iPhone

Widespread iPhone shortages, combined with an explosion in carrier deals, point to the launch of the next-generation iPhone as right around the corner, according to Piper Jaffray.

I know, I know: this isn't the first time you've heard that theory. But you have to admit that signs are piling up that a 3G iPhone is in Apple's short-term plans. Let's recap the evidence so far.

The iPhone is currently unavailable at half the Apple retail stores surveyed by Piper Jaffray over the weekend. Both the 8GB and 16GB models are unavailable from Apple's online store. … Read more

It would be helpful if from now on, AT&T's HR department would just send their vacation policy e-mails directly to tech writers, since they're going to get out anyway and they pretty much apply to us as well.

The Boy Genius Report snagged an internal e-mail that made its way around AT&T earlier today instituting a vacation freeze for all sales employees between June 15 and July 15, in order to support "an exciting new promotion/product launch." Hmm, whatever could that be?

A similar e-mail was sent to AT&T … Read more

Let's face it, the iPhone can do a whole bunch of things, some necessary (like talking, texting and emailing) and others not-so-necessary (like the rolling-a-make-believe-ball-into-a-peg-fame) pretty well. But, you would hope that one of the more basic features like the weather function would work better than it does. Sure, the icons are pretty and easy to understand. One of my favorites is the ambiguous sun-with-raindrops icon, so you know that it's supposed to rain and be sunny, right.... The forecasts are not detailed, and have questionable accuracy at best. I've been noticing this trend for months now, … Read more

AT&T plans to sell the 3G iPhone for $199 when it arrives in AT&T's stores in June, according to a report, in a sign that Apple may have given up on locked iPhones.

Fortune is reporting that you'll be able to buy a $199 iPhone in AT&T's stores, and only in AT&T's stores, when the new model arrives around the one-year anniversary of the iPhone launch. The report says Apple will sell 8GB and 16GB versions of the new iPhone for $399 and $499 in its own retail … Read more

Apple might have decided to make a few cosmetic changes to the next-generation iPhone.

As Lawrence Peter might say, it's deja vu all over again as we await the arrival of the 3G iPhone. Engadget has the latest, claiming they've been in touch with a tester who says Apple plans to ditch the aluminum exterior in favor of a "glossy black" plastic-like material and, more significantly, add a GPS chip.

I'm not sure what to make of the decision to drop the metal look until I can see the actual product, mock-up images notwithstanding. But … Read more

There are six things that developers need to keep in mind when developing for mobile computers, six things that don't necessarily come into play when thinking about PCs.

That's how Ben Bederson and John SanGiovanni, co-founders of Zumobi, described their philosophies of mobile computing: immediacy, adaptability, one-handed use, visual elegance, put the user in control, and thinking differently. The two engineers hosted a session during the waning days of the Web 2.0 Expo for Web developers interested in making products for smartphones, mobile Internet devices, or whatever convention we settle on to describe the next generation of … Read more

Price apparently was an object for U.K. iPhone shoppers.

The decision by U.K. carrier O2 to cut the price of the 8GB iPhone prompted shoppers to exhaust stocks of that model at O2's Web site and at Carphone Warehouse, an authorized iPhone reseller. Pocket-Lint confirmed with Carphone Warehouse that the 8GB models are kaput, and O2 told the site that while online stocks of the 8GB model are gone, retail stocks are dwindling fast.

It was only a week ago that O2 cut the price of the 8GB model from 269 British pounds ($533) to 169 British … Read more

Updated 4/25, see explanation at bottom.

A technical glitch in an upcoming BlackBerry release will prevent an iPhone-Blackberry showdown in June, according to Fortune. AT&T will delay the launch of the BlackBerry 8900 from June to August after concerns about call quality, the magazine reported Thursday, citing unnamed sources. The 8900 will be Research in Motion's first 3G BlackBerry for AT&T, and it had been expected to make its debut right around the same time as Apple is expected to launch a 3G version of the iPhone. UPDATED 6:10pm PT - The device … Read more

Maybe Apple really is recession-proof.

When Shaw Wu of American Technology Research made that claim earlier in the year, I concurred with my colleague Charlie Cooper, who wondered what expensive strain of finely cultivated California parsley was in Mr. Wu's pipe when he wrote that report.

Even Wu recanted just before Apple's earnings report Wednesday, cutting his expectations for the company amid concerns about the economy and the fact that Apple isn't expected to release any significantly new products until the 3G iPhone.

It seems, however, that people like Apple's current products just fine. Apple's … Read more