Barely acknowledging a problem with its over-hyped iPhone 3G gizmos, Apple has released a fix that would “improve communications with 3G networks”, according to the Associated Press.

According to the report, a spokeswoman for the company declined to say what improvements came with the update, known as version 2.0.2. But it is widely expected to fix some of the reception problems that users have had with the gizmo.

From Australia to Germany, users faced slow download speeds with the device compared to other 3.5G phones, and many operators and experts blamed this on the iPhone’s hardware, which could not log on to a 3G/3.5G network as well as other phones.

The patched up version will come as relief to telcos like SingTel, if they manage to load the new software the iPhones that they are preparing to sell (and hype up to high heaven) at a launch tomorrow night (actually midnight).

Expect the hype – again – as the iPhone 3G comes to town (weeks after parallel imports have made their way here).

It’s the latest sign that the “touch-screen” fad is heating up to fever pitch, thanks in much to the iPhone hype.

HTC’s excellent Touch Diamond, said to be the best “iPhone killer” of the lot, is sold out everywhere, including many telco shops.

Last Friday, the Plaza Singapura shop at StarHub was sold out (customer service officer said there was a queue of 80 people who have pre-ordered it). Then over the weekend, when the ads came out again, the phone was sold out everywhere soon enough too!

The M1 e-shop didn’t have it (even when I tried to renew my contract and was ready to click “submit”). StarHub certainly didn’t have it in many of its shops, and I’m wondering if finally SingTel does have some stock (given that it’s bet so much on the iPhone instead).

Is the iPhone really going to sway people in this number port game? With its delay here (SingTel won’t get the first batch of July 11 3G iPhones), it looks like people are probably busy signing up on contracts with the HTC phone instead.

A mini price war seems to have appeared between StarHub and M1 too. At the PC Show, the phone was snapped up for under $500. This week, StarHub has it under $400 (for medium and high plans).

And I am still undecided which one to go – M1 or StarHub. It will depend on who has stock for the HTC Touch Diamond. This is one gizmo which has most of the nifty “touch” stuff on the iPhone – without the annoying hoopla.