iPhone Firmware Unlocks Future Carrier Identities

If you've been following the analyst furore over which European carrier (or carriers) will get their hands on the lucrative iPhone deal, then you'll definitely be interested in the latest discovery which heaps weight behind current thinking that Vodafone and T-Mobile will close the deal.  An enterprising firmware-tweaker has found references to image files in the iPhone's code that would seem to indicate future operators:

Default_CARRIER_ATT.png

Default_CARRIER_CINGULAR.png

Default_CARRIER_TMOBILE.png

Default_CARRIER_VODAFONE.png 

Thinking over at the Hackintosh forum is that they're the images for the tiny operator logo on the status line at the top of the iPhone's display, but so far attempts to display the files have failed due to their colour encoding. 

Media and industry watchers have been predicting and arguing over which European network operators would clinch the deal with Apple, and that has bolstered further rumours that the handset they'll be announcing (and which will likely go on sale at the end of the year) will be a 3G version to tap into Europe's well-developed cellular broadband services.  While initially the announcement was expected on Monday, latest expectations point to Apple launching the device when the US iPhone hits one million sales; that's predicted to occur towards the end of this week. 

Hackintosh [via MYiTablet]