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Original URL: http://www.theregister.co.uk/2009/03/23/iphone_line/

iPhone rumor mill conjures multiple models

Video capture, faster net access

By Rik Myslewski in San Francisco

Posted in Mobile, 23rd March 2009 20:21 GMT

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Rumors about the next-generation iPhone continue unabated, with the latest focusing on doubled internet-connection speeds and - finally - video-capture capability. And maybe more iPhones.

Silicon Alley Insider reports [1] that a "plugged-in source in the mobile industry" says that the next-gen iPhones (possibly four models [2]), widely rumored to appear early this summer along with the just-announced iPhone Software 3.0 [3], will provide faster internet-access speeds.

If true, the upgrade will likely be due to AT&T's HSPA infrastructure, already rolled out in many markets, that can support download speeds of 7.2Mbps, coupled with new wireless circuitry in the next-gen iPhones.

Unfortunately for current iPhone 3G owners, their unit's wireless circuitry can only handle half that speed - the 7.2Mbps speed-up would only be available if Apple updates the wireless chips in the upcoming iPhones. A firmware upgrade to existing iPhone 3Gs wouldn't help.

Another rumor - that of a iPhone video camera [4] that can share videos [5] - hints that the faster wireless capability in the new iPhones could be powered by [6] an HSPA chip from Infineon that the company claims can not only download at 7.2Mbps, but also upload at 2.9Mbps.

Any upload speed slower than that would make sharing video a painful experience, indeed - and the average upload speeds of the current iPhone 3G hover around 0.3Mbps, as measured by the good folks at Testmyiphone.com [7].

Although all of this is, of course, pure speculation, we're willing to bet that this summer will see the iPhone line diverge into multiple models - and not just based on capacity, as has been true in the past.

We predict a high-end iPhone with video, high(er)-speed internet access, and possibly speedier graphics capabilities based on Imagination Technologies' new multicore PowerVR SGX543MP [8] graphics technology.

Below that would be a less-capable but more-affordable model or three, possibly one similar to the current iPhone 3G but with an OLED display [9], one without GPS circuitry for sale in paranoid countries [10] and possibly one compact unit with specs that match the ever-elusive entry-level iPhone nano [11].

The iPhone is now well-established enough to grow from a product into a product line. This summer may be time for that line's coming-out party. ®