The 3G iPhone rumour wagon thunders ever-onward following news that Apple Inc. and Telefonica’s O2 are to make a joint announcement in the near future.
Apple and O2 to make a \'joint announcement\' about the 3G iPhone? Image: O2.
While details related to said shared revelation have not yet been divulged by either party, it is likely to involve the iPhone, not least because O2’s current association with Apple places it as the exclusive carrier for the iconic touch-screen smartphone throughout Britain and Ireland.
Of course, should Apple and O2 duly unveil a second-generation 3G iPhone for the UK and Ireland it’s unlikely to cause many raised eyebrows across the industry, especially as 3G chatter has been following the first-generation (2.5G EDGE network) iPhone brand for many months.
Speaking to gathered reporters following a corporate conference call, the chief executive of Telefonica O2 Europe, Matthew Key, refused to confirm or deny that the joint announcement concerns a 3G version of the iPhone, offering only that it will take place in “the coming weeks.”
In a move that many industry watchers believe is a shelf-clearing precursor to the arrival of the 3G iPhone, O2 and UK retailer the Carphone Warehouse recently hacked a solid 100 GBP from the price of the original 8GB iPhone, bringing the price down from 269 GBP to 169 GBP.
Speaking with the Reuters news agency, Mr. Key commented that: “It is broadly known that [O2 is] now out of stock of the 8 gigabyte [iPhone] and we have got some 16 gigabytes left.” Price for the 16GB model was not affected by the 100 GBP cut.
California-based computer and gadget specialist Apple has also recently confirmed that the US and UK branches of its official online stores have now completely sold out of iPhone models.
Gathering Net whispers suggest that the rumour spinning should come to a close upon the June arrival of Apple’s annual Worldwide Developers Conference in San Francisco, where Apple CEO Steve Jobs is expected to finally whip the covers off the 3G iPhone before it then spreads across the globe via a host of recently confirmed international carrier deals.
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