Austin360 blogs > Digital Savant > Archives > 2008 > June > 06 > Entry
72 hours until iPhone 2.0?
It’s gone from rumors to a foregone conclusion that on noon Monday, at the Apple Worldwide Developers Conference 2008 in San Francisco, Apple Inc. chief Steve Jobs will unveil the next iteration of the iPhone.
Nearly a year after it hit U.S. Apple and AT&T stores, the iPhone has been improved with several significant software upgrades, but the rumor mill believes that some hardware improvements will make the handset even better. Among the anticipated improvements: built-in GPS (as opposed to the faux-GPS that current iPhones employ using triangulation); 3G wireless speeds that would allow the iPhone to surf more quickly even out of Wi-Fi zones; size changes (either thicker, thinner or in two screen sizes, depending on what rumor you believe) and more memory.
No one expects a total redesign of the phone. Reviews over the past year have largely been positive for what was at one time referred to as the “Jesus Phone.” The hardware is nicely designed and the software remains elegant. Issues that were brought up early on — the difficulty of use of the screen keyboard, limitations in text messaging and worries about the limited memory have largely been addressed. (Well, not the keyboard; some people still don’t like it. I’ve come to really like it, myself.)
Apart from changes to the iPhone itself, Jobs is expected to open the floodgates to third-party applications for the phone, which would be distributed and sold through the iTunes store. Expect to see a flood of handy apps and tools announced Monday.
What nobody seems to agree upon is pricing, which (for me, at least) was a huge issue when the iPhone was introduced. Will there be a plan to subsidize current iPhone users so they can upgrade to a 3G version painlessly and with little cost? Will Apple cut the price of the iPhone to boost sales, which have begun to show signs of weakening?
While at one time, I believed Apple would allow the new version of the iPhone to co-exist with the old one, I now think they’ll do whatever they can to move people over to the new iPhone, even if that means giving current users a huge discount.
I also think AT&T will charge more for access to the 3G network, but it won’t be a huge increase: maybe $10 more a month for unlimited 3G access. That would make the iPhone’s data plan about $30, putting it within range of what people pay for BlackBerry data plans.
What do you think Monday will bring? Post your speculation and hopes in the comments.
Permalink | Comments (2) | Post your comment Categories: Computers, Gadgets, Phones
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By Omar Gallaga
June 6, 2008 2:08 PM | Link to this
Magic 8-Ball says: "You may rely on it."
By Woody
June 6, 2008 1:38 PM | Link to this
Is Steve going to wear black?