“iPhone 3G” FCC Application Hints at Potential Apple “Smartphone”

Washington D.C. (Agencies) – Confidential FCC documents unearthed today by internet blog Intomobile point out at the possibility of Apple releasing a new secret device which some experts think could be a “smartphone.” The new gadget—which was submitted for FCC approval in June 1, 2008—apparently has a big “touch” screen, as well as the ability to play music and communicate to other people using your own voice. According to Piper Jaffray analyst Gene Munster, this “iPhone 3G” machine can also access web portals at what he referred to as “really high speeds.”

Asked about what that meant, Mr. Munster further clarified his statement as “a whole lot. You know, like, zing!” It is still unclear when this new Mac device will appear in the marketplace, but Mr. Munster is confident that it will be soon: “Timing of this is difficult to determine, but we would expect it sometime in 2008. Day up, day down, you know, but around there.”

The documents discovered today indicate that Apple may use a radio transmitter that complies with a standard called HSDPA or “High-Speed Downlink Packet Access.” According to Gizmodo’s Editor-in-Chief Brian Lam “HSDPA could really give us high data transfers, potentially around 7.2mbps. Yeah, 7.2. That’s a lot of zing!” Mr. Lam also indicated that he suspected the new Apple device may have other advanced features like email, a travel system designed to guide you to different destinations, and “possibly an alarm clock.”

Apple didn’t return calls for comment.

[FCC via Into Mobile]