No matter how you put it, the iPhone is still pretty expensive, especially for some markets Apple keeps in its viewfinder. Even in the Western markets, cheaper products have more chances to grab market share, especially when prices get ridiculously low, compared to only a few weeks before applying the new price tags. For example, today we have the iPhone, and Germany...


...where the local telecommunications company Deutsche Telekom AG decided to push down the prices of its Apple iPhones from $629 to an amazing $156. Now, that's what I call "price cut"! Obviously, I am sure for telecomm companies, selling iPhones is more about mid- to long-term profits, rather than just getting money for the device itself and running away with it.

Even more, this move from Deutsche Telekom AG ignited the rumors concerning the launch of the 3G iPhone, which everyone is expecting, but the date of its launch is still shrouded in mist. Last time I heard such rumors and predictions, the 3G iPhone was expected to emerge in June, but...maybe we'll get it earlier, who can tell? Steve Jobs, probably, but I am sure he won't tell us such things now...

As time passes by, more and more people wonder when is the 3G iPhone going to arrive, and it seems latest reports bring good news. Obviously, we're not talking about anything official from Apple regarding the 3G iPhone yet, but it's good to hear about its early arrival from multiple sources, since this means there are more chances to see it happening...


First, it should be noted that Ralph de la Vega, AT&T's Mobility CEO, says his company is expecting to have all smartphones in the network integrated with 3G in a matter of months, which makes me think the iPhone 2.0 update may bring 3G to older models, although that is widely known as impossible, for now. Well, I guess we should live and see, shouldn't we?

Now, considering that Shane Wu from American Technology Research already said the 3G iPhone will arrive in June-July, this is it! Anyway, if it is possible, I am sure Apple will bring a software update to unleash 3G capabilities on older iPhones too, but this is also something that only time will tell.

In the meantime, if you consider buying a smartphone and can't really decide about what to buy, feel free to check some iPhone reviews. It may not be the "smartest" phoine around, but it surely has "the WOW! factor..."

Apple doesn't give iPods for free, but a lot of other organizations/companies do, as we were able to see happening at the Oklahoma Christian University, where iPods and iPhones come together with MacBooks, but I won't get back to that - you have the link, read it, if you think it may be interesting for you or your kids. Today, I found a very interesting occasion to get a free iPod, but it's not simply a "go and ask" job. Let's see...


Just as a side note, Apple's shares rose by 11 percent in the last 4 days, and while the US economy is slowing down, planned Macs purchases remain strong, but let's get to our free iPods now, shall we?

If you're going to fly with Eos Airlines between until the 11th of April, you may become one of the happy users of a brand new iPod, but it's not that simple as it looks. First, you have to book a flight between New York and London, and the iPod you will get will depend on your ticket's price, as it follows - $4,000 or less on a round trip will bring you an iPod nano or 15k Eos services points, while those spending more than $4,000 on their tickets will get an iPod classic, or 30k points.

Well, Eos Airlines may not be for everyone, but if you are one of those enjoying their luxury flights with the 48-suites Boeing 757 jets, I think you should spare a few minutes to check this page for more details on the free iPods or Eos services.

I was just about to forget this, but it should also be mentioned, without any special link with the free iPods, that according to Morgan Stanley, 40% of college student are planning to buy Macs. Not bad at all, don't you think?

Today it seems to be a day with a lot of interesting news and rumors about the iPhone, and I am sure you'll be happy to find them all in one place, especially since there's not much to say about them, but they are all good hints for the future of this notorious phone, portable media player...and a little more. Basically, it's about the iPhone disappearing from US stores, some rumors about the upcoming 3G iPhone, as well as the amazing fact that Microsoft may release software for the iPhone!


First, if you're in New York and you need an iPhone, don't bother to look for one in Apple's stores. Why? Well, in a report published in The Huffington Post, Danny Shea wrote that not a single iPhone can be found in any of the 3 Apple stores located in the city! To make things even a bit worse, none of those stores seems to have a clue about when they will get new iPhones, but the good part - for Apple, of course - is that the iPhone seems to sell like crazy, if they ended up in this situation...

Second, we have a report from Gartner's Ken Dulaney, who claims to have gotten some hints from his Asian sources that Apple placed a huge order for 3G iPhones. We're not talking about 1 million, 2 or 5 million iPhones, but no less than 10 million units! Apart from this impressive order, it seems that the 3G version my incorporate an OLED display, but none of these two facts have been confirmed or negated by official sources yet.

At last, it seems that a team based in Silicon Valley played with the beta iPhone SDK for over a week, while Microsoft executives consider the iPhone an interesting platform to move on. In the end, if they play their cards right, it is possible to see the iPhone software revenue exceeding the revenue Microsoft gets from its Mac software in a couple of years, but we're still far from that moment. Anyway, this is another interesting issue worth keeping an eye on, so this is it - 3 iPhone facts for today!

When the iPhone was revealed to the public, I was just as stunned as I ended up when the MacBook Air got out of the veil of secrecy that was protecting it, but while the MacBook Air is simply the thinnest laptop, the iPhone is a bit of everything, and now it has even became a birthday cake, as you can see below...


Anyway, we're not going to talk about that cake, especially since it was only one of its kind, at least for now. The interesting part about the iPhone is that, according to Kevin Rose, Digg's founder, the 3G iPhone will feature video chat capabilities. How's that?

Well, Kevin claims the upcoming 3G version of the iPhone will have no less than 2 cameras, located back to back, the first one remaining where it is now, and the second, on the front side of the device, behind the transparent touch screen!

According to Rose, the new 3G iPhone, together with iChat, will open the road to live video conferencing over AT&T's high speed 3G network, between iPhones, computer-based iChat users, and even second-generation iPhone owners!

For now, it's only an interesting rumor, but by the end of the year, the above may become reality...or remain just one more "what if...", but let's hope for the better, why not?