AT&T Discounts Indicate New iPhone On The Way

Customers considering purchasing a slightly used version of the 16-GB iPhone 3G in black or white can find a $150 discount on the hardware through AT&T. Of course, the discounted price comes with a two-year contract with the provider.

After the discount and contract, the price of a refurbished smartphone comes out to a lean $149.

The 16-GB iPhone joins the refurbished 8-GB model, which already has a $100 discount. Both devices are available in the AT&T online store.

The price drops for refurbished units has many in the blogosphere concluding that the third generation of the iPhone will be revealed this summer. And the evidence seems to be pointing in that direction.

Apple began preparing customers for what could be the next generation of iPhone in March, rolling out version 3.0 of the phone's operating system. Upgrades include multimedia message service, landscape QWERTY typing options and, potentially, higher speeds and video functionality.

Shortly after that, AT&T said it would begin selling iPhones without contracts at an unsubsidized price. On the heels of that announcement came the release of dates for the Apple Developer Conference, to be held June 8 to 12 -- about the same time OS 3.0 will be available to users.

Earlier this month, rumors surfaced that Apple bought 100 million 8-Gb NAND flash chips from Samsung and other manufacturers, fueling speculation that a 32-GB version of the phone was impending.

Finally, last week AT&T made it known publicly that the company hoped to extend the exclusivity of its contract with Apple for the iPhone. Someone high up the food chain may have gotten a sneak peak at the iPhone 3.0 and realized it is sure to move units and rack up big sales -- potentially from first-generation iPhone users waiting to make the leap to new hardware.