3G iPhone Rumour Roundup
3G iPhone Rumour Roundup
A compilation of the most likely webular gossip
You may have noticed a few rumours flying about the Internet recently concerning the 3G iPhone. And by ‘a few’, we mean millions. In fact, the last time we saw such a randy bandwagon attitude, the Circle Line got closed.
In our efforts to pick the truth out of this mess, like sweetcorn from poo, we bring you the 3G iPhone rumour round-up. Which will prove true and which false come Monday? Ladies and gentlemen, place your bets…
Rumour 1: Apple makes order of 10 million 3G handsets to be made. OLED Screen included?
That’s the word on the Google Street anyway, with Gartner analyst Ken Dulaney reporting Apple demanded the making of the machines according to sources he’s “become aware of in Asia.”
Dulaney also claimed that the handset would use an OLED screen, a solution to the power-hungry 3G chip.
Rumour 2: It’ll have a front mounted camera
It makes a lot of sense for a front-cam, what with 3G allowing for video calls with both other iPhoners and computer-based iChat users.
With the technology fitting into Apple’s values of stylish communication, we can’t see how it’s not a possibility.
We can all imagine an Apple advert with its whimsical guitar strains, showing how easy it is to use iChat to talk to your contact Chloe face-to-face about the new Macy Gray album you bought the other day, or your favourite Starbucks blend, can’t we?
Rumour 3: It’ll cost £100
Now this is more like it. The kind of iPhone rumour we want to hear, this one promises (okay, claims) to save us a shed-load of cash.
Reports from the Times online suggest that the 3G iPhone will go on sale in the UK for an entirely affordable 100 English pounds. Mounting a sales boosting strategy after the slow uptake of the first gen iPhone, Apple has apparently brokered new deals with operators by ditching its fixed price exclusive partner business plan and letting operators subsidise the cost of the handset to boost chances of meeting its 10million iPhone sales target for 2008.
Rumour 4: It’ll come in rainbow colours
The story goes that the next-gen blower will come in three colours – red, white and black. A series of ads popped up online a couple of weeks back at iPhonehellas.gr highlighting the phone’s svelte colourfulness, though judging by some of the tag lines (“Extremely slim”, “Make your choice” and “Three colours. Three ways of life”), it’s more likely knocked out by a student who knows a lot about Photoshop and not much about advertising. The red one of the three looks pretty tasty, but we’re not holding our breath. That’s dangerous.
Rumour 5: It’ll be quicker than broadband
Australian website ChannelNews is claiming a senior executive at operator Telstra blabbed: “We know what is coming we have seen the new device and it will be available on our network as soon as it is launched in the USA.
“By Xmas this phone will be capable of 42mb/s which will make it faster than a lot of broadband offerings and the fastest phone on any network in the world.” Pretty damned sweet, we think you’ll agree.
Rumour 6: It’ll look different
Pictures leaked a short while ago look suspiciously similar to the touted 3G design changes we’ve been hearing so very much about.
Key design changes include a larger, more curved back, more room around the earpiece that’s roughly big enough to house, say, a front facing camera for video calls (see above), and what is being described as a “non-recessed” headphone jack.
Real or not, this is the most convincing image we’ve yet seen to tally with the speculated features of the fast approaching 3G Jesus phone.
Rumour 7: More new looks?
Will the 3G version be “radically different” to the 2G? According to a gaggle of particularly probing online sleuths, it could well be a clamshell design to allow for a bigger-than-the-current 3.5-inch screen or alternatively a slider model sporting a full QWERTY keyboard.
An Asian analyst was quoted as expecting to see “multiple versions” to cater to customers who want a music and video device, those who want pure communication (hence the slider and keyboard) and those after a laptop substitute (hence the clamshell and bigger screen). The line between Macbook and iPhone is blurring…
Rumour 8: It’ll have GPS
3G allows for a much wider array of applications, and one hotly tipped for iPhone 2 is GPS, with proper satnav built in. This would no doubt boost the blower’s target audience (to taxi drivers), and if battery life is improved we could all be but a short way from Steve Jobs enthusiastically barking directions during long drives. You’ll probably always end up at the Apple store, though.
Rumour 9: It won’t be 3G at all
If Apple pulls the rug from under us and releases an iPhone 2.0 that isn’t 3G, then all this hype will have been for nothing. We bet Apple fanboys would still buy it in their droves, though. Us? We’d probably go on a murderous rampage.
So, what do you reckon Jobs will reveal Monday? A 3G rainbow-hued iPhone with GPS, fully compatible with iTunes UK movie and game downloads, and tea making abilities? Or a new tab design for Safari?
(Via t3.com.)
According to techcrunch Google is on the hunt for Digg once again and are close to a deal. If it goes through Digg will be under the Google News property (whatever that means). 
Okay, its official. 3G iPhone rumors have become a little too much. Asking “Will a 3G iPhone be released at WWDC?” is up there with the likes of “Does a bear use the restroom in the woods?” and “Is the Pope Catholic?” In other words, yes. It will be there. I am willing to bet my first-born son on that (though you may be waiting a good 10 to 15 years for a payout should I be mistaken, but, as you may see above, I’m pretty darn sure I’m not).
aGEEKspot 
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