11.30.07 - 04:53pm
China is the largest mobile phone market in the world. It has a population of over 1.3 billion, amassing more people than any other country in the world. It also has over 350 million mobile phone subscribers currently subscribed with China Mobile and an expected growth to 500 million in the next year.
It is a market that Apple severely wants to cut into with the iPhone, yet it may be an unattainable market for a company that wants unprecedented revenue sharing. While China Mobile has been in talks with Apple, China Mobile President Wang Jianzhou stated that the revenue sharing wasn’t something they were particularly open to. He said, “We still think we can maintain the operator-centric model because we have the customers.” They also have a monopoly control as they are the government run mobile phone company in China with just one real competitor, China Unicom, which has said they are open to talks with Apple but no talks have begun commencing between the two. Meanwhile it has been both reported and denied in reports that talks between Apple and China Mobile have failed and ceased.
Category: apple, iPhone | Tags: apple, china, iPhone | Be the First to Comment »
11.30.07 - 11:03am
It would seem At&T is not quite as good at keeping mum as Apple is about new and upcoming releases. Whether “accidentally on purpose” or just by accident AT&T CEO Randall Stephenson has let the cat out of the bag and put an end to the speculation that a 3G iPhone will be available this next year. According to him, it definitely will be. Stephenson spilled the news at a dinner, late Wednesday at the Churchill Club, in Santa Clara. He did not go as far as to say when, stating simply that it will be sometime this next year.
This could possible see a slow-down in the sales of iPhones over the Christmas season. After all why buy the slower one when it’s possible a new 3G one could be announced as soon as MacWorld. Gene Munster, an analyst at Piper Jaffray doesn’t believe it will effect sales “enough to make a difference”, but still you can bet Apple and Mr. Steve Jobs wasn’t too happy about the pre-announcement at this particular time.
Category: iPhone | Tags: at&t, iPhone, randall-stephenson, steve-jobs | Be the First to Comment »
11.28.07 - 03:29pm
Three weeks after Germany and the UK got the iPhone, France finally is able to join the confederation with the launch of the iPhone via Orange.
Orange rolled out the iPhone to hundreds of enthusiastic buyers who had lined up outside of stores in 12 cities across the country that were authorized to sell the iPhone in a sort of pre-sale. The iPhone goes on sale nationwide throughout France tomorrow.
Orange is expecting their users to grow due to the iPhone’s popularity by half a million in the first year. They are hoping to sell 100,000 units by years end. Orange is offering the iPhone locked for $593 and unlocked for $965. They must sell the phone unlocked in order to comply with French law.
Orange said that approximately 63,000 people had asked for information on the iPhone via e-mail.
Category: iPhone | Tags: apple, france, iPhone, orange | Be the First to Comment »
11.21.07 - 11:10am
You can now buy the iPhone unlocked in Germany, but it will cost you. You’ll pay 999 euros, or a cool $1480 for the unlocked device.
T-Mobile Germany has unlocked the iPhone due to a lawsuit by rival contender Vodaphone who got a Hamburg judge to sign off on blocking iPhone sales, claiming breached local competition laws, since the phone was locked into T-Mobile.
Vodaphone tried to get the iPhone contract but failed in the negotiations. Obviously afraid of losing current and potential customers to the iPhone lure they are fighting to keep themselves in level competition.
The decision by the Hamburg court is a preliminary one but effected a stay against T-Mobile selling the iPhone without selling unlocked versions.
T-Mobile is appealing the decision, but in order to comply with the court, agreed to sell the iPhone unlocked for the super premium price. The handset is still being offered for $399 euros, or $592, with a 2-year T-mobile contract.
Category: iPhone | Tags: germany, iPhone, t-mobile, unlocked | Be the First to Comment »
11.15.07 - 01:47pm
After falling for a week straight Apple’s stock rebounded on Tuesday with its highest jump since July, rising $16.20 to $169.96 on news that the iPhone might be heading into China. Whether or not that will be anytime soon depends on the intense negotiations surrounding the iPhone, its revenue sharing, Apple and the biggest controller of the cell phone industry in China, China Mobile.
For Apple the China market is huge. China has more population than all of trans Europe combined and China Mobile boasts over 350 million users with 500 million expected in the next few years. Their next closest competition, China Unicom has a156 million.
The high difference in the cell phone users gives China Mobile far more power in revenue sharing negotiations than any other mobile company has had so far, and China’s policy is not one for sharing. This may mean that Apple has to give a little, something they are not known for either, thus talks could take quite a while and could end up with Apple going with the smaller company. Li Zhengmao, an executive director and vice president at China Unicom has said that his company is open to discussions with Apple although they are not in talks at the moment.
Category: apple, iPhone | Tags: apple, china-mobile, iPhone | Be the First to Comment »
11.08.07 - 04:07pm
The Scotland Yard is warning UK’s potential iPhone buyers to keep their purchases low key on Friday as otherwise they may
become the target of muggers.
Scotland Yard said yesterday: “We are aware of the launch tomorrow of Apple’s iPhone and we would encourage people not to attract attention to themselves when using a mobile phone in public.”
The iPhone has been the talk of many in Britian for the last several months especially after the U.S. release in June. Lines are expected in the wee hours of Friday morning as people wait for the device to go on sale at 6:02 Friday evening.
Some in Britian already have the iPhone, having bought it from America and then used services such as AppleiPhoneUnlock.co.uk to establish a connection via any carrier they prefer. The iPhone has been locked into Britians O2 network the same as it is locked into America’s AT&T. The unlocked phones work provided you skip any software updates that can and have bricked unlocked phones.
Category: iPhone | Tags: britian, iPhone, scotland-yard | Be the First to Comment »
11.05.07 - 01:25pm
Google has announced that it is entering the cell-phone world, not with a phone but with a software platform that will run on as many phones as possible. The platform is named Android.
Andriod will be the first ever “open” mobile phone platform, created to make the internet more accessible to subscribers on the move. “Our vision is that the powerful platform we are unveiling will power thousands of different phone models, ” said Eric Schmidt, Googles chairman and CEO.
So far there are 34 mobile phone companies who have signed on to to the Google alliance called the “Open Handset Alliance”. Unlike Apple’s closed iPhone the Google based phones will be specifically for open sources and open technology with the Android program based on the open-sourced Linux. “This partnership will help unleash the potential of mobile technology for billions of users around the world,” said Schmidt.
Category: iPhone | Tags: android, google, iPhone | Be the First to Comment »
11.05.07 - 11:55am
One third party app that won’t be the subject of discontinuation at the next iPhone update is the new Dr. Pepper match game.
The Dr. Pepper game is the first third party advergame ever made specifically for the iPhone and the Safari web-browser.
The point of the game is to match three bottle caps up or down by switching them. You can only switch ones that will end up with a three-point match. Score is bases on time and best moves.
“There’s always more to Dr Pepper. Consumers want enhanced access to fun and games on their iPhones, and Dr Pepper will be the very first to deliver it to them,” explained Andrew Springate, vice president of Dr Pepper marketing. “With the launch of this advergame, Dr Pepper can interact virtually with its consumers anytime, anywhere through their iPhones.”
The game can be accessed from the web Safari browser with no download needed. Simply go to www.drpepper.com/matchcaps for plenty of mind-numbing, time consuming, fun.
Category: iPhone, iphone accessories | Tags: advergame, games, iPhone | Be the First to Comment »
11.02.07 - 01:16pm
If you’re planning on taking a trip outside the u.S. chances are you want to bring your iPhone along so you can keep up on e-mail, use google maps, and search the web to find all the hot spots in whatever totally foreign town you’re dropping in on.
AT&T just made that a little easier by creating the Data Global Plan. The plan will give users 50MB of data a month in 29 different countries. The plan costs an additional $60 a month and enables international voice and data roaming. International long distance dialing is also allowed at the United States standard rates.
Smaller plans are offered at $25 a month for 20MB of data, for those who wish to have the phone available but not use it too much.
Both plans have overage charges of $.005/KB and rates outside the 29 countries is set at $.0195/KB. The rates are in addition to the plans you already have.
Category: iPhone | Tags: at&t, global-data-plan, iPhone | Be the First to Comment »
11.01.07 - 11:59am
The iPhone is being heralded as the “Invention of the Year” by Time magazine, based partially on the iPhone’s celebrity status and partially on the way Steve Jobs and Apple have used features, such as Apple’s revolutionary touch screen, to create a device that has already become an icon in the cell phone world.
Taking over “invention of the Year” is not such an easy deal. The iPhone had to beat out gadgets that made leaps in molecular science, robotics, military uses, and environmentally friendly technology.
“Intel’s 45-nanometer (parts for chips) - that’s a serious deal, but it’s a lot less glamorous than the iPhone even though it’s important,” said Lev Grossman, a Time staff writer who covers technology and helped select the magazine’s annual honorees.
Glamour this year is king, and says Grossman, the iPhone retains many component parts that buy themselves would not have made nearly the splash, however, “Apple knew what to do with it.”
Category: apple, iPhone | Tags: invention-of-year, iPhone, Time-magazine | Be the First to Comment »
