I am faced with the eternal problem: whether to buy now or wait until a new model comes out.  I speak of the iPhone, but I have zero interest in any “iPhone nano” or whatever.  No, exactly the opposite.  I want to see iPhone get a larger hard drive, cut and paste and movie capability.  I’d imagine that cut and paste could be done with a software upgrade, but the others require new hardware.

I currently have a RAZR v3xx that, thanks to my dear puppy, is falling apart.  (Thank god she’s almost finished teething!) I’ve been keeping it in one piece with a prayer that the back doesn’t come off every time I use it.  I can do this for only so long until I MUST replace it immediately.  It is my hope that time won’t come before the iPhone is refreshed.

With this in mind, I have two questions:

1. How long has it been since the iPhone has been refreshed?  Sorry, but I’ve had so much on my plate lately that this tidbit has escaped my memory.
2. Has anyone heard any scuttlebutt from reasonably/previously reliable sources about when there may be an update?

If I am forced to make the buy before the above-mentioned features are available, there’s nothing I can really do and will have to be satisfied with what’s available.  I know that I’ll probably be very pleased even without those added tidbits, but I’d be even more pleased with them.

The iPhone’s last “refresh” was kind of a hybrid refresh/new model, the current iPhone 3G, released last July.  There’s nothing out there I would consider particularly reliable as to when the next refresh is coming, but you can pretty much bet on an announcement at WWDC.  It seems like the iPhone is currently in a 1-year development cycle, with the possible exception of putting out a higher-memory model in between 12-month periods.

Now, as far as features go, everything except the onboard flash memory capacity is theoretically addressable with a firmware update, as you probably know.  I hear jailbreak apps already record video (quality probably isn’t that great, but hey, it’s a phone we’re talking about, and I doubt the iPhone will ever get anywhere close to even a basic Flip camcorder in terms of video quality).  Question is when Apple will inevitably upgrade the underlying specs of the iPhone (CPU, maybe RAM), which means you’ll actually get more performance for your money (aside from GPS the iPhone 3G isn’t much different than the original iPhone).  Since it’s been about 18 months since the first iPhone was introduced there’s a chance of a measurable spec bump (better CPU, better GPU, maybe more RAM, better camera seem most likely if anything) with new and improved phones shipping in July if the iPhone 3G is anything to go by.

As for how, er, “dog-proof” the iPhone is…can’t help you there. 

Hi Mav,

Thanks for the information.  I’ve been worrying about how to puppy-proof a new iPhone too.  So far, the best I can think of is a hard plastic case, but that won’t take care of the touch screen.  If I can hold out about two more months, I’m home free on that one.  Yay!!