Apple Announces new iPhone 3G S, priced at $199 for 16GB, $299 for 32GB

8th June 09 - Apple has announced the next generation of the iPhone; the iPhone 3G S. Announced at the 2009 developer's conference, the new iPhone will include extended battery life, and includes a faster processor than previous models. It will also include support for 7.2Mbps HSDPA and has a 3 megapixel camera that include autofocus and which can capture video. The new iPhone 3GS will cost $199 for the 16Gb version, and $299 for the 32Gb model. It will be released on June 19th in the US and several other countries.

Apple claims that the new iPhone will perform many tasks up to twice as fast. Launching a processor intensive game such as Sim City will be twice as fast, they claim.

The new iPhone 3G S also includes an upgraded camera, which can capture images at up to 3 megapixel resolutions. The new camera also includes an auto focus lens, and a new system allows the user to pick the focus point using the touch screen. It can also capture video at 30 frames per second, but only at VGA resolutions; there is no high definition video recording.

The new iPhone also includes a feature called Voice Control, where the phone will respond to spoken  commands. This is nothing new, but the system seems to be built around speech recognition rather than the recording system that many phones use. A digital compass is also included, which could be very useful for navigation.

Apple alos claims that the new iPhone 3G S will have a logner battery life than existing models. They are claiming a battery life of 9 hours using WiFi, up from 6 on the previous model. However, 3G talk time remains unchanged at 3 hours.

The current iPhone 3G will also remain available, but the price will fall to $99. More details on the iPhone 3GS are available on the Apple site here.