In a predictable announcement, Apple has unveiled the latest version of its iconic iPhone. As Steve Jobs said during his keynote, the new iPhone will be available in the US and 22 other European countries starting with July 11, almost one year after the launch of the initial version. The 3G iPhone, which features GPS and Apple’s software, iPhone 2.0, will be priced at $199 for the 8 GB version and $299 for the 16 GB version.

The Cupertino company has apparently managed to solve the battery problem. Steve Jobs announced last year that Apple was working on a 3G iPhone, but he noted that a better battery was required in order to support the networking standard.

Yesterday, while praising the benefits of the 3G technology, Jobs said that the new iPhone delivers 10 hours of talk time on 2G networks and 5 hours using 3G, with up to 5 to 6 hours of web browsing. The figures are quite amazing for a 3G iPhone.

Leaving aside the technical specifications and its new features, the 3G iPhone means a lot for Apple. With the new device under its belt and agreements with more than 70 countries, it is hard to believe that Apple would not be able to match its previously announced target: 10 million units sold by the end of 2008.

In fact, I guess that right now is a good moment to start betting by how many iPhones Apple will surpass its target. 

Also it will be interesting to see how the market react sto the newly launched contender. In the past year, Apple has managed to establish the iPhone as a serious opponent to the traditional mobile phone makers and according to a study released last week, the touch screen gadget is already the third most popular smartphone in the world.

The iPhone has changed the mobile game and now, with the 3G version, Apple will force the other companies once more to think outside the box in order to match the iPhone magic.

Faithful to its paradigm to control not only the hardware, but also the software, Apple made one more step and launched the iPhone SDK, a platform thanks to which the iPhone will receive thousands of applications.

However, while its 3G iPhone is a real winner, I can’t stop noticing one thing: it’s the first Apple event when the rumors have proven to be totally correct. Every detail announced yesterday had already been announced by the media or various Apple fan sites. Has Apple become a predictable company? I hope not!