Apple has unveiled the new iPhone 3GS and clipped the price of its current 8-gigabyte model to $99. Apple claims that its new model opens applications and web sites twice as fast as iPhone 3G, its current version.
The new model reportedly features a compass, a 3 megapixel autofocus camera, video recording capabilities, hands-free voice control, GPS satellite navigation for location-based services, and iPhone OS 3.0 with new features such as cut, copy and paste, MMS, spotlight search and landscape keyboard.
Palm launched ‘Pre’, its latest attempt to recover ground in the smartphone market, days before Apple unveiled its new model.
The company said that the new iPhone will be available in the US on June 19 for a suggested retail price of $199 for the 16GB model and $299 for the 32GB model.
Apple said that it will introduce the model in more than 80 countries in the coming weeks.
Phil Schiller, Apple’s senior vice president and marketing chief, said: This is the most powerful, fastest iPhone ever made.
The company adds that the new device should last longer between battery charges, overcoming one of the shortcomings of the earlier iPhones. It is expected to operate on Wi-Fi networks for up to nine hours, compared with the six hours-stretch of current models.
Apple holds about 11% of the world’s smartphone market, trailing Nokia’s 41% and BlackBerry maker Research in Motion’s 20%, according to Q1 09 Gartner figures
