iPhones Will Ring In Japan

Softbank did not say whether it would be launching Apple's much-anticipated 3G iPhone, nor did it reveal when it would begin offering iPhones or how much they will cost.

The announcement comes days before Apple CEO Steve Jobs is set to give the keynote address at the company's World Wide Developers Conference in San Francisco, at which it is rumored he might announce the availability of the 3G iPhone. This year's conference will be the first to feature a tract on developing software for the iPhone, and Apple's iPhone software development kit will be hitting the streets this month.

Apple is also set to release iPhone 2.0 software that will bring Microsoft Exchange functionality to the iPhone. When it was launched last year, the iPhone was criticized as an inadequate tool for business users because it did not work with Exchange.

Apple launched the iPhone last July. The company expects to sell 10 million iPhones in 2008.