BEIJING, Nov. 30 (Xinhuanet) -- Randall Stephenson , CEO of AT&T, confirmed on Thursday that a 3G version of the iPhone would be available in 2008.

    "You'll have it next year," Stephenson said at a meeting of the Churchill Club in Santa Clara, California, according to media reports Friday.

    He didn't know how much the phone would cost, saying that Steve Jobs, CEO of Apple, would set the price for the new iPhone.

    When Apple released the iPhone domestically in June on AT&T's network, the decision to use the slower 2G standard caused complaints among users.

    A 3G network is the third generation of mobile phone standards and technology. One of the main benefits of 3G networks over 2G is the faster data speed.

    There are about 200 million people connected to 3G around the world, with Asia and Europe making up the majority of users, according to the GSM Association trade group.

    One of the problems with the 3G chips is that they are "power hogs," commented Steve Jobs during the UK iPhone rollout.

    Jobs said they expect to see better battery consumption later next year.

    (Agencies)

T-Mobile to offer no-contract Apple iPhone

    BEIJING, Nov. 22 (Xinhuanet) -- Deutsche Telekom AG's mobile unit said Wednesday it would offer Apple Inc.'s iPhone without a contract because of a court injunction issued after a competitor challenged its exclusive lock on the handset.

    T-Mobile will start selling the phone for 999 euros (1,477 U.S. dollars) immediately as well as continuing to offer it for the discounted 399 euros (590 dollars) in combination with a two-year contract, the company said in a press release. Full story

Hundreds wait in rain for European iPhone launch

    BEIJING, Nov. 9 (Xinhuanet) -- Hundreds of Apple fans braved rain and wind in the German city of Cologne early Friday morning to be among the first in Europe to get their hands on the coveted iPhone.
    A few hundred people lined up at a Deutsche Telekom shop, where its mobile communications unit T-Mobile allowed customers to buy the music-playing and Web-browsing device at midnight before the phone goes on sale across the country later in the day. Full story

Apple to open iPhone to 3rd-party applications in Feb.

Surrounded by cheering Apple Store employees, one of the first iPhone buyers leaves the store on Fifth Avenue in New York, June 29, 2007.(Xinhua/Reuters Photo) Photo Gallery>>>

    BEIJING, Oct. 18 (Xinhuanet) -- Apple announced that it will provide a software development kit to be released in February for third parties to create applications for the company's popular iPhone, media reported Thursday.

    "We want native third-party applications on the iPhone, and we plan to have an SDK in developers' hands in February. We are excited about creating a vibrant third-party developer community around the iPhone and enabling hundreds of new applications for our users," read a posting signed by Apple CEO Steve Jobs on company's Web site.Full story