Apple Senior Vice President of iPhone Software Scott Forstall delivers a keynote address on the new iPhone 3.0 operating system at the Apple World Wide Developers conference in San Francisco, California. Apple announced on Monday that a new version of its hot-selling iPhone would be launched later this month and that the price of an earlier model was dropping to 99 dollars.

Apple aimed to make hot-selling iPhones even more appealing, premiering a speedier new model complete with a video camera and slashing the price of its predecessor to 99 dollars.

Apple vice president of marketing Phil Schiller made the announcements at an annual Worldwide Developers Conference in San Francisco bereft of any sign of the firm's renowned chief executive, Steve Jobs.

Schiller said the new iPhone 3GS, the first model to capture video, will be available on June 19.

"The 'S' stands for speed, because this is the most powerful iPhone we've ever made," Schiller said. "What is inside is entirely new."

He said a 16-gigabyte iPhone 3GS would cost 199 dollars while the 32-gigabyte model would cost 299 dollars.

The price of an original eight-gigabyte iPhone 3G dropped to 99 dollars from 199 dollars as of Monday.

Schiller also said a next-generation iPhone 3.0 operating system will be released worldwide on June 17 as a free upgrade to owners of the smartphones.

Apple also reported it has sold more than 40 million iPhones and iPod Touch devices, which are essentially iPhones without mobile phone capabilities. Sales of applications for the devices reportedly passed a billion in April.

Apple Senior Vice President of Worldwide Marketing Phil Schiller watches a video of the new iPhone 3Gs during his keynote at the Apple World Wide Developers conference in San Francisco, California. Apple announced on Monday that a new version of its hot-selling iPhone would be launched later this month and that the price of an earlier model was dropping to 99 dollars.

Enhancements crafted into the iPhone 3.0 operating system include voice command, downloading rented videos, and customization to additional languages including Arabic, Hebrew, and Korean.

A new "Find My iPhone" feature lets people use an Apple online Mobile Me service to locate lost or stolen devices.

"It will show you on a map where your phone is," said senior vice president of iPhone software Scott Forstall. "You can send it a message and it plays an alert sound whether or not you left it in silent mode."

The feature also lets people remotely erase all data from lost or stolen iPhones. The new operating system also lets iPhones connect to one another wirelessly for communal activities such as playing games.

"If I was Sony, that would keep me awake," Silicon Valley analyst Rob Enderle of Enderle Group said of iPhones being a threat to the Japanese firm's PSP handheld gaming devices.

"There is a real risk that Apple could kill the PSP."

Apple Senior Vice President of Worldwide Marketing Phil Schiller delivers a keynote address at the Apple World Wide Developers conference in San Francisco, California. Apple announced on Monday that a new version of its hot-selling iPhone would be launched later this month and that the price of an earlier model was dropping to 99 dollars.

There was no mention of reducing service plan prices that "are a challenge for people," noted analyst Ken Dulaney, vice president of mobile computer research at Gartner.

"Apple has zero control of the telecom service carriers," said Creative Strategies analyst Tim Bajarin.

"They took smartphones up another notch and are making it harder for competitors to catch up with them. They completely redid the guts inside the iPhone."

Apple hit a disappointing note with an otherwise enthusiastic audience when it announced that its new Snow Leopard computer operating system would not be available until September.

People using the previous generation software will only have to pay 29 dollars to upgrade.

A "near-final" version is being given to developers at the conference so they can begin tailoring programs for the system.

SAN FRANCISCO - JUNE 08: Apple Senior Vice President of OSX Software Bertrand Serlet delivers a keynote address on the new OSX Snow Leopard operating system at the Apple World Wide Developers conference in San Francisco, California. Apple announced on Monday that a new version of its hot-selling iPhone would be launched later this month.

"Apple engineers have made hundreds of improvements so with Snow Leopard," said Bertrand Serlet, Apple senior vice president of software engineering.

Snow Leopard lets users spell with Chinese characters on MacBook touchpads and includes a new version of Apple's web browser, Safari.

Safari software made available Monday is "multiples" times faster than Microsoft's latest Internet Explorer 8 Web browser, according to Schiller.

Apple on Monday also launched upgraded MacBooks while cutting prices on its historically high-end laptop line.

Improved MacBooks could also be customized with beefier processors and as much as 500 gigabytes of storage space. Prices on the enhanced MacBook line range from 1,199 to 2,299 dollars.

Apple's upgrades, and the timing of releases, position the company to fend off competition from Palm Pre as well as Microsoft's upcoming Windows 7 operating system, according to analysts.

Approximately 5,200 software developers from more than 50 countries registered to attend the sold-out conference, according to Apple.

The presentation featured humor and barbs aimed at rival Microsoft, but no sign of 54-year-old Jobs, who has been on a medical leave of absence since January.

Apple has been secretive about Jobs's health since he underwent an operation in 2004 for pancreatic cancer but has been adamant that he is returning to the company's helm at the end of this month.

"What bothers me is why they can't have Steve do a cameo, or appear by telepresence," said Enderle.

"That would have made all the difference in the world in terms of excitement at the event. It makes me wonder what Steve looks like."

© 2009 AFP