Starbucks Goes Mobile: Pay For Coffee With Your iPhone

by Christina Warren

Starbucks and the iPhone are sort of the perfect combination. You can browse the web for free on the AT&T hotspots, you can buy in-store songs from iTunes right from your phone, and now you can use two new official iPhone apps.

Now available in the App Store, myStarbucks (iTunes Link) and Starbucks Card Mobile (iTunes Link) let users find their nearest Starbucks and manage their Starbucks Card. If you live near one of 16 stores in the Seattle or Bay Area, you can even pay for your purchases with the Starbucks Card Mobile app via barcode.

Starbucks is a little late to the store-locator game, as a number of unofficial applications — both free and paid — already exist to show store locations or keep track of your Starbucks Card balance, but the official apps offer a lot of functionality, great design, and an unbeatable price — free.

In myStarbucks, you can find the locations near you, either by entering in your address or letting the app use your iPhone or iPod touch’s built-in GPS or WiFi locator. You can search for stores based on certain factors, like drive-thru, operating hours (are they open now) and what type of food they offer. You can also add a store to your favorite’s list and call the store directly from the app or invite people in your address book to join you for a latte. The app was developed by the team at Small Society and they did an amazing job with the interface and design.

One of the cooler features is the ability create your own drink configurations — hot and cold –and save them. The order is viewable and you can show it to a barista if you are in a hurry. Hopefully, the pay via iPhone () option is rolled out across more locations, because combined with the drink configuration tool, it would certainly make grabbing coffee more convenient.

What do you think about store-branded iPhone apps? What are some of your favorites?

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First look: Madden NFL 10 for the iPhone

Electornic Arts' flagship sports franchise has landed on the iPhone and iPod touch

by Chris Holt, Macworld.com

Madden NFL 10 iPhone features real teams, real players, and every NFL stadium. If you want to see Drew Brees battle the San Francisco 49ers at Candlestick Park, this is your game. If you want to draw your own plays, master the nickel defense, and make a strategic quarterback change, you only need to make a few taps and you’re ready to go.

After a year of development, Madden NFL 10 looks to be one of the best sports games to the come to the iPhone. Electronic Arts has clearly put in time with this product to not only give players a fun and intuitive sports simulator, but also ensured the game stayed true to the Madden franchise’s lofty standards.

I sat down with Jeremy Gross, producer of Madden NFL 10, and Chris Dreyer, the product manager for the title and they walked me through the game.

Seasoned veterans of the series will appreciate that Madden NFL 10 features commentary from John Madden himself, deep rosters of every team, and over 200 plays on offense and over a 100 on defense. Dedicated players can enjoy the season feature and play an entire season as their favorite team. There’s also a multiplayer feature in development and a soundtrack that features five songs from the console version of the game. You can also load songs from your iPhone to create your own soundtrack. So if you want to listen to Kiss’s “Detroit Rock City” while you play as the Lions, you can.

Casual players will be drawn to the game because of its intuitive interface and controls. iPhone games are ideally suited for short play sessions, and EA astutely determined that the game should save after every play. So if you ever have to stop and exit the game for whatever reason-receiving a phone call, for example-you can resume your game where you left off. You also won’t be penalized for delay of game if you have to leave the game for a while or take longer to decide what play to call, explains Gross.

Controlling your team is surprisingly easy. The Madden franchise has become such a deep, rich, and complex sports simulation series that it can often be unapproachable to new players. But EA has done a masterful job of translating the various nuances to the iPhone’s unique control scheme.

With just a flick of the finger, you can sort through what teams you’d like to play and what plays you’d like to call. I selected my hometown San Francisco 49ers to play against the Oakland Raiders in a little Bay Area exhibition. After I received the ball and was quickly tackled, I started on offense. I quickly selected a play with a flick and a tap and then I decided to reverse it and create my own “hot route.” Dreyer and Gross are particularly proud of the “hot route” feature that allows the player to draw a new route for the players by dragging their finger across the touch screen.

I ordered my wide receiver into a deep route and then hiked the ball. A color-coded reticule indicates which receivers are open, and I quickly tapped on my wide receiver who I had previously sent deep. He caught the ball for a thirty-yard gain and a nice first down. I would have felt a greater sense of accomplishment, but a 3rd grader in a cast could beat the Raiders secondary.

Utilizing running plays is just as easy. You can tap a button in the corner of the screen to slow down time for your ball carrier. You can then decide if you want to juke, spin, turn, etc. It’s a nifty feature to break tackles and really puts you in the shoes of the player.

Despite my potent passing abilities, my quarterback held the ball too long on a third and short and I was forced to settle for a field goal. The kicking system should be easily recognizable to fans of EA’s sports games. According to Jeremy Gross, it’s the same finesse power system used by the Tiger Woods series of golf games. Now instead of swinging the club, you can time the most powerful and accurate kick. On my first try I kicked it through the uprights and nabbed three points. For such a small part of the overall game, I walked away impressed with the level of detail EA had put into the kicking feature.

Madden NFL 10 has all the makings of a great iPhone game and an application that is true to the source material. The game is available today for $8 in the iTunes Store, but will revert to its standard price of $10 at 8:30 pm EST on September 10.

In addition to multiplayer on the horizon, EA is working to bring roster updates and “authentic jerseys” to the game via in-app purchasing in a later update.

[Chris Holt is a Macworld assistant editor.]

iPhone OS 3.1 is official, available today

by Paul Miller

Apple just announced iPhone OS 3.1, which includes Genius recommendations for the App Store. The update also brings a ringtone store, with over 30,000 ringtones at $1.29 a pop. 3.1 is available today for free to iPhone users and iPod touch users with 3.0.

Facebook 3.0 for iPhone released

by John Burke (RSS feed) on Aug 27th 2009 at 5:30PM
After a couple of weeks of waiting in the iTunes app store approval queue, the 3rd major update of the popular Facebook for iPhone [iTunes Link] application has been released. Joe Hewitt, the developer of the app, has been working on it for quite some time and submitted it for review on 8/16. If you're still seeing 2.5 in the app store, Joe suggests deleting the app from your phone and reinstalling it -- it will be 3.0.
The new version includes some of the most requested features including:
Better news feed with direct links to comments
Ability to "Like" posts
RSVP to events
Create/upload photos to albums
Write/edit notes
Customizable home screen
Improved photo viewing with zoom
Better notifications
Hewitt is already working on the next release, version 3.1, which is rumored to focus on adding Push Notifications.
Check out some shots of the app in action:

Gallery: Facebook for iPhone

Hands on: TomTom for iPhone Review

techradar.com — TomTom for iPhone is here, even if it's a little earlier than expected. We thought the company would release it in September, alongside its much talked about iPhone cradle, but it seems the advent of other sat-nav apps onto the market has forced TomTom's hand.

click here for the entire article including pics: Hands on: TomTom for iPhone Review

Facebook 3.0 For iPhone Submitted. Now Let’s Count The Days Until It’s Available

by Michael Arrington on August 16, 2009

Facebook has submitted v. 3.0 of their iPhone application to Apple, Joe Hewitt says via Twitter: “Just uploaded Facebook for iPhone 3.0 to the App Store for review. :)”

Hewitt also says he’ll post screen shots and more detais on this Facebook page for the iPhone app next week, and that he’s looking forward to getting started on v. 3.1 tomorrow.

We’ve been tracking 3.0 since details first became available in July. A list of some of the much needed improvements is here. And as a bonus, Hewitt said he’d be able to include video uploads to Facebook from iPhone 3Gs phones as well. And from our most recent post (yes, Hewitt has been teasing this out for weeks):

That means that shortly, we’ll have access to the much-improved app which is scheduled to have features such as a News Feed that is more like the one on Facebook’s site, the ability to “like” items and a new customizable home screen. More importantly, it will also have video support for the iPhone 3GS, something which Hewitt threw-in at the last second, unexpectedly. And perhaps best of all, the app will have the ability to manage events, finally.

It’s likely Apple will approve this app in short order. Not only are they trying to avoid high profile app problems, there’s also not very much in the Facebook app that they or AT&T would take exception to.

If you haven’t heard it, make sure to listen to our interview with Joe Hewitt two years ago when Facebook first launched a special browser-based version of Facebook for the iPhone.

Thanks for the tip, Matthew.

TomTom navigation for iPhone 3G and 3GS arrives

by Thomas Ricker

True, it's not the first app offering turn-by-turn driving instructions for the iPhone 3G or iPhone 3GS -- but it is from TomTom, an industry heavy-weight that is finally delivering on years of rumor and speculation. After starting with New Zealand a few hours ago, the iTunes App Store is now populated with region specific TomTom apps for NZ ($95), Australia ($80), US and Canada ($100), and Western Europe ($140). If that sounds expensive... it is; dedicated TomTom navigators start at $120. In other words, this isn't one of those knee-jerk 99 cent App Store purchases. Naturally, that price does not include the announced TomTom iPhone car kit (rumored to cost £113.85 (about $194) with bundled mapping software) that mounts and charges your iPhone 3G or 3GS while enhancing its GPS performance, speaker, and microphone. Our advice: wait for the reviews before dedicating your non multi-tasking iPhone to the dashboard for navigation duties.

Update: Recombu took the software for a spin and seem duly impressed by their ability to navigate streets with an iPhone taped to the dash (not a joke). They say that when a call comes in, the TomTom app "turns off but restarts as soon as you finish the call." Lame. See the video overview after the break.

Update 2: TomTom says the upcoming car kit dock / windshield mount will also work with the iPod touch and third-party apps -- it contains a faster, more accurate GPS chip than the one in the iPhone. Check a video of it after the break.

Gallery: TomTom for iPhone 3G and 3GS hits the App Store

[Thanks to everyone who sent this in]

Read [Warning: iTunes link]

See more video at our hub!

An Insider On the Apple Tablet

By Brian Lam (Edit, to draft, Slurp)

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I never fully believed the Apple tablet was real beyond dreams, until I heard these words over my phone: "Hey, it's [redacted]. I may or may not have sat in some Apple meetings for the tablet."

I was driving, and swerved a little bit, even though both hands were on the wheel. Someone honked at me.

"What was that?"

They repeated themselves.

I switched on Bluetooth and pulled over to the side of the road to hear the story. You see, earlier in the day I'd given my phone number out to someone who sent me a cryptic email wanting to talk Apple. This must have been them. (Later on I verified to a high level of certainty that they were in the position to have access to the information and after talking to them for over an hour, I believe them to the same level of certainty.)

"The device, which I've held mock ups of, is going to have a 10 inch screen, and when I saw it looked just like a giant iPhone, with a black back— although that design could change at any time" they said, "with the same black resin back, and the familiar home button." That's obvious.

"But it will come in two editions, one with a webcam and one for educational use."

Educational use?

They continued to explain the device as something that would sit between an iPod/iPhone and a MacBook, and would cost $700 to $900—"More than twice as much as a netbook," he said.

To make up for that cost and make the device more than just a big iPod there was, this person claimed, there was talk of making the device act as a secondary screen/touchpad for iMacs and MacBooks, much like a few of the USB screens that have come out in recent months from Chinese companies. Very interesting.

They went on to say that although the project has been going on under various names between four and six years, the first prototype was built around the end of 2008. Adding, "The time to market from first prototype is generally 6-9 months." That would place the device's release date in this holiday season. They then said, "There was a question of what OS the device would run, too." (Other people I've talked to have implied this remains a huge secret.)

My call dropped on some windy road off Skyline Drive. Fucking AT&T.

Later, I asked, was there a code name for the project?

"Yes...[redacted]."

I thought about it for a second, googled the term, and it all made sense.

"Don't publish that name, please," they requested.

Don't worry, I won't.

US Bank To Allow Check Deposits via iPhone

• By Charlie Sorrel

The USAA bank will soon let you deposit a check with your iPhone. Many banks have iPhone apps that allow online banking, but USAA, from its single branch in San Antonio, will be the first to dispatch with the decidedly old-school check.

Using the application, customers photograph the front and back of the check with the iPhone’s camera. Hit send and the check is whisked off into the clearing system. The paper check itself never needs to go to the bank, and you can just tear it up and toss it away (or, for the more paranoid, file it in a safe place). The service will be appear in an update to the already available iPhone app sometime this week. The application will also steer you to your nearest ATM, show you where the nearest car rental joint is and, weirdly, “record accident details to help you file a claim.”

What surprises us is that people still use checks. In Spain, cash is still king, but more and more people use debit cards that work just like checks, only without the dead trees. I almost never see checks, to the extent that when I do spot one being written, I stare and point. The app is free, and available now.
Product page [USAA via NYT]

10 cool videos of the iPhone as a music instrument

by Victor Agreda, Jr.

The hyperbole around the iPhone platform has become hyperbolic itself, so I'll spare you the deconstruction of what is now an obvious conclusion: the iPhone has musical chops. The dizzying array of apps on the store has led to quite a few musical apps as well. It makes sense, as the multi-touch screen is a divine interface for manipulating sound.

Along with the dump truck of musical apps has come an even larger group of iPhone performers. I have yet to see impromptu drum circles made of iPhones, but you never know what the future will bring.

We begin our afternoon concert with Jordan Rudess demoing one of my favorite musical apps, Bebot. Take it away, Jordan!

I remember hearing music from the Hearts of Space on public radio as a kid, and this one reminds me of that show. In the video below the ethereal sounds are courtesy Bloom and ambient water noise by Koi Pond. I could see this music playing at a spa, although it's less musical than the first video. There are tons of ways to combine various audio apps, of course. How about a fart piano and Bebot? Or a vocoder app (there are several) and RjDj?



Speaking of RjDj, the video below features beatboxing and RjDj. There are three flavors of the app, each with a particular function, but the cool thing about RjDj is how it samples ambient noise and turns it into rhythmic music (of a sort). Beatboxing seems easier using this app...


What do you get when an iPhone and an iPod touch team up with Organist and the Band? Amazing Grace, apparently. The composition is a little CasioChord-ish, but fun to watch as one person coordinates separate parts. Both apps are by Moo Cow Music, who really have a thing for music on the iPhone.


You know what you need to really make an iPhone a piano? 3 iPhones! Here's iAno times three, showing off.



How about a little Metallica, courtesy Pocket Guitar:


I like the presentation of Fur Elise in the next video. The old film look adds to the ambiance, which is basically "my kitchen table." I'm not sure what app this is, unfortunately.


Using an app called Beatmaker with a pretty snazzy synth called a NeKo TSE by Open Labs. In this demo, you're able to upload from the iPhone to the NeKo TSE. Yep, noodle something on your iPhone, and dump it into a real machine when you get home. The future is now.



I would be remiss in excluding Smule. And here's one of my favorites from a contest they ran. It's the Jurassic Park theme song played using Ocarina... through the nose. Ew.

Here we have Jordan Rudess showing the app Ellatron (iTunes link), a fantastic trip down memory lane for anyone who remembers the Mellotron. I've been playing Ellatron for a while, and progressive updates have added a crazy amount of features. Filters, pitch, chords and extra banks of sounds generate an authentic sound make Ellatron a sweet-sounding app.

Finally, a bonus video -- this one went viral long ago but it's worth another look, as The Mentalists take on Kids by MGMT with a collection of iPhone instruments: Ocarina (iTunes link), Retro Synth (iTunes link), miniSynth (iTunes link) and DigiDrummer Lite.

I haven't shunned some of the other amazing music apps on the iPhone, like Cosmovox, Aura, Doppler Pad and Noise.io, but I'm interested in what gems you readers have found on the App Store or what performances on YouTube have blown you away. Leave 'em in the comments.

11 Cool iPhone Keypad Codes

Jul. 30th, 2009 By Grant

Your iPhone can play games, browse the internet, watch YouTube videos and more but there are also some nifty tricks you can use to find out some neat information about your phone.

Basically, there are a bunch of iPhone keypad codes that you can type in and get back certain information about the your mobile carrier, phone and billing details.

To use any one of these codes, open your iPhone’s “phone app” and make sure that the keypad button is selected in the bottom menu. Then, type in the code from the list below and press call.

iPhone Codes: Network & Phone Information

*3001#12345#*- Opens up the “Field Test” settings on your iPhone, which allows you to see many, many advanced network settings on your phone including cell site information and more.

*#06# – Displays your iPhone’s International Mobile Equipment Identity (IMEI) number (this code also works on many other phones).

*#21# – Displays any call forwarding settings enabled on your iPhone.

*#43# – Shows you if call waiting for various parts of your phone are either enabled or disabled.

*#30# – Shows you if you have the call presentation (to see who is calling you) setting enabled or disabled.

*#33# – Displays call barring settings for your iPhone, and weather they are enabled or disabled.

iPhone Codes: Carrier & Billing Information

*646# -View available minutes on your AT&T plan (*min#).

*777#- View available minutes on your AT&T pre-paid plan (if you get the “Account Not Found” error, you do not have a pre-paid account and you should try the code just above this one for postpaid accounts).

*3282# - View wireless data usage statistics (also *data#).

*225# – Check the bill balance on your AT&T account (also *bll#).

*729 – Makes a call to AT&T to pay your wireless bill.

Do you have any other iPhone keypad codes / shortcuts to share? Let us know in the comments and also be sure to check out other MakeUseOf iPhone articles here.

Create an iPhone Document Scanner from Cardboard

By Kevin Purdy (Edit, to draft, un-top, Slurp)

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You might need a scanner every so often, but they're far too big for their occasional usefulness. If you've got an iPhone and some time to cut cardboard, you can ditch some paper and capture documents without the glass bed.

University of Cincinnati student Kyle A Koch frequently synced his iPhone and backed up his iPhoto library, but wasn't so hot with the paper and study material organization. Since he knew he was reliable with iPhone images, he put his industrial design studies into practice and crafted cardboard-based docks that elevate the phone just enough to properly frame and capture 8.5x11 documents.

You can order a customized, pre-assembled version of Koch's scanner apparatus in cardboard or medium density fibreboard, but Koch also includes a free EPS file for downloading and DIY building. It builds roughly 15 inches tall and long, and would seem to be pretty cheap to build. Combined with a universal capture/OCR tool like Evernote and the powerful camera on an iPhone 3G S, it's definitely a work-able scanner solution for those who only need a few documents in digital form now and again.

iPhone Document Scanner
Ponoko showroom - iPhone Document Scanner [Kyle A Koch via Twitter / Kevin Lim]

A Commodore 64 on Your iPhone: An Exclusive Interview with Manomio

Posted by Michael Pinto

If you’re a retro computing fanboy like me on Saturday you were devastated to learn that Apple denied permission to the developer who created a Commodore 64 emulator for the iPhone. Now normally this news wouldn’t surprise me, but what broke my fanboy heart is that the developer jumped through all the right hoops: Not only did they get a license from the owners of Commodore but they even got positive signals early on from Apple.

So after having my hopes crushed for reliving my 80s glory days on my iPhone I decided that I had to do something — so in the hopes of getting a second chance from Apple, here is our exclusive interview with Stuart Carnie the CTO of Manomio:

Who is the team behind Manomio and why did you start your company? We are a team of two, Stuart Carnie (CTO) and Brian Lyscarz (CEO). Brian contacted me after hearing about me porting a C64 to the iPhone back in May of 2008. Like myself, he shares a passion for retro gaming and also saw the opportunity the iPhone and App Store presented. To clarify, Retro gaming is largely an unfilled category on the App Store today (I’ve actually submitted a request to Apple to create a Retro category on the App Store). To back this up, according to a survey released by Solutions Research Group, 71% of buyers were male with an average age of 31 years. This could be considered a sweet spot for many retro games.

What first inspired you to create a C64 emulator for the iPhone? I grew up with the C64 (I’m 35 now), so partly for nostalgic reasons. I also wanted to learn the iPhone SDK and see just how capable the iPhone was as a portable computer.

How much effort went into the creating the C64 emulator? I actually had an initial version running within a few days, but it was a long way off looking like it does today. This is where Brian, and his aesthetic eye turned it into a ‘thing of beauty’. We’ve already had many compliments, including John Gruber regarding the ‘gorgeous UI’.

How did you go about getting permission from the current owners of the C64 and what was their initial reaction? We had removed the rough edges before we went to Commodore Gaming. They were very impressed with what we had achieved and naturally excited to join the iPhone ride. In the end, they directed us to Kiloo Aps, who holds the rights to mobile versions of the C64 brand.

Dear Steve Jobs: The hacker inside of you should let this happen!

Creating any application is a huge investment, did you take any precautions like talking to Apple in the early stages of development? Yes, we spoke to the Sr. Partnership Manager, iPod & iPhone, Apple Europe in the UK, who concluded that we were okay with our approach and that Apple was actually interested in our concept - the ability to purchase add-on content via the App Store to extend an existing application. Apple would still receive their 30% cut and users could buy officially licensed C64 titles. 3.0 was announced some time later, and ‘In-App’ purchases revealed, essentially approving our general approach.

Is there still any chance that you can still get the application approved by Apple? Yes, we do expect that some form of our application can be approved, given there are already many examples of emulators on the app store, such as Frotz, and according to toucharcade.com, Sonic the Hedgehog and Golden Axe.

And is there any way retro gaming iPhone fanboys can help you? They already are, by blogging, tweeting, commenting and posting news articles - someone at Apple is bound to see one of these and hopefully notify the right people. We’ve seen in the past that enough noise can make a difference, so we hope our story ends the same.

Below: If you’re any sort of retro gaming fanboy I dare you to watch this demo and not want a copy:

Electric Superbike Uses iPhone For Its Dashboard

Written by Jerry James Stone

Apple fanboys might still be drooling from yesterday’s iPhone 3Gs announcement, but I bet they never saw this coming: an electric superbike with an iPhone for all its instrumentation!

Heck, I was happy to finally get MMS support!

The MotoCzysz E1pc is one of the many entries in the TTXGP race this Friday. How the iPhone is integrated into the bike is still a mystery but features like its native GPS will surely be used. And whether it wins or loses, it definitely gets points for creamy white geeky goodness.

The E1pc can go from zero to 120 mph in “seven or eight seconds” according to Michael Czysz, the company’s founder. It uses ten lithium-ion battery packs with three electric motors all mounted on a carbon fiber main frame.

Here’s a video of its test run:

Czysz explains, “With teams from around the world ascending on the Isle, this is a true international competition and even though the machines are futuristic the race is not and the premise even less so- this is an old fashion ‘run what you brung’ race. Never would my Grand Father or even my Father imagined such a motorcycle would ever exist, even I would have doubted this event possible in 2009 only a few years ago.”

The TTXGP is a zero-emissions motorcycle race taking place on the famed Isle of Man Mountain Course. Some of the teams include Mission Motors, Brammo, EVOdesign and of course MotoCzysz. Other entrants include Barefoot Motors, Electric Motorsport and one of my favorites…KillaCycle Racing. Teams from the United States, United Kingdom, India, Austria, Germany and Italy all plan to compete.

TTXGP founder, Azhar Hussain, said, “With twenty-four confirmed entries, we are thrilled with the high level of interest the TTXGP has generated globally, and the superb quality of teams that will be involved.”

Source: Hell for Leather

iPhone 3GS Complete Feature Guide

By Jesus Diaz

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As expected, the new Apple iPhone 3GS is out. We were right: The photos of the new iPhone were real. Here you have a comprehensive guide to the iPhone 3GS' new features:

Speed
The "S" stands for "SPEED!" And according to Apple, it is faster launching applications or rendering Web pages.

• The iPhone 3GS has a new processor built-in. Apple claims that it is up to two times faster than the previous generation: Launching messages is 2.1 faster, load the NY Times in Safari: 2.9 times faster. It also consumes less, which has an impact on the improved battery life.

Camera
This is one of the strong points of the iPhone 3GS, according to Apple. They increased the resolution to 3 megapixels, which—judging from the shots they showed-seems much better quality under all conditions.

• 3 Megapixels sensor.
• New camera, with auto focus, auto exposure, and auto white balance.
• You can also tap to focus, changing white balance in the process. That is really neat, if you ask me.
• Special macro and low light modes.
• The camera also supports photo and video geotagging.
• Any application can access all the camera functions now.

• It supports video, 30 frames per second VGA with auto focus, auto white balance, and auto exposure.
• You can trim the video shot just using your finger, then share it via MMS, email, MobileMe and YouTube.

Connectivity
The other part of the "S" is the support for the faster 7.2 Mbps 3G standard, which in theory will deliver data faster to your iPhone.

• Three band UMTS/HSDPA.
• Four band GSM/EDGE.
• Wi-Fi 802.11b/g.
• Bluetooth 2.1 + EDR

Graphics
• The new iPhone 3GS includes new 3D graphics support in hardware. This means faster and more complicated 3D games.
• Same 3.5-inch widescreen multitouch display, but this time it has a fingerprint-resistant oleophobic coating. I wonder if it will withstand a full frontal Shake Shack burger attack.

Design

• Same design as before, including the glossy finish of the back (so much for all the rumors about the matte back.)
• Same size as the old iPhone 3G: 4.5 x 2.4 x 0.48 inches.
• The weight increases a bit: One ounce to 4.8 ounces (135 grams vs 133 grams).
• Greener materials: Arsenic-free glass, BDF-free, Mercury-free LCD.

New special features
• It has a magnetometer, which works with a Compass application, third parties, and it is integrated into the new Google maps app, showing your orientation with a small semitransparent cone.
• Voice control. You can now talk with your iPhone, Enterprise-style. You can instruct it to play similar songs to the one you are playing, or call people.
• Nike + support built in.
• Supports accessibility features, like zooming on text, inverting video, and voice over when you touch whatever text is on screen.

Battery life
• One of the more important new features is the increased battery life.
• According to Apple, you will get up to 12 hours of talk time on 2G and 5 on 3G, with a up to 300 hour standby time.
• On 3G, it will deliver 5 hours of internet use.
• On Wi-Fi, Internet goes up to 9 hours.
• Video playback is 10 hours vs 30 hours for audio.

Price and availability
• $199 for 16GB version.
• $299 for 32GB version.
• Available on June 19th.

If you are "a valued AT&T customer," AT&T offers an "early iPhone upgrade with a new 2-yr commitment and an $18 upgrade fee." The price? $399.00 for the 16GB iPhone 3G S and $499.00 for the 32GB iPhone 3G S. It gets worse: For non-qualified customers, including existing AT&T customers who want to upgrade from another phone or replace an iPhone 3G, the price with a new two-year agreement is $499 (8GB), $599 (16GB), or $699 (32GB).

Insane. Way to go AT&T.