Comments on: AT&T Mobility CEO Speaks: iPhone 3G Coming “in Months”

By: marcol

marcol — Wed, 09 Apr 2008 02:35:39 +0000

Alternatively (this is the bit where I eat my words) the reference in the 2.0 software is in fact 'SGOLD3';

http://www.ziphone.org/2008/04/evidence.html

Infineon make (at least) two chips with 'GOLD3' in the name: 'S-GOLD3H' (details in link above) and 'S-GOLD3'. S-GOLD3H is HSDPA, S-GOLD3 tops out with EDGE (link to pdf):

http://www.infineon.com/dgdl/PMB8877_S-GOLD3.pdf?folderId=db3a304412b407950112b408e8c90004&fileId=db3a304412b407950112b40d37c80d0c

I guess the reference in the Apple code could refer to either.

(Via caliminius in this thread at AppleInsider)

By: marcol

marcol — Wed, 09 Apr 2008 02:04:22 +0000

Silly people... there is no 3G iPhone. AT&T is going to double the speed of EDGE, which would technically make it "3G". That's why he said that all smart devices will be 3G.

Did you see the widely reported observation that the 2.0 firmware alludes to what looks like the baseband chip for the next iPhone? Here's Endgaget's take:

The folks at ZiPhone spotted some code in the brand new 2.0 beta iPhone firmware that could point to the chip to be used in the upcoming 3G iPhone. The code makes mention of "SGOLD3," which could very well refer to Infineon's followup chip to the S-GOLD2 which powers the current iPhone. Infineon's less fancy name for the S-GOLD3H chip is the PMB8878, a 7.2Mbps HSDPA chip with all the video acceleration and media playback features iPhone users have come to expect. Advantages over its predecessor include higher resolution camera support (5 megapixels instead of 2), a 2x speed MMC / SD interface and DVB-H module support, but that doesn't necessarily mean any of those specs will end up in the ensuing iPhone 3G -- S-GOLD2 has plenty of features the current iPhone doesn't take advantage of. The processor speed, however, remains the same.

http://www.engadget.com/2008/04/08/iphone-3gs-baseband-chip-revealed/

It would be odd wouldn't it to use an HSDPA chip and limit it to EDGE?

More details of the chip from Infineon (pdf):

http://www.infineon.com/dgdl/PMB8878_S-GOLD3H.pdf?folderId=db3a304312fcb1bc0113000c158f0004&fileId=db3a3043136c9a8b01136d6407dc003c

By: marcol

marcol — Fri, 04 Apr 2008 08:20:54 +0000

Engadget and Gizmodo have often (least in my memory) posted leaked info from the FCC (Dieter may remember better).

I had the notion that they just typed 'Apple', 'Palm', 'Nokia' or whatever in the Applicant Name box here:

https://gullfoss2.fcc.gov/oetcf/eas/reports/GenericSearch.cfm

I could certainly be wrong though.

By: Rene Ritchie

Rene Ritchie — Fri, 04 Apr 2008 07:59:23 +0000

Engadget and Gizmodo have often (least in my memory) posted leaked info from the FCC (Dieter may remember better).

Info on a new iPhone would be a killer leak, so almost inevitable.

Of course, component manufacturers are probably much higher leak risks.

By: marcol

marcol — Fri, 04 Apr 2008 02:26:23 +0000

Bit more on FCC confidentiality. TreoCentral reported the Treo 650 announcement on October 25 2004 (seems just like yesterday :)):

http://www.treocentral.com/content/Stories/472-1.htm

and that the first FCC documents were available to the public on October 28:

http://www.treocentral.com/content/Stories/482-1.htm

The FCC lists the 'Grant date' as October 27. This implies that everything can be kept confidential until after the FCC authorisation is complete.

TreoCentral readers started receiving their 650s on November 17:

http://www.treocentral.com/content/Stories/488-1.htm

so there was about three weeks between the 650 appearing on the FCC site and it being in users' hands.

By: marcol

marcol — Fri, 04 Apr 2008 01:53:23 +0000

Alternatively, perhaps T-Mobile just announced the release date.

Spring is truly in the air with these prices. In conjunction with a Complete XL contract, the iPhone from T-Mobile costs just EUR 99 as part of the promotion running from April 7 through June 30. The price for the Apple iPhone handset has also been reduced substantially in conjunction with any of the other Complete two-year contract options.

http://www.t-mobile-international.com/CDA/08-04-03tmdiphonefromjusteur99,20,,newsid-6238,en.html

By: marcol

marcol — Thu, 03 Apr 2008 15:44:34 +0000

@ Rene. I'm pretty sure that it used to be that both application for FCC approval and approval itself could be kept confidential for some period of time. Unless my memory has me completely wrong, it was true for at least one of the Treos (and probably thus generally the case) that the FCC released nothing until the phone went on sale. Has this changed? Do I have it wrong?

@Draiko. Wanna bet?

By: Rene Ritchie

Rene Ritchie — Thu, 03 Apr 2008 14:47:42 +0000

I believe 3G stands for the technology (3rd generation), not the speed. If EDGE became 10x faster, it would still be 2.5G (improved 2nd Gen), not 3G (HSDPA) or 4G (what is that now, LTE?)

By: Draiko

Draiko — Thu, 03 Apr 2008 12:20:12 +0000

Silly people… there is no 3G iPhone. AT&T is going to double the speed of EDGE, which would technically make it “3G”. That’s why he said that all smart devices will be 3G.

By: Bad Ash

Bad Ash — Thu, 03 Apr 2008 11:33:08 +0000

I honestly think we will see a 32 gig iPhone before we see 3g.

By: Rene Ritchie

Rene Ritchie — Thu, 03 Apr 2008 11:26:28 +0000

They will probably have to due to the FCC approval process. Apple will want to break and control the story, not let an FCC leak break it.

BTW- Apple is apparently saying supply chain glitch...

By: marcol

marcol — Thu, 03 Apr 2008 10:50:06 +0000

Announcement coming in June... phone coming in September... just my guess.

Do you really think the gap between announcement and availability will be that long? Apple just doesn't do that, except with new product categories (first iPhone, Apple TV) or when there's some other very good reason (Intel Macs). They could still be playing the game of catching people who might otherwise go elsewhere I guess, but a whole quarter of slaughtered (first gen) iPhone sales?

By: Bad Ash

Bad Ash — Thu, 03 Apr 2008 09:17:06 +0000

Announcement coming in June… phone coming in September… just my guess.

By: marcol

marcol — Thu, 03 Apr 2008 08:33:42 +0000

What do you think?

I think ‘the next couple of months’ and ‘the not-too-distant future, and I mean months’ are not the same at all.

Clear as crystallized mud

By: renn

renn — Thu, 03 Apr 2008 08:06:17 +0000

Say hey Ralphyboy! (Mr de La Vega started the clock)