iPhone 2.0: The Rumor Roundup

Real photo or cruel joke?

I dunno.

Lately, the buzz surrounding Apple's fabled 3G iPhone has been increasing. Since you've got better things to do than wade through rumor blogs, let me summarize the latest and offer a few speculations.

The following information is coming from macrumors.com:

• Late June Release - current models of the iPhone are already starting to be phased out

in Britain. AT&T Employees are being denied vacations during the period between June 15 and July 12, just as they were denied vacations a year ago for the original iphone launch. Finally, Apple's Worldwide Developer's Conference is coming up in early June - an event known for huge product announcements. A good bet is that we can expect to see the next-gen iphone on or around June 27, 2008.

• Mysterious Third Sensor - the current iPhone has both a proximity sensor and an ambient light sensor. According to leaked images (which may or may not be real), the next model of the iPhone is going to have a third sensor. The purpose of this sensor is of course unknown, but this columnist is sincerely hoping for some sort of super-powered iSight webcam: imagine being able to video chat from your iPhone, anywhere you have cell reception.
• An End to Exclusivity? - In Italy, two different providers are set to offer iPhone services. Could this be signaling an early end to the provider-exclusivity currently in place? Probably not - but it'd be nice to get iPhone with my Verizon service.

So, what's it all mean? For one, it means I've got a bit of time on my hands and am excited about the uber-gadget. But the rumors themselves, if true, spell out one thing: if you're in the market for a new iphone, hold off until the end of June. Whatever the case, you're going to feel like a chump if your shiny new toy becomes "oh, it's the old model" after a few weeks.

All of these rumors are of course to be taken with a grain of salt - but I for one am expecting a pretty huge announcement at this year's WWDC.

That is all.

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