Apple has an open requisition out for a software engineer to work on the "Maps team".  According to the req:

 Personally, I don't care which company Google licenses its mapping data from, as long as it is accurate. 

-Eric Zeman, Information Week

When asked about implications of the Google deal with regards to Navigation on the iPhone...

We are making sure that navigation is an application that is allowed.  If there is any restriction on the platform, that indeed has to do with the restrictions that we have in our contracts. Navigation is allowed, provided that the right fees are paid

- Alain De Taeye, Founder, Tele Atlas

...is the sentiment from Stefan Constantinescu at IntoMobile on the arrival of the 3G iPhone.  Like Stephan, I was equally disappointed and had guessed Apple might break the rules again, but this time with a game-changing move to evolve beyond archaic device subsidy business models.  That doesn't appear like it's going to happen, so as a result, expect more lockdown and control over what you can see, and what you can use. 

I didn't buy the first iPhone.  I would have if it allowed me to take my existing SIM and pop it in, but that wasn't an unlocked option.  The locked-in two-year at&t commitment to voluntarily imprison myself was luring for sure, but in the end I converted to a skeptical technology laggard in exchange for freedom.  Despite the lockdown I avoided, Apple has nonetheless reached the mobile masses and some industry guru's argue they've changed the mobile industry.  Certainly, convincing at&t to give up applications power and taxes in exchange for exclusivity is one win; a touch screen changed the UI paradigm; and Apple is the first company in history to get people using the Internet on a mobile device in any meaningful volume.  All of these may be leading to changes, but for the most part, the US mobile market is still in the third world of development when it comes to consumer wireless freedom-of-choice. 

Here's a what if scenario though...  The 3G iPhone is due June 9.  What if Apple somehow works their magic and sells it as an unlocked, unsubsidized device in addition to carrier-subsidized options?   Would you pay the freedom premium?  I would.  And I imagine millions of others would as well.  And that would fix the US mobile market because consumer purchasing patterns would change through growing knowledge that mobile devices and their applications are available to purchase from alternative retailers and lifestyle points of sale beyond limited carrier shelf-spaces.   That would change everything, for everyone...

The outdoor tracking and fitness measurement space is heating up, with Bones in Motion, Nokia, Trimble Outdoors, Samsung, and Wayfinder all now challenging dedicated fitness and outdoor tracking GPS tools the same way mobile handheld navigation applications are disrupting 2007 P-Nav market momentum.  And now what's more is big boys Nike and Apple entering the fitness fray, with a solution coming soon to your iPhone (presumably arriving at the same time you'll get Nav)? 

Here's another substantive report about the 3G iPhone carrying GPS, this time from someone's Dad, who heard it from his friend whose wife works at Apple.  My sister's husband's second cousin's brother in law on his step mothers side of family validated the report, so it must be true...

My Dad has a good friend whose wife works high up at Apple. My parents gave me an iPhone for Christmas knowing I wanted to wait for the next generation iPhone, or at least a significantly upgraded iPhone. I feared a Christmas gift iPhone, no matter how well intentioned and generously given, might be eclipsed by an significantly upgraded iPhone at MacWorld in January. I didn't want my parents to get me an iPhone that I'd almost immediately want to replace. Knowing this, my Dad asked his friend's wife if he'd be "safe" getting me an iPhone for Christmas that wouldn't be outdone come MacWorld in January. She assured him nothing significant was in the works for the iPhone for at least six months (bear in mind this was last December).

Tonight, based on a recent informal conversation my Dad had with his friend's wife who works at Apple, he told me the next iPhone is likely to have GPS. Usually, my Dad's friend's wife doesn't let Apple product info slip out until right before a new product announcement is made. This being the case, I'm betting GPS will be included with the 3G iPhone... and soon.

-Silicon Alley Insider 

Does a device like the iPhone really need funding allure for developers to start coding with its new SDK?  I would think most just want to get their hands on anything resembling some platform extensibility beyond Operator lockdown, even if that's now not till June.  Or, perhaps  the iFunders think that while Apple is sure to get droves of taxable developers and designers going after other consumer-oriented pay-for apps beyond the already popular native free ones, getting enterprise apps on the iPhone actually won't be as easy and therefore might need a little incentive.  Can you see all those Mac-toting IT coders itching to integrate the iPhone with their back-end customer care, inventory management, communications, and IT automation wares.  Ha.  That's a joke.  And, where's the GPS?  

With speculations of the good ole days of dedicated GPS device glory coming to an end, and soon, TheStreet.com is reporting that Garmin has joined Apple, and the duo are working on a project code-named Bobcat.  The best at music + the best at GPS Nav.  Hmmm.  What could the next in-vehicle infotainment system look like?  

The US wireless market is not free. Apple's iPhone imprisonment care of AT&T's dungeon ball and chain is evidence. When you buy an iPhone in the US, you go to jail for 2 years, and the get out of jail free card is thrown away along with your prison cell key. Not only are you locked in, but you don't even have the choice to change cells once imprisoned. This oppressive, authoritarian behavior in a democratic society is disgusting, and it's sadly pathetic that empowered citizens, consumers, and other businesses don't stand up to confront these injustices.

Europeans do care, do speak up, and now, as a German, you can buy an unlocked iPhone for a €999 premium and use any one of your preferred service providers by simply popping in your SIM card. Granted, a standardized GSM world offers more switching freedom anyway over the current CDMA/GSM US mess, but beyond these fundamental dysfunctional issues, the unlocked German iPhone development is perhaps more of a sign of a society that cares to be involved.

Apple's iPhone hits UK high streets this Friday, but competitors aren't too concerned.  Vodafone is responding to the O^₂ exclusive offer with its rent-model MusicStation iTunes-killer offering [best of luck], and Simon Ainslie at Nokia says his N95 "provides everything the iPhone does but also GPS navigation as well."  Will this current differentiator last much longer?  Not likely.  

-BBC News