We've got a great scoop on the upcoming Apple iPhone release, and some thoughts on what the 3G iPhone will offer.
Editor's note: Click here to read our story on the officially announced Apple iPhone 3G.
Even though we were at a PR event for another carrier, launching a phone from another manufacturer, conversation inevitably turned to the Apple iPhone, and we happened to overhear some interesting details on the new iPhone's launch. We can't reveal our anonymous source, but needless to say infoSync World does not tread lightly on the rumor trail, so we wouldn't be publishing this tidbit if we didn't have a solid, honest source.
The new Apple iPhone will indeed be launched at the Worldwide Developers Conference (WWDC) on June 9. It will be the 3G iPhone that we've been anticipating. This much has been reported by other sites, but we now know that the iconic Apple phone won't go on sale immediately. Our source claims that the 3G iPhone will be available about a week and a half later, around June 18th or 19th. We'd have a more concrete date, but the music at the event was so loud we couldn't be sure, and we didn't want to yell out this tasty tidbit over the thumping bass.
This jibes with a few rumors we've heard. First, it's practically common knowledge at this point that the new 3G iPhone will be announced at WWDC. We took this for granted once we found out that Steve Jobs will be delivering the keynote address at the Conference in San Francisco. Mr. Jobs doesn't get out of bed in the morning for less than a major product launch, so this was a no-brainer. This also seems to fit with the circulating rumor that AT&T employees are being strongly encouraged not to take vacation days starting June 15th. We're pretty sure the new 3G iPhone will launch on the 18th, but it could be the next day. Apple has a habit of announcing products on Tuesdays, but the original iPhone went on sale on a Friday, so this breaks any previous pattern.
Beyond that, we can only speculate about the features of the new 3G iPhone. HSDPA networking is a sure bet, since that is the 3G network used by the original Apple iPhone's sole carrier, AT&T. HSDPA is also a widespread global standard, unlike Sprint and Verizon Wireless' EV-DO, which is mostly found in the Americas and South Korea. Of course, we'd love to discover that AT&T's exclusivity agreement only applies to the first-gen iPhone, but we doubt this will be the case.
We're also expecting true GPS navigation, especially since A-GPS chips have been mandated in phones for emergency purposes for some time now. Hopefully, driving directions will be handled by a real navigation app, and not Google Maps. AT&T Navigator would be a nice fit, but so far Apple has shied away from using carrier-branded services, like AT&T Music or AT&T's video service.
For this reason, we're also thinking that mobile TV is a longshot for the new 3G iPhone. It's an unproven technology, at least in the American market. Our experience with mobile TV on Verizon Wireless and AT&T has been excellent, but the services lack significant programming options, and we also think that adding another radio to the 3G iPhone might drain the battery enough to convince Apple to skip the service this time around. We'd be much more interested in seeing the new 3G iPhone subsidized and insured, bringing the price down and our confidence levels up, than seeing a bunch of features thrown in for parity with AT&T's major competitors.
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