The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) in the US has given the iPhone the all clear for its late June launch date.
The “revolutionary communications device” meets the terms of all FCC regulations, including maximum power output, radiation emissions and wireless spectrum compliance.
This stamp of approval by the FCC means that technically, the iPhone is ready to hit the shelves right now.
The FCC report has referred to the iPhone as a “GSM cellular telephone with Bluetooth and WiFi”, confirming functionality as promised by Apple.
Apple are partnering with AT&T for US release and the FCC report reveals that Enhanced Data Rate for Mobile Evolution (EDGE) will be its wireless data standard.
AT&T has upgraded its network to support data download speeds of around 500Kbps. Disappointingly, the iPhone’s EDGE technology will only allow for half this speed.
Apple has faced minor speed bumps on the way to getting the iPhone to market, including a false email, purporting to be from Apple Inc. headquarters, alerting employees to a delayed release date for the handset.
Following this rumour, Apple stock dipped slightly until the company made a public release announcing that the American launch would go ahead in June as planned.
In January the iPhone branding came under threat when US technology company Cisco sued Apple for use of the name “iPhone”, which Cisoc had already registered and trademark.
Cisco had owned the trademark to “iPhone” since 2000, but entered into talks with Apple on how best to settle the dispute.
By February the two companies had come to an agreement to both use the iPhone trademark throughout the world.
Although no launch date has been officially set for iPhone’s hitting the shelves in Ireland, it is expected that European consumers will be able to buy later this year.
However, we won’t be able to see a working US model anytime soon, because the iPhone doesn’t have roaming capabilities in Europe.
By Marie Boran
