Apple to begin selling 3G iPhone in late June?

[AppleInsider]

Apple Inc. may begin selling its next-generation iPhone handset sometime on or after the third week of June, hints a recent memo from AT&T to its retail staffers.

In the message to employees this week, the nation's No. 1 wireless carrier spoke of an "exciting Summer Promotional Launch" that will kick off next month and offer the opportunity for sales representatives to "soar" past their sales quotas.

"To ensure proper staffing during this period, Sales personnel planning to take approved time off are encouraged to schedule their vacations before June 15 or after July 12 to participate in the heavy selling period," the company wrote.

Almost one year ago to the date, AT&T made a similar request of its retail staff, announcing vacation blackout days from June 15 through July 15.

The carrier, alongside Apple, began selling the iPhone on June 29th at 6:00 p.m.

In the weeks leading up to last year's iPhone launch, AT&T went on to appoint addition part time staffers, hire crowd control, and acquire stanchions to corral patrons. It also announce a plan to close down its 1800 retail stores at around 4:00 p.m. on June 29th and reopen them again at 6:00 p.m. with iPhones on hand.

[ View this article at AppleInsider.com ]

[SpamSandwich]

I'd believe this one.

[juggernaut30]

Boo-YA! I've been waiting all year for this.

[probably]

Welp, that can only really mean one thing.




Revised Mac minis, definitely.

[juggernaut30]

Please, please, please have real GPS!

[Buck]

I second GPS!!

[stukdog]

I won't make the mistake of going to an AT&T Store again. They refused to let anyone know when they ran out of phones because they wanted to continue taking pre-orders. It's 100 degrees outside (in Vegas) and they had you waiting the whole time. Once I went in and found out there were no more, I came out and screamed to the line the situation. Nearly everyone left.

That felt good.

[Kujaku]

After reading these forums for well over a year, I was suddenly compelled to register just to say this.

Fancy illustration.

[TBaggins]

.

[Rot'nApple]

Originally Posted by Kujaku

After reading these forums for well over a year, I was suddenly compelled to register just to say this.

Fancy illustration.

I wonder if AppleInsider's talents created that "fancy illustration" or not, although it makes me want to pull out my photo ID...

However, I noticed that all the people behind the AT&T 'Bouncer' looks to be women dancing!!! Where are all the Apple fans, tech geek guys??? Being denied access because they are 'too nerdy'???... Now I know how PC feels for not being cool, "Hello, I'm PC"... lol

[davebarnes]

This is a perfect example of why Apple hates having partners: They can't keep a secret.

[Ireland]

Oh God I'm sick of the iPhone news!

[melgross]

Originally Posted by probably

Welp, that can only really mean one thing.




Revised Mac minis, definitely.

Exactly!

[melgross]

Originally Posted by davebarnes

This is a perfect example of why Apple hates having partners: They can't keep a secret.

How else would you have expected them to handle the situation with their employees?

I know mine would have been VERY pissed if I told them the night before that they couldn't go on vacation that week.

[melgross]

Originally Posted by Ireland

Oh God I'm sick of the iPhone news!

Gee Ireland, thank's for sharing.

[mrtotes]

I'm surprised that they would expect such a rush on iPhone 2.0.

What percentage of mobile phone users actually appreciate the differences between 2G and 3G?

[probably]

Originally Posted by melgross

How else would you have expected them to handle the situation with their employees?

I know mine would have been VERY pissed if I told them the night before that they couldn't go on vacation that week.

Right - but we would not have even this indirect confirmation of a product release if Apple didn't have to work with AT&T. Or any other colossal company whose interests don't line up.

Originally Posted by mrtotes

I'm surprised that they would expect such a rush on iPhone 2.0.

What percentage of mobile phone users actually appreciate the differences between 2G and 3G?

It only doesn't make sense if you're under the impression that Apple is just inserting 3G radios and nothing else to add value.

[amac4me]

Bring it on ... I buy my 3G iPhone the day it's first available

[melgross]

Originally Posted by probably

Right - but we would not have even this indirect confirmation of a product release if Apple didn't have to work with AT&T. Or any other colossal company whose interests don't line up.

The cat was let out of the bag by Jobs a long time before this when he said that the software for the SDK would be avaiable in late June. Obviously, that meant ver 2.0 of the OS and firmware for the phone itself, would be available then as well.

That pretty much meant that the new phones would be also.

This just sort of confirms what we already knew.

[cronked]

An AT&T employee told me that the launch date is June 27th. He also said it will be 3G (we knew that) and it will be all black. He whispered this to me so it must be true!

I'm also hoping for GPS and a camera on the front.

[Eduardo]

That picture looks really lame.

[Kasper]

Originally Posted by melgross

Gee Ireland, thank's for sharing.

Yeah.... well..... remember last year? You better get used to it, cause it's full force ahead till mid-July. There's honestly nothing that can be done about it. It will increasingly dominate headlines going forward. I also doubt we'll see those new notebooks till the iPhone hype blows over, but that's just a guess =P

Best,

K

[melgross]

Originally Posted by Kasper

Yeah.... well..... remember last year? You better get used to it, cause it's full force ahead till mid-July. There's honestly nothing that can be done about it. It will increasingly dominate headlines going forward. I also doubt we'll see those new notebooks till the iPhone hype blows over, but that's just a guess =P

Best,

K

Hey, you should have posted that to Ireland, not to me.

[Kasper]

Originally Posted by melgross

Hey, you should have posted that to Ireland, not to me.

Yeah, my bad =P

[satchmo]

Originally Posted by probably

Welp, that can only really mean one thing.




Revised Mac minis, definitely.

Why Mac mini's...they don't sell those at AT&T.
Probably new bluetooth headsets instead.

[DJKuo]

Originally Posted by cronked

An AT&T employee told me that the launch date is June 27th. He also said it will be 3G (we knew that) and it will be all black. He whispered this to me so it must be true!

I'm also hoping for GPS and a camera on the front.

Funny, because if that's true, that's the same day that Pixar's Wall-E releases in theatres. Funny how those two companies seem to coordinate with each other.

[andrewjnyc]

Originally Posted by Eduardo

That picture looks really lame.

Agreed! And, after how easy it turned out to be to buy iPhone 1.0 on launch night, there was absolutely no good reason for it to be brought back!

[probably]

Originally Posted by melgross

The cat was let out of the bag by Jobs a long time before this when he said that the software for the SDK would be avaiable in late June. Obviously, that meant ver 2.0 of the OS and firmware for the phone itself, would be available then as well.

That pretty much meant that the new phones would be also.

This just sort of confirms what we already knew.

I know this. You're discussing this on AppleInsider.

It's just inferring a product release based on inevitability of technology, timing and past behavior is quite different than a leaked memo as far as Wall Street is concerned.

Not that this particular AT&T blurb means anything to investors or AAPL - this is just the type of attention Apple avoids. It's the reason Apple fed fake iPhone fabrications to AT&T up until they let just the CEO look at one less than a week before they went public. (That factoid always makes me smile: billion dollar secrets are so awesome when they pertain to toys we can play with.)

[melgross]

Originally Posted by probably

I know this. You're discussing this on AppleInsider.

It's just inferring a product release based on inevitability of technology, timing and past behavior is quite different than a leaked memo as far as Wall Street is concerned.

Not that this particular AT&T blurb means anything to investors or AAPL - this is just the type of attention Apple avoids. It's the reason Apple fed fake iPhone fabrications to AT&T up until they let just the CEO look at one less than a week before they went public. (That factoid always makes me smile: billion dollar secrets are so awesome when they pertain to toys we can play with.)

I'm mentioning it because it sometimes seems to be forgotten.

My main point was that there was nothing that AT&T could have done to not put that memo out. It was a requirement. Apple knows this, of course. it didn't hit them with a surprise, you can be sure of that.

[steviet02]

I can't wait to read about people that buy these new 3G iphones only to find out that the ATT 3G coverage in their area doesn't exist. ATT's coverage map is bare for 3G coverage.

http://www.wireless.att.com/coverageviewer/

[dehgenog]

Originally Posted by steviet02

I can't wait to read about people that buy these new 3G iphones only to find out that the ATT 3G coverage in their area doesn't exist. ATT's coverage map is bare for 3G coverage.

http://www.wireless.att.com/coverageviewer/

Which of those map views shows 3G coverage?

edit: got it.

well all the more reason 3G isn't the only new feature coming

[pvp803]

3G is a given, here's hoping for 32gb option.

[backtomac]

Originally Posted by satchmo

Why Mac mini's...they don't sell those at AT&T.
Probably new bluetooth headsets instead.

You all are being so dense.

New pro apps are on the way.

After the new cinema displays.

[wizard69]

Originally Posted by mrtotes

What percentage of mobile phone users actually appreciate the differences between 2G and 3G?

While I understand the importance of 3G, or maybe I should say its limitations, I don't see it as a big factor in driving iPhone 2 sales. It is good so don't get me wrong there, but any of the features below could be considered just as important by many:

1.
GPS
2.
Doubling of Flash storage.
3.
More RAM.
4.
Support for a memory storage card.
5.
Host USB functionality.
6.
FM Radio.
7.
Faster WiFi
8.
Truly enable Bluetooth. That is the OS will fully support all profiles.
9.
Vastly improved camera.

Just a few ideas that people should understand as important to a portion of the population.

Dave

[dehgenog]

edit: double post

[bavlondon2]

Is the 3G iphone to be considered "iphone2". Or is iphone 2 supposed to be a whole true sucessor with more features other than just 3G?

[melgross]

Originally Posted by bavlondon2

Is the 3G iphone to be considered "iphone2". Or is iphone 2 supposed to be a whole true sucessor with more features other than just 3G?

that's a good question. we won't know until we see it.

If it looks the same, but adds 3G and not much else, other than the ver 2 software, then no, it won't be a real iPhone 2.

But, if it adds a good deal more, and perhaps has a form change as well, then it would be #2.

[Toyin]

With the confidence in sales numbers from Apple and now this, I think we're looking at more then one phone. Even if the 3G iphone doubles memory, has GPS, and is the same price or cheaper, I don't see that alone pushing sales numbers.

I'm starting to believe the nano phone rumors.

[Dunks]

OMG there's an iPhone!?

of course it's coming soon.

[Carniphage]

Originally Posted by Toyin

With the confidence in sales numbers from Apple and now this, I think we're looking at more then one phone. Even if the 3G iphone doubles memory, has GPS, and is the same price or cheaper, I don't see that alone pushing sales numbers.

I'm starting to believe the nano phone rumors.

I don't buy a "nano" theory. But a lower-cost phone targeted at teens would be a killer product.

Most of 'em are addicted to social networks. Imagine the holiday sales!

C.