iPhone 2.0 Launched

Apple launched a new version of it's revolutionary mobile device, the iPhone 2.0, at Apple’s Worldwide Developers Conference in San Francisco today. This time Apple seems to have made up a clear mind to rival RIM's blackberry, the addictive hand held mobile device and a favourite of the corporate world. Well, by adding push e-mail and over-the-air synchronization of calendars and contact lists that supports the Microsoft Exchange Server that processes e-mail for most corporations, it may well be on the road to achieving that, but far from achieving it since the berry happens to be the favourite business world gadget at the moment.

The iPhone 2.0 upgrade, all software based and Internet delivered, will be free to all iPhone users in early July.But there will also be an entirely new iPhone model – the iPhone 3G - running new hardware on the AT&T 3G – or Third Generation – high-speed wireless data network that delivers near broadband speeds. It will be available at Apple and AT&T stores starting July 11.
The iPhone 3G, said Jobs, operates at 2.8 times faster than the models that run on EDGE. The new iPhone 3G has all new and more powerful hardware that not only operates at faster wireless speeds but is capable of offering such new features as Global Positioning System navigation that can pinpoint a user’s exact location, show it on a map and help plot turn-by-turn directions.The iPhone 3G will start in price at $199 for an 8GB model in a black case. There will also be a $299 16GB model that will come in either a black plastic or white case.

The new iPhone - whether a current model with the new 2.0 software or the new 3G iPhone - will be able to run hundreds of new programs, games and special medical, educational and professional applications.Apple showcased many of them today, ranging from SlingPlayer Mobile, which lets you access your home TV from your iPhone and watch your favorite programs from anywhere in the world, to various social networking applications that displays, on a map, where your friends are at any precise moment, based on GPS technology.

The new programs can be purchased and downloaded directly to the iPhone through a special App Store section on Apple’s iTunes website, just as users of the iPod now do with music and videos. Most of those announced today were either free, or available for $9.99.