iPhone 3G

Steve Jobs saved the best for last at WWDC: the new iPhone.

The iPhone has been a tremendous success, but even successful products have room for improvement. Apple identified five challenges to meet in the next iPhone: 3G network support; enterprise support; third-party application support; availability in more countries; and, high on the list of many potential adopters, a more affordable price. Fifty-six percent of potential customers passed on the current iPhone because of its high price tag.

Courtesy of Apple

The new iPhone 3G is thinner, with a black plastic body and solid metal buttons. It has a flush headphone jack, rather than the recessed design of the earlier iPhone, and much improved audio quality. And, of course, it uses the higher speed 3G wireless network.

Other features include built-in GPS and full enterprise support, courtesy of the iPhone 2.0 upgrade.

One potential concern with combining 3G and built-in GPS is reduced battery life, but that’s not a major problem for the iPhone 3G. It promises 300 hours of standby time; 10 hours of 2G talk time or 5 hours of 5G talk time; 5-6 hours of 3G browsing; 7 hours of video playback; and 24 hours of audio.

Sounds great so far, but what’s it going to cost? A mere $199 for the 8 GB model, and $299 for the 16 GB model, which is available in black or white.

The iPhone 3G will be available in 22 countries starting July 11th, and will eventually be available in 70 countries.