28th March - The old 3G iPhone story resurfaced again this week, after tongues were set wagging by a seemingly innocuous announcement from a Japanese intercom manufacturer.

Aiphone, which is Japan's biggest intercom maker, owns the trademark to the "Aiphone" brand in Japan and about 70 other countries. But while "Aiphone" and "iPhone" are spelt differently in English, the phonetic similarities apparently give Aiphone the company the rights to the "iPhone" trademark in Japan.

Earlier this week the Japanese firm said that it has been in discussions with Apple since last summer and has recently come to a friendly agreement that will allow the Californian gadget vendor to use its beloved "iPhone" brand in Japan.

It's probably a safe assumption that Apple wouldn't go to all this trouble if it wasn't going to launch the iPhone in Japan. And given the technological landscape of the country - NTT DoCoMo and Softbank on WCDMA and KDDI on 1x EV-DO - it's probably another safe assumption that a WCDMA iPhone is in the works.