[Plasma Shield]

Vodafone today announced it has signed an agreement with Apple to sell the iPhone in ten of its markets around the globe. Later this year, Vodafone customers in Australia, the Czech Republic, Egypt, Greece, Italy, India, Portugal, New Zealand, South Africa and Turkey will be able to purchase the iPhone for use on the Vodafone network.

Vodafone

Finally, the rest of the world can get their hands on the iPhone. Since the 3G version will probably be rolling out in the Us some time in June, will it be an international release? Probably not, but one can still hope. What Vodaphone doesn’t mention is whether or not it will sell the iPhone unlocked. It will probably depend on the legislation in the countries it’s releasing it, but considering how Apple can make carriers pay for the privilege of selling the iPhone, and Vodaphone probably did pay for the privilege, it’s unlikely to be sold unlocked in most of the countries, either that or Vodaphone is gonna make it a hassel to unlock it.

Meh, there’s always eEbay.

Edit:

The German arm of mobile services giant Vodafone (NYSE: VOD) donned the crown of concerned corporate citizen and persuaded a Hamburg court to act against competitor Deutsche Telekom (NYSE: DT) for selling locked versions of the Apple (Nasdaq: AAPL) iPhone. The court granted a temporary injunction against Deutsche Telekom’s T-Mobile unit and its practice of selling the iPhone in combination with a two-year contract.

The Motley Fool

Hmm, you know I don’t think Vodaphone can sell the iPhone locked without looking reeeally hypocritical.

A source tells us that “someone who designed part of the iPhone UI, who generally has access to new hardware locked down in a room to play with, ” told him that the new iPhone will run on faster 3G networks, as expected; feature new, improved speakers on the bottom; and an improved camera. It will hit stores June 12. Our source warns us: “The person has mixed details before.” Our guy puts his friend’s trustworthiness at an 8 out of 10.

ValleyWag

Well, people don’t usually go to Valleywag for tech scoops, Engadget’s pretty good at that. Hmm, a better camera would be pretty cool, speakers on the bottom would be kinda wierd, considering how if it’s going to be used as a phone, there would be atleast one set of speakers on top of the iPhone, and there really wouldn’t be a need for a set of speakers on the bottom. Unless Apple wants stereo sounds for gaming…maybe.