Apple has unveiled a new version of its popular iPhone built for high-speed wireless networks with faster internet access and more features for business users.
Chief executive Steve Jobs said the price for the mobile device will start as low as $199, half the cost of its predecessor.
“We’ve learned so much with the first iPhone. We’ve taken what we’ve learned and more and created the iPhone 3G,” Jobs said on Monday as he demonstrated the new mobile device at the opening of Apple’s annual Worldwide Developers Conference in San Francisco.
The iPhone 3G — for third-generation mobile networks — is designed for faster internet download and longer talk times, and takes advantage of the high-speed network to provide GPS mapping built in, according to Jobs.
“It’s incredibly zippy,” he said, in his characteristic savvy sales pitch that has become a standard Apple event with each new product release.
The company will begin rolling out new versions of the sleek smartphone devices July 11 and make it available in 70 countries. The first-generation iPhone is available in six countries.
“The next time you are in Malta and need an iPhone, you will be able to get it,” Jobs said.
IPhone’s software update features “many new languages”, including two forms of Japanese and two forms of Chinese, one that lets users draw characters on the device’s touch-screens.
Japan’s number three mobile cellphone operator Softbank Mobile announced on Tuesday it will introduce the phone on July 11, as rival NTT DoCoMo said it had no plan to offer the handset.
Singapore Telecommunications (SingTel), South-east Asia’s largest telecoms firm, said it will be among the first in Asia to have access to Apple’s newest phones but did not provide a launch date.
The San Francisco crowd cheered when Jobs announced the iPhone 3G will sell for $199 with eight gigabytes of memory. Apple will charge $299 for a model with 16 gigabytes of memory.
“It is a very aggressive price point and it is going to do some damage to the other players in the market,” Gartner analyst Van Baker said, listing BlackBerry and Nokia among competitors in iPhone’s crosshairs.
“It is clearly moving iPhone from being noticeable in the market to being potentially a market leader.”
The eight-gigabyte iPhone 3G will work twice as fast as its predecessor, according to Apple.
Jobs also said iPhone’s second-generation software will let business users send and receive Microsoft Exchange email, in a direct shot at rival BlackBerry.
The iPhone software update is aimed at a business market that is currently hooked on BlackBerry devices made by Canada-based Research In Motion.
BlackBerry handsets have long let people “push” work email to the devices using the Microsoft email system.
Apple worked with Cisco Systems to build virtual private network (VPN) services into iPhones so businesses can establish secure connections to protect data being transferred.
Thirty-five percent of US Fortune 500 companies and the US military have “beta” tested iPhone’s enterprise email, according to Jobs.
“It really has the ability to pack the power of a laptop into the size of a smart phone,” said Randy Brooks, senior vice-president of information technology at Walt Disney Company.
The iPhone 2.0 software update will be free to iPhone users and be available for iTouch iPods for $9,99.
Apple introduced a “Mobileme” service that lets people access personal email accounts on iPhones, laptops, or home computers via the internet.
Apple also showcased iPhone applications crafted by third-party developers as part of a move to stock an “App Store” slated to open online for business July 11.
The original iPhone was launched on June 29 2007, and set off a global buying frenzy.
Jobs said Apple has sold six million iPhones to date and predicts Apple will sell 10-million by the end of this year.
Apple’s stock slipped more than two percent during Monday trading but recouped a smidgen of lost ground to $182,21 at 11pm GMT.
Investors may be frowning on Apple because most of the announcements were leaked prior to Monday and the improved iPhone won’t be available for more than a month, according to analysts.
“With the exception of Mobileme we knew everything else was coming,” said Silicon Valley analyst Rob Enderle.
“The only surprise is the thing is not ready yet. It came across like Jobs didn’t have it together.” – AFP