By ModMyI.com

According to a new report, AT&T confirms to employees that next generation iPhone will launch in June. “The phone will be available for purchase in June, not July, and from what we’ve heard, it won’t even be late June,” the report said. This confirms a separate report from late April, saying that iPhone will launch very early June with the possibility of the device being available in stores the same day on the announcement. In addition, AT&T put a block on employees taking vacations in June. The company followed similar policies the last two years for the month the iPhone was launched. Apple is expected to announce the new device during the 2010 Worldwide Developers Conference. The event will be held June 7 through June 11 at San Francisco’s Moscone West. iPhone’s announcement might be more complicated this year due to the misplaced/lost/stolen? next generation iPhone prototype saga.

by macrumours.com

Apple’s next update to the blockbuster iPhone handset is expected by one prominent analyst to have a lower total cost of ownership, and to also include new gesture-based functionality.

Katy Huberty with Morgan Stanley maintains that the biggest barrier to greater iPhone adoption is the cost of the hardware, followed by the service plan. The investment in the device has been its biggest issue in both developed markets like the U.S. and emerging ones like China.

But Huberty expects Apple to address that in June, by introducing a new model that will be economically friendly to even more consumers.

“We expect Apple to launch new iPhones in June that offer both a lower total cost of ownership and new functionality, potentially including gesture-based technology,” she wrote in a new note to investors Friday.

In 2009, when Apple introduced the new iPhone 3GS, the company also dropped the price of the previous year’s iPhone 3G to $99. However, despite the lower price point, the high end iPhone 3GS was still the most popular option for consumers.

In addition to lower cost of ownership for the iPhone, Huberty remains bullish on AAPL stock because of the forthcoming iPad launch in March. Here she is particularly optimistic, projecting shipments of 6 million devices in the 2010 calendar year, versus Wall Street’s average projections of 3 million to 4 million.

“We expect Apple to ship its first iPad and announce additional content deals in late March to better than expected demand,” Huberty wrote. “We see the iPad targeting the sub-$800 consumer notebook market which equates to 30M annual units just in the US (120M globally.”

Morgan Stanley has maintained its “overweight” rating for AAPL stock, with a price target of $250.

In the past, Huberty was notoriously negative on AAPL stock, suggesting the iPhone was too expensive even at a $199 price point. In late 2008, she predicted that iPhone sales would suffer because Apple had priced the product too high.

But last year, Huberty turned positive on Apple, stating that the company had become the “clear leader in the battle over the mobile Internet.”

by appleinsider.com

Apple is showing its true mobile colors. The company is on the lookout for an engineer who can help get its mobile-phone software onto additional devices.

On Feb. 15, Apple (AAPL) posted an ad on its Web site for an engineering manager “to lead a team focused on bring-up of iPhone OS [operating system] on new platforms.” Days later, Apple Chief Operating Officer Tim Cook called the company “a mobile device company,” echoing remarks by Chief Executive Steve Jobs, who in January said “Apple is the largest mobile device company in the world.”

The posting and remarks underscore Apple’s growing reliance on devices that provide Web access and computing features for users on the go. In the three months ended Dec. 26, the iPhone and related products accounted for $5.58 billion, or 36% of total sales, up from 25% of revenue a year earlier. Apple also sells other mobile devices, including the iPod Touch.

An adaptation of the operating system used in Macintosh computers, the iPhone OS runs the iPhone, iPod Touch music player, and the forthcoming iPad tablet computer. In the future, analysts say, Apple may put the OS onto Web-connected TV machines and devices that help viewers watch 3D programming. The Cupertino (Calif.)-based company may also consider licensing the iPhone OS to outside cell-phone manufacturers. Apple has shipped more than 75 million devices based on the iPhone OS, which lets users download and run applications such as games and calendars sold at the Apple App Store. Apple spokeswoman Natalie Kerris declined to comment.

1) The next version of the iPad is getting a camera. This is the least immediately helpful possibility, but it also sounds completely likely. A lot of tech pundits assumed the first-gen iPad would include a camera, so I’d bet on seeing it next time around.

2) Multitasking is coming to the iPhone sooner rather than later. Although a video call and another task at once might be a lot to ask on the small screen – and not that useful, either – we can at least hope that the next software update brings the ability to run third-party apps in the background. The iPad already has wicked multitasking potential, with the introduction of new popover windows that don’t take up the entire screen.

Another useful new feature rumored for 3.2 is the ability to download and locally store files using Safari, and open them in other apps. The lack of access to the iPhone’s filesystem is one of the biggest reasons that fans of more open mobile operating systems scoff at Apple, and, although this wouldn’t totally shut down that line of criticism, it would be a step in the right direction. File uploading is also reportedly included in the update.

According to the Bloomberg story, the phone would be introduced by Verizon in June, analyst Peter Misek said in a note to investors. A newer iPhone, running on fourth-generation network technology, which makes Web browsing and downloads faster, may come in 2011, he said.

Expanding the reach of a phone now available exclusively through AT&T Inc. will contribute to 37 million iPhones sold this year, up from an estimated 27 million in 2009, Misek said. The device is the second most popular phone among U.S. consumers, after Research In Motion Ltd.’s BlackBerry Curve, and helped AT&T add about 2 million wireless customers in the third quarter.

Apple spokeswoman Natalie Kerris didn’t immediately return a call and e-mail seeking comment before regular business hours. Verizon spokeswoman Brenda Raney declined to comment.

Business Week is running quite an interesting story regarding ongoing talks between Apple and Microsoft that would make Bing as the default search engine on the iPhone, replacing Google. Citing sources familiar to the matter, the said talks have been going on for a week now. This is interesting because it not only shows the growing rivalry between Google and Apple but also because Apple and Microsoft used to be rivals, or remains to be rivals in the computer market.

Of course we all know what triggered Apple’s decision to replace Google with Bing as the iPhone’s default search engine. Google’s entry to the smartphone market with the Nexus One. The Nexus One phone and Google’s total business model for it including the Android OS, despite its shortcomings and flaws, have been hailed as one of the worthiest iPhone killer if not worthiest opponent.

Obviously, Apple did not like Google’s latest foray and will not just take it sitting down. Hence, the for its first salvo, replacing the iPhone’s search engine into Bing.

But would Microsoft agree this deal? And would this deal be on a long-term basis or is Apple just buying some time before it comes up with its own mobile search engine?

The answers to these questions depend on how far the Apple – Microsoft deal would go. There are many kinks to be ironed out if such deal is to push through. More particularly on revenue sharing derived from mobile search ads.

For Apple is purely about retaliating against Google. For Microsoft, it’s more of giving its Bing search engine a boost in terms of possible increase usage and mobile search market share. Both companies are sure to benefit from this deal. But did Apple even considered the loyal iPhone users who prefer Google as their phone’s search engine?

Let’s see what will come up from this deal. Who knows it might work to Google’s advantage?

10.00am, Yerba Buena Center for the Arts, San-Francisco

Apple officially alerted the world Monday that it is ready to unveil its latest tinkerings — which many in the tech industry are betting will be a multimedia tablet computing slate — on the morning of Jan. 27.

The media hordes and analysts are being invited to San Francisco, where it is presumed company CEO Steve Jobs will show off the latest gadgets and services from Apple.

The invitation is as vague as it is inviting. “Come see our latest creation,” the mass e-mail read.

Although the company has officially declined to comment, industry insiders and analysts have been speculating for weeks that Apple will be entering the market for a lightweight, portable tablet computer, designed for consumers to interact with digital games, books, movies and other types of content.

It is expected to be priced in the $800 to $1,000 range. Numerous sources point to a March ship date for the new device.

Several companies, including Hewlett-Packard, Redmond-based Microsoft and Lenovo, already have tablets on the market, while Seattle-based Amazon.com and other companies are seeing favorable sales of e-readers, which are tabletlike devices designed specifically for reading books.

The Wall Street Journal reported Monday that HarperCollins Publishers is negotiating with Apple to make electronic books available for Apple’s tablet, a move that would pose a new challenge to Amazon.