iPhone 3G Reduced to $99; iPhone 3G S Out June 19

Apple announced on Monday that they will be introducing the new iPhone 3G S on June 19th. They have also cut the price of the iPhone 3G (shown above) to $99 (8G) and $199 (16G). The new features of the iPhone 3G S include:

• As the name implies, the new iPhone 3G S is supposed to be faster. Apple boasts that you can load Web pages and launch apps twice as fast as the previous model. It also promises improved 3D graphics for games.
• A 3-megapixel camera with autofocus. You can also focus by tapping on the screen. It will also have settings for white balance, exposure, low-light sensitivity, and a macro mode for close-up photos.
• A camcorder. You can shoot VGA-quality video in 30 frames per second, and after you're done, you can trim the video by adjusting the start and end points. You can then send the video via MMS (included in iPhone OS 3.0) to a friend, to your MobileMe account, or even to YouTube, directly from the phone.
• Voice control, but not just for calls. Not only can you manage phone calls with your voice, you can use your voice to play music. You can ask the phone what song is playing, ask it to play a particular song from an artist or an album, and even to play songs that are similar to the currently playing track.
• A built-in digital compass. It automatically reorients the map to the direction you're facing. It works in conjunction with Maps to give you street view as well.
• Bluetooth tethering is allowed, which means you can use the iPhone 3G S as a wireless modem with your laptop. However, this is not available from AT&T for now.
• Voiceover, an accessibility setting on the new iPhone 3G S that acts as a gesture-based screen reader.
• Compatibility with Nike+ iPod, where it detects the Nike+ sensor in your shoe to track your runs.
• Improved battery life. Apple promises that the iPhone 3G S can hold up to 9 hours in Wi-Fi, 10 hours on video playback, 30 hours on audio playback, 12 hours talk time on 2G networks, and 5 hours talk time on 3G networks.
• The 16GB model will be $199 with a new contract and the 32GB model will be $299 with a new contract. They will be available June 19, 2009.

The new iPhone 3.0 operating system will also be available for older versions of the iPhone for free starting June 19th. It contains all sorta of goodies like copy and paste, multimedia messaging and voice recording.

FOOD REVIEW: Cashion's Eat Place (Adams Morgan, D.C.)

soft-scrambled eggs, applewood-smoked bacon,
sauteed breakfast potatoes, $10.

MadProfessah is in Washington, D.C. for the 2009 Joint Math Meetings and decided to have brunch at Cashion's Eat Place (1819 Columbia Rd NW, Washington DC 20009; 202-797-1819) on the basis of several posititve recommendations on yelp.com.

Thanks to my lovely Apple IPhone 3G I was able to discover that the restaurant was a mere 10 minute walk from my hotel and it was actually not very cold out at 1:30pm on a Sunday.

Cashion's has a very fancy interior (see pictures) that can be somewhat intimidating but the staff is very friendly and the service is excellent. Although many yelp-ers were commenting about the cornmeal waffles with pecan butter and cranberry sauce I was looking for something a bit more basic, so I ordered the eggs (soft scrambled with a touch of gruyere) which came with applewood smoked bacon (another item on the menu several people at yelp was worth the $4.95 as a side dish alone) and some freshly squeezed orange juice. Interestingly, the menu offered duck eggs for $2 more but my waitress had never tried them (!) and couldn't really give me any insight as to what I'd be getting for the $2 difference in price. (Note to wait staff at restaurants: you should always have tried everything on a menu, especially when it only contains less than 6 different items!) My choice came with the obligatory breakfast potatoes which I usually ignore.

Anyway, the food arrived promptly and was actually pretty fantastic, though I was somewhat disappointed with the bread that showed up on the table. It was some kind of thick-crusted country loaf cut into odd-shapes that was neither warm nor soft but oddly chewy/tough. The eggs and the bacon were absolutely amazing (perfectly cooked) and the freshly squeezed orange juice was nice and moderately sized for $4.95. The biggest surprise was the breakfast potatoes. Usually I hate breakfast potatoes because they are too hard and just bland but these were sauteed in butter and just the right size so that they were very flavorful bite-size morsels. I would definitely come back and try other things on Cashion's menu.

The whole thing is not cheap, costing $16 for essentially eggs with bacon and breakfast potatoes but it is excellent food and the ambiance is great. Hopefully the Dean will approve the expense since I did have to eat while I was on a business trip!

OVERALL GRADE: A-.

AMBIANCE: A+.
SERVICE: A.
VALUE: C.
FOOD: A+.

Read my Yelp review of Cashion's Eat Place.

The New IPhone

The new Apple IPhone is being made available on Friday July 11. (hat/tip Joe Hawkins)
I plan on picking up my own pretty soon after.