News 

iPhones are already in short supply at retail outlets both in the UK and US, having sold out in some O2 stores following the recent £100 price cut.

The absence of handsets can only heighten speculation that a new, 3G model is imminent. This had been expected to be unveiled around the time of Apple's developers conference in June to coincide with the release of the iPhone 2.0 software and the first third-party applications.

The latest beta version of iPhone 2.0 does indeed <

ADVERTISEMENT

show support for 3G, with an option for enabling support for the faster mobile standard that notes the consequent impact on battery life.

Apple chief executive Steve Jobs said last year that the, at best, two to three hours battery life of 3G phones was inadequate, and that Apple wanted to raise this to five hours before it would consider a 3G iPhone.

Pressure to release a 3G handset increased over the weekend with the official unveiling of RIM's first 3G BlackBerry, the Bold. The Bold apes a number of the iPhone's standout features, such as the 480x320 display, and a new web browser with CSS, Javascript and streaming video support.

And in an attempt to counter the iPhone's iPod alter ego, Bold users will also be able to load music from iTunes using the new Media Sync application.

RIM has also opened a $150 million fund to provide financial help for BlackBerry application developers, which bears no similarity whatsoever to the $100 million iFund that Apple established in March to invest in companies developing applications and services for the iPhone and iPod touch.