Gauson

After Apple’s Worldwide Developers Conference (WWDC), the truth is finally unveiled of what is to come in the following weeks ahead. So what is in store for us then?

In the article posted before the Apple’s WWDC a few days ago, I had mentioned Apple unveiling an ‘entry-level’ iPhone worth $99; however instead of 4GB that was speculated, it is 8GB instead. One question I ask myself is will 8GB be sufficient enough space? Not only will the ‘entry-level’ iPhone have the new iPhone OS 3.0 software packed with a lot of known features but there are also more than 50,000 applications (and rising) available from the Apple iPhone App Store for users.  Seeing as the majority of files or applications are not very large and those that are less than 10MB can be downloaded over cell networks, developers will try to keep their applications under 10MB if possible; so for the moment it looks like 8GB is adequate enough.

The $99 iPhone 3G will be much the same as the old model and will feature a 2 megapixel still image only camera with up to 10 hours of talk time and six hours of WiFi internet browsing.

How will the $99 iPhone 3G fare against other smartphones? As one of the iPhone’s competitors, the Palm Pre smartphone, was released just over a week ago, Apple slashing the price of the iPhone 3G to $99 does not come as a surprise as it now has a smartphone less than half of what the Palm Pre price is, making it among the cheapest – if not the cheapest – smartphone in the market today.

Apple also announced its higher spec iPhone 3GS. The “S” for speed can be attributed to its 600 MHz processor and 256 MB of RAM compared to 412 MHz processor and 128 MB of RAM for the old iPhone 3G thus making it perform basic functions twice as fast as the old iPhone model. The iPhone 3GS will also have features such as better battery lifespan, voice control and built-in digital compass to name a few. Although I would have liked to have seen other features such as an FM radio player or even an expandable memory feature on the iPhone 3GS.

The iPhone 3GS also has a 3 megapixel camera with auto focus, nevertheless I must confess I found the camera upgrade to be mediocre in the least. There are phones like the Nokia N95 which have been around for a while now and medium-tiered Sony Ericsson phones which have 5 megapixels cameras. I certainly hope the optics make up for it.

The new iPhone 3GS supports the voice control by holding down the Home button for a couple of seconds and then commanding your iPhone to dial John. This feature has been around for sometime in most mobile phones or even smart phones.

The iPhone 3GS will come in either a 16GB model for $199 or a 32GB model for $299. The ‘entry-level’ iPhone and iPhone 3GS will be available on June 19 in the United States and July 7 around the world with both having access to more than 50,000 applications from the Apple iPhone App Store.

Not everyone may rush at the chance to get the new iPhones as the original prices ($99, $199 and $299) are only a fraction of peoples’ uncertainty. There is still the overly expensive monthly cost and a two year contract not to mention the fact that existing customers are required to pay upgrade fees to get the new iPhone 3GS.

iPhone 3GS is just better than its previous version, the new improvements are not as dramatic change as those of earlier models. We will just have to wait and see what happens next.