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The platform wars are going mobile. Whether it’s the iPhone, Blackberry, Android or Windows Mobile, the mobile platform that will win in the end will be the one with the best and broadest collection of applications. To give developers a little extra financial motivation, funds are being set up to invest in them. Google announced a $10 million Android challenge back in November, and Kleiner Perkins announced its $100 million iFund for iPhone-only startups in March. Now, it looks like Research in Motion is about to announce its own $150 million Blackberry Partners Fund (site not up yet) to spur applications and services for its mobile device.

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The Apple online store has stopped selling iPhones completely, stating they are currently unavailable. What does it mean? In some way I’m inclined to say “not much.” Apple rarely telegraphs its moves this far in advance. However, since O2 in the UK has stopped selling iPhones and a number of folks have had trouble buying them in stores, we might be seeing a next-gen iPhone in the next few days. Here’s hoping.

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The device has some pretty nice interface tech that they’re calling TouchFLO 3D that heavily emphasizes one-touch browsing and single-finger dialing. They emphasized web accessibility, zoom-in navigation with “just one hand” and not too many fingers. As expected, the device is loaded with Windows Mobile 6.1, a VGA screen and HSDPA 7.2, among other nice specs.

As expected, the Diamond is loaded with prettiness and specs, including:

• Windows Mobile 6.1
• VGA Screen
• Quad-band HSDPA 7.2
• One-touch navigation, including single-finger dialing
• An accelerometer that rotates pictures as you rotate the phone
• One-touch music playback with an animated music browser
• A heavily-animated weather forecast app
• Full-featured desktop-like web browser (Opera) with zoom-in tech that actually reformats to fit the screen upon zoom, although Microsoft promises IE 6 coming soon for it
• Youtube app and content playback
• Available in June in Europe via Orange and the “rest of the world” sometime later
• Orange music store, games, wallpapers, and ringtone downloads
• Orange mobile TV with up to 61 channels
• No normal headphone jack - gotta use HTC’s proprietary USB dongle
• “Better battery life” than their other devices will offer a bigger battery at a later time for those who are experiencing battery life issues

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Apple Inc.’s next-generation iPhone will arrive in Italy in a matter of weeks under a landmark deal that will see handset sold through Telecom Italia Mobile (TIM) without a contract and carrier lock, according to  Repubblica.

The authoritative Italian newspaper reports (by way of Macitynet) that a formal agreement on the matter was signed last week when Franco Bernabè, chief executive officer of TIM’s parent company Telecom Italia, met with Steve Jobs at Apple’s Cupertino-based headquarters.

Under the terms of the deal, TIM will reportedly receive a several month exclusive on sales of a 3G iPhone through its retail shops, which will be staffed with specialists who are trained to support iPhone customers and get the touch-screen handsets up and running on the carrier’s 3G network.

Given that Italians are the number one consumer of pre-paid wireless contracts worldwide each year, Apple is also reported to have agreed to terms by which the new iPhone will be sold at a higher price than in other European countries, but without a carrier lock and two-year service agreement.

The move would represent a radical departure from the revenue-share based service model that has led to successful launches of the iPhone in the US and a handful of European countries, but would offer Italians the added freedom of being able to purchase the phone from TIM and use it with existing contracts on rival carriers’ networks.

Consumers who opt to use TIM’s network would be able to pick from predefined service plans tailored to the iPhone, or purchase minutes and data bundles as they go, Repubblica said.

The Italian carrier reportedly declined to comment on the report at this time, saying they’ll have something to say “later on.”

TIM’s subscriber base of roughly 36.6 million is similar in size to that of T-Mobile Germany, with whom Apple launched the iPhone last November. However, it’s estimated that more than 50 percent of Italy’s wireless subscribers are already TIM customers.

TIM also operates the second largest wireless network in Brazil, in addition to a much smaller network in Turkey.

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Discovered by the creators of the popular ZiPhone jailbreak and unlocking utility, a small, nondescript entry in the new firmware used to identify the phone’s chipset refers to a device known as “SGOLD3.”

Sleuthing reveals this to be an Infineon chipset, the SGOLD3H (PDF), which both supplies the baseband for cellular data on GSM phones and serves equally as a general application accelerator and an audiovisual processor.

The iPhone currently uses a predecessor of the chipset, the SGOLD2, to drive its communication link.

However, the new chipset is distinguished from this earlier hardware (also listed in the iPhone firmware) for its 3G cellular data access. Unlike the EDGE-only chipset from the current Apple handset, the new Infineon hardware not only adds 3G over HSDPA but runs up to the international standard’s newer 7.2 megabit per second spec — twice the speed of the 3.6-megabit access seen on most HSDPA networks.

It also supports WCDMA, a related 3G technology needed for countries such as Japan and Korea, where the GSM service used by Europe and North America is rare to non-existent. Analysts have already warned that Apple’s planned expansion into Asia this year will demand 3G.

However, the chipset doesn’t take full advantage of AT&T’s planned 3G expansion this year. The exclusive home of the iPhone in the US is currently upgrading to HSUPA, an improvement over HSDPA that dramatically improves upload speeds. The Infineon chipset provides faster downloads than normal HSDPA but doesn’t address upstream connections beyond what’s already provided in the older 3G standard.

Still, the newly discovered hardware references all but confirm the dependence of a 3G iPhone launch on Apple’s firmware overhaul, which is officially scheduled to debut sometime in June. It also corroborates past claims by analysts that predicted an Infineon chip at the heart of an iPhone upgrade due in mid-year.

The introduction of a 3G iPhone is considered essential not just to the delivery of the iPhone to more areas but also to deliver services over cellular networks that typically suffer over slower EDGE connections, such as large downloads from the upcoming App Store.

Infineon’s processor also enables new options for video that aren’t present in the SGOLD2, such as live recording and two-way video calls, though only unverified rumors have so far suggested that Apple will add a front camera and video chats to the iPhone’s feature set.

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Nokia has confirmed that it’s developing a touchscreen-equipped handset to take on the Apple iPhone, and has shown off pictures of the upcoming phone to drooling onlookers.

The Finnish giant’s handset is codenamed ‘Tube’, and Tom Libretto, VP of Forum Nokia, said the device will be the company’s “first touch device”.

Libretto remained unsurprisingly coy about the full array of features the Tube will offer. Aside from confirming that the Nokia handset will be entirely touch operated, he added that it will also support Java – something which the iPhone doesn’t yet officially support - and will allow photos to be uploaded to the web.

Given the codename, it’s fair to suggest Nokia sees it as a mobile video platform. And with the DVB-H mobile digital TV standard now starting to gain momentum, Tube will probably be a handheld telly too.

Unconfirmed reports suggest Nokia’s would-be iPhone killer will run on the Symbian S60 platform.

Nokia hasn’t said when the Tube will be available, or how much it will cost.

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A report by the Financial Times (registration required) cites unnamed executives who say that Apple is in talks with record labels to offer access to the entire iTunes music library for a lump sum price. The fee would be added as a premium option on an iPod or iPhone, or it could come as a monthly charge. It would allow downloading of any song at any time so long as the purchaser still owns the device, and the songs would be yours to keep.

This latest concept is similar to Nokia’s “Comes With Music” program set to launch later this year. Nokia is reportedly rolling an $80 fee into the price of compatible phones for one year of access to Nokia’s music store, which includes music from labels like Universal.

Apple’s plan is different in several respects. Since the average iPod owner buys about 20 tracks from the iTunes, Apple wants to make the premium about $20, arguing that it should cover the average consumer’s downloads. Then the owner can make unlimited music downloads from the iTunes Store for the life of the device. Once downloaded, the tracks are yours to keep, even if you get rid of the original iPod or iPhone. And since iPod and phone owners tend to replace devices fairly regularly, the record labels would be getting the fee whether or not the consumer makes any further downloads. Silicon Alley Insider did the math and thinks it’s a good deal all around. But according to the Financial Times’ sources, the labels are looking for numbers closer to the $80 Nokia is reported to be paying.

There’s still the question of DRM, however. Even though the tracks are yours, any non-iTunes Plus tracks will still be beholden to FairPlay restrictions, so this could also be a good way to lock consumers into repeat Apple purchases (unless they’re willing to have their music tethered to their computers). The Nokia plan use Plays For Sure, which won’t play for sure on iPods or even Zunes, and Comes With Music doesn’t allow you to keep listening to tracks once your subscription period has expired

While Apple’s program certainly sounds like it could go over well with consumers, the negotiations are not over. Apple will need to get all the labels on board for the plan to work. If we’ve learned anything from recent music licensing debates, it’s that they are contentious. How much do the songwriters deserve? What should be the labels’ share? In addition, the labels are sure to want a plan that increases their revenue, rather than a plan that simply compensates them for what the average iPod owner already pays.

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