WWDC 2008 coverage roundup: the iPhone 3G has landed

Holy crap, that's a lot of iPhone news. We've collected every meaningful detail below, and now we're pretty stoked to have our site back. Game on!

iPhone 3G

• iPhone 3G is finally official, starts at $199, available July 11th
• iPhone 3G hands-on
• The Lucky 22: countries receiving iPhone 3G on July 11th
• Steve Jobs keynote live from WWDC 2008

iPhone service stuff and AT&T

• iPhone push notification service for devs announced
• Apple's lucrative iPhone revenue sharing goes away, replaced with "traditional" model
• iPhone 3G purchase and activation will be in-store only

More after the break!

Even more iPhone stuff

• Sega, Pangea, Digital Legends show off $9.99 iPhone games
• eBay, TypePad, others showcase iPhone apps at WWDC
• iPhone 2.0 free in early July for all iPhone owners, $9.95 for iPod touch
• iPhone 3G hits the FCC
• TomTom already has iPhone navigation software ready to roll
• iPhone 1.0, R.I.P.: 2007-2008
• Sizing it up: iPhone 3G vs. the rest
• So, are you gonna get an iPhone 3G?

OS X Snow Leopard

• Next version of OS X will be called Snow Leopard
• Apple previews OS X Snow Leopard: scheduled to ship "in about a year"

MobileME

• MobileMe announced for iPhones, Macs, and PCs -- .Mac is dead
• MobileMe gets a video tour, and John the Apple guy is your guide

Other

• Engadget's WWDC 2008 predictions
• Apple stores go down all over the world
• WWDC 2008 keynote video now online

[thak @ Jun 10th 2008 12:00AM]

did you guys hear anything about a new iphone today?

[Metkis @ Jun 10th 2008 12:01AM]

Is that the um... that thing you um... yeah, I'm pretty sure you decorate your house with it? Right?

Maybe I'm wrong...

[Seth @ Jun 10th 2008 12:30AM]

I think it's a new gaming console, but I'm not sure.

[Zelatio @ Jun 10th 2008 12:30AM]

I believe they are now posting just to spite us. Bastards.

[Will Static @ Jun 10th 2008 12:31AM]

I was disappointed. Good price 3G for me is not a biggie I was seriously hoping this device would be put on a diet... It's a bit bigger.
No background processes, just some bs and lets bash MS about their bg processes yet I guess exchange activesync is good enough to license.

[Flashpoint @ Jun 10th 2008 12:33AM]

no forward camera.

video conferencing will be in the iphone 3.0.

Steve Jobs has made good on his demands that we buy a new ipod every single year.

[Reid @ Jun 10th 2008 1:53AM]

Will Static,

I don't quite get your comment. Is it just the size? I like the size of the first gen, I just wish they hadn't rounded the back because it'll be harder to use as a coaster :)

I'm impressed they delivered on as much as they did (given how wild speculation turns into disappointed fanboys when not every rumors is met). About the only thing that didn't get added was the front-facing camera that was rumored, but nobody really believed. I could see some complaining about the $10 extra on the data plan though I guess. It's still cheaper than Verizon, who charged me more for 900 minutes a month, no rollover, and $40 for data.

Plus el Steevo hit the nail on the head with the background process griping. They should work this into one of their ads. Using the task manager on a regular basis in Windows is an annoyance. Using a task manager on a CELL PHONE, for god's sake, is inexcusable. Just terrible, terrible design. I put up with WinMo for about 14 days before I kicked it to the curb. Sorry, I want a phone that actually has enough CPU power leftover to *ring* before the call goes to voicemail.

[Josh @ Jun 10th 2008 6:27AM]

its that -- no front camera...

OMG

My sony ericsson is better than this... even tho for 8GB id get it for 780...

[Will Static @ Jun 10th 2008 11:08AM]

@reid
I'm use to using smaller phones with as much ability if not more.
Size is very important to me, and I can only assume now that the greed has subsided a bit (no more revenue sharing) that Rogers will finally pick it up. I would consider using this phone but I can't see it as my day to day phone.
As for the BG processes, if you don't like switching tasks then you can close your program. It's simple and you get choice, what's bad about that?
as it is now you want to purchase something online you open your ewallet and copy the card holder name into your browser go back to the ewallet oh wait it closed when I went to the browser. I'm sorry it's just stupid.
Symbian has task switching WinMo has task switching Linux has task switching, palm is going this route with it's yet to be released OS.
And for christs sakes can we please get a matte finish on a frigging phone. I love my Diamond by jeezes and Steve doesn't disappoint those who prefer to wipe their phone on their pants then apply makeup...

The pricing of this phone is going to make it a big item everywhere and will be the perfect phone for a lot of people. But for people like myself I need:
smaller (atleast reduce the screen to 3" and the body to match it)
matte finish (everyone looks like a super model)
and BG processes! It's a shame you have to rely on the hack community to get these devices where they should be in the first place.

[XDAMM @ Jun 25th 2008 12:00AM]

@ Metkis
I LOL'D SO MUCH WITH YOUR COMMENT, HAHA

[garrettwebb @ Jun 10th 2008 12:01AM]

Please Post your iPhone hate below this...

[Jimmyy @ Jun 10th 2008 12:14AM]

My only REAL complain is still no A2DP =(

Of course an upgraded camera and real GPS would've been nice... but that is just nit picking :p

[James @ Jun 10th 2008 12:16AM]

WTF are you talking about. It DOES have real GPS. A-GPS is real GPS.

We've been through this before.

[Jimmyy @ Jun 10th 2008 12:22AM]

@ James

I udnerstand that in urban areas agps will do quite nicely (maybe even better than *Real* GPS), but it would not work in areas where no cell phone towers are available. I usually go camping a lot - see my point? So it might fall short in some situations...

Thats why I mentioned it as me being extra picky... :)

[James @ Jun 10th 2008 12:27AM]

Maybe you don't understand what A-GPS is?

A-GPS is REAL GPS + cell tower and wifi help.

The cell tower and wifi only kick in if you are deep indoors and unable to get a reading from a GPS satellite.

In no way is this crippled GPS. It is standard GPS that you would find in a Garmin GPS unit.... but actually better.

Read here please:
http://www.gps-practice-and-fun.com/a-gps.html
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/AGPS

[c|ak @ Jun 10th 2008 12:30AM]

Honestly, I think the lack of a video camera is baffling. I expected Apple to take more advantage of the 3g speeds with some sort of video camera and YouTube upload support. That woud've been neat.

As for A2DP, I'm sure that's a feature Apple might be working on for the iPod Touch. They'll have to distinguish the lines and balance innovative features, right (eg, flash memory, thinness, ota iTS)? Besides, as if audiophiles didn't hate digital compression enough, you'd have to address complains from people that would lose the buds/earrings. Unless you'd want a funky-looking headphones.

[JLTate @ Jun 10th 2008 12:33AM]

Engadget, 15 posts in a single day about a single product is far too excessive for my tastes. Many of these posts were redundant or even pointless ("So are you gonna get an iPhone 3G?" "iPhone 1.0, R.I.P.: 2007-2008", 3 posts devoted to different software apps) and could have been consolidated, or heck even put on your sister site TUAW. But this is what I've come to expect from you guys, and it's more than a little irritating.

As a reminder, there's only 37 posts tagged with "Computex2008", and they were spread out over 12 days.

So I guess that's that. Aside from posting here in the comments section (and being ignored) there's only one other way for me to make my displeasure known -- to be part of a statistic that will be one less than it was yesterday.

Engadget, I've read you daily for just about 2 years now. I'll miss your quirky reporting style, but not your obvious bias.

[garrettwebb @ Jun 10th 2008 12:36AM]

Great comments guys, keep them coming.

[c|ak @ Jun 10th 2008 12:37AM]

As for the GPS, it was the biggest downer. It's a baby GPS, and Jobs ought to know it and I was hoping to sell my Garmin Nuvi for the sake of convergence.

Apple may be saving their take on a new GPS UI for the iCar project. I would be surprised if TomTom would put their whole business model aside and make an app that would replace one of their products.

[James @ Jun 10th 2008 12:39AM]

JLTate, don't let the door hit ya where the good lord split ya.

[Jimmyy @ Jun 10th 2008 12:42AM]

@ James

This is what I was talking about:

"Some A-GPS solutions require an active connection to a cell phone (or other data) network to function, in others it simply makes positioning faster and more accurate, but is not required". [Your sources]

From what I understand and your sources quote too, the first scenario is dedicated assisted while the second is considered hybrid. Lets just hope this device has the hybrid chip. No further details are currently known to tell. But many aGPS devices usually have the *crippled* aGPS.

[James @ Jun 10th 2008 12:44AM]

It is hybrid, it has a dedicated GPS chip in it. Check out the filings with the FCC.

[le Chen @ Jun 10th 2008 1:41AM]

A2DP and front camera
by the way,if we can change the battery would be nice!
Apple keep try

[Preston Ursini @ Jun 10th 2008 12:03AM]

I'm glad that I waited!

[hayley @ Jun 10th 2008 12:07AM]

9 out of 15 front page posts about iphone/apple... enough already

[Ian @ Jun 10th 2008 1:44AM]

agreed i read the live posting and it covered all of the apple posts today. then when i went to the main page i was just said christ i just read all of this and now i have to scroll through it again. 2 maybe 3 posts would have been enough. 1 for the phone 1 for the software (maybe) and 3rd for all the other stuff. o well

[Jeff @ Jun 10th 2008 12:08AM]

$200 less for the phone but $240 more for the data plan on a 2 year contract, which is now required to get the subsidized $200 price.

And still they manage to convince everyone that they're saving money. People are pretty gullible.

[oki @ Jun 10th 2008 12:14AM]

I agree.. being a college student but yet a iphone fan.. its kinda irritating the rates went up for it. as im using my medianet unlimited plan with unlimited internet and text (works for iphone, my treo, and my 3g razr) and its only 35$ now i have to pay 30$ for just unlmited internet plus whatever it costs to go unlmited texting which i think is another 20$?

[Reid @ Jun 10th 2008 2:05AM]

Less than Verizon's data plans.

But of course, AT&T makes up for it by.. charging you less for airtime, too.

.. and why is the iPhone the only device where people make a big deal out of the 2-year cost of the service plan? Virtually every phone bought in America is bought on contract...

ps: 2 years of data on Verizon will set ya back $960. And that's not including a single minute of airtime.

[gabe @ Jun 10th 2008 12:09AM]

nice engadget - now when the Gen 3 version of the iphone comes out - please spare us the multiple threads and follow this format :)

thanks

[Why? @ Jun 10th 2008 12:13AM]

I could cut & paste on my zx-sinclair.
Care to explain why an iphone can't?

[Snitch @ Jun 10th 2008 12:13AM]

Don't let apple & AT&T play with your mind, the 3G iphone is not cheaper is just a business tactic, if you add the extra $10 a month they're charging for data 24x months the phone will still cost you over $400, Am getting one anyway but i wish the know that they're not fooling anyone. AT&T does this with all devices anyway too so what the heck

[l337virus @ Jun 10th 2008 12:25AM]

depend on the plan that u choose i mean i already have plan with ATT witch is $40 and with the tax and everything come out to be $60 and if u dont use the internet or text u dont have shell out much and if u need internet use WIFI but if u really need the tubes for an emergency then use it and u still dont have to be fooled by ATT crazy rates

[Jimmyy @ Jun 10th 2008 12:17AM]

Check out those phony 3G iPhone preorders on ebay that are running up to $2k usd!! :S

[Jhongerkong @ Jun 10th 2008 12:19AM]

iPhone in Canada = win, but iPhone on Rogers plan = fail


If only it wasn't gsm, then we could have Bell on it.

[BobfromVegas @ Jun 10th 2008 12:26AM]

Wow, you guys really like to overhype this thing, huh?

"Holy crap, that's a lot of iPhone news. We've collected every meaningful detail below, and now we're pretty stoked to have our site back. Game on!"

Yet, you will find some piece of information that is essentially meaningless and make a new article on it.

[Wormbolt @ Jun 10th 2008 12:37AM]

Are you saying the two part article about the iPhone's ability to both make AND receive calls was excessive?

[Quikboy @ Jun 10th 2008 1:09AM]

It's no wonder Apple products are popular. They've managed to get the media to give tons of coverage on it alone.

[dimitri @ Jun 10th 2008 12:34AM]

Can a customer say "I would like to purchase the phone but activate it later?"

[Dusty @ Jun 10th 2008 12:39AM]

I am looking to buy an older 16GB iPhone!

The reason why I say older is, because in less then a month the new 3G iPhone will be released and yes for only $299 u can get the 16GB LOL So if u need the money for the new iPhone or don't need ur old one, get rid of it now before its worth nothing... Well it's pretty much at that point already to some ppl.
You can email me @ [e-mail]
I am willing to pay shipping if the price range is right. (Bob Barker) hehe

Thanks

[Reid @ Jun 10th 2008 12:42AM]

Apple has never been wildly credited with keeping costs down or anything, but I'm pretty pleased with the way this will play out. You can get a new iPhone upgrade if you bought in the past few weeks, and if you have a 1st gen (like me) you can still get the $199/$299 deal by extending your contract back out to 2years (not even adding on an additional 2 years). Sounds like Apple and AT&T are doing something (relatively) wallet-friendly here.

I had no plans to upgrade to the 3G, but I cracked the screen on mine a few weeks ago on a business trip. It's perfectly usable and I sorta forget about the crack most of the time, but I was not looking forward to having to spend another $400+ to buy a new one.

At the $199 pricepoint it's tempting for people to upgrade even if they hadn't planned on it.

[iGlow @ Jun 10th 2008 12:49AM]

Can anyone confirm that it will indeed COPY/PASTE text????

Will emails cache and store on the drive???

Can you sort email???

If not, MobileMe don't wanna buy a $200 paperweight!

[Nuance Communications @ Jun 10th 2008 1:08AM]

In his close-to-two-hour keynote at the WWDC in San Francisco, Steve Jobs discussed the new iPhone 3G, its new price points (very nice!), and highlighting some of its new applications (available soon via the developers website that is due to be launched shortly), which are sure to get iPhone and Apple enthusiasts in general excited about what is coming out this summer. One way I think they could certainly improve the iPhone in light of these new development kits, is to include speech and/or voice activated applications. In today’s world where hands-free laws and sheer convenience seem to be putting a heavy demand on a user-friendly interface, what is easier than using just voice to control your handset? If you can dictate text messages, emails, conduct searches, dial from a contact list, play music and discover hidden applications just by speaking your request, I would think this would be some of the most sought after applications on any phone – especially the iPhone!

Both embedded and downloadable applications from Nuance Communications can do all of that and more...and they all work on the iPhone. The human voice is a powerful thing, and we think it is the next big step for improving the mobile device. We are excited to see what is next for the WWDC this week!

[Jim @ Jun 10th 2008 1:11AM]

I guess my biggest con would be if it doesn't have voice-dialing/bluetooth headset voice-dialing.

I also hope that it eventually has a video function and MMS. I know, I know, you can e-mail but my parents rarely use e-mail and it would be nice to send them a picture on their phones from time to time.

Not all of my friends and family get their e-mail on their phones. Something "in the moment" is lost if you have to hear from them 4 days later when they finally log onto their RoadRunner account and say "Hey, thanks for that picture of you the other day."

[HBKDinobot @ Jun 10th 2008 1:16AM]

Extra $10 more a month = No Buys.

[Jim @ Jun 10th 2008 1:22AM]

I agree that it's lame that "3G" is $10 more a month over the EDGE. I like my Helio contract I have now which ends up being about $72 a month w/ taxes for 500 min/unlimited data/MMS/SMS but the Ocean just isn't cutting it for me anymore. I'll probably end up getting the new iPhone and paying close to $100/month for a similar plan with AT&T. That's where they get you.

[Zuke @ Jun 10th 2008 1:28AM]

How many damn articles on the iphone can Engadget post in one day? I bet not as many as crave.com!

Glad to see there's other actual news getting some attention here. :)

[Derek Bradley @ Jun 10th 2008 1:28AM]

Can we PLEASE have a separate apple tab next to mobile. If you guys are going to be so dedicated to apple, at least make a separate site so the rest of us who don't care don't have to see it.

[Zuke @ Jun 10th 2008 1:28AM]

Oops. Crave.cnet.com

[Tarvus Domicus @ Jun 10th 2008 1:38AM]

If I never see the words "iPhone 3G" again it will be too soon.