enlarge The Associated Press

The iPhone 3-G, slated to go on sale today, features a faster Internet connection and GPS mapping. Prices start at $199.

iPHONE AT A GLANCE

The new iPhone 3G from Apple goes on sale today, one year after the original iPhone hit the market in 2007.

IS IT CHEAPER?

The starting price for the iPhone 3g is $199, while the original iPhone had a starting price of $599 before dropping to around $399 after a few months on the market. But calling plans for the new iPhone are $10 a month more than plans for the original phones, and don't include text messaging, which will cost another $20 a month, if you want unlimited texting.

IS IT FASTER?

Apple and the phone's service provider, AT&T, say the Internet connection on these new models will be much faster because of the 3G cellular network. But the network doesn't cover every place, such as large swaths of Eastern and Northern Maine. Check the 3G map here.

WHERE ARE THEY?

The new iPhones are only available at AT&T stores and Apple stores. Greater Portland has about a dozen AT&T stores, while the closest Apple stores to Maine are in Salem, N.H., and Peabody, Mass. For more information, go to www.apple.com or www.wirelessatt.com.

When the iPhone hit stores last summer, it was hailed as a must-have electronic device, a pocket-sized traveling office and entertainment center that would let you do everything from make calls and send e-mails to access the Internet and listen to tunes.

But now that Apple is poised today to release its new iPhone 3G -- purportedly faster and with more features than the original -- it remains to be seen whether people struggling through an economic downturn will be as excited for the phone's second coming.

Since the first iPhone came out, the cost of gas, heating oil and food staples have all increased. Will average Mainers dig into their not-so-deep pockets to spend $200 or $300 -- plus more than $800 a year for the most basic coverage plan -- for something they probably don't really need?

"I had considered getting one, but I figured I already had a good phone, a BlackBerry Pearl, so I didn't really need it," said Jake Smith, 18, of Portland, who will be attending New York University in the fall. "And I'd heard mixed reviews on the touch screen."

But Hannah Kubiak, a co-owner of Sea Bags in Portland, said Thursday that she can't wait to pick up a new iPhone. She's got four of the old ones at her business, and wants the updated version for her personal and business use.

"It's been so wonderful to get e-mails within minutes rather than having to run to a computer," said Kubiak, whose company makes tote bags from boat sails. "I'm a little leery of technology generally, but I love my iPhone."

With everybody's personal finances getting tighter all the time, many Mainers are using a microscope to look at every possible cost they might incur. While the new iPhone has a relatively low starting price -- $199, or $400 lower than the original price for an 8-gigabyte model last year -- there are long-term cost increases in other areas.

When the original iPhones came out, the basic coverage plan was $59 a month, and included text messaging. The basic plan for the iPhone 3G, provided by Apple's iPhone partner AT&T, is $69 a month with no text messaging. Unlimited text messaging would be another $20 a month.

"I was considering getting (the new iPhone) for a brief moment, until I realized how much more the plan would cost me," said Emma Pope-Welch, 24, director of communications and marketing for the United Way of Eastern Maine in Bangor. "I text message quite a bit, maybe more than I should."

Pope-Welch, who bought the first version of the iPhone, also balked at the claim of faster Internet service. A map on the AT&T Web site shows that there are parts of Maine, including areas east of Bangor, that are not covered by the faster 3G cellular network.

"So in some areas it wouldn't be faster for me," Pope-Welch said.

And for people who bought the iPhones a year ago, getting the new version might not be enticing or easy. Current iPhone service plan holders may not be able to buy the new phones for their advertised prices, depending on what their current contract says, said Adam Cormier, a spokesman for AT&T in New England.

Cormier said some current iPhone owners might have to pay more for a new iPhone, depending on when they bought their plan and the details of the plan. He said current iPhone owners should go to an AT&T store to have someone help them determine what their cost would be.

When asked if the lower prices of this year's iPhones had anything to do with current economic conditions, Cormier said that AT&T wanted the phones to be priced so that they would be "affordable to as many people as possible."

There are no guarantees against a letdown for the company or its volatile stock.

After all, Apple has stumbled before in its foray into the cellular business, with a poorly executed price cut two months after the iPhone launch that left many early buyers fuming. And now that it's a significant part of the wireless...