Touching is believing

Apple's iPhone 3G is almost here, writes Garry Barker.

Ever since January last year, when Steve Jobs and Phil Schiller talked to one another on the world's first publicly displayed iPhones on the Macworld stage in San Francisco, we have been marvelling at the beauty of the device and the technological wonders of its touch-screen interface.

Now we have iPhone 3G, the broadband iPhone for which all of us have been waiting. Australia will get it on July 11 through Optus, Vodafone and the by-then-open-for-business Apple Store in Sydney (Melbourne's Chadstone to follow soon). Apple dealers apparently have to resell from Optus or Vodafone.

Telstra will so far say only that we should watch this space. Sol Trujillo is to open a big new Telstra store in the Melbourne CBD on June 29, which could be an opportunity for an iPhone 3G announcement.

Telstra has about 50% of the Australian mobile market and neither Optus nor Vodafone offers either EDGE in GSM or the speed levels available on Next G. Optus talks in general about its new HSPA (high-speed packet access) national mobile network, but it will be on 900MHz not the 850 MHz band that Next G uses and that iPhone has.

The sticking point with Telstra may be revenue sharing, or it could be the level of subsidy the carrier will pay. Apple was extracting a share of data-traffic revenue from carriers in the US and Europe but may have given that up in exchange for subsidy deals.

Steve Jobs says the new iPhone will be available in 22 countries from July 11 and 70 countries by year's end, priced at $US199 (for the 8GB model - about $A210); another $US100 for 16GB) in all of those 22countries. Neither Apple, nor Optus or Vodafone, has spoken of an Australian price, but if Mr Jobs is correct, we may see on-plan subsidised deals ranging from (maybe) $0 to $300 or so for the 8GB model.

So, to the iPhone 3G itself. Perhaps remarkably, we of the rumour-spreading fraternity got its specifications almost completely correct. That may mean that deep in a bunker at Apple's Cupertino fortress, there is a team saving Apple a fortune in advertising costs by skilfully planting rumours. Seldom has so much drama and anticipation been built up over the advent of a new consumer device, dubbed by Time magazine the invention of the year - not PlayStation, not Xbox nor any other mobile phone, ever.

So, is iPhone 3G all we expected? The answer is a clear yes, with a single caveat: a 5 megapixel camera, rather than the 2 meg it has, would have been nice.

Yes, it is tri-band 3G running 850MHz, 1900MHz and 2100MHz and quad-band GSM-EDGE. Yes, it has a more powerful, less power-hungry CPU giving much better battery life, and, importantly, GPS for real-time tracking and location-based applications, and a lot more.

It is much faster than the old 2.5G iPhone at half the price, and it still has all the finger-pointing, swiping, squeezing features on its big, 3.5inch high-resolution screen. There's also a 3.5mm jack for hi-fi headphones.

You can multitask, talking on the phone while you browse the internet, get and send email or photographs and not only find out where you are, but where your friends are lurking. About the only thing iPhone 3G can't do is make a bacon and egg sandwich, but it can easily show you where to get one, let you phone in your order and SMS your friends where to meet you.

The iPhone has also joined the corporate suits. As we've previously surmised, iPhone 3G supports Microsoft Exchange and Cisco IPsec VPN encryption. This is a vitally important enhancement and a heap of Fortune 500 companies in the US have now given it thumbs up.

iPhone 3G will talk to and sync with a Mac or a PC over the internet or via a USB cable to get software updates and other information and it links seamlessly by wi-fi or a mobile phone network with MobileMe, a new internet-based communications system replacing .Mac, of which more in Macfile on this page.