3G iPhone

[Sparespares]

am using the 2G version now.....

honestly, it is a lousy phone....

cannot forward sms, no mms, no video recording etc....

but, it is a sleek looking device and the wifi somehow feels faster at home...

[Ccssgm]

"Zippy" iPhone unveiled

 

SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - Apple Inc on Monday unveiled a next-generation iPhone with faster Internet access that will run on advanced wireless networks and sell for as low as US$199 (S$272)-- half the current entry-level price.

 

Shares of Apple, after strong gains in recent months partly driven by anticipation of the new device, fell 2.2 percent after Chief Executive Steve Jobs indicated the company was going after the mass market with the new model.

 

"It changes the game for all smart-phone makers," Tim Bajarin, head of consultancy Creative Strategies, said of the price and new features.

 

The new phone also marks a dramatic departure for how Apple will make money in its third major business alongside Macintosh computers and iPod media players.

 

Wireless network companies will no longer pay Apple part of the subscription fees they get from iPhone users, but instead will subsidize the devices up front to make them cheaper.

 

"The vast majority of agreements we have reached do not have those follow-on payments, so you can conclude that the vast majority of carriers do provide subsidies for the phone," Tim Cook, Apple's chief operating officer, told Reuters.

 

Cook declined to comment on how the new arrangement would affect Apple's profit margins, but AT&T Inc, the exclusive U.S. carrier for the iPhone, said the subsidy would hurt its earnings and margins through next year.

 

"It is still a very profitable business. Now the negative is they announced the elimination of some of the monthly fees," said Shaw Wu, an analyst with American Technology Research. "But I can't really imagine the economics really being too much different."

 

Improved e-mail features for the iPhone are intended to woo business people, while its ability to run on faster networks is key to Apple's push to gain market share in Europe and Asia.

 

"It's amazingly zippy," Jobs said, showing off the encore to a device that melds a mobile phone, iPod media player and Web browser, nearly a year after the original went on sale.

 

The new one, which looks similar to the old one but with glossy black or white plastic in place of a metal back cover, loads Internet pages 2.8 times faster than the original, he said.

 

EYES ON NOKIA, RIM, PALM

 

An entry-level version of the new iPhone, with 8 gigabytes of memory, will cost US$199 (S$272), versus US$399 (S$545) for an older iPhone with similar memory. A version of the new one with twice the memory will cost US$299 (S$409).

 

"These lower price points seem somewhat designed to cope with the economy, the softer environment," Wu said. "They definitely make this product more resilient."

 

The new phones will go on sale on July 11 in 22 countries and regions, expanding to 70 by the end of the year.

 

As for China, the biggest cell phone market in the world and one where Apple does not have a deal to sell iPhones, Cook told Reuters the company would get there "over time," and CNBC quoted Jobs as saying Apple hoped to be there later this year.

 

The new iPhone will run on third-generation (3G) wireless networks and includes satellite navigation capability, Jobs told developers at a conference in San Francisco.

 

"This positions Apple well vis a vis other smart-phone competitors such as Nokia and RIM," said Shannon Cross of Cross Research. "IPhone is no longer an expensive device. It's now priced at the mass market."

 

Shares of Palm Inc, maker of the rival Treo smart-phone, fell 4 percent, but those in Research in Motion, maker of BlackBerry devices, rose 2 percent.

 

A new service, "MobileMe," will automatically send e-mail and other information to iPhones, similar to Microsoft Corp's Exchange e-mail server product. The pay service will replace Apple's .Mac service and offer Web applications intended to make the phone work more like a desktop computer.

 

"It clearly puts them in a competitive position on the services side against Google, Microsoft and most importantly Nokia," Ben Wood, research director of UK-based CCS Insight, said of MobileMe.

 

Jobs said Apple has sold 6 million iPhones so far, and Cook said he was "still very comfortable" that the company would hit its goal of selling 10 million units by the end of 2008.

 

Apple shares closed at US$181.61. The stock had risen more than 50 percent in just three months, primarily on good demand for Macs and iPods, as well as anticipation of the new iPhone

 

 

Coming Soon

[Mercuryaw]

Fully agreed with you and it has been 8 years with Apple already.

[Coolad]

Will you be getting one?

 

http://www.apple.com/sg/iphone/

 

major gripes,

1. no video recording

2. no MMS

3. no cut & paste function

4. no physical keyboard

 

Hi, if you have been using the original iphone... you will know that all your major gripes are already addressed by third party software which can be downloaded free of charge using the inbuilt installer function.

 

That's the thing about iphone... its has the barest functions, but the widest customisability.

[Comfy]

hey.. me was with apple for the past 5 years..

[W2K_83]

No, I'll go for the HTC Touch Diamond.

[Mercuryaw]

Hey! So what do you have? I got a 24in iMac and a white MB. Apple TV, a couple of ipods and airport express basestations. The thing I like about Apple is they make things so easy to use and fuss free. But then I wun be getting the 3G iPhone because employer do not allow camera phone. If ever they have a non-camera version, I am sure it will make a lot of people like me very happy.

[Rainman]

For a 8 gig GPS phone, I must say 199USD is a steal!

 

I think the whole handphone market will collapse becos of Iphone, who will buy brand N, S, H etc?

[Beachboys]

HTC Diamond costs over $1k, while iPhone should be less than $500~

 

Don't think the features in Diamond is worth tat much

[Miles]

if Apple release a camera-less iphone ... they will be lynched by the media 3 times over.

 

i guess only here, you find company's forbidding employees from using camera phones, which resulted in camera-less phone market for these people.

A class action suit will be filed if this were to happen in US.

 

i would like Apple to come up with a - iPhone Nano ... which has bare essentials like phone/sms/2mp camera w video/3G for MMS & video call/ ... but without browser/wifi. .. .and come up with an innovative click wheel style numpad for calls and sms. And sell it for USD99.

 

or

 

iPhone Pro - which includes all current iphone features, + built-in Bose speakers + Shure/ipod bluetooth A2DP stereo headset + Nikkor lens w Canon Cmos 5mp sensor camera + Aperture lite software built in. :)

[Parkingidiot]

Can it read and edit Word and Excel files -if so it can be a good PDA phone for me. Esp if priced below SG$400.

[Miles]

yes, and Steve Jobs personally said the price for all other markets will not exceed USD199.... which means, in spore, it is possible the 8GB iphone will be sold for SGD268 w 2 year plan... making it cheaper than 8GB ipod touch.

 

N, S, H, B, M, SE, L,... will all be eating dust.

[Robin]

what the big deal abt this phone...no

[Miles]

with the SDK, i believe it will,.. if not from the original software package,... from 3rd party.

in fact Microsoft is sure to write MS Office Suite lite for iphone.

Adobe already made its PDF reader available.

Google's suite (gmail, picasa, map, etc..) is already available for iphone

Yahoo will be making their Yahoo mobile available too.

Facebook is already there

MS Live /MSN messenger will be available

AOL messenger too

 

i think there is nothing that would not be available.... i just hope macromedia flash can be plugged into safari browser and real player is also included... so that i can listen to internet radio via iphone/ipod touch via wifi.

Who needs FM receiver when you can listen to radio station via Internet via wifi across the globe?

[Miles]

no big deal ... really.

 

 

only, for SGD268 ... with 2 years plan. it is better than alot of phone at the same price.

[Robin]

agree

 

but if it retails at $268... with 2 yrs plan, then i might consider trying

 

is it available thru Singtel only?

[Beachboys]

SH n M2 will get it eventually, but defintely after ST~ only qn is how long...

 

weird thing is with the US199 pricing, its even cheaper than its other range of Apple products~

[Miles]

for national day, halloween and deepavali... yes. only singtel.

but for christmas, i think m1, starhub will be selling it too.