First Generation Nerd

Yesterday, at the World Wide Developer’s Conference in San Francisco, Apple announced the next generation of the iPhone: iPhone 3G.  CEO Steve Jobs began by talking about the phone’s new Enterprise support, then continued to talk about the development platform, and concluded with some new features of the 2.0 software release - and the new hardware, of course.  You can watch the keynote speech from the link above, but if you’re like me and don’t care about 45 minutes of product demos, skip right to the last 25% to hear the big news.

The big news (for me) is the new iPhone hardware.  I’ve wanted the iPhone for more than a year, but held off until this release to take advantage of the new features.  Now, I’ve been reading the rumor blogs and have posted some things here, and to be honest, I was a bit disappointed with the announcement.  The new iPhone is a big improvement over the current model, but it’s not a huge leap.  Here’s what I thought versus what actually is going to be available:

• The new iPhone will launch and be available on June 9 - False.  The iPhone was announced on June 9, but won’t be available until July 11.
• It will have a forward facing camera that will allow face-to-face video chat - False.  No dice on the camera.  The 2.0 software release will include video capture, but not F2F chat.
• Integrated GPS will be available - FACT.  The GPS chip combined with the OS’ new Core Location API will allow killer GPS software, turn-by-turn directions, and tools like a Friend Finder.
• Software version 2.0 will have support for Exchange email, among other advancements - FACT.  The advancements in the 2.0 release are plentiful.  From VPN support to secure networks, it’s killer for businesses. 
• The new iPhone will probably be a part of a new line of iPhones at differing price points - False.  Kinda.  More on this in the next bullet.
•   This new line may be opened to other networks, as AT&T will have its own model that it can subsidize; new 2-year contract holders will get the phone at a significant discount - False.  There may not have been a new AT&T only line, but the iPhone will have new price points: 8GB for $199 and 16GB for $299.