All signs point to a worldwide rollout of the next iteration of the iPhone sometime soon, unlike the previous spotty and country-specific launches since the product was introduced last year.

For instance, the latest releases of iPhone Software 2.0 have included handwriting recognition for Traditional and Simplified Chinese, where drawing a character on the screen with your finger will get you prompts for four possible characters on the side of the screen.

Plans have also emerged for the release of the new iPhone in Japan, Russia, Mexico and Latin America, while Vodafone has confirmed it has won rights to distribute the iPhone in India, Australia, the Czech Republic, Egypt, Greece, Italy, Portugal, New Zealand, South Africa and Turkey. T-Mobile will also release it in Austria and Italy.

No word on the Philippines yet, but hope springs eternal.

(Pic care of Ubergizmo)

As I’ve mentioned in a couple of previous posts, when I was in Japan the other month, I lined up at the Ginza Apple Store in Tokyo on Leopard Day and caused quite a bit of attention when I pulled out an iPhone to pick songs to listen to. As a phone it was useless because the Japan telecom setup requires 3G to work. So seeing an iPhone in Tokyo wasn’t as common a thing as in other countries - hence the ruckus in the Ginza line.

Goes to show that in Apple-crazy Japan (where the leading OS is Mac OS X, and seeing MacBooks and MacBook Pros was a common sight everywhere), an iPhone would be more than a phenomenon if and when it comes out than it was in the US. Well, it seems progress is finally being made in that direction, reports the Wall Street Journal.

According to a report from the Journal last Wednesday, Steve Jobs has apparently been in talks with NTT DoCoMo, the top provider, and has also met with SoftBank, the third most popular one.

Aside from 3G, Apple might have to have a more-beefed up model to satisfy tech-savvy, spoiled and demanding Japanese users, which is good news for all concerned as it raises the bar for everyone concerned. No details or confirmations on the news, but two weeks previously, Apple was also talking to China Unicom and China Mobile.

The battle resumes…

Gizmodo reports that the new UK iPhones ship with Firmware 1.1.2, which packs some new features, most notable among them is it renders current Jailbreak software useless, thus confirming everyone’s fear that any subsequent updating will truly be a long, drawn-out running battle until Apple just plain leaves the damn thing unlocked and open in the first place. No third-party apps for now, guys.

So far, none of the new features of 1.1.2 are enormously useful for anyone outside Europe, so that might make Jailbreakers feel a little better. Among the additions of the new firmware is support for 12 new languages, special keyboard layouts for the French and German versions and bundled access for The Cloud wifi hotspots. For this round at least, the battle is largely on the European front.

[Photo cribbed from Gizmodo]

An iPhone user named Carl Mercier had an error message on his iPhone the other day, and it showed an intriguing screen that might a harbinger of things to come. Carl had his camera handy so he snapped a pic and posted it on his blog. Then again, it could be nothing, just a screen of available signals.

TA-TA, AT&T?

The Apple Event in Regent Street’s done, and we’re basically underwhelmed. Just the rollout announcement of the iPhone for the UK. No earthshakers, no surprises, no open-line 3G units. Here are the uh, high points:

• O2 is the official sucker carrier
• Rollout will be on November 9
• 8GB iPhones will cost approx US$535
• You can transfer your existing number from other carriers
• Same banana - use iTunes to activate, update
• Nothing new - no 16gb, no 3g, no open lines, no nothin’
• No news on carriers for other European countries

Ho-hum. For a more detailed coverage, check out Engadget.