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The good news is, Apple's iPhone 3G, which chief Apple buffer Steve Jobs announced earlier today, will load Web pages and download files more than twice as fast as the current EDGE version, includes true GPS capabilities, can manipulate Microsoft Office documents, will be available in 8 and 16 GB versions for $199 and $299 respectively (with the usual contract stipulations), and new iPhone 2.0 firmware will open the door to a flood of innovative iPhone native applications, which will either be free or cost just $9.99.

The bad news is, you'll have to wait a month to get it all. The new iPhone 3G models and the new iPhone 2.o (free to iPhone owners, $99 for iTouch owners) won't go on sale until July 11.

Among the 3G's simpler improvements is a flush headphone jack, which means you don't have to search for the rare compatible set of headphones or headphone/mic combos. While we don't yet have the actual physical details, the iPhone 3G retains the original's 3.5-inch LCD screen and the 2 MP camera but still no video, and is almost exactly the same size – it's just .02 inches thicker and .1 ounce lighter. 

Considering how much more there'll be to play with, it's a good thing the new model gets a battery boost – 300 hours of 3G standby, 10 hours of 2G talk-time (original has only 5), 5 hours of 3G talk-time (most 3G phones only have 3 hours of talk time), 5 to 6 hours of 3G browsing, 7 hours of video, and 24 hours of iPod music playback.

Labels: cellphones