Apple's planning to put their iPhone 3G up for sale early in the morning on the handset's global July 11 launch date. Start getting used to waking up early, folks. Apple is reportedly set to open the floodgates to blurry-eyed iPhone 3G hopefuls at 8:00am on the morning of July 11. We're assuming that 8am [...]

We’ve been whining about Sprint’s seeming lack of focus on its WiMAX ( XOHM ) network, and all that complaining may have paid off. Actually, our incessant goading probably had little nothing to do with Sprint’s newest announcement, but it’s nice to think we had some sort of influence. Sprint’s WiMAX network is slated to go live this week in a limited trial-run. The 4G (well, it’s officially a 3G standard , but we think it qualifies as 4G) WiMAX network will be rolled out this week for Sprint employees only - in an effort to get its network ready for prime-time trials in Q1 of 2008. As it stands, Sprint will be flipping the WiMAX-switch on the downtown centers of Chicago, Baltimore and Washington - expanding to other US cities based on wireless data demand. Clearwire is out of the picture , but we’re assuming that Sprint’s leaving the door open to other investors to help with the nationwide network launch. The trial-run launch of Sprint’s WiMAX network this week barely makes the carrier’s self-imposed deadline for the launch of its 4G network by year’s end. We’ve heard rumor after rumor that put the entire WiMAX venture in doubt, so it’s good to see that Sprint is still committed to bringing their mobile broadband 4G network online in-time for a 2008 commercial roll-out. The full commercial launch should cement Sprint’s position as the premier high-speed wireless data provider in the States - Verizon and AT&T ’s LTE network won’t even see the light of day until 2009. All your financial woes may take a turn for the better, Sprint. Keep on keepin’ on! [Via: Telephony Online ] ---Related Articles at IntoMobile:Sprint considering WiMAX network optionsSamsung signs on to build WiMAX network for Sprint in New York Metropolitan areaTexas to be among the first to try out Sprint Nextel's WiMAX networkLebanon gets its WiMAX onSprint and Clearwire team up for US WiMAX network - 4G in 2008

We love us some juicy 3G iPhone rumors . As with most things Apple, there’s nothing from Cupertino that would indicate that this latest report from CNBC’s Jim Goldman has any more credibility than any other “report” that cites “inside sources.” But, Goldman believes that the 3G iPhone will hit the US market in late May, early June 2008. This latest rumor is in line with AT&T CEO Stephenson’s confirmation of a 2008-release for the next-generation iPhone , as well as other rumors that the 3G iPhone has been delayed from an early 2008 (Q1) release to a mid-2008/Summer launch window . It makes sense for Apple to hold off on the next-gen 3G iPhone until at least a year after the iPhone’s initial launch in the US market. Hopefully by the time the 3G iPhone launches, AT&T’s 3G network will have the ubiquity that Europeans enjoy so much. [Via: Apple Insider ] ---Related Articles at IntoMobile:iPhone delayed until late JuneApple iPhone gets a Release Date - June 15?3G iPhone headed to Vodafone in Q1 2008?iPhone release date known, again; Set for June 20Could a 3G iPhone be slated for early 2008 with GPS in tow?

Having witnessed the ridiculous hype and initial demand for the iPhone here in the States, overseas iPhone carriers are going to have a hard time matching the feverish rate of US iPhone sales. But, that didn’t stop O2 from expecting to sell/activate upwards of 100,000 handsets during the O2 iPhone’s initial launch window. So, how did O2 fare in their initial iPhone sales? Not as well as they would have liked, apparently. “Slow” would be one way to describe iPhone sales in the UK. The Register reports that initial iPhones sales figures have yet to break 30,000 units - with 26,500 iPhones having been activated in the two weeks since the iPhone’s launch on O2. Carphone Warehouse reported sales of 11,000 units over the launch weekend. And, an unnamed source told AppleInsider that the premier Apple Store in the UK, located on Regent Street, was still working to sell the entirety of their initial iPhone stock - which was shipped to the store prior to the iPhone’s UK launch on November 9. The Regent Street Apple Store has reportedly been selling a laggardly 100 iPhone handsets per day (compare that with the LG Shine that effectively sold more than 10,000 units worldwide for every day it was on the market this past year). Even with an optimistic outlook, taking into account the fact that some iPhone stock may still be awaiting activation (as they wait to be gifted for the upcoming holidays), it seems unlikely that O2 will meet its sales goals by year’s end. Part of the problem may lie in UK citizens’ reluctance to cough up £269 ($554) for a mobile phone - which is quite a steep price for a population used to getting handsets for free, or almost free, with activation/contract. While Brits are quite aware of the iPhone (the iPhone topped the GfK NOP ranking for brand awareness), with 78% of people associating the iPhone with music and 65% of people recognizing the iPhone’s email and internet capabilities, it’s just the higher-than-average price of the iPhone that’s going to keep it from replicating the US iPhone’s success in the UK. Keep in mind that many iPhone-bashers in the US cited the original $599 price-tag as the main reason that they predicted the iPhone launch would flop. Are most Brits just waiting for the iPhone v2.0? We know we sure as hell are. All those missing hardware features and EDGE-only (although web surfing is still a much more pleasing experience than most 3G phones we’ve used) support might be keeping the iPhone from taking the UK by storm. Would we be singing a different tune if Apple had decided to simultaneously launch the iPhone around the globe? It’s quite possible that many people are just plain tired of hearing about the iPhone already. Regardless, we love our iPhone, so bully to you, O2. [Via: MacUser ] ---Related Articles at IntoMobile:O2 iPhone having reception/signal problems in the UKApple: 1 million iPhone sold in next three monthsApple shows up twitchy investors, announces sales of 270,000 iPhones - stock reboundsApple iPhone sales eclipse all other smartphones in July!Apple increases iPhone production after price drop, in preparation for holiday shopping season

As we expected , France’s exclusive Apple iPhone carrier will be offering their unlocked iPhone at a price that undercuts its German rival T-Mobile’s price point of 999 Euros. The French wireless carrier will be asking 749 Euros for the unlocked version of the Apple iPhone, a steep discount in comparison to T-Mobile’s unlocked iPhone. The announcement of a relatively cheap unlocked version of the iPhone on Orange’s network makes sense. With Orange obligated by French telecom regulations , it makes sense for the iPhone operator to attempt to attract as many customers as possible with a lower-priced unlocked iPhone offering. T-Mobile’s unlocked iPhone price of 999 Euro seems to be more of a deterrent - an effort to coax customers into buying a subsidized version of the iPhone, while T-Mobile fights to have the court-order (that forced T-Mobile to offer an unlocked version of the iPhone) overturned. Orange will be offering four iPhone-specific rate plans when it launches today at 6:30pm local time - all plans are Visual Voicemail-enabled and will include unlimited data. The cheapest plan will cost 49 Euros and include 120 peak minutes, 120 night/weekend minutes, and 50 SMS text messages. The most expensive plan will cost 119 Euros in return for 480 peak minutes, 480 night/weekend minutes, and 1000 SMS text messages. We’ll have to wait and see if Orange will be able to meet their iPhone sales goal of 100,000 units by year’s end . [Via: Apple Insider ] ---Related Articles at IntoMobile:Want an unlocked iPhone? Just go to France. Orange France to sell carrier-unlocked iPhonesFrance's Orange expects to sell 100,000 iPhones by year-end; sell cheaper unlocked iPhonesT-Mobile set to face-off with Vodafone over locked iPhones in Germany - November 29It's official - Apple and Orange launching iPhone in France on November 29Apple and [...]

With the French iPhone launch just days away, the nation’s Apple-partnered wireless carrier is speaking up about its iPhone sales goals. Orange has announced that it expects to push 100,000 iPhones out its doors by the end of this year - merely a month after the iPhones launch on November 29 . Orange Wireless’s CEO, Didier Lombard, stated that he expects sales numbers to reach “a little under 100,000″ by December 31 - amounting to approximately 3,000 iPhones being sold every day. And, to help move more iPhones than its European counterparts in Germany , Lombard has promised that Orange will be selling unlocked iPhones at a price that’s significantly lower” than the 999 Euro ($$1,485 USD) price tag that T-Mobile German is charging for their iPhone. Recall that the iPhone’s future in France was put in jeopardy due to French telecom regulations that required all wireless carriers to offer unlocked versions of their handset. We think it makes sense that France’s Orange would offer the unlocked version of the iPhone at a lower price-point than Germany’s T-Mobile. It seems that T-Mobile is only offering the unlocked iPhone to comply with a temporary court-ordered injunction, which T-Mobile is actively seeking to get overturned - so unlocked iPhones in Germany are something of a stop-gap solution, and is perhaps even discouraged from being purchased through the incredibly high price. In France, however, Orange will have to offer the unlocked version of the iPhone without question, and so will likely be giving customers more incentive to buy the iPhone, locked or unlocked, from Orange. Orange’s subsidized (read: locked) iPhone will command 399 Euro and will require a 2-year contract that starts at 49 Euro per month for 120 minutes and 50 SMS text messages. Interestingly, customers opting for a 1-year contract will initially pay the same price for the handset, but will be charged about 4.50 Euro more per month for service.  We’d love to see this sort of tiered-contract offering from US carriers - it would be easier to pay a few bucks more per month than to shell out a couple hundred more dollars upfront in order to keep contracts down to a reasonable length. It’d be great to pay the same amount for the cellphone and just pay an extra $8 per month in return for a 1-year contract. [Via: Apple Insider ] ---Related Articles at IntoMobile:Want an unlocked iPhone? Just go to France. Orange France to sell carrier-unlocked iPhonesT-Mobile set to face-off with Vodafone over locked iPhones in Germany - November 29Carphone Warehouse expecting to hock 10,000 UK iPhones on launch dayT-Mobile Germany offering unlocked Apple iPhones due to court orderO2 sells tens of thousands of UK [...]

We’re glad to see Motorola starting to claw their way back to their days as a leader in the mobile industry. Moto just secured a significant portion of the top ten 3G handsets sold in the US this past Q3 2007, and they’re not going to just sit back and bask (which is the mistake they made with their initial successes in the Moto RAZR V3) in their achievements. Motorola has announced that they’ll be running a blitz on the mobile space by pushing some 20-30 handsets onto the market in 2008. While Motorola sits pretty as the 3rd largest mobile phone manufacturer in the world, their stance in Taiwan only measures up to a ho-hum 4th place. Motorola is gunning for the top-spot in the Taiwanese market with this new handset blitz. Bill Chen, newly appointed general manager of mobile device business at Motorola Taiwan, said that “In the coming year, Motorola will also stress strengthening its relations with channel partners in Taiwan and to pursue a balance between sales volume and profitability while gearing up efforts to boost performance.” If you’re looking forward to Motorola’s Android -based handsets, you might want to make yourself comfortable - as there’s no set timetable for the release of Moto’s new OHA -compliant handset. But, with about two handsets launching every month, Taiwan is going to get their fill of non-Android Motorola mobile phones. [Via: DigiTimes ] ---Related Articles at IntoMobile:Microsoft goes for 20 million Windows Mobile licenses next yearBrief: Sprint's Motorola Q2 with Palm OS - for sure not going to happenMotorola launches Motorola RAZR2 V8 "Luxury Edition"Motorola embraces Mobile Linux with new MOTOMAGX platformMotorola Cuts 4,000 More Jobs in Latest Cost-Cutting Attempt

So, we’ve finally gotten the launch go-ahead from HTC on their new HTC Touch Cruise. Following on O2’s recent announcement that they’ll be bringing the HTC Touch Cruise ( HTC Polaris P3650 ) to the UK as the O2 Xda Orbit 2, HTC has gone global with their shiny, new touchscreen device. The Windows Mobile 6.0 Professional-powered HTC Touch Cruise will be sporting a speedy 400Mhz Qualcomm CPU, 128 MB / 256 MB of RAM and ROM, integrated GPS, quad-band GSM, HSDPA, WiFi, Bluetooth 2.0+EDR, 3 megapixel camera (with forward-facing VGA video-call camera), and the must-have TouchFLO interface. Oh, and this bad boy’s going to be rocking UMTS 850/1900Mhz for US 3G goodness or UMTS 2100Mhz for some 3G fun in Europe. And, for you GPS-loving WinMo fans out there, the HTC Touch Cruise comes pre-installed with TomTom GPS Nav software to help you find your way. Expect your local European retailer to carry the HTC Touch Cruise this month. Or, if the words “local” and “European” don’t apply to your neighborhood, head on over to HTC’s store and order one manufacturer-direct. Update: Peep the hands-on vid above! From CoolSmartPhone Press release [warning: PDF link] ---Related Articles at IntoMobile:Telus launches HTC Touch, S640 in CanadaHTC Polaris specs leaked, renamed as HTC Touch CruiseO2 picks up HTC Touch Cruise (Polaris) as O2 Xda Orbit 2HTC Touch gets spicy - now in Wasabi Green!HTC Touch available in Hong Kong?

Beware, dear iPhone user. Apple has confirmed to PocketLint that US iPhone users can expect to see an iPhone v1.1.2 update become available tomorrow, Friday, November 9 - concurrently with the European iPhone launch in the UK and Germany (on O2 and T-Mobile , respectively). We already know that the v1.1.2 firmware will bring enhanced language support with special character keys and international keyboards. UK users can also expect support for The Cloud WiFi HotSpots . So, what’s with the ominous warning? Well, like with all previous updates, we’re expecting the iPhone v1.1.2 update to break all existing jailbreak solutions - including our favorite, one-click, jailbreakme solution. If you don’t need any extended language support, we’d recommend against updating to this latest firmware. Jailbreakme will automatically patch the TIFF security hole (and there are patches available through Installer.app as well) so the increased security that Apple is touting with the new firmware is a moot point. Wait until Apple releases their official iPhone SDK or gives us video recording/MMS/iChat. [Via: Mobility Today ] ---Related Articles at IntoMobile:Apple iPhone release date confirmed - iPhone Launches June 29!!UK iPhone sports new v1.1.2 firmware ahead of US release - kills jailbreakNot so new news: T-Mobile Germany confirms ongoing negotiations with Apple for iPhone exclusivityRogers to launch Apple iPhone on December 7th?Apple halts shipments of all iPhones to ensure only iPhone v1.1.1 [...]

Europe’s top mobile phone retailer, Carphone Warehouse, has announced that they are expecting to push out 10,000 iPhones come next week. You see, O2 and Apple are launching the UK iPhone on November 9 , and the British hype is already starting to grow. With over 800 retail locations throughout the UK, Carphone Warehouse could very well meet their 10K sales projection on day-one. Apple has not yet chimed in on their sales goals for the UK launch. [Via: Yahoo ] ---Related Articles at IntoMobile:Pre-Order your Nokia 8600 Today!Carphone Warehouse may offer Omniphone's Music Station service on handheldsCarphone Warehouse is sold out of Nokia N95'sApple announces O2 as UK iPhone carrier - just like we expectedO2 inks iPhone deal with Apple - 40% revenue kickback secured