• Reuters , Friday, November 30, 2007 10:03 AM

The groaning could be heard across the Web when Apple announced that its iPhone would run on AT&T's 2G Edge Network. If this was to be a state-of-the-art product, they asked, shouldn't it run on a state-of-the-art third-generation wireless network? Well, less than six months after the iPhone's release, Apple has announced that a newer version of the popular handset will indeed operate on AT&T's 3G network.

"Next year," AT&T CEO Randall Stephenson said in response to a question about when the iPhone would make its 3G debut. Pricing for the newer model has yet to be sorted out. That decision lies with Apple CEO Steve Jobs. The iPhone currently retails for $399.

Will 3G-compatibility pull the iPhone (and other 3G phones) into the mainstream? Jobs thinks Apple will sell 10 million iPhones in 2008, which, added to the 1.4 million its sold thus far, would give the company exactly 1% of the mobile phone market. On the other hand, the revelation that Apple is readying a faster model could put off shoppers wanting to give iPhones as gifts this Christmas.

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