Apple introduced its new 3G iPhone which will go on sale July 11.  TechCrunch has the story and a video of the announcement.  

The new iPhone will run on AT&T’s high-speed 3G network, will give you an 8 gigabyte device with GPS, relatively long battery life, and all for only $199 (with a 2-year contract), as compared to the first iteration of iPhones which sell for $399.

Steve Jobs, making the announcement, said that 3G speed approaches that of WiFi, making web and email access more desirable.  In combination with the GPS chip, the increased speed makes many new location-aware applications possible.

Google Spreadsheets gadgets
I just decided to use Google Spreadsheets for the first time so I was interested to hear about some new features and improvements, including autocompletes, email notification among collaborators, and a directory of gadgets that can be added.

To add a gadget, click on the “Insert” dropdown and select “Gadget,”  Each gadget can be embedded into web pages or added to iGoogle,

Smartphones will have Flash and Reader
Microsoft will license Adobe Systems’ Flash Lite and Reader LE software for use in future versions of Windows Mobile-based phones the companies announced earlier this week.

Budget-conscious tech gadgets
PC Magazine recommends some favorite “cheapskate” gadgets — fun for $200 or less.  They range from Apple’s wireless keyboard and mouse to a Plantronics Bluetooth handset.

Let’s start with some specs for the new MacBook Air:  1.6GHz or 1.8GHz of Intel’s Core 2 Duo, with 2GB of soldered RAM, 802.11a/b/g/n (802.11n is Draft 2.0), Bluetooth, a 13.3-inch LED-backlit screen, and a choice between a standard 80GB ATA hard drive or a 64GB solid-state flash drive.  There is no optical drive, no FireWire ports, only one USB port, and a micro-DVI port.  It weighs 3 pounds, and fits in a manilla envelope. 

If you are seriously considering a purchase, check out this very detailed review by Jacqui Cheng at Ars Technica, who found “the size and weight to be nothing less than absolutely delightful.”

But the Air “slows to a halfway-unusable crawl anytime there’s a large amount of disk activity—running a browser that reads and writes a lot to the drive (*cough* Firefox), transferring files over the network in the background, anything.”  She didn’t regret the absence of an optical drive, but declared battery life and time to recharge the Air’s worst feature.

“Think of it [the Air] as an iPod touch Extreme with a built-in keyboard.  It is not meant to be your only or main computer—rather, it’s a secondary (or even tertiary) computer.”

Apple had plenty of announcements at Macworld Expo, with the MacBook Air super-thin laptop attracting the most attention.  Weighing three pounds and less than two-tenths of an inch at its slimmest, the “thinnest notebook in the world” carries a heafty opening price of $1,799. 

Although critics were quick to notice some features lacking, industry analyst Michael Gartenberg named it “the object of desire for 2008.”

The MacBook Air lacks a CD/DVD drive and a removable battery, but packs a 13.3″ LED-backlit widescreen display.  The keyboard is full-sized and backlit and there is a built-in iSight video camera.  Software includes iLife ‘08 with iPhoto and iMovie and it is preinstalled with Leopard OS.  The new laptop will start shipping within two weeks and will be available at Apple Stores.

The expected movie rental service through the Apple iTunes store, changes to Apple TV, and a device called “Time Capsule” were also announced.  See more details at the Seattle P-I.