New iPhone: More speed, less coin

Many people anticipated the new iPhone was going to scrap the EDGE network for the 3G technology for faster downloads and Internet access.

What was not anticipated by many was a price reduction that could have it flying off the shelves faster than the early versions.

Apple CEO Steve Jobs introduced the new iPhone at the start of Apple’s five-day Worldwide Developers Conference at Moscone Center West in San Francisco. The cost of the new 8GB is version is $199, and the 16GB version will cost $299.

Compare that the Apple iPod Touch, a device which I own which is basically an "iPhone without the phone," in which the 8GB model sells for $299, and it sure looks like this a helluva deal for an improved version of a popular product.

I'll let those first adopters and gadget freaks make that call. But Apple is making the new iPhone sound like an awfully tempting buy, especially when Jobs claims this version of iPhone, despite the new 3G power-gobbling technology, will have a battery that will hold 300 hours of stand-by time, five to six hours of high-speed Internet browsing and seven hours of video viewing.

Those specs should make techheads, and businesspersons on the go -- very happy.

The new iPhone will be available July 11 -- just a few days after my birthday (hint, hint, relatives.)

For more on the IPhone, go to www.apple.com.