May back hints of June 22nd announcement

The fourth-generation iPhone should launch by or before July 1st, hints the CEO of regional Canadian carrier SaskTel. Speaking in an interview, Robert Watson comments that the carrier is currently finishing up its 3G network, which should become active by July 1st. A new iPhone will be available for SaskTel subscribers at the same time, says Watson.

"The good news is that (Apple) is coming out with a new version of the iPhone in the June timeframe and they're going to put us on that," the CEO claims. "So we're quite excited about that."

SaskTel is so far the only carrier to have mentioned official support for the next iPhone, in Canada and the rest of the world. The statement does however appear to back up suggestions that the device could be revealed on June 22nd, as a part of Apple's annual WWDC gathering. Apple has traditionally premiered iPhone details at WWDC, releasing the actual hardware a few weeks later. A June 22nd-July 1st timeframe would make for Apple's fastest turnaround ever for an iPhone launch, just a little over a week.

New hardware upgrades in the phone could include a camera flash, and possibly a front-facing video camera for purposes such as video chat. Also rumored is an extremely high-resolution display, capable of detail up to 960x640. The screen would have four times the resolution of present iPhones and iPod touches, which are limited to 480x320.

by MacNN Staff