Apple announced the iPhone 3Gs and release 3.0 today. The iPhone 3Gs will be available in about a week. The 16 GB version is $199, the 32 GB version is $299. The older iPhone 3G price drops to $99. Release 3.0 is a free upgrade. Here is my take:
What I like 
Hardware encryption – Finally! An enterprise can perform iPhone encryption. Expect to see 3rd party security applications take advantage of this capability in the near future.
Instantaneous remote-wipe – An essential capability for any enterprise. Expect to see 3rd party management applications like Trust Digital and Credant to support this capability in the near future.
Supports HSPA+ (7.2Mpbs download) – Nice, but the REAL question is WHEN will AT&T improve overall wireless performance (Radio Access Network AND backhaul network) so that the end user experiences a significant performance boost?
iPhone tethering – This allows a laptop or PC to use the 3G network for communication. Unfortunately, AT&T is not supporting this feature!
Apps load/run 2- 3 times faster – Who doesn’t love this?
Improved battery life – WiFi-9 hrs, audio-30 hrs, video-10hrs – This is good, but 3G talk time did not improve (still 5 hours) and 2G talk time improved a little (5 to 7 hours).
Voice activated commands (includes voice activated dialing) – This is a “me too” feature that Apple has integrated into other apps (not just voice dialing).
Video camera and embedded compass – These are nice, but not really necessary for the Enterprise.
Remote control of 3rd party hardware – Release 3.0 now allows software developers to create wireless protocols that operate between the iPhone and 3rd party hardware. At the WWDC today, Apple showed an iPhone communicating with Johnson and Johnson a heart monitor. This capability allows enterprises to develop custom applications that integrate the iPhone with their products.
Cut and paste – Finally!
MMS – Finally! (But, AT&T will not have this capability until Fall 2009).
What I don’t like 
Poor iPhone provisioning – The iPhone does not yet support real “over the air” provisioning. If an IT department wants to provision an iPhone (3G or 3Gs), they need to email the configuration profile to the user and then the user installs the profile. Alternatively, an IT department can email /text a URL to each user and then the user needs to click on the URL to initiate profile installation. This is kind of kludgy because it requires end user intervention. I prefer this capability to be under IT control.
No SDRAM slot – Can’t add more memory
No user-facing video camera – No video conferencing yet!
No 802.11n – I presume this is due to battery consumption issues.
Expensive upgrade – For existing AT&T customers who want to replace an iPhone 3G, the price with a new two-year agreement is $599 (16GB), or $699 (32GB). NOTE: AT&T has since backed off on this position, so that even existing iPhone users will be able to upgrade their phone at the discounted rates of $199/$299.
All in all, this is a good step forward and will put further pressure on IT departments to support the iPhone.
Just love the new 32gb iPhone. Ultimate gadget for me. Nice post.