Apple is a major player in the consumer electronics arena, and designs and manufactures a range of hardware and software applications, including the iMac, iPod, Final Cut and iTunes. To this list was joined the iPhone, newly centre of attention following announcements at Apple's Worldwide Developers Conference in San Francisco in 2007. Since then, Apple's smartphone has been updated to the "iPhone 3G", addressing criticisms over GPRS connection speeds.

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iPhone news on Electronics Weekly

1. Apple iPhone gets secure business management
2. LBJ And The 3G iPhone (Mannerisms)
3. Apple iPhone 3G arrives in UK
4. Apple iPhone: Your Electronics Weekly guide
5. iPhone 3G has $173 BOM, iSuppli estimates
6. Steve Jobs dials up 3G iPhone
7. Keeping in touch with Apple iPhone developments

Apple first announced the date of launch for the original iPhone in January 2007. Launching in the US in June 2007, the iPhone was introduced into the UK, Germany and France in November 2007. In July 2008, an updated version - the GPS-enabled iPhone 3G - had a global rollout. 

Market researcher Lehman Brothers believes Apple may build three million 3G iPhones by June 2008, with a further 10 million manufactured by the end of 2008. The market research company is expecting a near-term spike to the NAND prices and a coinciding increase to Micron’s stock price.

Late in 2007, industry watcher iSuppli stripped down iPhone and iPod touch differences. 

The two devices do share 90 per cent of the same components, namely Samsung’s video/applications processor as key IC, a chip based on an ARM processor core, an NXP power-management IC and the use of stacked on-package memory. However, iSuppli said the iPod touch was more than just iPhone Mk II.

Andrew Rassweiler, teardown services manager and principal analyst for iSuppli, said, “Click Wheel-interface and Hard-Disk Drive (HDD)-based versions of the iPod are expected to wane in favour of touch-screen and flash-memory-equipped models like the iPod touch.

"But despite its functional and physical outward resemblance to the iPhone, and the fact that its internals borrow heavily from the iPhone, the iPod touch is no iPhone clone, and has its own unique design."

Going in to more detail, iSuppli notes design departures for the latest iPod, declaring it "uniquely optimised to meet its form-factor and cost requirements". For example, the iPod touch makes use of advanced packaging for its components not seen in the iPhone, including 0201 diodes and passive components in 01005 enclosures on the touch's WLAN module.

Apple iPhone 3G arrives in UK

Amid criticism from Greenpeace, today sees the UK release of the 3G and GPS-enabled Apple smartphone, the iPhone 3G, first revealed by Steve Jobs at the start of June in the Apple WDC keynote.

iPhone 3G has $173 BOM, iSuppli estimates

According to a preliminary "virtual teardown" by market researchers at iSuppli, Apple's second-generation iPhone is expected to carry an initial hardware bill of materials (BOM) and manufacturing cost of $173.

Steve Jobs dials up a 3G iPhone

The much-vaunted touchscreen technology of the Apple iPhone is now joined by 3G comms, for 8GB and 16GB models.

Vodafone goes iPhone

Vodafone has announced it has signed an agreement with Apple to sell the iPhone in ten of its markets around the globe (Australia, Czech Republic, Egypt, Greece, Italy, Portugal, India, New Zealand, South Africa and Turkey).

Apple may build 3 million 3G iPhones by June, with at least 10 million iPhones built by year end, according to proprietary checks by researchers at Lehman Brothers.

The Q1 mobile phone market experienced an expected sequential downturn in shipments, with some vendors hurt more than others, according to two separate research reports out today.

The iPhone has influenced handset design in many ways but none so much as the use of touchscreens which are now in huge demand.

Looking to both boost its sales and make its popular iPhone a better rival to the BlackBerry smart phone, Apple has previewed its iPhone 2.0 software, opening its software development kit (SDK) to third-party developers and adding business application-oriented support via Microsoft Exchange ActiveSync.

Other iPhone news from around the web

iPhone on Wikipedia

Greenpeace iPhone blog

Related Semiconductor News

Apple joins IC market with $278m PA Semi buy

Apple has bought PA Semi, a fabless chip designer that specialises in low-power PowerPC microprocessors, for $278m, according to reports.

Apple iPod chip supplier hit by snub

Wolfson has confirmed that one of its audio chips has not been selected by a major Tier 1 customer for inclusion in the next generation of its portable media players, expected to be launched during the third quarter of 2008.

Japan is investigating a possible defect in Apple Inc's iPod Nano after one of the players shot out sparks while recharging, according to reports out of Tokyo today.

For anyone watching the technology space, it would be hard to dispute that Apple has been a shining example of a company that understands innovation, its importance and the success that it brings.

Ten Gartner predictions for the future

Gartner Dataquest has come up with ten predictions for the next four years, including Apple’s place in American and European markets.

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Mobile World Congress (GSMA): Your Electronics Weekly guide