In case you missed the news, AT&T is readying a 6X speed increase in its 3G network that will finally put the service on par with EVDO Revision A. Sounds good, right? Well, unfortunately the service is obviously not compatible with the current iPhone and chances are, it probably won’t be put to the test for quite some time.

Regardless, this story tells us one thing: the second version of the iPhone will definitely support 3G and data transfers on the device will be on par with the hefty speeds currently witnessed on Verizon and Sprint’s services. So what does that mean for iPhone 2.0 owners? Well, you can expect one of the most common complaints about the venerable device to be swept away — email and Internet is too slow! But what it also might promote is the loss of the “made for iPhone” Internet apps that were engineered to run on the EDGE network. In other words, we’ll finally be able to access everything we actually want at fast speeds without hoping that it’s EDGE-optimized.

It looks like AT&T is preparing this update to not only compete with Verizon, but ready itself for the new iPhone. Does timing have anything to do with this? Could it be that because the network should be ready to go by October or November, that rumored iPhone 2.0 really will hit store shelves for the holidays? I definitely think that’s a possibility and to be honest, it’s becoming more likely by the minute.

Don Reisinger is a freelance technology journalist who covers everything from HDTVs to the iPhone. He writes The Digital Home for CNET, product reviews for InformationWeek and PC World, and contributes to over 15 publications throughout the world.

Posted on October 2nd, 2007 by admin
Filed under: iPhone News, AT&T iPhone