Tonight: Fourth Generation iPhone Launch

Apple's WWDC keynote will be taking place this evening, and although we're pretty certain that Steve Jobs will unveil the successor to the iPhone 3G S, we're sure there will be plenty of other announcements at the annual show.

'We've got a great selection of products for the holiday season, and we have several more extraordinary products in the pipeline for this year.'   That's what Steve Jobs said just before he launched the iPad, and this year's Worldwide Developers Conference will be an opportunity to find out more about the company's plans.  This time around, we're already pretty certain what the big news will be, and lots of the firm's competitors will be following the press conference, which starts at 6 PM UK time, very closely.

iPhone Brings Apple New Followers

The star of the show is set to be the latest incarnation of the iPhone, which has proved to be the cornerstone of Apple's recent financial success, making up 40% of its turnover.  Ever since the iPhone 3G, the phone has brought the brand wider recognition, and lots of users have reached to other Apple products after enjoying their experience with an iPhone.  And everybody who has an iPhone also has access to the App Store, with 200 000 apps and 4 billion downloads which represents a very healthy source of income, although Cuperino keeps quiet about just how much it brings in.

The fourth generation of the iPhone was unveiled a few weeks ago by Gizmodo in a bizarre tale involving a working prototype left in a bar—or stolen, depending on whose side of the story you believe—by one of the firm's engineers.  News of the main hardware changes soon followed, including a 5 Megapixel camera (instead of 3 MP on the 3G S) with a flash and zoom, as well as a second camera on the front to allow video calls.

Rumours point to a higher resolution screen, hence the name iPhone HD that has been floated by some, and there are also suggestions of a faster processor and longer battery life.  This new version of the iPhone will also ship with iPhone OS 4, which includes multitasking for the first time.  Will all of that be enough to repeat the success of the iPhone 3G S?  Or to steal a march on Apple's main competitor Google and its Android OS? 

3G S Prices Slashed

The new model is set to arrive before the end of June, with suggestions that it could arrive as soon as June 18 or June 22.  Some analysts are betting on some aggressive pricing, but in the meantime, networks are already lowering the price of the 3G S with a view to clearing the shelves, with the iPhone 3G now available free on a wide range of contracts.

And if all of this hardware news wasn't exciting enough, Jobs is also set to release Safari 5, the latest update of the company's browser, with support for HTML 5 and improved JavaScript rendering.

You can follow the keynote live with Engadget, MacRumors or any one of several other sites ...


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