The king is dead. Long live the king ???

Surprisingly, when firmware 2.0 for iPhone is soon to be released, Apple decided to announce the new iPhone 3G. Retailing at only $199 for the 8GB version and $299 for the 16GB version (no 32GB version yet !!!) all over the world, the new iPhone 3G is slightly bigger, it has grown around 1mm in width, length and thickness.

The display has not suffered any modifications, the same 3.5 Inch display (480 x 320 pixels) is present, however the expected secondary video call camera is lacking !!! What comes as a big release is that iPhone 3G will pack a built-in GPS hardware module. Thanks to the GPS functionality the location-based services and applications such as geo-tagging are now enabled.

Unfortunately, another shortcoming is the same 2 megapixels camera as the previous model. It seems that due to speeding things up with the iPhone 3G launch, this mediocre camera has no video recording capabilities.

iPhone 3G Images

apple_iphone_3g.jpg

Network GSM 900/ 1800 / 1900
HSDPA 850 / 1900 / 2100
Generals 115.5 x 62.1 x 12.3 mm; Weight: 133 g
Display Touchscreen, 16M colors; Size: 320 x 480 pixels, 3.5 inches
- Multi-touch input method
- Accelerometer sensor for auto-rotate
- Proximity sensor for auto turn-off
Memory 8/16 GB internal memory
- no card slot
Data - GPRS, EDGE, 3G (HSDPA)
- Bluetooth v 2.0, USB v 2.0
Operating System Mac OS X v10.4.10
Messaging SMS, Email
Camera 2 MP, 1600×1200 pixels, no video capabilities
Features - Java MIDP 2.0
- WLAN Wi-Fi 802.11 b/g, UPnP technology
- 3.5 mm audio output jack
- GPS receiver
- A-GPS function
- Google Maps
- Document viewer
- iPod audio/video player
- Integrated handsfree
Battery - Standard battery: Li-Ion
- Stand-by: Up to 300 h
- Talk time: Up to 10 h

If the black list is opened is time to mentioned another necessary improvement which unfortunately is missing: the upgrade of the Bluetooth functionality for faster file transfer and A2DP (stereo Bluetooth). Luckily the retail box will include a special SIM ejector tool !?!?

iPhone 2.0 software is available starting with July 11 as a free software update via iTunes 7.7 or later for all iPhone customers, bringing important new features: the Contact Search, iWork document viewer support (with Powerpoint files support), bulk delete/move, saving images from an email, scientific calculator, parental controls, added languages and various input types.

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