Some really interesting news/rumors to report. According to a relatively reliable source, the 3G iPhone might be totally unlocked in all countries, directly in the firmware. There will still be “exclusive carriers” in various countries, but these carriers will essentially be selling unlocked phones which can be used with other GSM carriers as well.
This sounds like great news as the new 2.0 firmware and the lack of a need to unlock the phone via hacking will greatly undermine the need for jailbreaking.
In other news, we have unverified rumors that the 3G iPhone will see the light of day actually BEFORE WWDC, within the next 2 weeks. This is apparently so that developers will be able to actually have 3G iPhones with them during the WWDC sessions themselves, as well as stick to the tradition of not releasing consumer products during WWDC. With the news of the total unavailability of iPhones in US and the UK released last night, this news seems accurate.
But of course, until we actually see the 3G iPhone, we won’t know for sure.