My Thoughts on the Economy

On June 9, at the Worldwide Developers Conference (WWDC) in San Francisco, Steve Jobs unveiled the new 3G iPhone.

Steve Jobs began the presentation by talking about iPhone 2.0. Apple started the developer program on March 6. In 95 days 250,000 downloaded the iPhone SDK, 25,000 developers applied, and 4,000 were admitted into the beta program. Steve Jobs offered testimonials of enterprise customers who had been testing the iPhone’s enterprise features over the past few months. Apple’s Scott Forestall then took the stage to discuss the iPhone SDK. He also explained the similarities between iPhone’s operating system and Mac OS X. Much of this material had been covered in SDK’s announcement in March.

Next, speakers discussed various applications of the iPhone. Some of these applications are free while others cost $9.99. One of the new applications include Loopt’s location-based application, a feature that lets you locate where your friends are. The application even provides maps and directions. You can also read their daily journals and see their photos. This feature seems to blend maps with social networking tools. This could mean competition for myspace or facebook. From eBay, to music, to games, to medical applications, there is something for everyone.

Steve Jobs then returned to the stage to discuss new features for iPhone 2.0. Such features include contact search, iWork document support, parental controls, added languages, and a scientific calculator. Then Steve Jobs discussed the new App Store, where you can buy third-party applications for your iPhone.

Next, Phil Schiller discussed MobileMe, a new set of web tools that let you manage online content. MobileMe delivers push emails, contacts, and calendars to your iPhone. MobileMe stores photo galleries and web information you can access from your Mac, PC, or iPhone.

Finally as the icing on the cake, Steve Jobs took the stage to discuss “something that’s near and dear to my heart, the iPhone.” Nearing the one-year anniversary of the iPhone, Steve Jobs was proud of selling six million iPhones and having 90 percent customer satisfaction. Steve Jobs then discussed the next challenges: 3G networking, enterprise support, third-party application support, international support, and cost.

Steve Jobs compared the new 3G iPhone to other 3G phones, showing that the iPhone downloaded faster and had longer battery life. The new 3G iPhone has 300 hours of standby time, 5 hours of talk time, 5-6 hours of browsing time, and longer for video or audio. Enterprise support and third party applications are also available.

Most importantly, as Steve Jobs proudly proclaimed, the iPhone will be affordable! The first iPhone was $599 and is now $399. However, this new 3G iPhone will cost $199. It will be available on July 11.

Although I am excited about this new iPhone, I may wait awhile before purchasing. With the rapid changes and improvements in Apple technology, one never knows what exciting new products could arrive in the next few years.