New, improved iPhone expected next month

With the Apple World Wide Developer Conference just under three weeks away, new rumours are starting to emerge about what might be included in new, updated 3G iPhone models.

Experts believe the conference will almost certainly see the debut of Apple’s third version of the iPhone and iPod Touch operating system, but many analysts are also predicting new iPhone handsets will make an appearance.

Tech sites including Cnet, the Apple iPhone Apps blog, Computerworld and Wired are all reporting rumours of upgrades to the existing handset.

They include new features such as faster RAM, a different processing chip, a 32GB storage drive and a new OLED screen that could deliver up to 50% more power to the current handset’s relatively low battery life – a key criticism of iPhone owners.

Smartphone screens usually appear in two varieties, OLED and LCD. A new OLED (organic light emitting display) screen would be an upgrade in quality from the current model’s LCD display, but may come at a greater cost.

The new handset is also rumoured to have a 3.2 megapixel camera with video recording (currently the phone has a 2 megapixel camera) and editing capabilities, an internal compass and an FM transmitter.

A new feature could be included that would allow uses to “geo-tag” buildings and landmarks. The new camera, interacting with the phone’s GPS capabilities, would identify landmarks in a picture taken by the phone and then determine your location.

But early analysts aren’t convinced this is the major upgrade Apple enthusiasts were hoping for.

Brian Chen from Wired said he was surprised by the FM transmitter and OLEM predictions, but that “overall, if these claims are true, this is a relatively minor upgrade”.

The same tech sites that posted the rumours are predicting a 17 July release date for the new device. The first iPhone was released in the US on 29 June 2007, with the first Australian model released on 11 July 2008.

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