PMP Today

Appleinsider reports that Apple, Inc. has ordered 17 million iPhone, 2 million of these with EDGE-only, 15 million 3G. If this sounds too optimistic, you’d be doubly interested to note that the figure is for Apple phones that are still about to be shipped. It is expected Apple will sell all or most of the 17 million before the end of this year. A staggering number, but when coupled with another rumor of iPhone finally supporting MMS, it might actually make a lot of sense. The source of this rumor is an internal memo passed on to iPhoneatlas and the bloggers there immediately noted that the plans for iPhone 3G does not include text messages, or it was omitted for a very important reason: MMS rates have yet to be finalized.

[via unwired]

Good news for everyone. Nothing official just yet but based on the language of the report it’s highly likely Apple will allow subsidies for the iPhone 3G. The rumor was reported by the Financial Times. The pressure is coming from mobile operators mainly after Apple tacitly accepted the strategy of selling unsubsidized iPhone is no longer sustainable. The subsidy would be significant, around $200, and would put iPhone at $199 with a contract. This, in effect, will allow wireless providers to be the game-changers this time around.

That’s at least one iPhone rumor that is true… almost.

[source via unwiredreview]

Not so official yet that it would come directly from Apple, but it’s pretty official nonetheless. Apple will release iPhone 2.0 right after WWDC. Gizmodo’s source says the U.S. will get first dibs then other countries will be receiving their 3G iPhone ten days or so later. Apple will implement “new sales policies,” at least as far as other countries are concerned. Well, all that’s left now is a look at the actual product.

[source]

The Samsung P3 will remind you of Sprint’s Samsung Instinct, although this PMP is an exact copy of the Samsung SCH-W420 TNT phone using metallic buttons instead of touch-sensitive Chocolatey keys below the screen. Like the Sprint Instinct, the P3 will benefit from Haptic feedback on its huge touchscreen. It will probably be promoted as an iPod Touch killer, so for that at least it’s going to attract a lot of interest in the coming months before its official release. The Samsung P2 is one of the best and most popular PMPs out there, and it remains to be seen whether the phone-like P3 will follow in its predecessor’s footsteps.

The Samsung P3 PMP shold be available late this year.

[via gmp3]

After RIM announced the BlackBerry Bold for AT&T, a new rumor about the touchscreen BlackBerry has surfaced., the BlackBerry 9500. RIM has dubbed it Thunder. Yes, it sounds like a small step up Bold, but Thunder is a wholly different looking BlackBerry animal. The Thunder will be exclusive to Verizon and Vodafone. It will have strange features such as 4G connectivity, using LTE and GSM HSPA for international 4G connections. Wow! Hope it’s true, though the link below is rarely off the mark.

[via boygeniusreport]

If the purported leaked Picture of 3G iPhone nabbed by Apple Insider is authentic, the Philip Xenum 800 may have a competitor on the e2e front. The photo also suggests that the iPhone is moving toward the PDA form factor with a more squarish shape and sharper edges. I’m thinking, they keep increasing the size of the screen everyone has to bring a purse with them just to carry one. I’ll wait for iPhone Nano.

[via appleinsider]

I know some people who were disappointed when they found out the Apple iPhone was black (take the poll below). They will rejoice if this rumor turned out to be fact. Coming from a Chinese forum, they don’t seem all that reliable but that doesn’t mean we cannot feast our eyes on the elegant new casing, the additional connectors and sensors - from WeiPhone.

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[via appleinsider]

Never mind that the iPhone does not have a Chinese distributor and perhaps never will in the foreseeable future, but that does not stop some Chinese iPhone enthusiasts from conjuring up functions like Chinese handwriting recognition, which to my mind at least is a brilliant firmware upgrade. A screen shot of the interface was posted on wretch.cc. Apparently, Japanese is supported as well though that does not include handwriting recognition. What is left hanging by the screen shot is the input method. Does the Chinese iPhone user grow his fingernails long, or does Apple finally decide the iPhone could use a stylus after all.

[via engadget]

Rumor - AT&T will increase its subsidy on the iPhone. Not only will it give up a significant portion of its earning for each iPhone subscription, it’s going to shave off $200 on the iPhone 3G price with no loss for Apple. That’s how desperate AT&T is in making the iPhone a true RAZR replacement. AT&T posted a $2 billion increase in profits after it launched the Apple iPhone and it makes sense that they work on their market share this year. But, then again, having the distribution rights of the iPhone and, we assume, all iterations and spin-offs of the brand, will cement their lead in the market without taking a big $200 hit.

[via tuaw]

News from Digitimes is not always right on the money but Digi is a respected Chinese publication and it’s based on where the actual devices in question are being built. This time around, the “big deal” might have something to do with translating Chinese into English (digitally through Google Translator and Altavista’s Babelfish). It’s either Asus will launch a spin-off company, somewhat independent from the mother, Asustek, or Didi is merely stating a previous announcement from Asus: the Eee PC is a strong enough brand name to have its own line of computer products.

Though Jerry Shen, ASUS CEO, says the Eee PC subnotebook will not exceed a 10-inch screen size, an 11-inch Eee PC, offering portability, flash memory and low pricing, does not sound like a bad idea for consumers.

“In other news, in addition to the Eee PC 900, the company will launch the Eee PC 1001 with a 10-inch panel as well as an 11-inch model by the end of this year, market sources have revealed.”

[digitimes via engadget]