Newsletter 39  July 2008/2

Only last December, Forrester was suggesting that the then-standard iPhone should not necessarily be on IT managers’ lists of supported devices. With the launch of the new iPhone 3G last week, some pundits are changing their tune. For instance, Martin Warner, co-founder of Technology of Tomorrow 2008, says the device is “the first mobile phone that works much more like a handheld PC”.

The new version of the phone has built-in GPS for location-based mobile services, and its iPhone 2.0 software includes support for Microsoft Exchange ActiveSync, as well MS Office document viewing support. However, the iPhone continues to run Apple’s proprietary operating system (a version of its desktop OS), which distinguishes it from 3G phones running more generic software such as Symbian.

The new version has the same touch-sensitive glass-covered screen as the previous version, and the range as a whole is expected to have sold 10 million units by the end of this year.

UK prices on the O2 network are understood to start at £100 for the 3GB version. The 8GB version costs somewhat more.