Apple Announces Gaming-Centric iPhone

via Kotaku


Apple's newest iPhone 3GS will be the most powerful yet with more robust graphics and a faster network connection when it hits on June 19 for $200 to $300, the company announced today during their annual World Wide Developers Conference.

The iPhone 3GS will hit the same week as the new game-centric 3.0 firmware for the iPhone and iPod Touch. The 3GS will sell for $199 for the 16GB version and $299 for the 32GB version. The original 3G will stay on the market for $99 with 8GB of storage.

Apple calls it "the most powerful, fastest iPhone we've ever made."

With the 3GS, launching messaging is faster, viewing Excel is faster and loading SimCity is 2.4 faster. The 3Gs will include a 3MP autofocus camera, 30FPS VGA video capturing and supports OpenGL/Es and 7.2 Mbps HSDPA. The 3GS will also include a built-in digital compass.

The device's battery life has also been improved, with the 3Gs getting nine hours of life on Wifi, compared to the 3G's six, and 30 on audio, compared to 3G's 10.

Last week sources told Kotaku that the new iPhone would sport a gaming-centric 3D graphics chip, run on a faster national network. We were also told that Apple's 3.0 firmware for their existing iPhones, which includes a bounty of new features for gaming, will hit on the same day.

This year the World Wide Developers Conference drew 5,200 developers from 54 countries. Apple also announced today that they have sold more than 40 million iPhones and iPod Touch. They've also logged more than a billion downloads and the App Store has 50,000 programs. That's quite an install base.

Apple's firmware and this new iPhone come at a time when the company is seeing huge growth in the games flooding their App Store. The company seems to be a crossroads of sorts, one that has folks like the Entertainment Software Association sort of hinting that they need to dive in with both feet.