OK, this is sad! I’ve been meaning to post this for the last 10+ days now, but somehow got distracted/busy with other stuff…Sorry!

So, for those of you who have not been living under a boulder or stuck behind a corporate firewall that prevents you from viewing anything but your company.com website or Google’s search page, then you will no doubt have heard the big announcement last Monday (June 9th) about the upcoming launch of the NEW iPhone 3G — “Twice as fast. Half the price.” Available to 22 countries around the world on July 11th.

Yup, that’s right folks, it’s real…And all those speculated features like 3G, GPS, longer battery life, and cheaper price…Well, those are all real too!

There’s been LOTS and LOTS of coverage from all over the blogosphere and the web in general, including the usual suspects — CNET, TechCrunch, etc. — but I found the Live Blog on MacRumors to be the best live commentary for the event; mainly because of the great use of a perpetually refreshing page, the frequent and relevant image updates, and almost twitter-conscious concise comments. I actually started off with TechCrunch, but the live blog crashed before the event even really began.

So, without going into too much detail, here’s a brief run down of some of the new key features of the new iPhone 3G…

1. As the name suggests, it uses 3G network support for wireless connectivity
2. GPS capabilities built-in: “…combines GPS, Wi-Fi, and cell tower location technology with the Multi-Touch interface”
3. Enterprise support: ”It supports Microsoft Exchange ActiveSync, delivering push email, calendar, and contacts”
4. Comes with iPhone 2.0 Software and all the bells and whistles that entails, including the App Store for 3rd party software
5. Initial pricing is $199 (Yes, that’s ONE HUNDRED & NINETY-NINE DOLLARS) for the 8GB and $299 for the 16GB with a 2 year contract through AT&T

Although ePocrates was not present at the Apple WWDC event (where the iPhone 3G was announced), it was mentioned that ePocrates did a survey of their “key physicians” shortly after the initial iPhone SDK demo and found that “…of those planning on buying a phone in the next 12 mths, fully a third plan to buy an iPhone, making it their number one choice“.

In addition, there were a couple of new and interesting medical-related apps demoed at the event coming from Modality and MIMvista. Both iPhone apps will be available through the iPhone App Store when it launches.

The Modality app, Netter’s Anatomy, is basically a learning tool that replaces the flash-cards of old with a fully interactive version of Netter’s Atlas of the Human Anatomy which allows you to “…navigate through images with the flick of a finger, pinch to zoom, and tap to test your knowledge of muscles, bones, vessels, viscera and the joints. Use study mode to explore images at your own pace and quiz mode to test yourself on what you know“.

The MIMvista App is basically a multi-modality imaging tool that offers “…multi-planar reconstruction of data sets from modalities including CT, PET, MRI and SPECT, as well as multi-modality image fusion. Using the multi-touch interface, users can change image sets and planes; adjust zoom, fusion blending, and window/level; and measure dimensions and SUV“.

Here’s a demo video of the two apps from the WWDC event (YouTube video):

So, as you can see, there’s a lot to like with the launch of the new iPhone 3G and iPhone 2.0 software. The enterprise support alone is something that will at least make the iPhone much more appealing to the corporate customer.

And if you need more convincing, just check out the video below, showing iPhone adoption testimonials within some major corporations, such as Disney, Sonnenschein Nath & Rosenthal (law firm), Genentech, and even the U.S. Army: 

 
Well, all I have left to say is…Where can I get one now !!!