The new iPhone is out!

TUESDAY, JUNE 9, 2009 AT 9:37AM

The apple World Wide Developer Conference came and went, bringing some exciting news on the hardware and software fronts for iPhone lovers across the globe.

As predicted by many the iPhone 3.0 software version is out and will be available for download on the 17th of June.  With it come additional features and tweaks to the current iPhones, breathing new life into them.

Much awaited cut-and-paste is finally here.  Leave it to Apple to have people cheering about a feature which is standard on all smartphones.  It will be a relief to finally be able to copy and paste information from emails & SMSs into other applications.

Tethering is also finally here, this will allow iphone users to use the iPhone internet connection to browse the internet from their laptops.  Not a big deal for us in India right now, but will be great once we get 3G!

There are a number of additional enhancements to existing features.  Landscape mode, stereo bluetooth and synchronizing of notes to name a few.  Go here to see all the new features in the 3.0 update and remember to download it June 17th! Best of all it is free to all iPhone users!!

New iPhone 3GS is out! 

People had been speculating about a new iPhone being announced but it wasn't till 24 hours or so before the WWDC that anyone talked about the iPhone being in stores this quickly.  Line up for your new iPhone on June 19th (USA). Most of the rumours I heard talked about announcing a new iPhone this week for release in the fall.

The S (in 3GS) stands for Speed, which should give some indication of the biggest improvement in the iPhone over the 3G.  Though in all fairness it should have been called the Video, since for most people that will be the newest feature.  In addition to the long awaited video capability the iPhone 3GS comes with an upgraded 3 MP camera that has touch focus, which means you can select the area within the photo frame to focus on.

For me the most compelling reason to upgrade to the 3GS would be the additional processor speed.  My current Macbook Pro is 5 years old and I've basically replaced it with my iPhone 3G for email and web browsing.  The MBP is now relegated to the music storage device and podcast downloader for synching with the iPhone.  There are times when the lag on the iPhone really irks me so I'd love the speed bump being promised by Apple.

The 3GS will also come with some additional goodies like a built in compass and a better case back that promises to be less of a stain magnet. In all other respects though the new iPhone will be visually identical to the previous model.

Specific to India, I've not seen a confirmation yet, but word on the street is that Vodafone and Airtel will bring the new iPhone to India in August and offer the MMS and tethering functionality!  I'm really stressed out since this only gives me 3 months to convince my wife that an iPhone would be the ideal present for a loving husband like me :-)