Apple integrated SIMs in theoretical European iPhones, Apple abandons

This one was all rather rumory to begin with, but play along if you don't mind a pile of unconfirmed reports to start the day. A few weeks back it was said that Apple was working with Gemalto to create a non-removable, software-reconfigurable SIM that would be built right into European iPhones, saving a number of headaches for users and, more importantly, for Apple. This decidedly unconfirmed report was supposedly enough to get European carriers all worked up in a tizzy, angry that, among other things, customers would never need to actually interact with those carriers themselves -- all actions, including activation, could be handled right through the App Store. Now, for the final layer of unconfirmed reporting in this delectably speculative layer cake, we have word from The Daily Telegraph that Apple has apparently given up on this plan and will continue to ship hardware to Europe with honest to gosh SIM cards, just like it always has. In other words: carry on, nothing to see here.