3G iPhone arriving mid-year?

Those waiting for the 3G iPhone may only have wait a little longer, as reports emerge that the device may arrive in June or July this year.

UBS analyst Ben Reitzes wrote in a note to clients last Thursday that he expects the faster 3G iPhone to arrive mid-year. He also said that German chipmaker Infineon is likely to be supplying the 3G chipset and that Apple's focus on EDGE is being ramped down in preparation for a move to 3G.

A 3G-powered iPhone would greatly add to its appeal among those who believe that it's currently limited by being only a 2.5G EDGE device. "We anticipate that the 3G iPhone will be enabled with HSDPA, or so called 3.5G technology," Mike Grant, head of media and principal consultant at Analysys, told IT PRO.

"2G connectivity is widely considered to be one of the iPhone's major weaknesses. Given the way take up of 3.5G mobile broadband is racing ahead in the UK, we'd anticipate that a similarly enabled iPhone will be extremely attractive to consumers as well as to enterprises," he said.

In the UBS report, Reitzes also suggested that the forthcoming SDK will greatly boost its appeal in the enterprise as developers start to create business focussed applications for the device.

Rob Bamforth, principal analyst for service provision and mobility at Quocirca, agreed.

"Releasing the SDK is very important," he told IT PRO. "While I don't expect a rush of bespoke iPhone clients to critical business applications, I do expect it to help in the key areas of mobile access to generic business communications applications - in particular, perhaps corporate messaging, calendars and contacts."

"If Apple can get close to replicating the success of other software development communities - Microsoft, Java, Palm - they will boost the appeal for business users, as it's often the multitude and variety of small, specialised applications to fit a particular need that make all the difference," he said.

If the 3G iPhone does get a June release, it would appear one year after the launch of the original device in the US.

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