Non-A-list bloggers on iPhone 3G

iT's iT Blogwatch: in which there's little choice other than to talk about iPhone 3G, but what about the bloggers we don't often hear from? Not to mention logo math...

Gregg Keizer reports:

Apple Inc. CEO Steve Jobs kicked off his company's developers conference today by unveiling a new iPhone that connects to faster 3G-based networks, includes built-in GPS and costs half as much as the current lowest-priced model. The new iPhones -- $199 for one with 8GB of storage space, $299 for 16GB of storage -- will be available starting Friday, July 11 in 22 countries, including Canada, Germany, Japan, the U.K. and the U.S. By the end of the year, said Jobs at the Worldwide Developers Conference (WWDC) in San Francisco, Apple expects to be selling the iPhone in 70 countries ... faster and more feature-packed ... fast download speeds of 3G ... GPS (global positioning system). more

Seth Weintraub adds:

[It's] iPhone's 1st birthday ... 18 seconds on EDGE=5 seconds on 3G=3 seconds on Wifi ... 3G approaches wifi speeds ... GPS! Built-in - not from Cell towers- the iPhone can do tracking...in google maps, you are a pulsing dot going down the road ... Lots of countries...most of the Western Hemisphere (all of North America...70 countries total) ... a white version will be available too! more

And Matt Hamblen boggles:

I was at the Moscone Center in San Francisco. I just finished watching Steve Jobs launch the second generation iPhone. I'm in the secure press area working on my story ... Apple ... kicked reporters out of the developer's conference following the Jobs keynote ... I did get to hold one of the black 3G iPhones, and a white one, and noticed the feel of the plastic rear portion (to allow easy transmission of radio signals) and the slight bulge in the shape. While I was allowed to hold them, I was not allowed to photograph them. It seems that Apple marketeers are holding onto the mystery of their next-gen product until July 11. more

But Charles Starrett has more of a description:

The new phone features a glossy, full-plastic rear casing, which is thinner on the sides than the current version, metal buttons, and a flush headphone jack. As expected, the iPhone 3G retains the 3.5-inch touch screen of the original, and adds support for 3G wireless networking (tri-band HSDPA), as well as true GPS ... 300 hours of standby time, 10 hours of 2G talk time, 5 hours of 3G talk time ... 5-6 hours of high-speed web browsing, 7 hours of video playback, and 24 hours of audio playback. more

G'day, Raymond Basile:

Worldwide rollout date is scheduled for July 11th, 2008. A date that blows chunks for Aussies attending the Sydney Apple store opening on June 19 ... Jobs also announced that the iPhone 2.0 software will be released in early July. It's FREE for all iPhone owners and $9.95 for the owners of Apple's redheaded step child iPod Touch. All great news, but no video for you! more

But Tom Keating's not quite a fanboi:

iPhone 3G redefines what a mobile phone can do, but too bad you have to go to AT&T to get service here. Oh, well. more

Charlie Sorrel thinks of the ecosystem:

The headphone jack, previously a recessed hole into which nothing would fit, has been replaced with a flush socket. Cue the sound of a third party product niche slurping down the plughole ... in response to one of my major complaints, Jobs says that the $200 price point will be enforced throughout the world. The end of Euro price gouging? Fingers crossed. more

So Michael Fowlkes runs the numbers:

A big reason for the release of the the new iPhones is the desire by Apple ... to hit their goal of selling 10 million phones by the end of the year ... While the new phones will be about half the price of the current models, the monthly service plans will be a bit higher. Look for a $39.99 monthly plan, plus another $30 monthly fee for unlimited data. This works out to be about a $10 monthly increase. more

And Bernie Arnason unpicks the detail:

The new pricing reflects a revised partnership agreement between AT&T and Apple. Under the new terms, AT&T will not share iPhone monthly service revenue with Apple, but will subsidize the handset purchase, resulting in the lower costs. The new pricing will be offered based on a two year service agreement with AT&T ... The price drop will certainly put competitive pressure on iPhone's rivals ... AT&T might also see a tangible bounce in subscriber additions due to this new 3G iPhone pricing strategy ... look out Sprint. more

And finally...

• Logo math?

Buffer overflow:

• Evan Schnittman: Looks Like a Million To Me: How I Realized that Amazon's Kindle and Sony's E-Reader Were Exceeding Sales Estimates
• Mike Masnick: Supreme Court Says Patent Holders Can't Shake Down Entire Supply Chain
• Steven Kerr Lindsay: Windows Home Server PP1 RC available to the public
• Chang-Won Kim: Web 2.0? No, it's Society 2.0
• Jesus Diaz: Samsung "Announces" Omnia Cellphone on the Worst Day Ever
• Matt Asay: Is Google making us stupid?
• Ryan Lawler: Akamai, NewsMarket to Drive Olympic Video

Other Computerworld bloggers:

• Thomas Hoffman: Making IT fun
• Mark Hall: CA soups up GRC Manager
• Seth Weintraub: WWDC 2008 predictions
• Mike Elgan: Will Steve Jobs unveil a 'new Newton' today?
• Shark Tank: The secret to a good estimate
• Shark Bait: Arcnet is fast enough!

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Richi Jennings is an independent analyst/adviser/consultant, specializing in blogging, email, and spam. A 21 year, cross-functional IT veteran, he is also an analyst at Ferris Research. You can follow him on Twitter, pretend to be Richi's friend on Facebook, or just use boring old email: blogwatch@richi.co.uk.

Previously in IT Blogwatch:

• Amazon.bomb!
• Firefox 3.0 is so close, we can taste it
• Apple WWDC rumor mill spins faster