SINGTEL, the largest telco here, has announced that it will start selling Apple's latest upgrade, the iPhone 3GS, from next Friday.

While physically identical to its two predecessors, the new iPhone 3GS sports a more powerful engine and better battery life. Its software has also been upgraded to allow it to shoot video.

The iconic touchscreen phone will come in both 16GB (gigabyte) and 32GB models, in both black and white colours.

SingTel spokesman Chia Boon Chong said interest 'remains very high, comparable to last year (when the iPhone 3G was launched).'

Already, 'tens of thousands have already registered their interest in the phone on our website,' he added.

Mr Chia said that stocks of the iPhone 3G model has since run out, but did not say if SingTel planned to replenish the stocks or only the new model. The original iPhone, launched in 2007, was never officially sold here although some managed to buy them overseas and tweak the software to allow them to be used with local mobile operators.

The price of the new handset though, will only be revealed next week, said SingTel.

Industry analysts though, believe that the new handset will go for roughly the same price the iPhone 3G did when launched - free to those with high-end plans, and $848 for those with low-end plans.

It is known that AT & T in the United States will charge US$199 for the new 16 GB model and US$299 for the 32GB version.

The newest version of the phone was unveiled by manufacturer Apple in June in San Francisco at its annual developer conference.