After months of rumors and speculations, Apple announced their eagerly awaited third generation iPhone at the WWDC Keynote address today. They are calling it iPhone 3G S and as many (including our reader, Gilberto) had guessed ‘S’ stands for speed.
There are no changes in the physical design of iPhone 3G S as compared to iPhone 3G but brings some changes under the hood.
iPhone 3G S has the following features:
Speed:
As mentioned earlier, 'S' in iPhone 3G S stands for speed. It is the fastest iPhone that Apple has created.
Apple mentioned in their Keynote address that it will be 2.1x faster to launch Messages, 2.4x to load SimCity, 3.6x faster to load an Excel attachment, 2.9x faster to load a large website.
I’m guessing that will be mainly due to a faster processor and hopefully more RAM. Apple usually does not mention these details, so we will find out as soon it is available.
Better Camera:
iPhone 3G S comes with a 3-megapixel camera which will allow users to take better still photos, thanks to the built-in autofocus.
The autofocus feature works as we had heard, you can tap on the display to focus on anything or anyone you want.
But one of the killer features of iPhone 3G S has to be the ability to shoot videos at 30 frames per second VGA with audio and with autofocus, auto white balance, and auto exposure in both portrait and landscape mode.
You will also be able to trim the videos right on the iPhone and share them either via email, post them to your MobileMe gallery, publish it on YouTube, or sync it back to your Mac or PC using iTunes.
Faster Internet connectivity:
It supports the 7.2 Mbps HSDPA standard which would mean improved internet connectivity.
A faster processor with support for faster internet connectivity will significantly improve the user experience
which is already one of the best in the smartphone market.
Graphics
We missed this while covering the Keynote address but Apple’s new iPhone will support the OpenGL|ES standard, for faster and more complicated 3D games.
Improved Battery Life:
It will have improved battery life as seen in the table below.
Design:
As you can see from the screenshots below, there is no change in the design of the new iPhone when you compare it with iPhone 3G.
However, Apple has used greener materials in the new iPhone such as Arsenic-free glass, BDF-free, Mercury-free LCD. But no OLED, which is a pity as it would have further improved battery life.
So all the so-called leaked images of Apple’s new iPhone were fake.
Digital Compass:
It includes a compass application which makes use of the built-in magnetometer. It will also be integrated with the built-in Maps app which will show orientation with longitude and latitude.
Voice Control:
It also includes a voice control app which can be used to make calls or play music from iPhone’s music library by speaking into the iPhone.
Nike+:
Apple has also included built-in Nike + iPod support in iPhone 3G S,which was included in iPod Touch 2nd generation.
Pricing:
Apple has announced the iPhone 3G S 16GB model for $199 and iPhone 3G S 32GB model for $299. Both the models will be available in black and white color.
Apple has also announced that they will be selling the current iPhone 3G for a reduced price of $99 starting today.
ZedSefi, one of our regular readers has provided a screenshot of the pricing details of iPhone 3G S in UK from O2's website (thanks ZedSefi):
If you are an existing iPhone 3G user then you will have to pay approximately $200 over subsidized pricing to upgrade:
Release date:
iPhone 3G S will be available on June 19th.
So, after months of rumors and speculation, it looks like most of the rumors were spot on except for the front facing camera and design of Apple’s new iPhone.
Kudos again to John Gruber of Daring Fireball, his predictions which we had published yesterday seem to be spot on once again.
Apple did not blow us away with iPhone 3G S, with features like OLED screen and front-facing camera, but I think they have announced enough new features to stay ahead of the competition.
So the big question remains to be seen, if the new features will be enough for people to buy it or upgrade to it?
We would love to know your verdict on Apple's new iPhone 3G S, so please feel free to drop us a line in the comment section below.
