iPhone 3GS announced
Mashable has news of the new iPhone ability to purchase and rent movies, announced at the World Wide Developer’s Conference. Of course, since you could already do this via iTunes and then sync to an iPhone, this seemed a pretty logical step, but one that’s going to be much appreciated by iPhone users. The amount of media you can now access via a handheld device is becoming truly astounding.
Apple also announced the June 17 launch of version 3.0 of the iPhone operating system. The new phones will release April 19. The pricing on the iPhone 3GS: 16GB for $199, 32GB for $299. The iPhone 3G will retail for $99.
UPDATE: The bad-news part of this deal seems to be the price to upgrade, if you’re a current AT&T user, is pretty onerous. It could cost up to $699, according to the Christian Science Monitor.
Might Apple want to get out of its exclusive agreement with AT&T? PCMag thinks so:
AT&T has become increasingly dependent on the iPhone to attract new customers away from other carriers, but it keeps getting less clear what Apple is getting out of the deal. AT&T won’t support all of the iPhone’s features, their network performed horribly during the keynote, and iPhone owners in the U.S. regularly cite network performance as the thing they like least about their phone.
A more in-depth look at the pricing hullabaloo can be found at Digital Savant from tech-savvy OU graduate Omar Gallaga, writing for the Austin American-Statesman.
Gallaga writes:
“From what I’ve heard, those of us who didn’t the leap to the 3G phone will qualify for the $199/$299 prices automatically. Hey, sometimes it’s good to be a cheapskate!”
The latest word that Gallaga has from AT&T is somewhat better than earlier news:
If they are not currently eligible for an upgrade but are an iPhone 3G customer we’re offering an early upgrade price of $399 (16 GB) and $499 (32 GB).
New customers, or customers eligible to upgrade, get the standard announced pricing.
- Matt Price
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Just love the new 32gb iPhone. Ultimate gadget for me. Nice post.