iPhone News: white iPhones, international launches, Earthscape, Bose SoundDock II, lawsuit
Latest iPhone News: Friday 22 August 2008
More white 16GB iPhone 3Gs in UK
For those who really care, the Carphone Warehouse has announced that it has stocks of the 16GB white iPhone 3G, so if you were waiting for it to arrive and hadn't twigged that you could get one all along at an Apple Store, pop down to one of their stores tomorrow, or order it online for delivery on Tuesday.
Russian iPhone sales could top 3.5m
Apple could see very significant iPhone 3G sales come from Russia over the next two years, if sources are accurate in their predictions.
Though over half-a-million iPhones are already in the country and being used unofficially, if the two or three mobile networks expected to ink deals with Apple succeed, some 3.5 million handsets could be sold in the next 24 months.
Costly iPhone could be offered to Indian consumers in instalments
The relatively high cost of the iPhone in India could see Vodafone allowing customers to pay for the handset in instalments.
Some 200,000 people expressed an interest in the iPhone, but there's no guarantee how many of those will translate into sales. Sources believe Vodafone may sell between 50 and 100 handsets per day.
Amusingly, those selling the handset on the black market (strictly speaking, illegally) were annoyed that Vodafone might "steal" some of their market share.
However it's bought, though, the iPhone is a costly proposition in many countries.
Autoblog: another iPhone-friendly web site
Following the trend for iPhone-optimised sites, car-fan web site Autoblog has announced its mobile web site "stripped down to the bare essentials, including headlines on the front page and just the content and pics when you click through.
Earthscape: not quite Google Earth, $10
Earthscape is an application similar to Google Earth, but currently with reduced functionality. However, it does take advantage of several of the iPhone's abilities, including zooming and scrolling using the touchscreen, though it doesn't use the accelerometer.
Whether it's worth the ten dollar asking price is debatable, though with future free updates it may be worth it. Looks cool, but may be not enough of a draw over what you can get from Google Maps. Google's detailed mapping data and images are better for international (non-US) locations anyway.
Polish iPhone launch has fake queues
It's not the first time we've heard of fake people (in other words, those who have no intention of buying an iPhone, not that they're not human beings) forming queues for Apple's new handset.
Orange has allegedly been paying actors (TV, radio, stage, amateurs, I'm not sure) to stand in line outside its stores in order to create some buzz. Poles just don't seem as interested in the iPhone as we crazies in the UK and the US.
It was rather telling that no-one was waiting outside T-Mobile's stores before today's launch.
Colombians charged double for iPhone 3G
Colombian mobile operators are charging double the US price for the iPhone 3G as it launched today. That's over $600 for the 16GB model and nearly $500 for the 8GB model. Ouch.
Sounds like the first of many serious price hikes for the iPhone in South America.
Bose announced SoundDock Series II for iPhone
High end audio hardware manufacturer Bose has announced that its SoundDock Series II, with iPhone compatibility, will be available from early September, in the US at least, and retail for around $299.
It will look very similar to the first incarnation, according to Bose, and while detailed specifications aren't yet available, it would seem that the main selling point - as far as iPhone 3G users are concerned - is that it works with the new handset. Strictly speaking, that's Apple's fault for messing around with the dock on the new iPhone such that it refuses to work with some older hardware.
Customer suing Apple over 3G problems
The suing has to stop, people. Now it's the turn of an Alabama woman who bought an iPhone but was unhappy with the 3G reception and the "twice as fast" speed claims made by Apple.
Apple isn't living up to its warranty that the phone will "perform adequately", apparently.
She wants Apple to fix the problems, and pay for all the heartache and other expenses because of the immensely hard time she's obviously had as a result of slightly dodgy cell phone reception.
Get over yourself Jessica Smith.
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