AppleInsider StaffThe rumor, which was accompanied by claims that the handset would also include features like global positioning for navigation services (GPS), was reported Monday by The Street.com, which has little to no track record in predicting Apple's future business moves.
The claims also arrive in stark contrast to comments made by Apple chief executive Steve Jobs early Tuesday morning regarding a timeframe for an Apple-branded 3G handset.
While introducing the iPhone for UK customers, Jobs was asked by reporters about his firm's decision to forgo 3G access in the version of the iPhone that will be made available in the region later this November.
"[3G] chipsets work well apart from power. They're real power hogs. Most phones now have battery lives of 2 to 3 hours and that's due to these very power-hungry 3G chipsets," he explained. "[iPhone] has 8 hours of talktime life. That's really important when you start to use the Internet and want to use the phone to listen to music. We've got to see the battery lives for 3G get back up into the 5+ hour range. Hopefully we'll see that late next year."
Nevertheless, The Street believes the 3G iPhone will arrive "sometime in the first quarter" of 2008 and include assisted GPS chips from Broadcom's Global Locate unit and power amplifiers from TriQuint.
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85 Comments
if 3G is currently unfeasible power-wise, i'd be impressed if they could pull off 3G and GPS by early '08. 2-hour battery life?
A rumour based on what Jobs said a few hours ago? I don't think so.
So another rumour would be that Jobs won't do anything against unlocked iphones based on what he said, but that's not certain, you actually don't know what's gonna happen.
nobody surfs on the net using phones for 2-3 straight hours. I think Jobs misses that point. it's usually a quick search and done.
to me what he said at London is just to sell some more iPhones.
Sweet! Jobs at it again. As much as he talks about the 8hr talktime as being so important, I don't believe I've gone thru my entire battery or even 50%. I think he should release the 3G version for those of us who aren't constantly listening to music or using the web. Dont get me wrong though. I use it but usually only to check emails, myspace, a couple forums and thats it. Maybe 30min. I know some of you complain the battery life is not enough but its much better than most others out there.
That's what I expected... there is no way he is going to say that its coming soon cause... it'll just kill present sales.