3G iPhone rumor roundup

The smoke surrounding the long-anticipated iPhone 2.0—this time with 3G—is finally starting to clear. Here’s a cheat sheet on the latest rumors.

When, where, and for how much: According to TG Daily and its network of spies, the new iPhone will probably launch this June during Apple’s Worldwide Developers Conference in San Francisco. TG Daily’s sources claim there will be an 8GB version for $399, a 16GB model for $499, and maybe even a 32GB handset for $599 (although TG Daily seems less certain about the 32GB model).

Slim and trim: The TG Daily story goes on to say that the new iPhone will be a bit thinner than its predecessor—about 2.5 mm thinner, to be exact—and will shed some of the “plasticky” elements of the first phone’s shell (vague, I know, but that’s the word). Also, the battery will likely still be sealed in the iPhone case, according to TG Daily.

GPS, stereo Bluetooth: Some enterprising hackers have been poking around leaked betas of the upcoming iPhone 2.0 firmware, and they’ve found some interesting nuggets of info. Among them: indications that the 3G iPhone will support full-on GPS, along with support for stereo Bluetooth headsets.

New chipset: Also found in the code for the new iPhone firmware: hints of an updated Infineon chipset that supports 3G (well, yeah), a five-megapixel camera (up from two megapixels on the original iPhone), and the DVB-H mobile video standard (more popular in Europe than here in the States, so I wouldn’t get too excited about that one). Engadget Mobile notes that the new processor would have the same speed as its predecessor, and that just because the new chipset supports features like a 5MP camera doesn't mean the new iPhone will actually get them.

Screen captures, image saving on Safari: Yet another gem from the leaked iPhone firmware, this time pointing to a mobile Safari feature that would let you take screen captures of Web pages and save individual images from a given page. According to iPhone Buzz, it would work like this: You’d touch and hold the image you want to save, and then you’d get a dialog asking whether you want to save the image or visit its URL. If you want to save, the image would get stored in a photo album on the iPhone.

Anyway, that’s the latest—and keep in mind that these are all rumors, folks. I’m sure more details will surface as we get closer to June.

So, what do you think? Any features you’re craving that aren’t listed here? What do you think about the pricing rumors? Fire away!