May 12th, 2008
More hints that a 3G iPhone is imminent
Most people seem pretty convinced that the 3G iPhone will be released next month. The going theory is that Jobs will announce the beast at his keynote address at WWDC in San Francisco on 09 June 2008 and that it will be shipping in quantity some time around the end of the month.
More hints that new iPhone hardware is imminent is surfacing every day. The most compelling evidence is that both the US and UK Apple online stores have stopped selling iPhones. Both countries online stores list both 8GB and 16GB iPhones as “Currently Unavailable.” Prices for New In Box (”NIB”) iPhones is climbing on eBay with prices for 8GB units going as much as US$500 – a US$100 premium.
If that wasn’t enough to convince you, developers have discovered an on/off switch for the 3G networking in the latest build of the iPhone 2.0 beta 5 software.
By default, the preference is hidden, but one developer (Chronic Productions) claims to have activated it. We have since confirmed that the text shown is indeed in the iPhone 2.0 Beta firmware, so the screenshot appears to be legitimate.
On top of that, AT&T Wireless is now listing a second model iPhone – called “iPhone Black” – in its device database, according to AppleInsider. There has been much speculation that the new 3G iPhone will ship with a black rear panel, presumably to differentiate it from the 1.0 model.
I just hope that the rumor of it costing US$199 would come true. Now that would be something.
Jason D. O'Grady is the editor of PowerPage.org, which has been publishing daily mobile technology news since December 1995. For disclosures on Jason's industry affiliations, click here or to view Jason's full profile click here.
Subscribe to The Apple Core via Email alerts or RSS.
