Reuters: 3G iPhone announcement for Italy Monday, or Tuesday

Reuters Italia is reporting that the 3G iPhone will be announced by the Italian carrier TIM (and presumably the rest of Europe) on Monday, Tuesday at the latest. Better yet, Reuters' source within TIM says that the 3G iPhone will be available immediately, Tuesday at the latest. Availability is still rumored for sometime in June for Italy and it's been awhile since Apple did an announce-and-launch on the same day. Quietly distributing 3 million or so iPhones around the world even with Apple's stealth is no easy task and we still haven't seen it, or anything from Apple hit the FCC. Still, at this point the biggest surprise of WWDC would be for Jobs not to announce a 3G iPhone.

Update: After some initial confusion over the translation, Reuters says that it will be announced on Monday or Tuesday.

[Via ToTouch, thanks Giovanni]

[wako @ Jun 6th 2008 4:55AM]

Whoa, I thought the big surprise at WWDC would be the PowerBook G5s!

[Derry Quinn @ Jun 6th 2008 5:46AM]

After this revelation, Safari seems Snappier

[loosely_coupled @ Jun 6th 2008 10:11PM]

Wouldn't it be hilarious for steve jobs to NOT announce a 3G iPhone. He should do a whole bit about how "certain products you may have been expecting" ran into delays and won't be announced or shipped until the end of the year. the WWDC audience would go CRAZY! HAHAHA

[mat @ Jun 6th 2008 4:56AM]

One day I'll buy an iPhone, and it'll probably be early next year.

First I want to buy a Lian-li PC-A17b case.

Its probably too late to be first.

I feel quite tired.

It'd be cool if Apple did a world wide release on monday/tuesday, but I already know Australia and NZ aren't getting it until September.

[SirCrumpet @ Jun 6th 2008 5:25AM]

Australia should get it around June 19th to coincide with the Apple Store launch in Sydney...

[Charles Han @ Jun 6th 2008 5:02AM]

geez living in korea i have to wait an extra day to see the launch T_T

[Derry Quinn @ Jun 6th 2008 5:47AM]

Mat, no offence, but that is the most randomest thing I've heard all day

[Derry Quinn @ Jun 6th 2008 7:51AM]

No i mean, us irish are supposed to have easy to listen to accents (hence google, apple telephone support located here) but it was funny how you just started talking about your accent randomly...respect man!

[giuliop @ Jun 6th 2008 9:37AM]

Again, take no offence Mat, but this self-appraisal reminds me of 'The Moon' as portraied by The Mighty Boosh, when he speaks about his beauty:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5fXWdyPJ6UA

It's at 5:05, but I can guarantee that watching it all would do anything but hurt :)

[unoqualsiasi @ Jun 6th 2008 5:08AM]

Jobs will announce it... iphone is currently unavailable on the US Apple Store

[UjoLenin @ Jun 6th 2008 5:09AM]

Hm.. I hope Reuters is right.. I am tired from waiting..

[Saad Rabia @ Jun 6th 2008 5:20AM]

Imagine!

No 3G
No GPS
Same old phone but new applications and update, only!

God forbid.

[DefPo3t @ Jun 6th 2008 5:29AM]

And to make things even sadder if what you just saidndid happen then fanboys would still defend it. T•T.


If that happens 'ok be selling stock quick as he££ seeing as them stockmarket people problly wouldn't like it either

[X-BLADE @ Jun 6th 2008 7:26AM]

Then watch out for suicide news all over the headlines..

[alex @ Jun 6th 2008 5:33AM]

The italian article just say that Telecom will announce the iphone launch AFTER the WWDC, so monday evening or tuesday morning.
And it doesn't say (yet) anything about when it will be available for sale. I think this will be unveiled on mondey/tuesday by Telecom.

Hello... from an italian iPhone user :)

[certuna @ Jun 6th 2008 9:42AM]

Who in their right mind plans to announce something on Monday in Italy, the day of their first Euro 2008 football match? Nobody will be paying attention!

[in a kingdom by the sea @ Jun 6th 2008 5:37AM]

Come to canada dammit!!!!

[Magnificen7 @ Jun 6th 2008 6:43AM]

Rogers announced a few weeks ago in an earnings statement that they had signed an agreement to bring the iPhone to Canada this year. It is assumed that it will be as soon as Jobs announces this new model.

[Andrea @ Jun 6th 2008 5:39AM]

Actually, Reuters Italia just said that TELECOM Italia on monday or tuesady will annouce the date for the availability of 3G iPhone. Nobody said that it will be already available from monday. It also says that they (obviously) already know the date, but they have to wait for the official announcement before they can communicate it to the masses.

[Joe @ Jun 6th 2008 5:51AM]

It can't be announced in Italy on Monday, the keynote doesnt start till 8pm their time. There's not enough time for them to announce anything on Monday unless they do it before Jobsy!

[TareX @ Jun 6th 2008 5:54AM]

Not a fanboy, but I feel there will be a lot more to the new iPhone than we think... I only think so because of the massive un-Apple-like leaks we've seen so far.

[Wii60Warrior @ Jun 6th 2008 6:28AM]

I just went to AT&T's website and they are "Out of Stock" on the 16G iPhone. I didn't check the 8G one though so make of that what you will.

I think its not a matter of "rumor" anymore. The shit is for real. The only problem is will Apple f*ck up the design and change it so radically that its no longer what it use to be.

If they mess with the screen size, change the form and metallic backing I'll be less inclined to buy it.

[Argot @ Jun 6th 2008 7:51AM]

Why would anybody wanna buy this piece of crap?

[Mark Anderson @ Jun 6th 2008 8:34AM]

The iPhone:

Good points: The UI and the browser.
Bad points: Just about everything else.

The amount of hype about the iPhone 2.0 - a product, like all Apple products, whose manufacturers don't have the balls to release confirmed specs for in advance - is amazing. Fanyboys yelp like overexcited puppies at its release claiming that it represents a new paradigm and that it will dominate the mobile market.

Of course most people know this is drivel. The iPhone is a nice enough unit but, especially in the developed mobile markets, it's nothing special and it was deeply amusing to see sales flounder when those carriers who were stupid enough to bow to Apple's terms tried to force overpriced and underfeatured contracts onto people. Score one for the public for forcing them to offer increased allowances and lower prices.

iPhone 2.0 will be pretty much the same - Apple's millions of US fanboys (who, lets face it, would buy a turd if it was wrapped in white plastic and called the iPoo) will rush out because "they've just got to have it" whilst the rest of the world will treat it like any other 'phone. Some will like it and buy it, most will select a unit from the other manufacturers because it appeals to them more. Then, say a year down the line, when Apple's stock price has dropped to $120-$130 (which is a more realistic level) because iPhone sales are merely OK and Macs have topped out at about 8-10% US and 4% globally we'll wonder what all the fuss was about in the same way we did when the dotcom bubble burst.

All sound and fury signifying nothing.

[Colin Potter @ Jun 6th 2008 11:53AM]

Not to be a dick or anything... but I'm pretty sure 10% of US market share being mac computers is kind of a big deal, considering the other 90% windows and linux machines are from a ton of different companies, HP, Compaq, Toshiba, Dell, Gateway, Sony, etc. as well as custom built units... I mean... if you think about it in these terms and say... oh... 10 million people in the US have computers (obviously way off)... 1 million of them are Mac (Apple) owners, the other 9 million are divided by a couple dozen companies.

[Mark Anderson @ Jun 6th 2008 1:10PM]

Absolutely. However, since Dell have about 25% and HP 30% of the US market without the silly market capitalisation and PE ratio that Apple has it just demonstrates why they're a bubble company.

[Steffen Jobbs @ Jun 6th 2008 7:02PM]

@Mark A
Good points: The UI and the browser.
Bad points: Just about everything else

Just about everything else? The case, the display, the hardware is bad you claim.

You sound a lot like the Palm CEO Ed Colligan when he said there is no way the iPhone was going to be a success, since Palm was having a tough time selling phones. You sort of sound like the Diamond Rio mp3 makers that said there was nothing special about the iPod. Rio said they could easily build mp3 players better than the iPod.

Your vision is clouded or your brain seems to lack the ability to wrap itself around how important the 3G iPhone will be to the masses. You say it won't a paradigm and any company can do what Apple can to sell better smartphones than the iPhone. Your problem might be that your vision is too narrow to grasp the big picture. You really believe any WinMo-powered handset is better even though they've been around long enough to have the largest market share, which they don't.

I think RIM is a well-run company and they have the largest smartphone market share, but they've had multi-years to do so and they still don't have that big a lead in market share either. That's with all their models in all the countries and multiple carriers throughout the world.

In one more full year the iPhone will just walk away with smartphone market share and all the rest of the companies will be fighting for second place. With the amount of countries it will be available in, corporate support and gaming platform, it's gonna be tough sailing for the other smartphone companies. I know the handset business is not like the music business but I believe Apple will adapt to find a model that works to keep selling iPhones as they did with iPods. When Apple introduces multiple iPhone models, they'll sell many more iPhones.

The Chinese love video chat and once they get their hands on an iPhone running iChat, they'll probably proclaim that 2008 is the Year of the Apple.

You are also predicting that Apple's stock price will cave again to $130 or so. The analysts and investors are betting against that. Do you have an approximate date on when this collapse will occur? I hope you're wrong, but you seem pretty sure of yourself. You probably don't know jack, but you might get lucky on one of your predictions.

So now you'll say I'm a suck-up Apple fanboy. OK. Maybe I don't know jack, either. In six months or so we'll see who's right. I believe that more people in the world will enjoy using the iPhone over any other smartphone.

[rick @ Jun 6th 2008 10:30AM]

I wish everyone would stop with the FCC crap. They dont have to get FCC approval for an update of an existing product. The iPhone has obviously passed FCC approval already, and whatever 3G chip they add in has passed FCC approval already as well.

There will be no FCC notice because they dont need one

[Ted Cadieux @ Jun 6th 2008 11:55AM]

Sucks it will be on TIM for those in Italy...when i lived there TIM had AWFUL service. Should have gone to WIND.

[ajfina @ Jun 6th 2008 11:56AM]

what about MMS? wtf? im sick of not having it .

[sam @ Jun 8th 2008 1:23PM]

I know! The reason I never bought an iPhone in the first place was because of no MMS. Aside from not having video capture or 3G.

[rishi @ Jun 6th 2008 12:24PM]

Hold on...they're getting the announcement before the US? I'm confused....

[eddy @ Jun 7th 2008 11:12AM]

I have confirmation that iphone will be announced monday and be for sale on tuesday the next day and those mysterious boxes that say "do not open until june tenth are for sure iphones. I was told all this from an apple store associate.

[stone killer @ Jun 8th 2008 10:08PM]

you can no longer buy an iphone from the AT&T web site. And you could yesterday. because i was going to buy one..

[leeseng @ Jun 9th 2008 10:50AM]

https://www.singtelshop.com/, online shopping site for singapore iphone sole telco, singtel, is down and only be up 10th of june, 2100 GMT+8.

[PRainho @ Jun 16th 2008 7:11PM]

Maybe you're "lost in translation" but I've read the article and it doesn't say anywhere that the iPhone will be available immediatly! Or the next day!

[Chris2 @ Jun 6th 2008 5:20AM]

"Dobbiamo aspettare loro, poi subito dopo arriverà il nostro annuncio", ha detto la fonte aziendale.

Now from my limited italian, that seems to be a conjucation of the verb to arrive/to come, followed by "our anouncement" indicatiing that the arrival of something (I assume the iphone) is linked to the announcement.

Then again I could be way off base, as I only really know Spanish :-p

[giuliop @ Jun 6th 2008 10:09AM]

The sentence - literally - reads something like:

"We have to wait for them, then our announcement will come shortly after."

'Them' here seems to refer to Apple (Jobs).

If it looks bad wording it's because the original is as bad.