Apple will introduce 3G version of iPhone in 2008 (pocket-lint report), though we do not know what time to expect the new iphone next year.

As per Stuart Miles of Pocket-lint site:

Making the comments at the “Mum is no longer the word” press conference at the Regent Street Apple store in London, Steve Jobs, CEO of Apple said: “You can expect a 3G iPhone later next year”.

David Berlind at ZDNet says:

If the report is true, this could be worse news for Apple given that the price drop had to have come so soon to stimulate demand. There’s nothing that kills demand for the current generation of a product like an announcement that the next generation won’t be stillborn with obsolete networking technology the way the currently available generation was. Even if the report of Jobs saying this isn’t true, my guess is that a 3G iPhone in 2008 is pretty much a sure bet.

Currently the iPhone available in US is crippled 2.5G (Edge). Apple has cited the currently available power hungry 3G chips as reason to stick with power efficient 2.5G chips. Apple had also recently alienated iPhone early adopters and fans by dropping the price of iPhone by $200 in a few weeks after the launch, though later they announced $100 back in form of Apple store credit.

See also: Coverage at Mashable , The Street and Yahoo Tech

Steve jobs just announced the availability of new iPod Touch. In fact the whole iPod product line is refreshed. The new introductions are iPod Nano (fatty!) -Video for everybody on a small 2” QVGA screen with new UI. A slightly thicker iPod with 160GB capacity is now available for $349 allowing you to carry 40,000 songs in your pocket.

For the iPhone lovers, the new iPod Touch is only 8 mm thick, with the same touch screen functionality of iPhone. Think of it as iPhone - phone, and a lot thinner. Wi-Fi has been missing in the iPod line-up for a long time, iPod Touch brings this much wanted feature to the iPod fans along with the very familiar Safari Browser, but no built-in speakers. Now you can watch your favorite YouTube videos while on the move.

With the built in browser in iPod Touch, now you don’t need to be at a computer to buy music. Now you can directly browse the iTunes store customized for Wi-Fi access using iPod Touch and preview or buy music to your hearts content. This new iTunes Wi-Fi Music Store will also be available via iPhone.

Apple is offering some interesting Wi-Fi and music mash-ups. One of the official mash-up feature is Starbucks Music integration through Wi-Fi. So next time you are getting your cup of Latte and like the music which is playing at Starbucks, with a dedicated button on your iPod Touch you can now buy that track instantly from iTunes store. In case you want to buy this track latter, your iPod Touch remembers the track which was playing when you visited Starbucks. We expect lot of open source hacks and applications in coming days from the creative folks.

This is great as Apple is making music more discoverable and tapping into the long tail of the market. What better place to sell music when customer is ready to buy it. True Web 2.0 customer experience and integration - When you want it - how you want it. Starbucks has 5800 WiFi enable stores nationwide, all of which allow free Wi-Fi access to iTunes Wi-Fi Music Store by 2009 in a phased roll-out plan.

My guess is that iPod Touch is going to become new status symbol however storage capacity offered is tiny as compared to normal iPod line-up. Probably apple is betting that the folks would use iPod Touch mostly for consuming online content through Wi-Fi. iPod Touch’s pricing is way too high for it to become a mass market product - you have to shell out $299 for 8GB version and $399 for 16GB version. This may be due to the expensive touch screen parts, but we may expect price drop or more capacity from Apple in next 4 to 6 months.

For more detailed live coverage of todays iPod Touch Launch, head over to Engadget.

Crunchgear is also covering the event live.

Update 1:

Zoli makes an interesting point, “iPhone without AT&T baggage”

And Dave Winer is not impressed