We’ll make this brief. Orange spokesperson Therese Wenger told the SDA news agency that it has secured rights to release the iPhone (3G version, presumably) in Switzerland and more than 10 other countries — take that Swisscom! Other countries include Austria, Belgium, Poland, Portugal, and Romania. And France of course where it’s already on sale. See, that was quick and leaves room for a dozen or so other iPhone related announcements today.

Update: Official Orange press release now out.

[Via 20minuten, thanks Pascal M.]

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Honestly, we’re exhausted by the sheer magnitude of 3G iPhone chatter swamping the rumor channels (and our inbox). Nevertheless, it would be a disservice to you, dear reader, if we let this one slide without comment. The perennial Apple touchscreen tablet rumor was given a fresh polish yesterday by Intel’s chief German Burgermeister. Hannes Schwaderer stated unequivocally that Apple would be using the new Intel Atom processor in a “future iPhone” which is slightly larger than the existing model due to a larger display. Of course, this isn’t the first time that Intel has openly discussed Apple’s plans to develop products based on Intel’s Centrino Atom, Mobile Internet Device (MID) platform. And as MacRumors and AppleInsider point out, an older rumor calls for a new multi-touch Apple tablet to launch mid-year with a 720 x 480 display on a device said to be about 1.5x the size of the current iPhone. With Intel officially launching Atom in June and Jobs’ next keynote scheduled for June 9th… well, it wouldn’t surprise us to see Otellini riding a chocolate pony on stage with a multi-touch Newton in hand. Actually, that would be surprising.

P.S. That’s a pic of Intel’s concept MID from Mr. Blurry Cam.

Update: Er, ZDNET.de has printed a disclaimer from Intel saying that ZDNET got the whole thing wrong. Intel claims that Schwaderer’s comments were generic and not based on specific knowledge about future iPhone models. Where’s the damning video evidence when you need it?

[Via MacRumors and AppleInsider]

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And so forth. If you’re like many of us, you very well could be weighing your options as the 3G iPhone seems increasingly imminent. Some might have a wad of cash already laid aside, others might be thinking of jumping ship to one of the iPhone’s numerous competitors, or just getting some more months of utility out of their current iPhone. And then there’s the trouble of disposing of your existing iPhone when you do upgrade. Do you give it to a friend, mount it on the wall, or bury it in the backyard with the hope of growing it into a cute little iPhone tree? The options are endless. Let us know which way you’re leaning.

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It’s all starting to come together. After getting a general ballpark courtesy of AT&T store employee vacations last week, and a hint of “next month” on Monday, O2’s own CEO is promising a 3G iPhone announcement in “the coming weeks.” Which, let’s face it, doesn’t really put us any closer to pinpointing the exact date, but does make us feel a bit better about the 1000 “iPhone 3G in June or life isn’t worth living anymore” t-shirts we just bought on CafePress.

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So there was a little rumor bouncing about yesterday which claimed that Swisscom would land the iPhone. Today, Swisscom confirmed the deal while saying little else. What’s interesting then is what the rest of the rumor, started by the leading Swiss newspaper, Le Matin, had to say. Namely, the 3G iPhone will be on sale in Switzerland this summer (on sale in the US by June) offering 2-way video chats, mobile TV and GPS navigation all powered by an even beefier processor. That certainly sounds like the same 3G iPhone we’re expecting to pop at WWDC now doesn’t it?

[Via MacPrime, thanks Stefan R.]

Read — Le Matin rumor
Read — Swisscom teaser

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Our brethren over at Engadget Chinese had the chance to size-up HTC’s new Windows Mobile 6.1 Touch Diamond with Apple’s iPhone this morning in Taiwan. We have to admit, HTC’s CEO was dead-on when he claimed that the Diamond’s “not too big, not too small” after seeing it side-by-side with Microsoft’s left-coast nemesis. Hit the read link for bigger pics.

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We’ve just received an official statement from AT&T regarding the presence of an “iPhone Black” on its model selector earlier today: “The reference to ‘iPhone Black’ was simply a temporary placeholder used over the weekend for a scheduled catalog update. It was meant to temporarily distinguish the various iPhone models-4GB, 8GB and 16GB-but was never reassigned. We’re changing the site now.” Makes total sense, right? Three models of iPhone, two placeholders: iPhone and iPhone Black. You know, because “Black” has so much to do with memory capacity, and is easier to remember than 4, 8, or 16GB — never mind the fact that we have good intel suggesting that the next-gen device is glossy black.

Also, AT&T, we know those cigarettes are yours, so you can stop telling us you were “just carrying them for a friend.” We’re not stupid, you know.

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Good news and bad news on the imminent 3G iPhone front. O2 apparently got another batch of 16 giggers in stock, since it’s currently accepting orders, while the 8GB remains out of stock, and both phones remain unavailable on the US and UK Apple Stores. More encouraging, however, is the new listing of an “iPhone Black” model on AT&T’s account management site. There’s nothing else on the site to hint at specs or release or whether this is indeed the upcoming 3G iPhone, but it does fall in line with the word we have on a glossy black back for the much anticipated phone. Whether all this means we have weeks or months to wait is anyone’s guess, but there are plenty of encouraging signs out there for the true believers to cling onto.

[Thanks to everyone who sent this in]

Update: Telecom Italia Mobile’s Executive VP Luigi Licciardi claims they’ll be selling the iPhone 3G next month. How’s that for clarity? [Thanks, Giovanni]

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Hey, do you guys want to hear our AT&T impression? It’s pretty awesome. Okay, okay, here it goes: “Great news, we’re offering free WiFi to iPhone users! Wait, no we’re not. Yes we are! Oh, no, wait, cancel that.” Pretty spot-on, right? Sadly, it looks like we might need something else to rag on shortly, since an AT&T spokesman started clearing the air with the New York Times late last week. The bottom line — for the moment, anyway — is that AT&T has “long planned” to offer up its WiFi hotspots as a free value-add for the iPhone and all of the other WiFi-equipped devices in its arsenal, but that the brief enabling of the feature thus far and the mention on AT&T’s site were results of human error, and the company isn’t prepared at this point to commit to an actual launch date or details on how the service will work. Hey, at least we know we’re not just suffering from some brutal hallucinations now.

[Via TUAW]

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Singapore Telecommunications (aka SingTel) announced that it’s secured agreements to distribute the iPhone in Singapore (on SingTel Mobile) and its partly-owned subsidiaries in Australia (on Optus), India (on Bharti Group), and the Philippines (on Globe Telecom). Vodafone’s also distributing the iPhone in India and Australia though, so we’ll have to wait until later this year to find out who gets to shoot first.

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