News.blog: Is September iPhone 2 month?

Just for a moment, forget about waiting for the first iteration of Apple's iPhone -- speculation is well under way about the next version.

According to reports in two Taiwanese newspapers on Tuesday, the Commercial Times and the Economic Daily News, manufacturing powerhouse Quanta Computer has landed the contract to build a second-generation iPhone for Apple starting in September. The first version isn't out yet, as anyone with a pulse is probably aware, but the next version requires a "different outer design", according to numerous translations of the reports.

But IDG News Service reported that Quanta has not actually secured the contract. Earlier reports had indicated that Foxconn, one of Apple's primary iPod suppliers, was making the first generation iPhones. And CNET Taiwan received a tip from its own source who said the Quanta contract actually involves a widescreen iPod with a wireless chip.

So, back to waiting for the first iPhone. CNBC reported last week that it's due to arrive in the US on 20 June, in line with Apple's statements that it will appear in late June. That would seem to indicate that chief executive Steve Jobs won't be able to release the iPhone at the upcoming Worldwide Developer's Conference starting on 11 June, but rather that the company will hold a separate iPhone event.

Then on Tuesday, Crunchgear reported that 11 June actually looks like it will be the date, based on an account from a Fry's Electronics employee that the company is gearing up to sell AT&T Wireless products with a special promotional deal around the iPhone. This is consistent with what a Cingular (now AT&T) employee told News.com blogger Declan McCullagh earlier this year. But can a date that falls before the midpoint of the month be considered "late" June?

Since we're bored with all this date speculation, let's start betting on the exact time of day that Apple will release the iPhone. Midnight launch with long lines? Stampede from the WWDC keynote over to the San Francisco Apple Store on 11 June? Happy hour at the Fifth Avenue store? Let us know your thoughts.