iPhone, iPod rumours ahead of Apple Expo

By Stephen Withers
Monday, 20 August 2007 05:54

Market

The rumour mill is working overtime in the run-up to Apple Expo, scheduled for September 25-29 in Paris.

Top of the list is the mooted European iPhone announcement. Rumours are still swirling about which carriers will be involved, but Orange is being widely tipped for France, with T-Mobile in Germany and Vodafone (and O2?) in the UK.

Similar stories have been circulating practically since the first time Apple mentioned the iPhone. Commentators are divided on the question of whether the Euro iPhone will connect EDGE data networks or the more popular 3G. One possible explanation for the suggestion that the initial rollout will be limited to certain countries is that Apple will start by offering the existing EDGE model in certain countries, and then widen distribution when the 3G model ships.

Given that regulatory approvals for mobile phones appear to be a matter of public record, wouldn't we have seen something by now if Apple was releasing a 3G iPhone in the next month or so?

Also tipped for a Paris debut is an updated iPod nano - said to be a small, square device in new colours that sports a scroll wheel and video-playing capability. Oh, and up to 16G capacity. Most of these reports seem to trace back to a story appearing on 9to5mac.

Other rumours include a touchscreen iPod (an idea that's been floating around for some time) that's perhaps most easily imagined as a phoneless iPhone, and more movies and TV shows from the European iTunes Stores.