Rumors: iPhone 3GS 8GB by Xmas and XBox 360 New Adapter

Welcome to the part of the tech blogging life where we take a look at leaks and rumors. We've got two excellent of each with the Xbox 360 802.11n adapter and the Apple iPhone 3GS 8GB.

AT&T releasing an iPhone 3GS 8GB before Christmas?

It seems that Verizon's Motorola Droid special have a lot of people in AT & T quaking in their digital boots. Although I never thought that Motorola's Droid would make such an effect on the mobile phone landscape, but I'm willing to bet it's no the hardware rather it's the Android 2.0 that's really moving and grooving the hype on this phone.

This has obviously gotten attention from AT& T, the official carrier for Apple's iPhone 3GS and as early as now, they're already making moves to make sure that people go for their phone over Verizon's. The move? As reported by BGR:

"Definitely not confirmed, but rather interesting nonetheless. We’ve heard now from two sources that AT&T, and we guess Apple, are contemplating launching an 8GB iPhone 3GS at the $99 price point before Christmas. One source said this was AT&T’s way of combating the DROID madness."

If this is true, they'll likely get a lot of people go for their phone over Verizon's. That is, until Verizon matches their pricing and service; then it would be a very interesting Christmas indeed.

Peek a boo, I see an Xbox 360 802.11n adapter!

We're not really sure if this one is a leak, a misprint, or the real deal but it sure is interesting: an Xbox360 802.11n was put up at Costco's site for a few minutes then eventually pulled down. Reason? No one's sure.

"After discretely showing up on US retail sites and subsequently managing to drop off into internet obscurity, the 802.11n-compliant peripheral has returned to the scene via Costco's site, this time with a November 10th shipping date and a more attractive than before $88 price tag."

We'll see on November 10 what this whole thing is really about.

iPhone 3GS 8GB Source
XBox 360 Adapter source

iPhone Gen 4?

It seems that with all the hoopla that Android powered phones and devices have been getting, Apple has been secretly developing a new iPhone for 2010. Yes, it may all be rumor now, but according to Gizmodo's usually good sources, it's all true!

"Now, China Ontrade is claiming that this iPhone midboard belongs to the next-generation iPhone 4, which in theory is supposed to come out next summer, like all the previous iPhones. If confirmed, this means they have the piece about eight months before the actual iPhone 2010 release."

It's a no brainer that most iPhones are usually constructed overseas (usually China) for low labor cost reasons and it's no surprise that there were some pieces leaked. However, what boggles us is that the iPhone 3GS was just released a few months ago and they're already building a follow up pretty soon. Does this mean that apple has already given up the fight to further market and improve the applications of the current phone? Will this affect sales as people who haven't bought the current iPhone wait for a new gen one? Or is there another reason for this "leak"?

"But this makes little sense given Apple's manufacturing practices and self-imposed yearly-upgrade cycle, so this may all be a publicity ploy. Especially because they claim they will publish actual shots of the product in their web site."

Whether it's all a hoax (balloon boy in the making?) or the real thing, it's great that the iPhone's getting a bit of news again.

Source

Leaked! Motorola Droid and HTC Desire

Leakages and accidental releases seems to be the main marketing weapon nowadays as it's been extremely rampant going into the Holidays. It's not that we don't appreciate them, it's just that it's just so obvious. Nevertheless, they create a lot of news about the product and provides it with hype before the actual announcement. Here are a couple of mobile phones that were "accidental" in its marketing.

Motorola Droid specs accidentally posted online!

Motorola's pretty keen on accidentally showing their moblie phone's specs then suddenly pulling it back. It's no surprise that another soon to be released Motorola mobile phone, tentatively called Droid, has been "carelessly" uploaded to Motorola's US site. It's got the complete specs as well...

"Uh… so much for an announcement event? Or Motorola just doesn’t know what the hell is going on (most likely the reason), because the Motorola Droid makes an official appearance on Moto’s U.S. site. It just might be that we were sent this direct link which isn’t mean to be public, but… you know how that’s going to work out."

The site has since been pulled down. No word on the pricing and release date yet.

HTC Desire caught on camera!

HTC's Android phones have been such a hit that they've decided to create another one. A leaked picture of the HTC Desire has been seen in the wild and it looks pretty.

Too bad it didn't have any news on the specs, release dates, and pricing. We're keeping our fingers crossed that it'll be out before the Holidays.

Motorola Droid Source
HTC Desire Source

Palm WebOS 1.2 Leaked!

The Palm Pre, as we mentioned a few weeks ago, is actively updating their WebOS in response to customer feedback. Isn't it a treat that they accidentally leaked out their upcoming WebOS 1.2 update to Palm Pre users?

The 1.2 version of Palm Pre's webOS was accidentally leaked via Palm itself, inadvertently showing off future features like an improved copy/paste, email searching and saving images from the browser.

Here's a compilation of the updates based on the leak:

Updated w/ summary of 1.2 so-far discovered features

• Find-as-you-type search support in Email
• App Catalog updated to support purchasing apps
• Web browser enhanced
  * auto zooms to forms
  * download in browser enabled (including opening pdfs)
  * better rendering of mobile pages
  * Orange+click context menu on links
  * save images
• "Real" copy and paste
  * shift tap to select areas of textPalm
  * Select All option in Edit menu
• Sort by Priority or Date Due in Tasks
• Other minor tweaks and changes

Whether Palm intended this to be leaked or not, it still bodes well for its users. Go Palm!

Source for Gizmodo Quote

Source for WebOS 1.2 details