Report: New iPhone Discovered, Maps App Development Expands

Ed Sutherland ()

Has evidence of an iPhone 3GS successor been found?

Has evidence of an iPhone 3GS successor been found?

Clues of a possible successor to the iPhone 3GS have been detected by an application used by San Francisco public transportation. The hints were found in logs of iBart, a guide to the California city’s subway, according to a report Monday. The logs identified as “iPhone 3,1’ a device used to connect to the transportation guide. The iPhone 3GS identifies itself as “iPhone 2,1’ – a signal the mysterious handset could include major upgrades to Apple’s popular touchscreen phone.

The report by MacRumors cites PinchMedia which created the iBart software for San Francisco. In early 2009, the publication reported the “iPhone 2,1’ string was detected followed by Apple’s June release of the current iPhone. The Cupertino, Calif. company uses the first number in the string to signify a major change.

The news comes amid analyst reports that Apple could unveil an iPhone compatible with Verizon’s network in 2010. AT&T, the current U.S. iPhone carrier, is expected to lose its exclusive contract with Apple in June.

In related news, Apple is searching for a software engineer to take the iPhone Maps application “to the next level.” The job search follows Apple’s earlier purchase of Placebase and talk of increased competition with Google Maps. Placebase could provide iPhone Maps with data including home sales, demographics, crime figures, mortgage lending and school performance.

Mapping has become the latest point of contention between Apple and the Mountain View, Calif. Internet giant. In July, Apple turned thumbs-down on a Google Lattitude application, charging its inclusion would prompt confusion. After the rejection, Google introduced a Web-based version of Lattitude.

In response to Apple’s iPhone Maps, Google beefed-up its Google Maps Navigation, a free navigation application the company added to Motorola’s Droid handset.

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[Via MacRumors and AppleInsider]

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About the author

Ed Sutherland

Ed Sutherland is a veteran technology journalist who first heard of Apple when they grew on trees, Yahoo was run out of a Stanford dorm and Google was an unknown upstart. Since then, Sutherland has covered the whole technology landscape, concentrating on tracking the trends and figuring out the finances of large (and small) technology companies.

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  • Fred A.

    iPhone 3,1 ? That’s Steve !!

  • poppa

    3,1 could it be the Apple Tablet,??

  • Charli

    my thoughts
    1. they rejected Verizon the first time, why is everyone so certain they are going to go to bed with them now. and so certain that all the problems ATT had with higher than expected sales wouldn’t hit Verizon if they got the phone

    2. are we sure this is a new phone. and perhaps not something else that uses the same software. something rumored to be both GSM/CDMA compatible (and unlocked), rumored to be at least announced early in 2010. hmmm

  • The Jerk

    The new IPhone rumors are here! The new iPhone rumors are here!

  • 11220

    “Mapping has become the latest point of contention between Apple and the Mountain View, Calif. Internet giant. In July, Apple turned thumbs-down on a Google Lattitude application, charging its inclusion would prompt confusion. After the rejection, Google introduced a Web-based version of Lattitude.”

    And now there’s a full-on web-based version of Google Maps on the iPhone. Previously if you clicked on “Maps” in the Google iPhone App it would send you to the built-in Maps app but now it opens Google Maps in Safari. Incidentally the same now happens for YouTube.