3G iPhone rumored to be Infineon-powered, hitting "mid-year"

Hold the presses: Apple may be releasing a new iPhone this year... with 3G! Crazy, we know. The latest iteration of this rumor comes to us courtesy of UBS analysts, who say Infineon will likely be building chips for the phone -- they're powering the current iPhone, so no real surprise there. UBS is also betting on a mid-year 3G iPhone launch, and thinks that EDGE production will ramp down early so Apple gets a chance to clean out inventories. We've got a good feeling about this one, guys.

[Thanks, Tim G.]

[Khris @ Feb 28th 2008 12:12PM]

"We've got a good feeling about this one, guy"

Better than the LAST "good feeling"? SIGN ME UP!!!

[RyanTV @ Feb 28th 2008 12:27PM]

Give me 3G and 32 gig storage, and I'm in.

[Ellianth @ Feb 28th 2008 12:37PM]

Although i don't even want an iphone... I imagine the old models are gonna get super cheap when the new ones are gonna come out. Maybe I'll buy one and leave it lying around the house. It seems wrong to not buy it if it's really cheap.

[hans @ Feb 28th 2008 12:39PM]

Give me 3G and 32 gig storage and a space shuttle, and I'm in. Won't buy before the space shuttle deal, that's for sure.

[mrmimis06 @ Feb 28th 2008 12:57PM]

Ryan TV: I just dont get why people feel the need to carry there whole library with them all at one time and spend hundreds of dollars for it. There are services that allow you to access your itunes library via streaming, you know, maybe even for free.

[AlexL @ Feb 28th 2008 2:09PM]

mrmimis06,

Because sometimes you want to listen to your music in the elevator, on the subway, or in the mountains. You know, places that don't get cellular signals.

[ghost @ Feb 28th 2008 2:43PM]

@mrmimis06

Because the iphone also plays more than just music? Just a guess.

[phlavor @ Feb 28th 2008 3:39PM]

mrmimis06,

1. I rip to Apple Lossless so 16 gigs is nothing to me.
2. Yeah sometimes I want to listen to Ole Dirty Bastard right after I'm done with the 1812 Overture. I roll like that.
3. My iTunes folder is like 263 gigs right now. So, uh, see 1 & 2.
4. Different people want to carry different stuff. My son only listens to one album at a time over and over and over but I bet the kid would fill up an iPhone with video in a heartbeat. Options are always better. To quote my roommate buying a hard drive a few years back, "Two gigs? Why the hell would I ever need two gigs?"

[wickedpheonix @ Feb 28th 2008 5:16PM]

3G, GPS, 8GB (or more, so long as they keep the same price), no new contract, $299, and I will buy one to replace my old iPhone.

[sw @ Feb 28th 2008 7:47PM]

ODB R.I.P...

[Erwos @ Feb 28th 2008 12:13PM]

Wake me up when there's a CDMA / EVDO Rev.A version.

[tamoghno @ Feb 28th 2008 12:16PM]

please wake up & step into the real WORLD.
wake up & go with the world.

[w00t @ Feb 28th 2008 12:19PM]

You'll be sleeping a long, long, long time!

Probably forever since AT&T have a 5 year exclusivity contract and they use global standards and none of that weird CDMA stuff :)

[decypher44 @ Feb 28th 2008 12:30PM]

To Tamogno:

Yeah, I really miss my GSM phones sending screaching noises through all of my radios/speakers. Ever since the switch I made to Sprint/CDMA, it has been pure bliss.

And why would I need to join "the rest of the world" when it comes to my phone?

[Kasi Viswanath @ Feb 28th 2008 1:28PM]

If you would sleep that long, people may misinterpret you to be dead. So, wake up Now!

[Neeko @ Feb 28th 2008 2:34PM]

Now thats what iam tlaking about. Iam not changing services and my GREAT SERO plan for no phone. CDMA/REV.A or bust.

[Prokanda @ Feb 28th 2008 4:47PM]

yet another reason the iphone has no place in my house.... real world? weird gsm stuff?

bs.

gsm gets no signal in my house.. but "weird CDMA" does.. so what's weird about it? better signal? yeah. eat that foot.

[ClaMs @ Feb 29th 2008 4:58AM]

Prokanda,

You must have a "weird" house than.
My house is in Europe, and I don't get "weird CDMA" in my.... continent.

YA RLY!

[brad @ Feb 29th 2008 11:09AM]

truth.

[MadMike @ Feb 28th 2008 12:17PM]

It's about damn time...

Now all we need is a 3G BlackBerry!

[Mr. S. @ Feb 28th 2008 12:19PM]

Yay! Maybe now I will get this bloated blog I like to read to load up called Engadget before my arms get tired of holding the iPhone.

[Raheem @ Feb 28th 2008 12:21PM]

Arms the size of twigs.

[insertAlias @ Feb 28th 2008 12:26PM]

Oh, give me a break. I read Engadget on my iPhone via Edge all the time, and it's not that bad. Would I like better? Sure. But it's not unbearably or unusably slow.

[FK @ Feb 28th 2008 2:08PM]

You should try using Google Reader and just subbing the RSS feed of Engadget. Works great.

[Christopher Grant @ Feb 28th 2008 3:55PM]

Or read m.engadget.com

[Raheem @ Feb 28th 2008 12:22PM]

So what they're saying is the current iPhone ISN'T 3G?! I've been duped and gloriously missold!

[KR @ Feb 28th 2008 1:52PM]

Well then that is your own fault. Nobody ever said current iPhones had 3G.

[Raheem @ Feb 28th 2008 1:58PM]

You plum, it was a joke.

[john @ Feb 28th 2008 12:29PM]

Does it have an open SDK yet?

Does it have a slide-out qwerty keyboard yet?

Can I get it on T-Mobile USA?

Will it work with their 3G?


Didn't think so. Not interested.

[danny @ Feb 28th 2008 12:37PM]

"a slide-out qwerty keyboard"

you're kidding right?

[John @ Feb 28th 2008 12:42PM]

I wont buy a phone without a keypad. I learned on my first iphone. I wont buy another.

[Ben Grimsbo @ Feb 28th 2008 12:54PM]

The iPhone also makes a fantastic throwing star-like object!

THUNK!

[john @ Feb 28th 2008 1:01PM]

Danny: Not kidding. I hate the iPhone's on screen keyboard. And, having used other devices which had physical keyboard or virtual-keyboard options, I found myself MUCH happier with the physical keyboard.

For one, you can see the entire screen while typing. For two (with the iPhone), you could do SMS in landscape orientation, which I would greatly prefer over its "obscure half the screen, and only usable in portrait orientation" implementation.

[Wonderkid @ Feb 28th 2008 1:07PM]

Yup, a slide out QWERTY keyboard - like the Samsung F-700, that is the very opposite of the iPhone. The F-700 has a tactile keyboard but not so well conceived software / GUI. It is well known that long term operation of a touch screen will cause pain - there is no relief that regular keyboards offer by absorbing some of the impact. Apple have proven with the original (and ground breaking) iPod Nano (and 1st gen iPhone) that they can miniaturise when they try hard - so no reason why by mid 2008 they cannot offer a next gen iPhone in the same form factor with these specs:
a) Built in GPS, real GPS!, not fake as per Nokia N95 and most other phones.
b) 3 MP or greater camera with auto focus and xenon flash - protected and hidden behind a...
c) ...slideout QWERTY keyboard that can be detached to make it easy to swap if phone is imported or re-sold to an owner of different nationality.
d) Haptic feedback on the touch screen
e) Proper 3.5mm audio jack
f) Stereo bluetooth to work with my lovely Sony stereo BT headset
g) Intelligent formatting of web pages, not just clever zooming. (My Sony Ericsson K800i browser displays web pages at a size I can read right away, I do not need to zoom in and out first. The iPhone browser is sexy, but actually a pain - IMHO!)
h) Stereo FM radio with INTERNAL antenna like the new Sony Ericsson W980

That should do it! And I'll buy or upgrade to a next gen iPhone if it happens. Apple?

[Reid @ Feb 28th 2008 2:16PM]

Slide-out qwerty keyboards are great if you like phones as thick as a 1996 Nokia.

[akatsuki @ Feb 28th 2008 5:40PM]

I think a thin slide-out keyboard should be doable, if Samsung can get a slider to be so thin and the new Sony Xperia isn't all that thick either. Real GPS would be nice as well along with nav software.

[Daryl Gregg @ Feb 28th 2008 12:30PM]

I cant wait for the 3G Iphone - main reason I switched to ATT

[Goopy @ Feb 28th 2008 12:31PM]

Does it mean old ones will be sell for cheap?

[Zal @ Feb 28th 2008 12:47PM]

Not from Apple.

[rtdunham @ Feb 28th 2008 12:41PM]

i hope they move the camera to the screen side, making possible some cool new apps. The only challenge would be finding the "shutter" icon when aiming the camera away from you. There's room for the camera above or below the mic slot, without putting it on a corner where sleeves and cases would obscure it.

[Phoenix @ Feb 28th 2008 12:52PM]

yeah, cos the slight extra cost having only one camera on the front is totally worth the hassle of NOT BEING ABLE TO AIM THE CAMERA.

Just put a second camera on for christ's sake

[rtdunham @ Feb 28th 2008 1:25PM]

i think i overlooked the obvious. I yield to Phoenix!

[Harkonian @ Feb 28th 2008 1:37PM]

LOL. Thank goodness you are not an Apple product designer.

[rtdunham @ Feb 28th 2008 1:44PM]

True that.

[Zal @ Feb 28th 2008 12:50PM]

Can't come soon enough. I'm ready for a new phone, but I think it would be silly to pay $400 or $500 for an iPhone at this time. Hopefully by the time the 2nd Gen iPhone comes out (3G, GPS, voice recorder, voice dialing would be sweet), it will have compeition from the SE Experia and maybe an early Android device. Should be a good year for mobile phone buyers!

[roc @ Feb 28th 2008 12:53PM]

I used to think i was waiting for 3G and 802.11n.

But the more I look at my actual data use, the more I think all they really need is a functional SDK. The 3G coverage in my area is crap anyway, and the iPhone can't do anything so useful over wifi that I need more bandwidth. (doesn't stream video/audio. doesn't share. etc)

About the only hardware bump I'd really care about, is a better camera. Maybe GPS.
The rest? I'll take it. But 3G and n are not going to make the sale without an SDK.

[Ralph @ Feb 28th 2008 12:55PM]

Is there an iPhone version of this site available? I really like how iLounge has one set up; makes it a lot easier to read.

[danny @ Feb 28th 2008 1:05PM]

got to say, i'm a little concerned about these iphone friendly sites. keep sites as they are, forcing the iphone dev team - and external developers once the sdk is released - to release flash support, windows media support, real player (urgh) support, etc, stop safari from crashing under heavy ajax calls, increase data speeds (starting with 3G), bully the networks to make them increase coverage, widen their edge coverage, etc, or....

rebuild your site, so its lightweight and basic and so the current iphone is happy.

hhmmmmm....

[phanbouy @ Feb 28th 2008 7:11PM]

@danny

good points and your logic is spot on. but i gotta say websites are wayyyy too top-heavy and most flash is crap ads. i _love_ having flash and JS disabled by default on firefox.

plus the real issue is form-factor. 3.5" is just too damn small and constant pinching is starting to get old. bottom-line: there needs to be mobile and/or iphone friendly websites for the forseeable future.

so my point is: usually less is more. craigslist FTW

[Tim Golden @ Feb 28th 2008 12:55PM]

This was my first time submitting a story to engadget and you guys actually posted it! I'm so excited. The 3G iPhone is also pretty exciting. If they bump it up to 32 gigs I will pay no matter how much it is.