The use of mobile phones on planes is currently prohibited because these gadgets cause interference with on-board communication and navigation systems. Interestingly, we found out today that members of the European Union are devising a technology that would permit passengers to make calls 3,000 meters above Earth.

The said technology uses an on-board base station called pico cell that will communicate with the headsets of the passengers. Aside from having low power consumption, this pico cell is able to create a network area that will re-route the phone calls to a satellite.

The satellite, then, will be the one responsible for connecting the phone calls to mobile networks on the ground. Because of these processes, making calls from a plane will cost significantly higher than normal mobile phone calls. Regulators around Europe are saying, however, that they will monitor the rates charged by networks to avoid abuse.

One spokesperson from carrier Virgin Atlantic said, "We are monitoring customer demand and will act if they say they want to use their mobile phones. If we were to introduce this service in the future we want to ensure we do it in a socially acceptable way." EU regulators added that the technology could be available next year.

Ar first, this will only be implemented with 2G phones. But if consumers respond favorably to the service, the same will also be offered to 3G phones and other standards.

Smashing the various iPhone 3G rumors to bits is the announcement of an iPhone 3G coming in 2008, delivered by Apple's main man himself, Steve Jobs.

"You can expect a 3G iPhone later next year," said Jobs in a press conference aptly named "Mum is no longer the word," held in the Regent Street Apple store in London.

Jobs explained the reason why Apple did not put the iPhone on EDGE in the first place: the 3G chipset technology will just drain out the iPhone's battery life (currently 8 hours). However, future iPhones will indeed run on 3G.

An iPhone model equipped with 2G EDGE technology is already in the works, and will be available in the UK on November 9. That may also mean that the leaked German T Mobile ad may not be just a rumor after all.

Anyone who has had to deal with snail-crawling 2G or 2.5G-limited Internet access would want 3G on their iPhone, too. "Where'd my SMS go?" wouldn't even begin to cover the network grief experienced with the multimedia-enriched mobile phone, but it appears that in order to have 3G, you'd have to get another iPhone.

 

Or so they say. While many rumors have flown around dubbing European phone buffs as the lucky ones to get the extra G, none have proven factual or true. And while Steve Jobs himself admits that iPhone 'surfing' on AT&T isn't as fast as preferred, Apple is going to be hard-pressed to come out with a simple 3G solution.

Another bit of interesting developments was a mention of AT&T, Apple, planning, iPhone and 3G in one sentence. PBS' Robert Cringely wrote in a column that he believes "Apple and AT&T are planning a fall rollout for full 3G iPhone service, with technical trials already underway in certain AT&T markets," although there were no factual statements to support his claim.

He goes on further that the iPhone has a 3G capability tucked within its innards, ready to burst open at Christmas when a new firmware rolls out and flicks the magic switch. Some folks have turned their iPhone inside out and have yet to spot a piece of hardware that rings 3G-capable, pointing against the speculations of Cringely.

3G needs a transceiver with 3G capability, blogs Philip Elmer-DeWitt, which means that another iPhone with the hardware would be needed before being able to even use 3G capabilities. In turn, that would also require more power for the additional hardware. 

But instead of scrambling over the comm for Scotty, Apple considered battery life was first and foremost in their list of priorities. Apple has assured customers that Wi-Fi Internet access can still be used as a faster alternative to AT&T's current EDGE network, but while hotspots are few and far between, there's nothing more you can do to speed up your iPhone 'surfing' experience.

It has been reported that the iPhone will launch in the UK this Monday, July 2, with Vodafone being named as the official carrier. There have been no confirmations, however, new reports have pointed out that Vodafone may be one of three of carriers, with support from T-Mobile of Germany and Carphone Warehouse, after a joint agreement was reportedly signed to carry the new phone in Europe... with 3G support!

It is believed that the new developments could save iPhone from the recent criticism that it doesn't actually do well as a phone at all and carry well on its other features because of a 2G service limitation in the US. This also carries the recent disappointment revolving around American iPhones being tied to a single carrier: AT&T.

And while shipment dates for the phone are as yet unspecified, it was reported to be "on course" for Jobs' year-end date announced last year. Rene Oberman, CEO of T-Mobile, was reported to have been "ecstatic" over the joint contract by inside sources and is anticipated to make a showing at the launch on Monday.

However, until the more formal announcements have been made or until developments at the launch party confirm these reports, we will leave the insider tips neatly wrapped under rumors.