According to Fox News host and tech blogger Clayton Morris, Apple will show off the next version of the iPhone OS at their press event next Wednesday, January 27. 

The event, which was announced yesterday, is almost universally expected to be the launch of Apple’s long-awaited tablet, though this has not yet been officially confirmed by the company.

Morris reports that a source inside Apple told him on Monday that “the event would likely focus on three projects: The tablet device, iPhone 4, and a new round of iLife 2010 software.”

Neither we nor Morris expect the 4th Generation iPhone to be announced at the event, though this remains a possibility.  iPhone OS updates have been nil over the last several months, reportedly because Apple’s team has been hard at work on software for the upcoming tablet.  There is also speculation that, if true, the announcement of the next version of the iPhone OS alongside the unveiling of the Apple tablet makes it a lock that the tablet device will run an OS much closer to that of the iPhone than the full OS that runs on its laptops and desktops.

Including of the next version of iLife with the announcement of iPhone OS 4.0 and the tablet might indicate that a tablet-and-iPhone-friendly version of the software suite will be made available for the two devices.  Touch-ready ports of iPhoto, iMovie, iWeb, etc., would seem natural additions for Apple’s touch devices.

Could this be true?  According to the 9 to 5 Mac blog, Apple is working on a new FM radio app for the iPhone and iPod touch, an app which uses now-dormant hardware already tucked away inside these devices.  We must have missed this when it was first discussed, but the post states as well-known fact that the iPhone 3GS and the latest generation iPod touch have wireless chipsets that support FM reception and broadcast (i.e. FM transmitter), but that these functions haven’t been made live by the OS. If this is true, a future software update could bring FM radio to the iPhone 3GS.

Apple added FM radio to the 5th Gen iPod nano, but with the touch and the 3GS having built-in Internet connectivity, it’s not difficult to imagine being able to purchase a song you hear on the radio right in the on-device iTunes store, now is it?

We have no idea if this story is true, but there’s always something magical about software updates awakening previously sleeping hardware.  If only we could keep our Fingers Crossed app running always in the background…

Source: 9 to 5 Mac via TUAW

AT&T’s recent VoIP over 3G decision led some to believe that the company and their network were now ready for tethering and that the service allowing the use of an iPhone as a wireless data modem for a PC or Mac would begin any moment now.

Not so fast.

The Wall Street Journal’s Digits blog is reporting that AT&T is still noncommittal on the date when tethering will begin, though we do know the service is coming sooner or later.

An [sic] spokesman for [AT&T Mobility] said that tethering remains unavailable and stuck with the company’s prior statement: “Whenever we offer new features, we want to offer the best possible customer experience. For tethering, we need to do some additional fine tuning to our systems and networks so that we do deliver a great experience.”

Although we don’t have a firm (or even loose) date for AT&T’s activation of tethering support for the iPhone, we do know that the company had planned to support the service before the end of the year.

According to Piper Jaffray analyst Gene Munster, Apple’s next iPhone could debut on wireless networks other than AT&T’s next year.  In the report (which was sent to clients today), Mr. Munster pegs the summer of 2010 as the possible end to AT&T’s exclusive iPhone carrier status in the U.S:

“We believe Apple is slowly transitioning each country … to a multi-carrier model. In other words, we expect Apple to add new iPhone carriers in the U.S. within the next year (likely with a new product launch next summer) … In France, the company now enjoys dramatically higher market share (in the 40% range vs. about 15% in ROW) than in countries with exclusive carrier agreements (such as AT&T in the U.S. where the iPhone has market share in the mid-teens).”

It has always been known that the iPhone would be available from other wireless carriers in the States sooner or later, but with complaints concerning AT&T’s service (or lack thereof) increasing with each passing months, Apple and perspective iPhone owners are surely looking forward to other service providers getting in on the iPhone game. 

Many have speculated that Verizon Wireless would be the most likely candidate in the U.S. to first add iPhone to its product line when AT&T’s exclusivity agreement ends.  The carrier is reportedly hurrying to deploy its 4G wireless data network in 30 markets by the end of next year, with projected nationwide 4G service to be completed by the end of 2013.

Having multiple carriers offer the iPhone here in the U.S. is a very good thing for consumers.  In addition to the obvious benefit of customers being able to get the iPhone from more than one carrier, competition among carriers will force service innovation, plan price competition and improving data options.

Source: Fortune Brainstorm Tech

Yesterday we discovered that Apple had begun distributing a beta of the iPhone OS 3.1 to software developers, but details were few and far between when it came to what was actually changed in the new version.

But, time is usually on our side in matters such as these, and today BGR has posted a list of changes sent to them a devoted tipster.  Here are the highlights:

• Voice Control over Bluetooth
• Option to Save a Copy of an edited video
• Copy, Paste Phone Numbers into the Phone app
• Automatic conversion of 1-800-FLOWERS to 1-800-356-9377 (when pasted)
• Improvements to OpenGL and Quartz
• Email video attachments can be saved in the camera roll

There’s no word on whether v3.1 will break some of the new jailbreaking methods we’ve seen over the past couple of weeks, but it’s a definite possibility.

via BGR

A French web site, Nowhere Else, has new photos of what it claims is the new iPhone, which is expected to be announced as the WWDC on Monday.  The photos are in line with some rumors we’ve been hearing, including the lack of a metal band around the edge of the screen, a matte black backpiece, and (perhaps) a front-facing camera. 

Some expect Apple to announce multiple iPhones rather than one; there may be a $99 model with less storage and missing features.

No one knows exactly what the new iPhone will be, of course (we made predictions a while back and there are plenty more on the Web), but we don’t expect the new device to be a radical departure from the current generation.  Faster processor, more memory, better camera – that sort of thing.  Mundane or not, we welcome these upgrades.

But, whatever the future holds, it isn’t far off. 

via EngadgetMobile

If you’re like many iPhone users, you don’t need an unlimited data plan.  With Wi-Fi access popping up in more and more places, the data that comes in over the EDGE or 3G network may not be something you use a lot of.  If a new rumor turns out to be true, AT&T Mobility may announce a new $20 limited plan alongside the new iPhone in June.

BusinessWeek is reporting that AT&T is considering such a move, and we think it’s a great idea.  In the current recession, anything Apple or AT&T can do to cut the costs of owning an iPhone would be a smart move, not only to earn good will from current users (assuming that’s a goal), but to attract new users who are put off by the ongoing costs of iPhone ownership.  Wireless industry consultant Chetan Sharma believes that cutting costs “could boost AT&T’s iPhone subscriber additions by 20% to 25%.”

There are also some indications that one of the new iPhone options slated for the summer could be a $99 or $150 model, with less storage or omitted features.  The up-front cost reduction, coupled with a lower monthly cost could increase the iPhone’s market share significantly.

You can bet your MacBook Pro that Apple will release new iPhones this summer – and likely for many summers to come.  No one outside of Apple and their manufacturing partners knows with certainty what the 3rd Generation iPhone (or iPhones) will be, but we’ve got some guesses… for what it’s worth.

First, we don’t expect to see any radical styling changes, though the curvier profile seen in this concept graphic (artist unknown) would be nice.  It’s unlikely there will be any changes to the display, and though there are OLED rumors – we don’t think so.  Chances are, the 3rd Gen iPhone will be all about the guts.

Expect to see a faster processor, at least on one new iPhone model, in the 600 – 800MHz range and/or an updated graphics processor.  Also, it’s pretty much a no-brainer that there will be more internal memory, both in terms of system memory (RAM) and flash storage, with a 32GB option, or even 64GB; as far as support for additional storage cards, don’t hold your breath. 

Many rumors suggest that the new iPhone(s) will have a 3.xMP camera, and this seems quite likely. Chances are that updated camera will include support for shooting video.  There have also been rumors of a magnetometer, which is an electronic compass.  Maybe, maybe not.

Current iPhones will be able to upgrade to the iPhone 3.0 operating system, and the new iPhone will, of course, ship with this update. 

We don’t expect any shockers with the next-gen iPhones, but with WWDC ‘09 a little more than a month away, we don’t have to long to find out if we’re wrong.

While explaining why it is Apple will no longer officially participate in future MacWorld Expos, marketing executive and ‘09 keynote speaker Phil Schiller enumerated a loose calendar of product refresh cycles the company would like to stick to going forward.

According to Schiller, Apple’s product release cycles are as follows: “the iPod product cycle (October), the iLife development cycle (usually March), the iPhone cycle (June).”  January – the month in which the Expo has been held – does not fit into this schedule.

The last two iPhones – the original and 3G models – were each released in June, and iPods are usually released around September or October, so these dates aren’t exactly a revelation.  But it is worth noting that in laying out Apple’s refresh cycle in this way, Schiller all but confirmed that iPhone 3.0, or a new iPhone model altogether, will arrive this summer.  iPhone nano, anyone?

We’re looking forward to it.

Early last week a case manufacturer posted images of what purported to be a case for the iPhone nano. Case manufacturers have long been on the front line of Apple product leaks, and this image certainly caught our attention. Then this week someone anonymously provided MacRumors with a photo (seen below) of what looks like a presentation slide showing the nano alongside its big brother.

These two pieces of information, the case release and the anonymous photo, are by no means proof of the current existence of the iPhone nano, but they do raise interesting questions.  Is Apple working on a smaller iPhone to sell alongside the iPhone 3G?  Will the iPhone nano be a smaller, but full featured version of today’s iPhone, or will it have feature cuts in order to make it a $100-range handset?  Is this all just total B.S.?

An examination of the screen-shots of both the 3G and the “nano” in the image above show the icon’s labels appear alternatively in English and another language (French maybe?).  Also, many have proposed that the iPhone nano would not have 3G because of size constraints (and in order to sell for as little as $100), but the image shows the 3G symbol along the top of the screen of the nano.

The “evidence” thus far isn’t exactly probative, but it’s something we’ll keep our eyes on in the weeks and months ahead.  At this point, we have more questions than answers and remain highly skeptical.