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Apple has unveiled the iPhone 3G, which I had been calling iPhone 2.0.

• The new iPhone will support 3G data connections, which should provide faster service when users cannot access a WiFi network. Om Malik thinks that some carriers, including AT&T, may not be ready, which I find hard to believe.
• 11 July 2008 is the first day of sale in the US and several other countries, with availability in 70 countries by 2009.
• The new iPhone is slightly thinner, so it should fit inside current cases and accessories.
• The back of the phone is black plastic. Bye-bye, aluminum metal back.
• The headphone jack is no longer recessed, so almost any standard headphone should work.
• The US price has been lowered to $199 for 8GB, $299 for 16GB of RAM. There must be some factories in China that are humming with activity this summer.
• The new iPhone firmware supports Chinese character recognition.
• The new iPhone will have true GPS features.
• Enterprises will be apple to authorize iPhones and to write enterprise applications that are restricted to company phones.
• The iPhone 3G will work with Microsoft Exchange 2003 and 2007 servers.
• The .mac email and file sharing service has been renamed to MobileMe, and given better compatibility with Windows machines
• Steve Jobs claims the iPhone 3G will have decent battery life, with 300 hours of standby time, 10 hours of 2G voice, 5 hours of 3G voice, and about 6 hours of web browsing.

Engadget has a live transcript of the announcement. I enjoyed reading BoingBoing’s satirical version, written as a Greek drama.

Om Malik has a recap that focuses on the entertainment and social networking apps and sites for the new iPhone.

Related pages and posts on billso.com

• iPhone
• 21 May 2008: iPhone 2.0 firmware supports Chinese character recognition
• 29 April 2008: New iPhone will be subsidized, faster and thinner
• 19 April 2008: Salesforce for Google Apps
• 25 February 2008: Smuggling iPhones back into China
• 20 November 2007: An iPhone for China?
• 14 November 2007: No iPhone for you, China
• 30 October 2007: Apple working with Salesforce.com on iPhone CRM integration
• 4 September 2007: Gartner: Expect an enterprise iPhone