Only a year ago the Apple fandom was going berserk about rumors concerning what they hoped would be the smart phone to beat all smart phones; the iPhone. Apple fanboys and girls got their wishes granted, mostly, on June 29. On June 9 of this year, at Apple’s annual Worldwide Developers Conference, will see a similar revelation, if technology analysts are correct.
When the iPhone was first released it was very low on features. In fact, in reality, it wasn’t actually a smart phone, as it didn’t hold 3G technology or business mail features. It was a great phone, let’s not kid ourselves, but it wasn’t the be all and end all that many of us had hoped for.
However with 08’s WDC soon upon us, that iPhone that we all hoped would be released last year, may finally get its release this year.
Over the preliminary months of 2008, announcements have been rolling out of Europe, Asia and Oceania about telecommunication deals being made with Apple for providing the iPhone. Vodafone got a contract, as did Orange in France, and Telstra in Australia. The latter adds its own credence to the possibility that the iPhone v2 will be 3G enabled due to Australia’s massive and effective 3G network, and an almost non-existent provision of the Edge network that the iPhone provided in the US.
What are we expecting from the iPhone v2? 3G is the biggest guess, and the most likely considering the amount of flak that Apple got for not providing it in the first iPhone. However the increase in energy that a 3G phone makes over one not enabled with 3G also suggests that the next generation of Apple’s most prized possession will include a battery upgrade, and possibly an OLED screen.
OLED stands for organic light-emitting diode, and is a more energy efficient version of its cousin the LED. The technology has been around for some years now, and a veritable palooza of rumors focusing on OLED based products – from TV’s to phones – have always ended in disappointment (for the most part).
So in addition to 3G and a subsequent battery increase and power usage drop, there are a few more applications that people are clamoring for. The first among them is Microsoft Exchange Server support, a messaging and collaborative software product developed by Microsoft. The absence of Exchange support for the original iPhone was one of the major black marks against it, and the biggest for depriving it of official “smart phone” status.
More frivolous is GPS integration, rather than the triangulation technology. GPS will offer a much more specific location than the current system, which just gives you a general location based on what cell towers you are using. Naturally, any location hardware will be integrated with Google Maps.
An increase in storage is likely as prices for solid state hard drives drop, and rumors are floating around that the new iPhone will be thinner and sport black metal trim.
Evidence for the new iPhone being released next week comes in several guises. The iPhone is not available for purchase off the Apple website, and retail stocks are dwindling thanks to Apple, which has not shipped out any more devices. And while AT&T still have a few left, it does look like Apple have cut supplies to stop any angry emails from people who buy them within two weeks of a new one arriving.
Add to that a mass of patent applications that can be tied back to Apple, and shipping invoices of parts supposedly headed towards the new iPhone, and you can bet that Apple is gearing up for something.
My opinion (a somewhat expert opinion at that) is that America and Canada will see 3G iPhone’s by next week, probably just after Steve Jobs steps off the stage; Europe will see iPhones in early July and Australia the middle of August. Either way, it’s going to set you back some money, and probably not be exactly what you wanted, but you’ll still buy it anyway.
Joshua Hill, a Geek’s-Geek from Melbourne, Australia, Josh is an aspiring author with dreams of publishing his epic fantasy, currently in the works, sometime in the next 5 years. A techie, nerd, sci-fi nut and bookworm.
