During the World Wide Developer Conference (WWDC) Keynote, Apple VP of Marketing, Phil Schiller, announced the all new, third generation, iPhone 3G S… and the S stands for Speed!

Averaging 2x faster on most tasks, it also includes many of the recently rumored features like video recording, editing, and sharing, a digital compass, astounding voice control, and more.

Keep your browsers pointed to TiPb for continuing coverage throughout the day!

We’ve gone round and round on this before. I think Dieter and I may have mentioned this as one of a hundred guesses on the last Phone different podcast, but discounted it as being, like iPhone Extreme, something that fits into Apple’s brand but doesn’t really feel like a direction Apple would go.

TUAW was tipped to it being — briefly — on the AT&T website, however, so we have to consider it, don’t we? (If the screen cap is for real).

Once upon a time Steve Jobs said no one wants to watch video on a tiny screen. Then Apple released the iPod video. So, there is precedent. Also, Apple named the iPhone 3G after its “killer” feature — access to a faster cell network. So, if Apple considers video shooting, editing, and sharing to the the third generation’s “killer” feature, iPhone video would certainly throw the spotlight on it (better than iPhone Compass, at least!)

That’s the same thinking that was behind my betting the farm on iPhone HD last October. While Apple doesn’t seem eager — yet! — to give me my 480×800 screen resolution, Microsoft has jumped on the moniker with Zune HD via its support for HD Radio and 720p dock-enabled output. If Apple includes new AV cables that let the newer, faster, more powerful CPU, RAM, and GPU push 720p as well, and HD is now off the table thanks to Microsoft’s accelerated announcement last week, could iPhone video be a similar (if not quite as sexy) option?

What do you think?

First year, Apple showed off the original iPhone (2G or 1,1) and iPhone OS 1.0 in January at Macworld 2007, gave us a release date at WWDC 2007, and shipped both together at the end of June. Second year, Apple showed off iPhone OS 2.0 in March at the SDK Event but didn’t introduce iPhone 3G (1,2) until WWDC 2008 in June, and announced the release date for both — the same release date for both — July 11.

This year Apple once again showed off iPhone OS 3.0 at March at the Sneak Preview event, and is rumored to be introducing iPhone v3 (2,1) at WWDC 2009 on June 8. If that comes to pass, we also expect them to announce the release date as they have in the past. But will it once again be the same release date for both?

• Pros: Apple likes big events and big news. Nothing is bigger than simultaneous releases. Apple also seems to like to stick to their patterns, and for the last two years software and hardware releases were one and the same. 2007 saw iPhone 3G alongside iPhone 2.0, App Store, and MobileMe (yeah, we’ll get to that in the cons…)

• Cons: That simultaneous release last year? iTunes went down. No one could activate. MobileMe’s lack of readiness caused months of bad PR. As big a news bomb as it was, it brought the negative every bit as much as the positive.

Frequent reader, Icebike, makes a great case for a staged released in our comments. It lets Apple control the roll-out, manage expectations, and better assure quality experiences for all involved.

But that simultaneous release is just so tempting, will Apple simply charge ahead with it anyway? Should they? Is the Circus Maximus worth the attention, good and bad?

As an iPhone user and potential 3.0 and next-gen iPhone user, what would you prefer Apple do?

ChinaOnTrade.com, which sells iPhone parts reportedly directly from the factory, has thrown up some images and ordering options for 3rd generation iPhone bevels and screens.

If they’re to be believed, the iPhone loses its silvery-chrome outer ring for a black band (as previously rumored?) that seems to indicate Apple will be moving things around a tad — functionally as well as cosmetically?

Bad news for OLED hopefuls, as Gizmodo says the purported screen is still LCD, though iLounge points out it’s price is double that of the 3G screen ($73 vs. $35). Hmm…

[Thanks to everyone who sent this in, iFun.de for the catch, and BenM.at for the (translated) head's up!]

More pics after the break!

With WWDC 2009 only two weeks away, the many rumors and leaks and informed guesses seem to have coalesced into a somewhat unified view of what we probably will — and probably won’t — see if/when the next generation iPhone 2,1 is announced. Given the full version upgrade number (the original iPhone 2G is 1,1, the iPhone 3G is 1,2) we’d expect there to be more in the way of hardware changes than we saw last year with the addition of “just” 3G and GPS. Will those expectations be met? We have a pretty good handle on the iPhone 3.0 software, but what about the hardware?

More Than Likely

• More storage. Thanks to all the telco leaks over the weekend, either Apple has acquired the double-density NAND flash memory chips needed to move the iPhone to 32GB (and iPod touch to 64GB), or they’re all just as convinced as we are that the high end iPhone will be twice as roomy this year.
• Faster processor(s). Not yet the miracle system-on-a-chip Apple will eventually produce based on PA Semi, ARM and PowerVR licenses, OpenCL, and all their recent expert hires, but a healthy 50% bump up from the current CPU. We might not see the multi-core GPU yet either, but more graphics firepower would make sense here as well.
• More RAM. Right now the iPhone is a lot like the genie in Aladdin. Unbelievable mobile potential… trapped in an itty-bitty RAM bottleneck. Dieter tells us that in the larger smartphone world, the iPhone’s current 128MB of RAM gets looked at askance. It also causes Mobile Safari to crash and Apple to prevent background multitasking for anything but their own core apps. 256MB is increasingly the norm, and something we fully expect will make it into the next iPhone.
• Faster networking. TiPb called 802.11n Wi-Fi way back in October ’08 and we’d now be surprised not to get it. Hopefully an improved cell radio will hook into faster 3.5/3.9G HSPA+ cell networks as well, and for the love of all things American, please let the new chip work better with AT&T’s rabbit ear antennas. The rest of the world enjoys solid iPhone 3G connectivity, the USA should as well.
• Longer battery life. If one things remains constant, it’s the entitled internet denizens demand twice as much of everything for half the price of anything before. So, in addition to all the new features packed into the next gen iPhone, Apple will no doubt have to figure out a way to make the battery last longer as well. Part of this will be smoke-and-mirrors, no doubt, the rest could be the result of leveraging the same new battery technology found in the 17″ MacBook Pro allowing them to put more and smarter cells into the iPhone. If updated components help too (especially the outside chance of an OLED screen — see below), so much the better.
• Better camera. Because it couldn’t get any worse, right? There have been rumors of 3.2 and 5.0 megapixel cameras. We’re betting 3.2 is what we see at WWDC, with 5.0 coming to an iPhone (or iPod) further down the line. Auto-focus will be included, if only to take better pictures and to provide a mechanical feature that’s easier to break than the screen when we inevitably drop it trying to take that one great photo… (or video, but that’s a software feature so we won’t get into it here).
• Digital compass. Hey, it will make Google Street View demos infinitely cooler. Okay, and a magnetometer will also allow for faster, more precise positioning for things like Turn by Turn GPS when we finally get them in the App Store. And we’re certain game developers will find spectacular ways of hooking into it as well.
• Price point. Same $199/$299 we currently enjoy. In the increasingly competitive smartphone space, it would be hard for even Apple to push the premium — and with carriers subsidizing anyway, what would be the point? Lower prices are unlikely as well, though there’s always hope AT&T and others might give users a break on data rates…

Less Than Likely

• Higher definition screen. Yeah, we called for an iPhone HD back in October ’08 as well. Given the rise of up to 800×480 screens on other platforms, we (meaning me) figured Apple would move to match it giving us more pixels for everything from web browsing to gaming to watching 480p video. Since only a very few nebulous rumors have come out since then, and there’s no sign of support for that resolution in the iPhone 3.0 SDK, we’re just going to have to wait and recycle this prediction next year… (Though maybe HD-out will still happen.)
• OLED screen. Only a few rumors to back up OLED (organic light emitting diode) screens as well, which would look better and use less battery power and component space. They’d also be more expensive, which might explain why there have only been those few rumors. It could still happen, but odds make it look increasingly likely for next time rather than this time.
• Updated casing. While the next iPhone might change shape just enough to force everyone to once again buy new accessories (and get out the pitch-forks and torches), it doesn’t look like a radical redesign is in the cards for the next iPhone casing either. No aluminum unibody. Not yet. And likely no glowing Apple logo either. Bummer. Outside chance of a soft-touch back plate, however.

Things could change as more and better rumors break — and there’s always a chance the iPhone will skip WWDC and show up at some special event later in the summer — but that’s what the landscape looks like right now.

Did we miss anything? And either way, if you were placing your bets, what do you think we’ll see?

A user on MacTalk Forums (via MacRumors) may have just stumbled upon Apple’s icon for the next generation iPhone, buried inside the iPhone 3.0 SDK. And the big surprise?

It looks pretty much the same as the icon for the iPhone 3G.

iPhone 2,1 is Apple’s internal number for the next gen iPhone, expected to be announced at WWDC. The original iPhone 2G is iPhone 1,1, while the iPhone 3G is iPhone 1,2. The numbers show that even Apple doesn’t consider there to be much more than a point difference between the first two iPhone generations (as opposed to the iPod touch, which went to 2,1 last fall).

The use of iPhone 2,1 led many to believe the next gen iPhone would have more differences than the addition of 3G and GPS last time around. And while it still might, including processor bumps, digital compass, a better camera, etc. if this icon is accurate it looks like few if anything will change on the outside.

Hot on the heels of yesterday’s possible AT&T leak on the next gen iPhone, MacRumors is laying out more specific, if still un-confirmed, details:

Another interesting possibility is that Apple may have settled on the Marvell PXA168 ARM chip as the heart of a future device. Some unconfirmed claims point to Apple buying up supplies of this chip which is reportedly also due in the July timeframe. The Marvell PXA168 CPU was announced in January of this year and aims to provide “entry-level laptop” capabilities to consumer electronic devices.

We’re noticing the theme of speed and power is staying pretty consistent across these rumors. And if Apple is packing the boom! of a baby-laptop in the iPhone, where does that leave iNetbook rumors?

But what’s with all the leaks? Steve Jobs is still on leave of absence, so are folks inside Apple a little less afraid of the flame thrower than they were last year? Or is this a calculated way to keep people’s interest (and the internet’s attention) away from the upcoming release of competitive products like the Palm Pre and BlackBerry Niagra?

As Dieter would say, “cats and dogs living together!”. That’s how it feels these last few days, what with all the leaks/rumors hitting about next generation iPhone stuff. Are they legit, or part of some mass internet meme-teria? Dunno. But I’m running out of puzzle metaphors!

This time, Apple Insider is reporting that the next generation iPhone hardware will not only provide video recording, but through a higher quality camera to boot! Want more? They’re further rumoring that Apple will build in a Movie Recorder app, the video equivalent to the Memo Recorder for audio that already part of the iPhone OS 3.0 beta.

So this brings our list of leaks for the week to: code references for iPhone 2,1 and 3,1, multi-core GPUs, video publishing, OLED screen, faster internet speeds, and now higher def video recording…

Curiouser and curiouser…

Smarthouse (via BGR) has a report saying Apple just might be making the leap to OLED (organic light emitting diode) screens for those future iPhone models mentioned yesterday.

It’s also believed that a new iPhone and iPod Touch due later this year will include an OLED screen made by LG who last year scored a multibillion dollar deal to manufacture display screens for Apple.

Apple currently uses LED for the iPhone (and MacBooks, and the new 24″ Cinema Display). OLED required no backlight and consumes much less battery power than previous technologies. Given Apple’s obsessions with thinness and battery life, this move makes the kind of sense that does.

Also bundled in the rumor is, of course, a rumor about Apple also using OLED in an upcoming “netbook”. We’re still thinking an iTablet is more likely…

So, all these leaks starting to paint anyone a new summer hardware release picture yet?

UPDATE: Ars Technica has found references to an iProd 0,1 (iProduct prototype? Could that be the iTablet?) and an iFPGA, which they say may be something to do with “field-programmable gate array” (yeah, us neither). So Apple is either really busy building out their Mobile OS X offerings, or are having a load of fun punkd’ing the blogosphere…

ORIGINAL: We pretty much know there will be new iPhone hardware. Apple is likely always working a generation, two generations, three generations ahead. What we don’t know is what and when.

The first iPhone 2G (2007) is references as iPhone 1,1 while the iPhone 3G (2008) is 1,2 — which indicates it wasn’t a significant hardware revision (3G and GPS not significant? Okay!)

The first iPod touch (2007) was 1,2, however the iPod touch Gen 2 (2008) was 2,1 — which indicates a more significant revision (external speaker and volume controls, Nike+ are significant? Okay again!)

Now BGR is reporting that deep delving into the iPhone OS 3.0 has found references to future models. iPhone 2,1, which we’ve heard about before, makes it look like Apple has a more significant hardware revision on its way for the iPhone. No idea what that is yet (we’ve guessed iPhone HD). What’s new is a reference to iPhone 3,1(!).

Does this mean there are 2 new hardware models coming? And soon as in this year (2009)? Or will 3,1 follow a year or more after 2,1, like Apple does with iPod models?

Speaking of which, the code also reveals an iPod touch 3,1. Could that be an iPod touch HD? A large size iPod touch iTablet? Or should we quiet our fanboy hearts for a moment?