Vodafone has announced that it plans to begin selling Apple's iPhone to ten other countries by the second half of this year. That news aside, there are also implications that Apple will stop using exclusive carriers for their phone. Details are available in the full article.

The exclusive rights to Apple's iPhone was obtained by Deutsche Telekom AG's T-Mobile unit for Germany, much like AT&T for the United States.

However, the company is currently facing legal issues due to a restraining order issued by a regional court in Hamburg. Accordingly, the case was started by T-Mobile's rival Vodafone Group PLC. The full details after the jump!

New details have come in for the Google phone whose rumors have been going on and off for some months now. The Google phone is coming, but not as a competitor to the messiah of all phones, the iPhone. Instead, it aims to compete with Microsoft's Windows Mobile service.

Google's objectives are expected to be more software based, aiming to expand their advertising services, rather than competing with the hardware of the iPhone. It's also expected that they'll be migrating their Internet applications to run on the mobile platform. The advertising function is theorized to subsidize part of the phone's cost.

What new functions can they offer the mobile scene though? Most mobile carriers declined to comment on the subject, but as Arun Sarin of Vodafone points out, Google is already accessible from a number of devices, "you don't need a Google phone to do that." Some also speculate that its reception in the mobile world may not be as successful as on the Internet.

The Google phone won't be limiting its services to only one mobile carrier like the iPhone. Analysts also suspect that Google won't be making the phone itself but will only offer its software to manufacturers. Their software will be based on open-source Linux software, according to executive informants who wish to remain unnamed.

It was probably inevitable; the fact that Apple's iPhone is now available with a software unlock in more than 40 countries all over the globe before it's even supposed to be officially available in some of these areas.

The image (left) shows the list compiled by the iPhone Dev Team of 32 countries and 69 carriers with the iPhone software unlock already been tested and good to go. The phones were confirmed to have working incoming and outgoing calls, as well as SMS compatibility, EDGE/GPRS access, and non-visual voicemail access.

In actuality, however, the list above has recently been appended with an additional 10 countries and 11 carriers according to additional contributions from the source's website. With the growing number of software unlocked iPhones being made available worldwide, who knows? Perhaps you'll find a working iPhone just around the corner from where you live before you know it.

Additional countries and carriers include:

• New Zealand/Vodafone
• Spain/Movistar
• Poland/Orange
• Czech Republic/Vodafone
• Bahrain/Batelcom/MTC Vodafone
• Israel/Cellcom
• Hungary/T-Mobile
• Belgium/Proximus/Base/Mobistar
• Kuwait/Wataniya
• Ireland/Meteor

It seems Vodafone is set on giving the iPhone a run for its money in Britain. While the iPhone is yet to hit British shores, Vodafone is already gearing up their own music download service that would compete Apple's own. They are now looking to other mobile phone manufacturers like Nokia to spread their service.

It was once believed that Vodafone will be providing the exclusive network service for the iPhone as AT&T did for the US, but analysts now suspect this won't be the case.

Instead of the exclusivity deal, Vodafone may in fact pull through with the music download service as they have already signed an exclusive deal with the British music firm Omnifone.

Vodafone's new service will offer certain handsets the option to download an unlimited number of songs from a selection of 1 million for a weekly fee of GB£ 1.99 (around US$ 4). The service will launch later this year and will be available for 2.5G and 3G compatible phones from Vodafone.

It has been reported that the iPhone will launch in the UK this Monday, July 2, with Vodafone being named as the official carrier. There have been no confirmations, however, new reports have pointed out that Vodafone may be one of three of carriers, with support from T-Mobile of Germany and Carphone Warehouse, after a joint agreement was reportedly signed to carry the new phone in Europe... with 3G support!

It is believed that the new developments could save iPhone from the recent criticism that it doesn't actually do well as a phone at all and carry well on its other features because of a 2G service limitation in the US. This also carries the recent disappointment revolving around American iPhones being tied to a single carrier: AT&T.

And while shipment dates for the phone are as yet unspecified, it was reported to be "on course" for Jobs' year-end date announced last year. Rene Oberman, CEO of T-Mobile, was reported to have been "ecstatic" over the joint contract by inside sources and is anticipated to make a showing at the launch on Monday.

However, until the more formal announcements have been made or until developments at the launch party confirm these reports, we will leave the insider tips neatly wrapped under rumors.

It has been suggested before by analysts that Vodafone would be the iPhone's official carrier in Europe, but AppleInsider reports that Vodafone may not be the only European wireless carrier under consideration.

According to AppleInsider, MarketWeek reported last week that Germany-based T-Mobile is being favored as the sole outlet for iPhone sales in the continent. Other European such as O2 and Orange were said to have been in the running but were unsuccessful in reaching the later stages of contract negotiations.

Some analysts suggest though that it might be in Apple's best interests to get more than one operator to distribute the iPhone in Europe because "the European market is more fragmented than the U.S."

  

The clock's ticking to the official release of Apple's iPhone. But who will be their carrier partner? Up to now, there's still no final word from the fruity giant, but Wall Street analysts are predicting that Vodafone just might be the chosen one for Europe.

Shaw Wu, American Technology Research analyst, reveals that their sources, so far, are indicating that Vodafone will most likely be Apple's top pick for its European distribution. "We believe Vodafone's 200 million subscriber base (compared to 61 million for AT&T, its USA partner), broad and country coverage, and investment in advanced technologies make it a strong fit for Apple."

Apple intends to launch its iPhone to Europe come the fourth quarter of this year.