Touchscreen deal hints at 3G iPhone timing
updated 09:20 am EST, Thu December 27, 2007
Hint at 3G iPhone date?
Shipments of touchscreen panels may indicate the timing of Apple's planned 3G iPhone. The Taiwanese newspaper Economic Daily News cites unspecified sources in the display industry, who say that local company Innolux will begin shipping touchscreens to Apple in the second quarter of 2008. If true, this would be just in time to build new iPhones for a mid-summer launch; the first phones were released on June 29th of this year, and have so far relied mainly on panels from Wintek.
Apple has yet to set a formal schedule for the 3G iPhone's debut other than 2008, a timeframe which was first put forward by AT&T CEO Randall Stephenson. Some people and publications have speculated that the first word of a new iPhone could come at next month's Macworld Expo, similarly to the original product, but it is expected that no devices will ship until several months later.
EDN also mentions that Innolux will officially start shipping LCDs for Nokia in the first quarter of the year, while yet more anonymous sources say that handset panels will go out to Samsung "soon."
Fresh-Faced Recruit
Joined: Dec 2005
Oh no! No schedule!
Seriously, what clueless guy wrote that? We all know that Apple keeps announcements secret until they have their fancy unveiling ceremony with all the tech news outlets and Mac faithful watching in ardent expectation. With a product that's as successful as the iPhone, Jobs could keep 'em rivited for 10 minutes easy on just a 3G revision alone.
Then again, they can always let rumors or hints drop to draw attention and headlines to their event.
Personally, I'll only be interested when the phone is 3G, and has a bunch more space, but I'm in the minority.