Apple lowered the price of its iPhone 3GS, offering an 8GB model for $99, ahead of the release of its next-generation iPhone 4 on June 24. Both the iPhone 4 and iPhone 3GS will run iOS4, the new version of Apple's smartphone operating system, which includes features such as multitasking and "iAd," a platform for inserting advertisements into mobile applications. Apple's policies behind iAd have drawn public protest from some quarters, which find them restrictive.
Apple lowered the price of its iPhone 3GS, its smartphone recently eclipsed
by the June 7 debut of the next-generation iPhone 4.
On Apple's Website,
the
iPhone 3GS now retails for $99 for the 8GB model, with preordering set for
June 15 and general availability on June 24. Loaded with Apple's newest
smartphone operating system, dubbed "iOS4," the iPhone 3GS now includes
multitasking-a feature traditionally lacking in iPhones-along with the iBooks
full-color ebook reader and folders for organizing apps.
Apple's online store is also selling the 16GB version of the iPhone 3GS for
$149 and the 32GB version for $199, with free shipping.
The iPhone 4 represents Apple's hopes of staying ahead of the consumer
smartphone market, where the company finds itself challenged by a combination
of traditional competitors such as RIM's BlackBerry franchise and the growing
family of Google Android devices.
During his keynote presentation June 7 at Apple's 2010 Worldwide Developers
Conference (WWDC) in San Francisco, Apple CEO
Steve Jobs suggested that the iPhone 4 represented "the biggest leap since the
original iPhone,"
according
to a live transcript of the event, adding: "This is beyond doubt one of the
most precise, beautiful things we've ever done."
In addition to a larger battery capable of 7 hours of talk time, the device
includes a rear-facing camera capable of shooting 30-frames-per-second HD video
at 720p, a built-in three-axis gyroscope, a thinner body and a front-facing
camera for video conferencing. Jobs also revealed a new feature called
FaceTime, which lets users make video calls via WiFi; Apple is apparently in
talks with carriers about offering a 3G-enabled version.
The iPhone 4 will be available in either black or white, starting June 24.
The 16GB version will retail for $199, and the 32GB version for $299, with a
two-year contract through AT&T.
The iOS4 operating system, previously dubbed "iPhone OS 4," includes 1,500
new APIs, in addition to those new features such as multitasking. The
platform's other notable element, "iAd," will allow developers to deliver mobile
advertisements within apps themselves, although it has also drawn some
controversy over what some perceive as its exclusionary tenets.
"Apple proposed new developer terms of Monday that, if enforced as written,
would prohibit app developers from using AdMob and Google's advertising
solutions on the iPhone," Omar Hamoui, CEO
of AdMob,
wrote
in a June 9 posting on "The Life and Times of AdMob" blog. "The terms hurt
both large and small developers by severely limiting their choice of how best
to make money. And because advertising funds a huge number of free and low-cost
apps, these terms are bad for consumers, as well."
Given his company's increasingly contentious stance with Google with regard
to smartphones, Jobs may feel inclined to disregard opinions like Hamoui's.
"There is definitely a market for your applications," the Apple CEO
told his keynote audience, which consisted of media and developers attending
the WWDC for technical sessions in creating programs for the iPhone, iPad and
Mac franchise.
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