Long-time iPod manufacturer and current iPhone builder Foxconn Electronics has been selected by Apple to assemble the company's upcoming 3G iPhone handset, with volume shipments expected to begin this June, says a new report out of the Far East.

Apple is among the handset makers who saw their share of the market slip early this year as the company slowed iPhone shipments, and is now reported to have discontinued the 8GB model in the UK ahead of a 3G version.

Apple on Wednesday announced its most profitable second quarter in company history, and held a financial conference call with analysts and members of the media. Several notes of interest from the now concluded call follow:

Investment banks Citigroup and RBC Capital Markets have both raised their outlook for Apple's second fiscal quarter, saying they expect the company to announce Wednesday revenues of more than $7 billion on sales of over 2 million Mac systems.

A new investment note from JPMorgan reveals confidence that Apple's MacBook line is strong enough overcome dropping notebook sales at its rivals, but cautions that the post-holiday lull may eat into the company's iPhone and iPod numbers.

Apple Inc.'s existing MacBook and MacBook Pro notebooks will be the last of their breed, as both product families are destined for major design changes upon their next refresh, AppleInsider has learned.

An RBC analyst says that demand, not future models, are dictating the sudden iPhone shortage. Meanwhile, Apple assures buyers that more are on the way, the company is fighting New York City over an apple logo, and T-Mobile Germany is the first to subsidize the iPhone's price with different plans.

An investment note by Piper Jaffray calls the new iPhone shortage a sign of an impending new model. Also, Adobe will soon announce the next major version of Acrobat with new features, Sprint and Samsung have unleashed a direct iPhone rival, and a new report says Hon Hai will produce 10 million new iPhones.

Further fueling talk of a 3G-capable iPhone this spring, a research note from Bank of America claims knowledge of next-generation Apple handset production beginning in May, and warns that past sales predictions have been timid.

In Manhattan and searching for an iPhone? You'll reportedly have no luck finding one today. Meanwhile, Apple is just about ready to cut the ribbon on its Cherry Hill retail store; Gartner releases its 2008 PC forecast; Intel debuts low-power Xeons; and new versions of iPod Reset Utility and Apple's PluginManager for pro apps are available.

A report claims that Singapore has all but guaranteed its iPhone launch. Also, Verizon has outbid AT&T in obtaining the coveted 700MHz wireless band, Palm is seeing early success for its entry-level Centro smartphone, and one major publication claims to know that unlimited iTunes music deals are unfounded.

The advent of a 3G iPhone from Apple Inc. later this year will enabled a slew of often-sought media features and present the greatest opportunity for international adoption, according to a pair of Wall Street analysts, who've nonetheless reduced their price targets on the company given recent growth and economic concerns.

Apple has eclipsed Dell as the No.1 supplier of notebooks to higher education in the United States. Meanwhile, thin supply of MacBook Airs suggests demand remains high for the super-slim notebook a month removed from initial availability. And the entry level Penryn-based MacBook is reportedly slower than its predecessor.

Following a meeting with Apple chief operating officer Tim Cook earlier this week, investment bank Goldman Sachs reiterated a Buy rating on shares of the electronics maker, saying the company's industry leading product cycles should help it overcome softer seasonality and sets the stock up for s strong second half.

Apple appears poised to make good on a promise to ship its new Time Capsule backup appliance by month's end. Meanwhile, a new draft wireless bill threatens to disrupt the bond between Apple and its exclusive iPhone carriers. And just how much of an advantage do the company's new MacBook Pro notebooks hold over their predecessors?

Apple's goal of selling 10 million iPhones in 2008 is being tossed under the microscope just as Blackberry maker Research in Motion (RIM) announced that its smart phone business has remained uncharacteristically strong through the start of the new year.

Nearly half of the 800,000 to 1 million iPhones that are believed to have been unlocked for distribution and use outside Apple's sanctioned networks may be in China, according to a new report.

With more than 25 percent of total iPhone sales potentially in the hands of customers who don't subscribe to AT&T, investors should look to pure unit shipments rather than carrier numbers as a gauge for iPhone success, according to a note from American Technology Research.

Shares of Apple Inc. received a slight boost Monday morning after investment bank Citigroup added the company to its "Top Picks Live" list and reiterated a Buy rating on the badly beaten stock.

Apple Inc. managed to garner approximately 28 percent of the red hot US smartphone market during the fourth calendar quarter of 2007, up more than 43 percent from the three-month period ending September.

Apple shipped a few MacBook Air units to its retail stores Friday, leaving the scant supply to mainly serve as in-store demo units. While our SSD model remains on order pending shipment, we managed to snag the one of the few available HDD-based units from one of the company's San Francisco outlets and have set to work on an in-depth review of its ins and outs.

With Apple having announced iPhone shipments far in excess of reported activations, the ongoing debate about exactly what happened to all those other "missing" units continued on Friday, with investment bank Piper Jaffray weighing in with its own explanation.

Apple says it has shipped four million iPhones since launch. With just short of two million AT&T customers using the device, however, one analyst suggests that a large number of the handsets are mysteriously unaccounted for.

Slow European sales have caused Apple to reduce its iPhone shipment expectations for the second fiscal quarter ending March by as much as 50 percent, according to published report.

Apple executives received significant bonuses that included millions in stock-based compensation for their service to the company during fiscal 2007. Meanwhile, Intel is gaining share on rival AMD, the MacBook Air's SuperDrive may be limited to use with new notebook, and IBM is not yet ready to unleash its Lotus software suites for Apple's desktop and mobile products.