Online Apple Stores run dry of iPhones

Often seen as the last reliable sources for iPhones, Apple's online stores in the US and UK have stopped taking orders for any model of the device.

Visitors to the phone's section at either regional store are greeted with brief notices that both the 8GB and 16GB models are "Currently Unavailable," without any expectations set for when the iPhone will return for direct purchases.

The change follows multiple weeks during which the American website had already cited delays of between five to seven days for new orders.

European carrier and reseller stores, once thought to have been overstocked due to lackluster demand, have themselves seen a rush of sales after significant price cuts brought out previously reluctant buyers in the UK and Germany. O2 has claimed intermittent availability of even the full-price 16GB version in recent days.

Most analysts and observers now estimate that Apple will only truly recover from the shortages with the launch of its next-generation iPhone, which is widely predicted to surface in June.

Latest iPhone 2.0 Firmware Has 3G On/Off Option

While the iPhone 2.0 firmware appears to contain 3G code, current iPhone owners will not be able to take advantage of the 3G speeds without buying the new iPhone. It appears that Apple will be using a common firmware for both the existing iPhone and the unreleased 3G-capable iPhone.

Also of interest is that due to the higher 3G power consumption, Apple is giving users an option to fall back to EDGE speeds in order to prolong battery life.

The 3G-capable iPhone is widely expected to be released in the coming months, possibly at the Worldwide Developer Conference in June.