New iPhone shows Apple still gets it

By Jim Jubak

Apple (AAPL, news, msgs) will launch its newest version of the iPhone in the next few days or weeks. Nobody knows exactly when, but the best guess is somewhere between June 9 and July 15.

The new phone, designed to work on high-speed third-generation (3G) wireless networks, will shake up the wireless phone and personal computer markets just as the iPod and the original iPhone did.

I'd buy this stock before the announcement. In fact, I'm adding it to Jubak's Picks with this column.

• Talk back: How do you view prospects for the new iPhone and Apple's stock?

The original version of the iPhone, following on the heels of the iPod, helped revive the Apple brand in the United States. The company's Macintosh line of personal computers, once written off as a dying brand, saw unit sales climb 51% in the second quarter of fiscal 2008. That's about three times the growth rate for the PC industry in the quarter, albeit from a much smaller base.

This newest generation of the iPhone promises to do the same thing for Apple outside the U.S. Because the new iPhone will run on the faster 3G networks that dominate Europe and much of Asia, Apple will be able to sell to a much bigger consumer market.

And because the newest version of the iPhone will include software that syncs with Microsoft's Exchange, the dominant corporate e-mail system with a 60% share, the phone will give Apple a chance to sell into a corporate market that has so far been immune to the jazz of Apple design and ease of use. (Microsoft owns MSN Money.)

Mysterious but undoubtedly fast

Apple has been its usual close-mouthed self about the product and the launch, so a lot of the details are still up in the air, including the launch date. Veteran members of the Apple-watching industry have gotten ahold of memos from Apple and its U.S. wireless partner, AT&T (T, news, msgs), telling employees not to go on vacation between June 15 and July 12, so that period looks like the most likely for the launch. It could come as early as Monday, however, during the Apple Worldwide Developers Conference in San Francisco.

The lack of information has let imaginations run wild. The new phone may be 20% slimmer than the existing iPhone -- or slightly thicker due to new functions such as a GPS receiver for personal navigation. The phone's memory may be doubled to enable users to download bigger files over the Internet. The new iPhone might even offer a better built-in camera with a cutting-edge liquid lens.

We do know one thing for sure: This version of the iPhone will be able to use blazingly fast 3G networks, with transmission speeds of 3.6 megabits per second, about 10 times faster than the current iPhone. What will users get for that speed, assuming the wireless service they use has upgraded its network to 3G?

• Faster Internet browsing.

• Video capture and messaging.

• Cut and paste of embedded video.

• Web 2.0 features such as chat.

• GPS personal navigation.

Continued: iPhone in Europe

 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | next >