3G iPhone: is June launch now inevitable?
By Thomas Ricker 
posted March 6th 2008 3:25PM
posted March 6th 2008 3:25PM
Hint: Apple's WWDC, while unannounced, is expected to begin on June 8th.
posted March 6th 2008 3:25PM
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What's an iPhone?
Ah, lovely sarcasm. :)
Anyway, I do hope the CANADIAN version comes out!
Rumors in Scandinavia, say that '3' Scandinavia (Sweden and Denmark) gets the exclusive rights to sell a 3G iPhone in these two countries.
So if the iPhone will be in Scandinavia, it is very likely it will be in Canada (probably before)
Who cares if there's 3G or not. The EDGE connection is faster than I was ever expecting, and I don't need friggin' broadband speeds 24/7. I have used nothing but iPhone EDGE internet for days while I was away with no WiFi and there is absolutely no complaint here. Furthermore, if you haven't noticed, WiFi is rolling out pretty much everywhere; at McDonald's, department stores, malls, etc.
tl;dr 3G is a NON-ISSUE, it's just Apple-hate fodder for the 2% of tech-nerds (and maybe Mariah Carey) that care about a little extra speed.
John:
Its the classic Apple argument. Its not an option but you don't really need it, so its ok. Steve says so. Steve says this Koolaid is good too. mmmmm.
Yes EDGE is pretty fast, calculations in Copenhagen say the speed is between 400-600 Kbps (much higher than 1G 3G)
But I would still prefer 7,2 Mbit speeds everywhere.
iphone is a cell phone by apple that has put windows mobile phone sales to shame on markets where both units are available
Agreed, a Canadian release with an unlimited data package. Ah crap, I just drooled on my keyboard again.
John: Have you ever even tried using a 3G phone? Compared to EDGE it is lightning fast. And it's not about whether you need the speed or not, but expanding the list of applications: 3G would allow great online content streaming and near-instant web-app loading.
@Richard Lai
I definitely wouldn't say 3G is worthless, but I wouldn't go so far as saying its "lightening fast". In fact, it really depends on the device. My Treo 700WX is so damn underpowered that page loading in pocket IE or opera mini is a few seconds SLOWER than on my iPhone for most websites. Now would a 3G iphone be potentially much faster than an Edge iphone, most likely. On regular ~300K website pages it won't make a huge difference, but I agree with you that it will enable things impossible over edge, such as decent quality video streaming, video conferencing, etc
There was a press event?
*On Topic: Yep, looks like June good buddies!*
How could you really believe anything else? We haven't even gotten to firmware v. 1.2, and they're already announcing 2.0. Sounds like it's ripe for iPhone 2.0 to me.
At which point I will give me first iPhone to my girlfriend and buy the new one on the spot.
Makes total sense.
i think were all going to be dissapointed by apple once again....sigh..
Engadget once again reporting that there is ...nothing to report. I'm rather sick of sniffing Apple's farts.
You're better off smelling Apple's farts than mine. Trust me on that one...
Why did you guys not ask about 3G during the Q&A today?
@Andrew M,
It's pointless asking Apple about unreleased product, they simple don't comment, ever.
Thomas
They specifically said they were not there to talk about hardware.
"It's pointless asking Apple about unreleased product, they simple don't comment, ever."
So why the hell are you asking us as if we know?
Sigh... anyway, I guess there really isn't much news other than this. Anybody heard any recent news on the Casio EX-F1 or that random 3 lense fisheye camera?
I hear both will get real keyboards in 2012.
There isn't a doubt in my mind that Apple will release a new phone in June. Steve said it himself by mentioning that the app store will be released with the 2.0 upgrade. 2.0 generally means a new handset.
I think he just means version 2.0 of the iPhone's OS. After all, this press event was about the iPhone thats out now, and the applications thats capable of running on the current handset.
Simply put, instead of 1.1.4, it'll be 1.2.0 (or something similar), not necessarily a new handset.
That makes sense.
No FCC filing, no iPhone. That's why they pre-announced in Jan '07 for a late June '07 release. If it were coming, we'd already have heard about it through that channel by now.
@ Tim
It's an update, not a new product.
@ Beau
If the new iPhone is a 3G iPhone, it still needs to go through FCC since it has a new 3G radio.
Informations on the iphone was great when it first came out. But my goodness, this is becoming overkilled.
it's "overkill"
just thoughted i'd mentioned that.
:)
its becoming BOTH.
Whats the big deal? its just a phone.
it's not just aPhone... it's iPhone douchbag. :)
Correct me if I am wrong, but if apple updates the iPhone's cell equipment.. then it will have to pass through the FCC again. Don't FCC filings take around 2 months to clear? They would have to submit soon in order for it to be in June.
Damn Right! FCC would have on file.
We need to enjoy what we have, let the keep development up because thats what important.
Not completely true. While Apple would have to file something, a sufficiently worded confidentiality request would block all evidence of a 3G iPhone from public viewing until a requested date has passed. This happens all the time.
Thomas
Apple will simply do what they did with the first iPhone: ask the FCC to keep the product under a veil of confidentiality
@Thomas
Ah, I was not sure if a product could be completely under wraps. I do know that Apple could request for everything to be kept from the public, but I thought that there would have to be a note on the site about it, basically a list of the filings, but everything marked confidential. Thats what usually happens, and happened with the first iPhone, everything was marked confidential until June, yet there was still a listing on the FCC website.
@ Alex
The first iPhone was not submitted to the FCC till after apple released it. Steve jobs noted this in the 07 Macworld keynote that the reason they released it before submitting it to the FCC was so the FCC did not "release it for them"
My guess is that Apple will either wait till WWDC to announce it, and have it out late summer or they will file the FCC paperwork and ask for it to be confidential until sometime in June.
In June the iPhone would have been around for close to a year and IMO minor updates in software and design should be launched together with ther new firmware.
I'll bet the world will spin off it's axis when this world changing event happens.
I think they still see some more opportunities to make money with the iPhone. Wait until it completely dries, then announce the 3G iphone.
whens this shit coming out for the touch?
same time as iPhone.
I thought this shit was supposed to come out today. Apple is an awful company. I wish there were other companies that built MP3 players. Google should make one.
There are plenty of other companies that make mp3 players. Many of which are better than Ipods. if only the Zune software didn't suck so hard, I could recommend that.
Or maybe you were being wry, in which case, carry on. =)
this "shit" did come out, or in other words the promised sdk is here but we wont be able to use the apps till june, and think it the enterprise stuff was a pretty big surprise so all in all this was a pretty good event for apple
not to say apple doesnt have its problems, they are just a company trying to get paid just like any other. Why dont macbooks have led option yet? whats the deal with no airport extreme drive back ups now that time capsule is out? I could go on but I still like os x more then windows so I am over a barrel. I think apple could make stuff more open but alas the sacrifice of using os x is you accept it is gonna work but might not be as customizable or specific as you hope. Sorry I ventured off topic there...
when is the coming out for the itouch?
Damn the iphone. Engadget used to be decent, now all there is is iPhone, MacBook, apple apple apple. Can we please just group all this together under apple 3/6/08 and then do one with tomorrows date for all the apple jibberish that will be on here tomorrow and so on... P.s. Before I get raped by fanboy, I am writing this on my itouch.
i came here to post this. i pull up engadget and there are literally 2-3 non-apple stories, and a billion about the f'n SDK. not. a. big. deal.
how about putting all this bullshit into ONE post somewhere, maybe in the advertising section or something?
Ok, first of all its an iPod Touch, not an itouch. Secondly, engadget posts about everything. I dont like it when there are a million posts about cameras that are barely different thantheir predecessors, but there are people that due. This site caters to a lot of crowds. It can't be helped if you see something that you don't care about.