Apple Launch Date & New Details Emerge!

Finally, after months of speculation, Apple has revealed the official launch date of the brand spanking-new Apple iPhone. The phone will be hitting retail stores on June 29th, just barely squeaking the launch date into the long-promised June time frame. The date was revealed on a series of commercials than ran Sunday night. You can check them out on the Apple website.

However, there is some bad news. On the launch date, expect supplies to be extremely limited. Sources reveal that continued development obstacles in finishing up the iPhone's software were what pushed the release date back, and is what may hold up getting an optimal number of iPhones out for sale. Couple that with last week's rumors that AT&T themselves would be regulating iPhone sales themselves, these things may be harder to get your hands on than the Nintendo Wii.

Other details of the iPhone and launch have also emerged. One of the most notable pieces of info is that AT&T won't be offering any insurance protection on the iPhone (how crappy is that>?!). Instead the phone could be covered under an AppleCare plan for the iPhone that would cover hardware for a period of two years (similiar to the AppleCare plan for the iPod). While pricing hasn't yet been revealed, we can assume that it will be similar to the plan for iPods, which charges $59 for the iPod, and $39 for the iPod Nano.

Pre-sales are still up in the air, with one source saying that Apple has scrapped the original June 11th pre-sale start date in favor of one just one week prior to launch.

Another interesting tidbit of information are unconfirmed reports that Apple will allow iPhone activations through iTunes. Apparently customers who buy the iPhone at an Apple or Cingular retail store will activate them in the, but those who buy them online through Apple's website will be able to activate it through iTunes, including selecting a phone plan and creating an account with AT&T.