iPhone will turn 3G in 2008

John: That’s good to know
Bogdan Boghiu: It was expected, heh. It would have came up sooner or later.

February 24th, 2007

Even though the first iPhone model isn’t out on the market yet, Apple is already thinking of the future and it’s preparing a wireless 3G iPhone version. Rumors say that a Swedish firm received assurances that the first version of iPhone would arrive in September and the 3G version will be on the market January 2008, the earliest.

However this is not shocking news, since Steve Jobs already discussed and announced his long term 3G plans with the iPhone.

“Most cellular-based Internet access in the world today, including the AT&T EDGE network which the iPhone will first use, is considered second-generation (2G). Few would mistake 2G-level wireless for a truly fast connection. Downloads typically crest at a few hundred kilobits per second even under ideal conditions; uploads are regularly far worse, frequently hovering around just above dial-up access. 3G ultimately amounts to the addition of extra channels on a cellphone network to boost those anemic speeds, particularly in terms of uploads. Where downstream access rarely exceeds 800Kbps on present 3G networks, upstream levels are a much healthier 400Kbps. The technology smoothes out wrinkles in mobile Internet access that make some tasks impractical or even impossible on 2G networks, such as uploading large photos in e-mail attachments or video messaging.”

Apple Insider