WWDC '09 was the time and place Apple chose to unveil “the fastest and most powerful iPhone yet,” the iPhone 3G S. According to the Cupertino-based company, the next-gen device sports improved speed and performance, with longer battery life, a 3-megapixel autofocus camera, easy-to-use video recording and hands-free voice control.

“iPhone 3G S is the fastest, most powerful iPhone yet and we think people will love the incredible new features including autofocus camera, video recording and the freedom of voice control,” Philip Schiller, Apple’s senior vice president of Worldwide Product Marketing, said. “And with a breakthrough price of $99, we are thrilled to get iPhone 3G into the hands of even more users who want them.”

During the official unveiling of the new iPhone 3G S at yesterday’s keynote address delivered by Phil Schiller, the company revealed that iPhone 3G S would ship with iPhone OS 3.0, which wasn’t at all surprising. Touted by Apple as “the world’s most advanced mobile operating system,” the Mac maker enumerates over 100 new features, such as Cut, Copy and Paste, MMS (available later this year), Spotlight Search, landscape keyboard, a built-in digital compass for instant navigation, as well as built-in Nike + iPod support. The new iPhone 3G S also supports 7.2 Mbps HSDPA “for faster networking speeds,” Apple claims.

Furthermore, iPhone 3G S includes the Mac OS X-specific VoiceOver capability, which provides new accessibility features. The function is described as a screen reader that speaks out on-screen text, “enabling visually impaired users to make calls, read email, browse web pages, play music and run applications,” Apple says. VoiceOver is also a feature introduced with the third-generation iPod shuffle.

Starting at $199, iPhone 3G S comes in a 16GB and 32GB form. With this announcement, Apple also dropped the price on the existing iPhone 3G to $99 for the 8GB model, calling the move “a huge milestone for the high-end smartphone market.”

Visit Apple here to learn more about iPhone 3G S.