iPhone 3GS... with a special note from AT&T

For those of you keeping up with all of your Apple news today, this won't come as much of a shock, but the iPhone 3GS has been officially announced and will be available on June 19th. While the phone doesn't have the often rumored front facing camera, it does have a 3MP camera with auto focus, auto white balance, and a really cool tap to focus feature. Along with that, the iPhone 3GS lets you record 30 fps VGA video with audio, and gives you all the same features that the camera provides. Schiller says that, "I can tap share and send it in an email... (and) if my carrier supports it (AT&T... burn), I can send as an MMS."

Also included is the new voice control feature which lets you basically talk to your phone, giving you all the more reason to stop talking the people you know and love. If you ask it what song is playing, the phone will happily reply with the song. If you say, play more songs like this, a genius like feature turns on and plays similar songs. The voice command also works with calling, making apps like Vlingo obsolete. Poor, poor Vlingo. Other new features include a built in compass, hardware encryption, and a much needed Nike+ chip. Maybe now I will start running again... thanks Apple.

The thing that excites me the most about the phone is the upgraded speed. I don't believe that any hardware specs were announced, but Apple claims that the phone is about 2x faster across the board. Also included is 7.2Mbps HSDPA, which, assuming AT&T successfully upgrades their towers, will make the internet much more enjoyable.

The price point for the phone is still $199 and $299, but now for 16 and 32GB versions. The 8GB iPhone will also still be for sale at a garage sale like $99.

Check out all the new features of the iPhone 3GS and the new 3.0 software at http://www.apple.com/iphone/. Very cool stuff.

Edit: Very important note written in the small print on the Apple website.

Requires new two-year AT&T wireless service contract, sold separately to qualified customers; credit check required; must be 18 or older. For non-qualified customers, including existing AT&T customers who want to upgrade from another phone or replace an iPhone 3G, the price with a new two-year agreement is $499 (8GB), $599 (16GB), or $699 (32GB). Visit www.wireless.att.com for eligibility information.

Thanks AT&T.