All Things Digital

With less than a week to go before Apple CEO Steve Jobs’s June 9 Worldwide Developers Conference keynote address and the expected debut of the 3G iPhone–and perhaps the Apple App Store and Mac OS X 10.6 as well–the company has finally closed a deal that will bring the device to Japan, one of the world’s largest and most demanding mobile-phone markets.

Softbank (SFTBF), Japan’s No. 3 wireless provider, broke the news in a spartan press release that would do even Apple (AAPL), a company renowned for its minimalist gadgets, proud. If ever there was a one-button press release, this is it:

SOFTBANK MOBILE Corp. today announced it has signed an agreement with Apple® to bring the iPhone™ to Japan later this year.”

Well, there you go. Presumably, Jobs will fill us in on the details on Monday. In any event, lining up a wireless partner in Japan is an important step for Apple, which hopes to gain a 1% share of the global cellphone business by the end of 2008. Nomura Research Institute estimates that Apple can sell 2 million to 3 million iPhones annually in Japan–-about 5% of the market–if it plays its cards right.

Also announced this morning, a deal with Telefonica (TEM), which has agreed to distribute the iPhone in Spain through its Movistar subsidiary. Together the two deals bring the iPhone distributor count up to an even 70, with more countries presumably waiting in the wings.

(Image credit: AAPLinvestors)

Dust off your sleeping bags and Therm-a-Rest and get in line, Apple’s 3G iPhone will reportedly arrive at market in just a few weeks.

“Someone very, very close to the 3G iPhone launch” tells Gizmodo that the device will debut as expected at Apple’s (AAPL) Worldwide Developers Conference 2008 on June 9 with immediate availability.

A plausible rumor, and one that jibes with other similar ones we’ve been hearing for some time now–specifically the one about AT&T (T) employees being asked not to schedule any vacation between June 15 and July 12 to ensure sufficient staffing for “an exciting summer promotional launch.”

Normally a consumer product announcement at WWDC would seem unlikely. That said, it would make sense for Apple to uncrate a next-gen iPhone at the event this year, given its recent software roadmap and SDK announcement. Wouldn’t it?

With its curvier edges, stylish silver trim, half-VGA 480-by-320 pixel screen and improved iTunes compatibility, Research in Motion’s (RIMM) new BlackBerry Bold should be a big hit with IT operations professionals convinced the iPhone isn’t an enterprise-class mobile device but driven to near-aneurysm by discontented employees demanding them.

The device is largely as expected–an iPhonish-looking thing with both GPS and Wi-Fi, 1GB of permanent flash memory, a 2-megapixel camera, full HTML browsing, 3G support on GSM networks with HSDPA access and, of course, the BlackBerry’s one-trick killer app: instant, secure email. That’s a compelling combination for business users and casual ones not easily swayed by the iPhone’s hype juggernaut as well. Indeed, Citigroup analyst Jim Suva says it could boost RIM’s quarterly shipments by 200,000 to 400,000.

But perhaps not without a bit of struggle. The BlackBerry Bold won’t ship until as late as August, which means Apple (AAPL) could beat it to market with the enterprise-friendly 3G iPhone it’s rumored to be uncrating at its Worldwide Developer’s Conference in June. Which has got to worry RIM. After all, the first-generation iPhone had claimed a 28% market share by the fourth quarter of 2007. That’s still less than the BlackBerry, which holds about a 41% market share, but the iPhone hasn’t even been on the market a year.

Try as they might, financial analysts attending Apple’s (AAPL) Q2 earnings call yesterday were unable to goad company execs into giving up a launch date for the 3G iPhone. Peter Oppenheimer, Apple’s CFO, and Tim Cook, the company’s COO, refused to confirm rumors that the company plans to announce the device this summer, though they did–as they always do–claim Apple has a number of exciting products in the pipeline.

And that was confirmation enough for analysts. Citigroup’s (C) Richard Gardner promptly issued a research note pitching June 9, the kickoff of the company’s annual Worldwide Developers Conference, as the likely date of the 3G iPhones’ debut. Wrote Gardner, “We expect a steady stream of new products beginning on 9 June with a 3G iPhone and iPhone/iPod touch SDK, continuing with a refresh of the complete laptop line in July/August and concluding with a complete refresh of the iPod line in August/September.”

June 9 seems a plausible, if not bleedingly obvious launch date. Announce the 3G iPhone at WWDC, with an eye toward an official release on June 29, the first anniversary of its predecessor’s debut? That gives Apple plenty of time to reach its goal of shipping 10 million iPhones by the end of 2008. The company has so far sold 1.7 million iPhones worldwide, leaving 8.3 million more to go if it wants to hit the 10 million mark. Uncrating the 3G version of the device in early summer, perhaps in concert with a move into the massive Japanese and Chinese markets, would make reaching 10 million iPhones shipped an easy matter.

In the run-up to Apple’s (AAPL) Worldwide Developer’s Conference in June, the Mac faithful are sifting entrails for portents of iPhones to come.

Yesterday the creators of the popular ZiPhone jailbreak discovered in the latest test firmware for iPhone developers a reference to Infineon’s (IFX) SGOLD3H chipset–a chipset that supports 3G wireless broadband of up to 7.2 Mbit/s.

Now “industry sources” cited by TG Daily are claiming that the next-gen iPhone that runs on that chip will debut at WWDC. And there’s more. The device will be slimmer than its predecessor (by about 2.5 mm) and it will be offered in least two configurations at current price points: an 8GB version for $399 and a 16GB $499.