iPhone 2.0

[Lee Brook]

What It Will Have

First, an 3G HSPA network connection — 7.2Mbps speed, which is roughly twice as fast as EV-DO and around 10 times the top speed of EDGE, which is what the current iPhone rides on. AT&T's 7.2Mbps HSPA network is available in 270 markets, and should be in 350 by the end of the year. Plus, AT&T has announced plans to nearly triple its HSPA network speed next year.
Next, we get iPhone software 2.0. Other cellphones enable some third-party application downloads, but none will compare to the flood of inventive applications being cooked up even as we blog. Once downloaded, you'll be able to add a direct access icon on iPhone's home screen. We could see hundreds of third party apps by Christmas, all vetted by Apple and all listed on and accessible from Apple's Web site (as opposed to the unofficial stuff for hacked iPhones that's been circulating since last summer).

What It Might Have

This is all we know for sure. What follows is a collection of what I consider to be the most reliable Web rumors. As such, each should be taken with a boulder of salt. As such, mentally put the word "reportedly" after every "will."
Switchable 3G: That fast Net connection will most certainly tax the new iPhone's battery. To save watts, a settings toggle will enable you to turn off 3G access, a feature we've never seen in any 3G phone from any carrier (though according to some commenters below, it appears in some high-end Nokia models).
Thinner, Lighter: iPhone 2.0 will chuck its sturdy aluminum-magnesium shell for a lighter plastic enclosure. This will reduce iPhone's heft by as much as two ounces from its current 4.8-ounce weight. The new enclosure could further flatten the new iPhone by 2.5mm. Lighter is good, but plastic could make the iPhone feel cheap and more breakable.
HSPA iTunes Downloads: Apple is talking to major labels about allowing consumers to download tracks using the AT&T network rather than limiting iTunes access to Wi-Fi, but the labels want more money per track.
Real GPS: This would supplement the network-assisted location software iPhone currently uses. This would allow third-party development of voice-assisted turn-by-turn directions.
Normal, Non-recessed Headphone Jack: 'Nuff said.
Contact Search, iCal Invite Folder: Both of these will be part of improvements in iPhone's Address Book and iCal compatibility.
Background Application Support: Third-party apps will run in the background, although it's hard to say how this will manifest itself since we don't know what cool apps may be coming.
Web Image Save: You'll be able to save Web images from Safari to iPhone's photo album.


What It Probably Won't Have
What we'd like but haven't heard about is improvements to the iPhone keyboard, the one factor that keeps heavy e-mail users and texters away. What we'd like is a horizontal keypad for e-mail and text mode — in fact, while we're on it, I'd like to be able to read e-mail widescreen — and haptic feedback (where you feel a slight vibration when you touch a screen). Apple is reportedly in discussions with a company called Immersion for vibration response, but it's unlikely to appear in the upcoming model.