Apple Announces iPhone 3G S - Ships June 19

oneAwake, I agree. AT&T is mucking up these new iPhone releases (tethering still in question, MMS delay, etc.).
And why is there still no FM radio in an iPhone?

Was there a ram update?

I am mildly dissapointed. It does have some cool upgrades but even though i am an Iphone fanboy, this absolutely does not blow the Pre out of the water. We were told to expect technology "light years ahead" but today was just kind of ....blah.
However, the voice search is pretty awesome. I just watched the walkthrough demo at apple.com/iphone....some cool stuff but didn't knock my socks off like i was expecting. The one thing i loved about the Pre is how it used Cards and you could have multiple apps, web pages, calender all open and with a swipe of the finger get rid of them. The iphone's answer to this is to make it faster to load apps but we will still be hitting the Home button over and over. Grade C+
I'll probably still buy one ;)

I have been holding my trigger on the new Iphone but it's kinda disappointing me. I really think the major thing is the OS 3.0, not the hardware itself

Apple is out to make money, not to give you the best device they can design everytime. iPhone 1 could have easily had 95% of the facets iPhone 3Gs has!

I'm getting tired of hearing, iPhone 1 could have had this, could have had this. It didn't so deal with it, and drop it. My god.
Now on to the topic, I agree with stervegas and look. I too was disappointed, but oh well apple will do what apple will do.
I feel somewhat jipped to be honest on the limitations that are now on the 3G, as half the new "features" are really just software, that we know can be used on the 3G not just the 3G[s]. I guess Ill have to take a closer look on the 17th.

Seriously, this is a massive
Only a 3meg camera ? The video had better be decent.
I still think Palm will make a lot out of this failure.

@daniel of course that's the reason they do it. If they gave you the perfect phone, then they wouldn't have anything to sell you later.

I think everything was okay. Not enough to wait on a line for another phone but okay. The new features are cool both nothing over the top like damn I have to get this new phone. I will wait for my upgrade date, not spending an extra hundred just to have it right now. The most upsetting part is ATT honestly. They really need to get this network up to par for all the costs that incur having this phone. When they said we would still have to wait until the summer for MMS I was like ATT is really full of it. So does it mean all the other phones on the network who already have MMS are not going to have MMS until its up and running for the iPhone? Not! Give me a break those guys are snakes. Just figuring out a way to bang us. If they dont come up with an unlimited data plan that includes unlimited texts for like 40 bucks Im gonna flip! But on another note Apple is still serving all the other ones out there. You have to be honest.

Extremely disappointed in Apple, I think they have finally found a way to slowly start the demise of the iphone and speed up the rise of the pre and all other halfway descent handsets that follow! Where is the multitasking?

I'm not sure why anyone had higher expectations. Apple is known for slowly adding a few features here and there just enough to want to upgrade. I'm sure they've got it thought out for the next few years on what just to add.
Making money is their priority.

@ Richard
I am sorry. If everyone knew you were tired of hearing the iPhone 1 "should have"'s everytime a new phone comes out, then nobody would say them, just because YOU are tired of hearing it. The "should have"s are completely on topic, because people are tired of getting jipped by corporate america! I am sticking with my iPhone 3G.

Did O2 say that they would allow tethering with the new iPhone? Please answer Rene :)

While I am mildly disappointed in the new line of phones, I am happy with 3.0...for the most part. I wish video capabilities were available for the 3G. If Apple doesn't want to do it, they can at least approve some of the existing apps out there.
oneAwake, the whole issue with 3G signals is completely dependent on location. I have been extremely happy with my 3G signal strength and speeds. I rarely have dropped 3G signal.

@ jstrickland
The point is that At&t is the oldest, richest most popular network, but their 3G is known to be slower than Sprint's and Verizon's even if all three had full signal strength at any given location. Well known fact.

Wow, some overly harsh criticism. Why do we judge Apple on every dream world gadget wishlist and not others? All companies' device updates are incremental since they have to balance the latest innovation vs. profitability. This is equivalent to whining that all apps should be free or $1.99 even if thousands of hours of labor went into making something.
I think faster data access, faster processor, voice control, video recording, improved autofocus camera, compass, fingerprint resistant casing, improved battery, double the memory, and Nike+ are a very significant upgrade. The inline remote control support will be awesome with the voice control as well. It would be even better if voice control integrates with bluetooth car kits. If spotlight (which already outperforms the universal search on the Pre) also integrates with voice control, this will be amazing.
I've been on the fence of Pre or iPhone and this announcement may have put me over the fence toward the iPhone GS. In an ideal world I'd like a few more things such as front facing camera with video chat, a 5MP camera w/flash, higher res OLED display, and 3rd party background apps (Slacker/Pandora/Simplify/Wunderradio would be sufficient). However, what we got was better than I expected and who has all of these things anyway. What's the standard here (besides an excuse to troll)? If you selectively compare the best features of every other phone out there to the iPhone, Apple will always come up short. There is no single phone that tops every other phone on features and there may never be.
The Pre has plenty of failings and in my opinion the Pre only best the iPhone with 3rd party background apps, consolidated notifications and cloud integration. Personally, I've not been impressed by what I've seen over the weekend of reports on the performance of the cloud integration because most of the cloud sites are flaky on contact management (hello google). Sure this will improve in time. As for the notifications, luckily I'm not a big on IM, text message, etc. If you get hundreds a day, this is a much bigger advantage. The lack of 3rd party background apps does suck, but that's my only remaining reservation.
The dream feature I still want from the iPhone or any other smartphone is a world class audio processor chip, so I can get better utility from higher end headphones and lossless audio files. Then I'll no longer need a separate media player. We don't know yet what chips have changed with the 3GS, but I doubt the audio processor is one of them. That said, no other smartphone has better audio processing than the iPhone.
The list of features that the iPhone bests others (including the Pre) on is enormous. With the 3GS improvements, OS 3.0, Tom Tom app and real document editing coming, I think my Treo 700p is finally being retired for an iPhone 3GS.

@ Daniel
I can only speak from experience. Here in Memphis, it seems that AT&T is much more reliable than other places. Even if Sprint and Verizon offer faster 3G speeds, it doesn't help if holding the signal is a constant problem. In my area that problem exists with the CDMA carriers...not AT&T.

AT&T advised me today via phone that the upgrade for existing 3G users will be:
$399 for 16gb
$499 for 32gb
There is no discounted upgrade path after the first year contract period has passed (July '09 or later).
I asked if there was an official announcement or memo about prices and he said coming soon... Can anyone confirm these fees?

AT&T gave me the same prices, but said I was eligible for the 199/299 on July 25th. Anyone else find out his/her upgrade eligibility date?

Just got an email from Apple. It says pricing for existing 3G customers is 499/599/699. Not a chance at those prices?
WTF is Apple thinking? I am so tired of getting screwed when new versions are available and all price breaks go for new customers and not existing customers.

I brought the Palm Pre. Lets just say the phone is nice but the service here in my area with sprint sucks. I know its' the service and not the phone that stinks. I drove to pick up my kids and ended up with R on the right hand corner????? What the hell. Guess if I can't unlock the sucker Ill be returning it.
As far as the Iphone comments, we all know they have us by the perverbial balls here. We all want the newest and best things out there and they bank on that. If we didn't want or expect more then guess what they wouldn't have anyone to ***** over, and then maybe we could be the ones calling the shots, but that is not the case. (I am guilty myself) Maybe a phone or smart phone should be just that, not a gaming toy or a camera etc...then maybe we would get what we really need on these things.
Just wanted to put it out there, Im sure someone will tell me to stick it where the sun don't shine and to keep my posts to myself, thats ok. I don't care. I will not be posting any replys to those.
You know what they say about opinions and a**holes, everyone has them and they all stink... especially if you don't like what is said.

I think it's a great day. Huge improvements over my first gen 8 gb! Must decide between 16 or 32 gb now... Mmm

WTF???
Why do i see nothing but "i'm disappointed" Waaaaa waaaa, nothing but cry babies.
What did you expect? what did you want the new iPhone to do, Feed you and change your diaper for you?
Were getting better BATTERY Life, VIDEO + video editing (dont make some lame excuse blah blah jailbreaking has it) Yes it does, but this will clearly be a BETTER picture. Were also getting a faster processing phone.
These are really nice upgrades to an already amazing device.
THere's not enough tissues for all these tears im seeing. Get a grip on reality. nothing else beats the iPhone and now that the 3Gs is coming out, nothing will even come close.
Also i just have to laugh at the excuse comments im seeing for justifying how its not worth it.
I saw one comment say "Im not impresses with a better megapixel camera ive got a sony 7 megapixel in my pocket".
OK???? isnt that the whole reason of owning ONE device, or should i say stepping forward in technology not backwards?

I have to say that i am not a fan of the Iphone. I am a Blackberry user. But I have always just wondered why in the world can you not send text pics on the Iphone. That is probably the dumbest thing I have ever heard.

Has anyone visited the Apple website to look at the 3G vs. 3GS side-by-side? Battery life is barely better on 3GS. In fact, talk time is the same, as is standby. Only video and audio battery time is better. I don't think they made the battery better, but just made those apps take less juice from the battery.
http://www.apple.com/iphone/compare-iphones/

AT&T ruins all. Can we have Cingular back? They were a friendly, non-monstrous company.

Does anyone know if there will be an update coming out for the Iphone 3g that will include any of these features? or are we relegated to upgrading the phone entirely? Thanks!

EH! Keeping my 2G still. Works like new, never a problem I couldn't handle, great battery life, fast enough on Safari (and faster with 3.0 due to new rendering capabilities I hear), great look, and all the capabilities I need. Never liked video cameras on cell phones (silly), don't care about MMS (hardly use), steroe bluetooth kills battery life (and only 5 hours talk time? C'mon!)... the other updates are worth more, not just toys. Frankly, it's an iPod that on the side is a phone. Isn't that enough, folks?

@jtz5:
I'd have to agree - if you read the fine print, the battery life figures for 3G are from pre-production units done last year! I'd bet that if they are redone on 3.0 firmware, that the figures would be identical.
@Mike:
Most of the software features are there for 3G - only the ones related to new hardware are missing. And Apple considers the updated camera and speed necessary for video, so it's reserved for the 3GS as well, even though the 3G can do it - just not at the same level of quality.
Check the link provided by jtz5 for a quick comparison.

The battle rages. This is fun: I'm liking the iphone but loving the storm. Smartphone smackdown! woohoo! http://coolintl.com/?p=149 More interesting fodder-and the debate rages

Does anyone know when tethering data plan from AT&T will be available. Why are they offer 'tethering' if they have no plan...I'm not going to buy this phone now. Or so I'm leaning heavily that way. When I heard it had tethering, I was excited, but now the AT&T Mobility store said it had no plan as of June 10, 2009.