iPhone 2.0 - Will I buy one?

About two years ago, several months before my cellphone contract was up, I picked up a magazine touting all the new cellphones. Many of the phones were cool, and offered high quality cameras, web surfing, music playback, and PDA services. I sat & salivated over what new phones I could have, but as I read more I soon realized that most of the phones were available overseas, and not in the USA. Needless to say, I was very disappointed.

Why can’t the good old US have nice phones? Why did the cell companies sell clam shells with limited capabilities? Why can’t they sell easy to use phones with an integrate PDA? Sure there were several to choose from. Palm, Windows Moble & Blackbarry were at the top, but they had their flaws. Palm & Windows hardware were rarely improved upon since their conception and neither really upgrade their OS to make life easer for the end user. Blackbarry had a nice interface, yet the price for all the additional features steared me away. Maybe if a company backed me up, but as an individual, it didn’t have as much ROI appeal.

Soon after re-upping my contract with Verizon (getting a LG phone which Verizon locked down to the nth) Apple came out with the iPhone. It was very very impressive. Large screen, decent camera (better than any cell phone I’ve owned), easy interface, really web capable, nice apps, touch screen, email compatable and a familiar music player. It was what I was looking for... and what was never delivered to Americans.

Though the iPhone is efficient & practical, I was locked into a contract, and did not want to fork over the early termination fee. So, like many, I shelved my excitement thinking I would upgrade in early 2009... That is until now.

The rumors flying about the iPhone 2.0 are appealing, however, they are just rumors. That said, We do know about the SDK, which will expand the capabilities of the phone tremendously; We do know Steve will talk again in June; We do know that store supplies are drying up; and we do know that investors are chomping down hard wanting more sales of the phone. All of these lend credence to the rumors. Better camera? More battery life? 3G and GPS? Built in butler service? Who knows…. But I do agree that a upgraded phone will be announced soon... and like a kid before Christmas, I can’t wait.

Will I buy one? We will see come June, when Steve speaks again.