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Evidence for a 3G iPhone is mounting at an alarming rate. First there is the next iPhone firmware which won’t be released until the WWDC, which supports the idea that there is likely to be a new version of the iPhone hardware released to coincide with the new firmware.

Then there is the reports of 10 million new 3G handsets being ordered for sale this year alone, a contract won by Hon Hai in Taiwan. Then Bank of America, a company whose predictions regarding the iPhone have all come true so far, predicted a Q2 release of the 3G iPhone.

Add to all of that the fact that Apple won the right to use the trademarked “iPhone” name in Japan, a land where there are no EDGE networks, only tons and tons of 3rd and 4th generation networks and the 3G iPhone is shaping up to be an almost guaranteed product of the summer of 2008. Predictions for an actual 3G iPhone release range from Early May in Spain to sometime in the second quarter which ends in September, so that’s a pretty broad range, but me, myself, and I are banking on the WWDC in June.

[via PhoneMag, PhoneMag, PhoneMag, and PhoneMag]

Symbian today announced Symbian SQL and an advanced Location Based Services (LBS) architecture. Symbian SQL and the new LBS architecture will help Symbian licensees develop handsets that handle very large amounts of data, and which provide users with relevant information based on their current location, in tune with consumer demand.

Mobile phones featuring Symbian’s LBS offering were recently launched in Japan. In Europe, Symbian’s LBS architecture will appear in mobile phones later this year. Symbian SQL will be featured in phones shipping in the second half of 2008 and be available to application developers via a download in Q2 2008.

“When I authored SQLite in 2000, I never imagined that it would one day be used in mobile phones to host databases with millions of searchable entries,” said Dr. Richard Hipp, architect and primary author of SQLite. “The advanced design of Symbian OS meshes well with SQLite, resulting in a stable and robust platform for supporting new applications. I look forward to seeing the innovation that Symbian SQL sparks from developers across the world.”

The Symbian’s LBS architecture enables:

• Tracking by emergency services (as mandated by government legislation in some regions
• Providing the quickest route - getting from A to B as quickly as possible
• Accurate pin-pointing of current location
• Geotagging images and videos - location stamping images and videos
• Finding the location of people in a contacts list
• Locating the nearest services
• Providing proximity alerts when near a specific location

Palm has sold its one-millionth Palm Centro smartphone in 10 countries worldwide, including Hong Kong, Singapore, India, the UK, Germany, Spain, Ireland, France and Italy.

First introduced in the United States last September exclusively with Sprint, and more recently introduced on AT&T in February, the fully featured Centro smartphone is available from both carriers for $99.99.

Increasingly, consumers are making the shift from traditional mobile phones to smartphones, motivated by the desire to do more with their phones and the arrival of lower-cost devices. Smartphones accounted for 11 percent of all mobile phone sales in 2007 in the United States, and this is expected to increase to 35 percent by 2011.(3) A recent Palm survey of Centro customers highlighted this trend, indicating that 70 percent are first-time smartphone users.

Dolby Laboratories has joined the Symbian Platinum Partner Program, offering Dolby Mobile for Symbian OS. This new solution enables rich and vibrant surround sound from various types of mobile entertainment content, including music, movies, television, and games, to Symbian smartphone users around the world.

Dolby Mobile offers Symbian licensees the ability to differentiate their multimedia-focused products even further by offering a more immersive audio experience on the go. The first mobile phones featuring Dolby Mobile technology are already available in Japan.

“Symbian OS is a robust, open mobile operating system which is widely used around the world by some of the leading handset vendors,” said Max Taylor, Marketing Director, Mobile Business, Dolby Laboratories. “Being part of the Platinum Partner Program allows Dolby to work closely with Symbian to ensure that consumers can quickly and easily enjoy the Dolby Mobile audio on Symbian smartphones.”

Last year AT&T announced that it would begin prorating early termination fees. In a press release today, AT&T shared more information about how the prorating will work. Current customers and anyone who signs up for service between now and ...