Apple on Monday unveiled a new version of its popular iPhone built for high-speed wireless networks with faster internet access and more features for business users.

"It's incredibly zippy," chief executive Steve Jobs said as he demonstrated the new mobile device at the opening of Apple's annual Worldwide Developers' Conference in San Francisco.

"We've learned so much with the first iPhone. We've taken what we've learned and more and created the iPhone 3G; and it's beautiful," he said.

The iPhone 3G -- for third-generation mobile networks -- is designed for faster internet downloads and longer talk times. It takes advantage of the high-speed network to provide GPS mapping built in, Jobs said.

The crowd cheered when Jobs announced the iPhone 3G will sell for $199 (about R1 580) with eight gigabytes of memory. Apple will charge $299 (about R2 370) for a model with 16 gigabytes of memory.

"It is a very aggressive price point and it is going to do some damage to the other players in the market," Gartner analyst Van Baker said, listing BlackBerry and Nokia among competitors in iPhone's crosshairs. "It is clearly moving iPhone from being noticeable in the market to being potentially a market leader."

The iPhone software update is aimed at a business market that is currently hooked on BlackBerry devices made by Canada-based Research in Motion. BlackBerry handsets have long let people "push" work email to the devices using the Microsoft email system.

Apple worked with Cisco Systems to build virtual private network (VPN) services into iPhones so businesses can establish secure connections to protect data being transferred.
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