Apple Inc.’s Chief Executive of Operations, Steve Jobs, revealed yesterday the new iPhone and presented its features alongside some of the details for the sales campaign.

The biggest news refers to the device’s price, as in the United States an 8 Giga Byte model will cost $199 and the 16 Giga Byte model will retail for $299. The announced prices will require a contract with the iPhone’s exclusive U.S. carrier, AT&T. The carrier company has already issued a memo concerning all iPhone owners, explaining that the purchase of the new model and the transition to a new AT&T contract will be available without any penalties.

The new iPhone will offer 3G and global positioning technology in addition to its wireless network. As far as the design changes go, the initial metal back will be changed with a case made of black plastic.

The basic strategy behind the current campaign is to present the iPhone as the newest and most desirable gadget on the market (so far very similar to the old plan) but adding into the mix a much more affordable price. The iPhone’s cost was considered to be the most plausible explanation for the rather mediocre global sales. In many markets such as the United Kingdom and Germany retailers had to drastically cut the prices, from £269 to £169 and from €399 to €99, in order to have a shot at emptying their stocks.

Apple will initially introduce its new product on July 11 in 22 countries and the targeted competition involves Research in Motion Ltd.'s BlackBerry and Palm Inc.'s Treo smart phones.