World of Apple

Over the weekend Best Buy sent out a memo saying that iPhone 3G stock was now constrained, adding that some locations would run out of inventory completely.

The news follows a similar report from retailer Brightpoint in Australia who issued an End of Life warning for the iPhone 3G 16GB.

“We have just been notified that the following devices [iPhone 3G 16GB] are End Of Life and that there is only a few weeks stock available from Brightpoint,” adding “This is an opportunity to take advantage of these devices whilst they’re still available.”

Apple is widely expected to announce a new iPhone at the WWDC opening keynote on June 8th 2009, the device will likely be in public hands by mid-July.

Engadget is reporting that the new iPhone could be available in 4, 8, 16 and 32GB capacities. Engadget pinpoints an approval received from the PCS Type Review Certification Board as the source of the information.

4GB to 32GB — that’s one hell of a range, but we’re hearing from a trusted source that new iPhones in 4GB, 8GB, 16GB, and 32GB capacities just garnered approval by the PCS Type Review Certification Board, the standards body responsible for certificating handsets for use with some carriers (AT&T, for instance).

Engadget goes onto speculate that Apple will use more than just capacities to help differentiate models and could make use of software to reduce features on certain models.

A number of images from Chinese-based UMPCFever claim (original post removed) to show several unseen features of iPhone OS 3.0. The images also purportedly show a new unreleased iPhone in action which had been brought over from the US, the images are said to be deliberately blurry to prevent features of the iPhones physical design being revealed.

The two features of interest are the iPhones new auto-focus camera and the built-in compass which corresponds with rumours that the new iPhone will have a magnetometer built-in.

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Mac Rumors has posted a side by side comparison of the current iPhone 3G next to what it claims will be the new iPhone.

The image is very similar to one seen back in February and simply shows a matte looking plastic but otherwise identical to the iPhone 3G.

Apple is expected to release the new iPhone at WWDC which kicks of June 8th 2009, the launch of the iPhone is pinned for mid-July.

In a similar fashion to this time last year a keen eyed iPhone developer has spotted an icon file destined for iPhone2,1 bundled inside the most recent iPhone SDK.

The image which comes from a thread on the Mactalk.com.au forums appears identical to that of the iPhone1,2 model which correlates with rumours that the external design of the new iPhone won’t change significantly.

iLounge has today published two rumours, the first concurs with a rumour that the iPod nano would receive a camera in its next revision.

The report from iLounge includes an “artists rendition” based on information from a source with a “perfect track record”. The rumours suggest that the display will increase in size slightly and a camera will be mounted on the rear.

In addition to rumours on the new iPod nano which would presumably see a release on September of this year, iLounge also publishes some details on the new iPhone.

The new iPhone will reportedly come in six versions “two storage capacities each for 3G, enhanced 3G (“3.5G/3.75G”)” and two versions for mainland China. iLounge also mentions that the casing will have a matte finish which correlates to images seen in early February.

AT&T is considering lower cost plans for the iPhone and other smartphones by setting a cap on the amount of data used in a given month.

The comments come direct from AT&T’s CEO, Ralph de la Vega who said at the Reuters Global Technology Summit last week that he could see AT&T capping data in return for lower costs.

“Right now we continue to study what is the best thing that is available, not just from an iPhone point of view, but what you can do to stimulate additional demand,” de la Vega said at the Technology Summit.

The remarks come not long after reports that AT&T is looking into offering a $20 per month iPhone plan that would give iPhone owners $10 a month in savings but see a data cap put in place.

Both AppleInsider and Mac Rumors are speculating that the upcoming iPhone will make use of the ARMv7 Cortex processor. It should be noted that the ARMv6 is currently in use in the iPhone 3G and iPod touch.

Although not likely to be related Mac Rumors points towards a job posting on Apple’s website which seeks knowledge of ARM processors, including their NEON vector unit.

The successful candidate will have excellent understanding and knowledge of processor architecture, specifically ARM and its vector unit NEON. Additional Intel SSE or PowerPC AltiVec is also very helpful. Being able to use processor micro-architecture to write and deliver fast routines is an essential attribute.

NEON is an extended instruction set which can be compared to Intel’s SSE or PowerPC’s AltiVec and often give multimedia applications a boost. The rumour sites speculate that the instruction set could be used to aid in intensive operations involving video such as recording, editing and processing; all of which are rumoured to be a big part of the new iPhone.

As the job posting is recent it would be unlikely for it to relate to the upcoming iPhone so exact details on processor are effectively unknown.

Finally, Mac Rumors points towards another job posting on the Apple website which seeks an individual with experience in real-time media and networking applications over Wi-Fi and celluar networks and to deliver “cutting edge embedded video processing”.

John Gruber of Daring Fireball has stepped into the iPhone rumour arena for the second time this week. Initially Gruber gave some insight into the potential for background applications on the iPhone, this time the prominent blogger is talking hardware.

Gruber who has been accurate with rumours in the past concurs with speculation that the new iPhone will come in capacities of 16 and 32GB. On top of this Gruber also describes the new iPhone as having a 600MHz processor compared to the current 400MHz processor, but states that the “next-generation” CPU will give the illusion of being much faster than the megahertz increase would suggest.

Let’s say the rumors are right — and I believe they are — that the next-generation iPhone’s CPU will be running at 600 MHz. In the same way that, say, a 90 MHz Pentium was more than 1.5 times as fast as a 60 MHz 486, the 600 MHz CPU in the next iPhone will be more than 1.5 times as fast as the current 400 MHz iPhone CPU.

Alongside the change in processor the new iPhone will also sport 256MB of RAM twice that of the current iPhone.

As we’ve heard from other sources Gruber suggests that the external casing will remain very similar to the current iPhone.

Finally the Daring Fireball blogger confirms the presence of a digital compass (magnetometer) and the ability to record video. The new iPhone is said to have an auto-focus lens which will improve still photography and videos will be able to be edited and very easily uploaded to the Internet.

The new iPhone is expected to be announced at the WWDC 2009 opening keynote on June 8th.

Following rumours that the new iPhone would come in capacities of 16GB and 32GB, T-Mobile in Austria has accidently posted a link to a 32GB iPhone model.

The listing which appeared on the online store for a short period of time didn’t show an image of the iPhone nor a price but simply listed an “iPhone 32 GB”.

Apple is expected to announce a new iPhone at the WWDC 2009 opening keynote on June 8th.