Features rumored are longer battery life, faster speed, and video capability. Size is rumored to be 16GB and 32GB, and Apple may reduce the price of the existing iPhone 3G even further, such as $99 for the previous generation 8GB.
Ever since I cracked the screen on my first-gen iPhone, I've been waiting anxiously for this next revision, and looking forward to upgrading; some are so certain that an upgrade is due that theyll be lined up in front of the Apple store tomorrow morning to be amongst the first to get their new phones. Some are waiting for the announcement to decide whether or not to purchase Palm's recently released Pre.
A few weeks ago I was asked what I thought of the Pre -- for me, a good cellphone is more than the hardware, it also has to have good software too, and that is where the Pre fails -- Palm is at this moment, where Apple was two years ago -- a cellphone with only one provider in the U.S. Palm has an App Store too for the Pre, but there are many more Apps on the iPhone, and the Pre is lacking what I find to be an invaluable feature of the iPhone: Visual Voicemail. The Pre, on the other hand, has a hardware keyboard; something the iPhone lacks; while those who are transitioning from a Treo or a Blackberry have a harder time with the iPhone keyboard; those of use transitioning from no keyboard have a very easy time with the iPhone keyboard; and so the learning curve is steeper for Palm/Blackberry people. Ultimately, the Pre will cater to the niche market of former Treo/Blackberry people, while the iPhone grows the market of smartphone users*. The iPhone is doing what few thought it could do -- not only did the iPhone get people to switch from smartphone to iPhone, but it made the smartphone accessible and usable by everyone.
* In gaming terms, the Pre is Everquest 2, while the iPhone is World of Warcraft. Everquest 2 released about two weeks prior to World of Warcraft, and it was thought at the time that the Massively Multiplayer Online Game market was a closed niche; that in order to get a subscriber, a subscriber must be taken from another online game. This proved to be false, as World of Warcraft not only took the niche audience, but pulled in the general audience as well.
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