We cannot blame the skepticism that greeted our report last month of rumors that Apple was working on a 3G model of the iPhone. For rumors like this, with Apple historically being tight-lipped about their "drawing-board" products - until Steve Jobs says so, that is - obtaining evidence may require us to "borrow" the CIA (on the other hand... maybe we shouldn't). This report still doesn't count as evidence, but it lines up pretty neatly with the chances of seeing a 3G iPhone in the future.

According to AppleInsider, a Swedish firm has received assurances that not only will they receive their iPhones in September, they could also look forward to a 3G model in their hands as early as January 2008. AppleInsider did not name the Swedish firm, or for that matter, its service provider, so it's rather difficult to take this story at face value. AppleInsider did mention two other elements which encourage a more optimistic outlook on this rumor:

• They cited Steve Jobs mentioning 3G in his MacWorld keynote (Was everyone too busy going all ga-ga over the iPhone to notice this?);
• Unlike the U.S., the 3G market is more developed in Europe (no surprise, being that some of the biggest cellular manufacturers are European; e.g. Nokia, and these are the guys Apple is going up against).

We, among other industry observers, already argued that going 3G would be a smart move for Apple if they are planning on pitching the iPhone overseas. Our only question now is whether a 3G iPhone (unit price, not as bundled with a service plan) would cost even more than a 60GB PS3 (US$ 600.00), just to pack the bleeding edge in cellular tech.