Apple's CEO Steve Jobs has personally announced the much anticipated iPhone 3G, the next generation of Apples's wildly successful PDAPhone. As you would expect, the new device now supports the much faster 3G wireless technology. The other big change with the iPhone 3G is the addition of an integrated GPS, something that puts this device on my list of possible devices now. The 8GB version will be black only, while the 16GB model will be available in black or white.

If you recall, the original iPhone met with much consumer angst about Apple's policy for third-party applications. The iPhone 3G will be able to run native third-party applications that have been approved by Apple. Current iPhones will get a system software upgrade to allow them to do this also. The iPhone 3G won't be available until next month, however Jobs announced a much wider worldwide availability than the original model.

The big addition of 3G capability will allow the new iPhone to operate at much faster speeds similar to WiFi. One of the big reasons Jobs gave for excluding 3G originally was battery life. Apple says the new iPhone will offer 300 hours of standby time, 10 hours of talk time on a GSM network, or 5 hours of talk time on a 3G connection. While browsing the Web, the battery life is expected to be 5 or 6 hours. Users will 7 hours of video viewing or 24 hours listening on a single charge. Unfortunately, the battery is still not user removable, meaning that if you are on the road and don't have access to a charger then you would be out of luck when it goes dead. Still, the projected battery life looks pretty good.

The iPhone 3G will be released on July 11 in 22 countries. The 8 GB version will sell for $200, while the 16 GB version will be $300 in the U.S.. This is quite a bit less than the original version sold for, however the data service plan with AT&T Wireless will be going from $20 to $30 per month meaning that you will ultimately be paying more for the iPhone 3G than the iPhone. It appears that the original iPhone will no longer be available. Apple indicated that many of the new iPhone 3G features will be rolled out to the original iPhone via a software update in July that occurs at the time of availability of the iPhone 3G. This update will be free.

In addition to the iPhone 3G, Apple has announced the MobileMe service which will provide functions similar to Microsoft Exchange for users that don't have access to a such a corporate capability. Users will be able to synchronize their emails, contacts, and calendars, not only with their iPhone but also with a Mac or Windows computer. For those that have Exchange, support for it is being added to the iPhone as well. If you are like me and use Lotus Notes for this function, you are still without a good solution.

The iPhone 3G looks like it will be another winner for Apple and its selected carriers.