iPhone 2.0 hasn’t come out yet but you can’t stop rumors from going around the net. The latest rumor is that O2 is prepared to test waters with free iPhones to customers who sign up for their premium services. Now we really don’t care about the fact that you end up paying much more in total with these new plans, but the most important thing here is that you get the iPhone for free.

The rumors are indeed true. Apple has now confirmed that the Apple iPhone 2.0 will not be available anywhere but the Apple store and the AT&T store. I really see two reason for that. Obviously, Apple wants to get iPhone in more hands this year. At the same time, last time around people used fake credit card numbers to game the system and opt out of the expensive 2 year contract which really upset AT&T. This time around Apple and AT&T want to make sure that people pay up for the service plan.

Having said that, it is really inconvenient, and I wonder how Apple fans react to it. Apple obviously could change its mind by July 11th, so don’t give up hopes yet.

After month of waiting, we finally have the details we need to be even more excited about the release of the new iPhone. The release date is July 11th, which is basically Apple’s idea of torturing us even more. But not everybody is so excited about the new iPhone. The analysts from all around the world have commanded Apple for planning out such a revolutionary device. At the same time, some have dismissed iPhone 2.0 as a Blackberry wannabe. Even CNET does not give the new iPhone two thumbs up (although some of the criticism is fair).

Unfortunately, it seems that you can’t buy the iPhone online for now, which is the biggest issue that I have with this. I wonder how that hurts or helps Apple’s bottom line.

Not all of them. But as expected, Apple will be selling the iPhone for only $199 ans $299 (8GB, 16GB). Also, we get the GPS and 3G service with these new iPhones. The plans are a little bit more expensive but not that much ($39.99 + $30 data).

Now who’s the lucky guy with birthday on July 11th? That’s when iPhone 2.0 will be released.

There have been rumors around the web that a mysterious manufacturing issue will cause Apple to delay shipments for the new iPhone. Fortune is running a version of this story which indicates that there could be delays. I do happen to agree with the rumors on this (as much as I hate to pay attention to  all the speculations that are going around). I don’t believe there will be a month long delay for the iPhone 2.0, but a week or two delay in distribution delay is absolutely normal for a device such as iPhone.
Let’s not forget that Amazon had their own issues with the Kindle, and Apple fans are lucky that they don’t have to suffer like Kindlers did when they had to wait months to get their hands on the device. So any minimal delay would be nothing compare to that. Still it’s too tough to wait any longer for the phone, isn’t it?