Apple product rumors are really unlike any other. People (myself included) get all excited over patent filings. Users foam at the mouth over Photoshop product mock-ups that border on comical. Some even get whipped up into a frenzy over carrying cases (such as yesterday with the supposed 3G iPhone case). These rumors often start months — or even years — ahead of a product launch (if there even is one), but the mayhem doesn’t usually really even start up someone “confirms” a launch date. Today we have that for the 3G iPhone.
Gizmodo says it has a source “very, very close to the 3G iPhone launch” (that’s two “verys” for you keeping score) who knows when the device will be unveiled: June 9. That is of course, the day of Apple chief executive Steve Jobs’ keynote at Apple’s WWDC event. It is also the day analysts have been speculating on for a couple months now, and yes, the date we’ve been predicting even when others said the 3G launch was “imminent.”
Some of the details Gizmodo includes are much more interesting. The biggest of these is that the device will be available worldwide right after the launch. Some are taking this to mean that it will be immediately available that day. This could potentially cause a dangerous situation for anyone going to the WWDC keynote as journalist and fanboys would no doubt engage in a heated race to the nearest Apple store as soon as Jobs leaves the stage.
I’ll stick with my earlier prediction that Jobs’ announces it at the keynote and says it will be available within a couple of weeks in the United States — in the window AT&T gave its employees: June 15 to July 12th. I wouldn’t be surprised with another Friday launch (as Apple did for the initial version of the device last year), so everyone could have an opportunity to get their hands on one.
Gizmodo also gives details about a launch in Spain that will take place on the 18th of June. It will be available at the grand opening of a Telefonica store in Madrid. A nationwide roll-out would follow that. The other European countries are said to have similar roll-out schedules.
With worldwide launches so close to one another, Apple clearly has a lot of the 3G iPhones ready to ship — and it better. If the device is in fact subsidized by AT&T in this country, the rate at which it sells should be breathtaking. Just think of how quickly the first generation $599 iPhone sold last year. Now we have a 2nd generation version for potentially $199.
[photo: flickr/whatcounts]
Tags: co:Apple, people:Steve-Jobs
10:30 am
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OK, Everyone Now Agrees: 3G iPhone Launches On June 9th | said:
[...] VentureBeat, TechCrunch and Silicon Alley Insider are now all reporting the 3G iPhone to launch on June 9th. Interestingly they all uses Gizmodo as the source for the scoop. So I guess if Gizmodo got it wrong then it is going to be a bad week for tech pundits. [...]
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The 3G iPhone is finally (vaguely) confirmed for June 9th said:
[...] Go to the author’s original blog: The 3G iPhone is finally (vaguely) confirmed for June 9th [...]
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[...] that much closer to the launch of the 3G iPhone. The device, which is now widely expected to be announced at Apple’s WWDC event on June 9th and launched shortly thereafter, already apparently has people waiting in line in New York — [...]
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[...] and newer phones come into the market. While Google’s Android is still a little ways off, Apple’s 3G iPhone is expected to be just around the corner. Whrrl has already spoken on its blog about its excitement towards building a native application [...]
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[...] executive Steve Jobs’ keynote at the the WWDC event where it is widely believed that he will announce the 3G iPhone. Naturally the amount of rumors is going to increase as we draw closer, but one in particular is [...]
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[...] really no point in beating around the bush at this point. The new iPhone is coming on Monday. You know it. I know it. We all know it. If Apple were not to announce it at this point, it would [...]
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[...] surprisingly most of the ones we’ve seen revolve around the 3G iPhone, which Apple is expected to unveil at the [...]
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[...] keynote address at Apple’s Worldwide Developers Conference (WWDC), where he is expected to announce the 3G iPhone. As such, we can expect meatier rumors and actual leaks to start coming in. The first such leak may [...]