On Monday, June 9, 2008, Steve Job announced that the new iPhone 3G will be available in stores July 11, 2008.  Some of the major features include: longer battery life, assisted GPS, higher audio quality and an Apple Store interface to provide third party developed programs.

The slow Edge network turned me away from the first iPhone, but with 3G and GPS capabilities on the iPhone 3G, I will be one of the many trying to buy an iPhone on July 11th.

Major Features and Pricing:

• 3G Speed (renders web pages up to 2x faster than Edge)
• GPS  (live tracking, turn-by-turn directions, API for third party software).
• Flush Headphone Jack.
• Charcoal Back (white is available on the higher memory model).
• Battery Life Times: 
  10 Hours 2G Talk Time.
  5 Hours 3G Talk Time.
  5-6 Hours of High-Speed Browsing.
  24 Hours of Audio Playback.
• $199 (8GB model) or $299 (16GB model) With a 2-Year Contract.

For more information, visit Apple.com.

There’s a great iPhone 3G faq over at Gizmodo.

I must point out that I’m not a Indiana Jones fanboy, because I’ve been told that a lot of bad reviews are coming from the Indy fans. Even though I had never really watched any of the previous Indiana Jones movies, I was very excited about this movie for a few reasons: I was a big fan of Steven Spielberg (I loved "Catch Me if You Can", "Saving Private Ryan", "Minority Report"…), I liked Harrison Ford’s Indiana Jones character (who doesn’t want to be a Archaeology professor/treasure hunter), and although I wasn’t a big fan of George Lucas, his movies would always have big special effects. But I have to say, I left the movie theater disappointed.

This movie follows the Indiana Jones’s timeline and is set 19 years after his last adventure. Jones gets himself in trouble early on and is forced to leave the university where he teaches. Jones is then approached by a boy, named Mutt (Shia Labeouf), and they both set out to find Mutt’s mother and the Crystal Skull.

The problem with the movie is after a great opening, the movie goes downhill. I blame this on the poor script. Jones and Mutt spend a lot time on screen, but their relationship never gets interesting. The only likeable person is Jones, who puts on a good performance. The other major complaint is the action scenes. They are really nice to look at but are so corny at times that they become laughable. Halfway through the movie, some of the characters figure they are invincible and start doing crazy stunts without thinking twice. But to be fair, the movie never takes itself seriously. Although I wish it did.

I think part of the reason why I had high expectation was because it got a good score at Rottten Tomatoes. I am a frequent visitor of Rotten Tomatoes, and usually agree with their scores but they are a tad off with this movie. It is currently at 78% on the tomatometer. This is too high. It should be 65% on the tomatometer.

Even though I’m disappointed with this movie (I had really high expectations), I do recommend the movie because it does have some great visual and action. Just don’t expect too much, like I did.