Danny Gorog07 May 2008, 9:46 AM
In a total about-turn for Apple, Vodafone will not be an exclusive carrier for the iPhone in all 10 countries announced yesterday.
With yesterday's news that Vodafone will be the official carrier of the iPhone in 10 countries including Australia came this interesting tidbit: in Italy, both Vodafone and Telecom Italia will be selling the iPhone. This is the first time Apple has broken its business model of one-carrier-per-country and indicative that Apple was serious when it said it was open to reevaluating the one-carrier model.
Another interesting fact to bear in mind: Vodafone Australia has a policy of selling phones locked to its network, but will unlock them for any customer who asks — customers just have to call customer service to get an unlock code. Will this apply to the iPhone? I hope so. (And if so, perhaps we can start exporting officially unlocked iPhones back to the AT&T dissenters in the States rather than the other way round!)
The real question is, does it matter? Apple and AT&T have shown the world that the iPhone wins customers, and whoever gets it here will find the same result. I'm switching to the carrier that carries the iPhone locally, no matter what. All the carriers offer the same types of 2G/3G/HSPA networks in Australia, unlike the US, and the only difference is rural coverage and cost. For the majority of Australia's population, if there's only one telco carrying the iPhone in Australia those that want the iPhone will switch. Admittedly, if Vodafone turns out to be the exclusive carrier, people living in the country are still going to want to hack their iPhone to be Next G compatible.
Getting back to the iPhone dog and pony show...
With the always-on nature of the Internet there seems to be a new rumour surrounding the next generation iPhone nearly everyday. At least that's what it feels like in the absence of any other real news out of Apple. If you're in the industry you can feel the anticipation for the new iPhone. On a personal level, I'm getting nearly a call a day from friends and associates wanting to know when the next iPhone is due for release, and whether they should invest in a current generation iPhone while they are waiting. So, with that in mind I figured a '3G iPhone rumor wrap up' was in order and here it is.
The latest fake images
A French website has posted new photos of what it is describing as the 3G iPhone. I can't read French but the photos show what appears to be something in between an iPhone and an iPod Touch. The phone in the photos looks thinner and blacker, but still looks fake. Don't you think if you managed to snap photos of the new iPhone you'd take more photos, and actually bother to have the device on at the same time? I would.
Then there's the post over at The Taiwan Economic News that correlates with other rumors that the new iPhone will be smaller and lighter:
The newest version in the third generation of this phone, weighing only 110 to 120 grams vs. first generation cousin`s 158 grams and running on 3G mobile technology. Adopting plastic casing instead of aluminum-magnesium casing largely brings down the gears weight and cost by nearly one third. In addition to weight advantage, the latest version is also more energy efficient and externally smarter. LCD screen on the phone measures 2.8 inches diagonally, a downsize from first generation`s 3.5 inches.
So, plastic casing, smaller screen and lighter. Sign me up now.
What price?
The iPhone currently retails for US$399 and US$499 (16GB). There's been talk about a price cut and/or telco subsidy to bring the iPhone down to a lower price point again. The only way I can see Apple doing that is by introducing the new 3G model and leaving the current 2.5G model. Imagine a family of iPhones that start at $199 or $299 and goes all the way up to $499 — or perhaps even higher if Apple introduces a 32GB iPhone to match the top-of-the-line iPod Touch. An iPhone for $199 sounds like a sweet deal to me and the reality is most consumers (except for tech-heads) don't really care about 3G yet. First prove to them that they can use their phones for more than making phone calls, and when they upgrade next time they'll switch to 3G.
When?
The million dollar question. Apple has publicly stated the iPhone 2.0 software is due out end of June. WWDC is at the beginning of June, and the 3G iPhone will most likely need to be announced before it goes on sale (thanks to the FCC approval process). With that in mind, I see an announcement at the WWDC keynote, followed by a roll out soon after — perhaps in early to mid July. As for local Australian availability, anytime between now and then is looking likely (plus, remember, the opening of local Apple stores is scheduled around the same time, in June).
With additional reporting by Dan Warne