim