£99 iPhone 3G lands 11th July

By Nick Mansell on Tue 10 June 2008

Well, Steve Jobs came on stage at WWDC and didn't disappoint - a black polo neck and blue jeans. Classic! Oh, and there was a small mention of a 3G iPhone as well.

The iPhone 3G (the official name) will launch in the UK and US on Friday 11th July. O2 once again has the exclusive and Carphone Warehouse has already confirmed that it will also be the only independent retailer to stock it. Expect orderly queues outside Apple stores too.

How much will it cost?
Steve Jobs has said the 8GB version will cost a maximum of $199 in all territories. That translates as a £99 launch price in the UK. The 16GB version has a $299 price tag - or £159 here.

What's new?
Lots. There's 3G, of course, but also GPS for sat nav and geotagging. The new iPhone 2.0 software (also available as a free update for current iPhone owners) includes support for Microsoft Exchange. And, as expected, there's a non-recessed headphone port so you can plug in your own 'phones.

Any design changes?
Nothing drastic. It now has a black plastic back while the buttons have been switched to metal. The screen stays the same size but the 16GB version will be available in white (how passée!)

What about battery life?
The battery has apparently been given a boost to make it better than the original. Standby time is 300 hours with 2G talktime boosted from eight to ten hours. Talking over 3G will bring the battery life down to five hours. There's also enough battery for five to six hours of web browsing, seven hours of video or 24 hours of audio.

What's this about MobileMe?
Basically a replacement for .Mac. MobileMe automatically syncs your iPhone's mail, contacts, calendar and apps with your PC or Mac over the air the moment they're changed. It's all controlled by the new website, Me.com and will cost $99 a year, although there will be a free 60-day trial.

Anything else?
Yes, apps! Piles of them. Sega's awesome looking Super Monkey Ball (think Screwball Scramble supercharged) will be available for $9.99 when the AppStore launches. There's Loopt, a free social networking tool that uses iPhone's location-based features. Bloggers can look forward to TypePad's app that makes photoblogging easy. We're sure there a few more serious ones too, like the new calculator that switches to scientific mode when you turn the screen landscape. Our Casio's looking nervous.

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