3G iPhone: Twice As Fast, Half The Price
Apple finally, as expected, announced their second generation iPhone, the 3G iPhone on 9th June, 2008, with the tag line “Twice as fast, half the price.”
From what I see, besides the 3G connectivity and Microsoft Exchange ActiveSync, I don’t see any MAJOR upgrade from the first generation. For your information, the 3G iPhone will be retailing in the United States and 24 other major countries around the world.
The 3G iPhone will also roll out to 48 other countries, yet I do not see Malaysia on the list. This is a major disappointment to many of us iPhone users and future iPhone users. I personally do not understand why Malaysia is right now left out of the list. Don’t tell me we are not on par with even countries like Guinea-Bissau or Botswana. No offence to this countries but I am just making a comparison. Oi, Maxis, DiGi, Celcom, better buck up!
The prices announced were way lower that what we have expected it to be. It was speculated that the price point would be somewhere around US$399 but we now know that the 8GB 3G iPhone will retail at ONLY USD$199 while the 16GB 3G iPhone will retail at ONLY US$299. The 8GB iPhone only comes in black while the 16GB comes in black or white.
If I had bought my first generation iPhone, I would feel damn cheated. Hey, the 8GB units were sold at US$599 while the 4GB ones were sold at US$499 and the poor buyers had to be tied to AT&T for two years as well. This time, buyers in the United States will also have to sign for a two year data plan with AT&T but that is another story altogether.
Personally, even with the 3G connectivity, when I first got my iPhone, this was something I hankered for, but now, I feel like the iPhone will always be a step behind mobile devices in Asia. Samsung D800 is capable of dual SIM cards and there are many devices in the market capable to 3.5G or faster. Besides, I do not see an improvement on the camera and even if Apple provides us with a free Apple iPhone 2.0 software update, it is still not able to run on 3G.
So bleh… I think there would be no reason for existing iPhone owners to upgrade to the second generation iPhone unless they absolutely cannot live without 3G.
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Tags: 3G iPhone availability, 3G iPhone prices, black 3G iPhone, white 3G iPhone
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Comments
[...] two devices with my 3G SIM in my Nokia E61i and my SIM-less Apple iPhone. Well, I WOULD upgrade to 3G iPhone if they could catch up with Asian mobile manufacturers! [...]
[...] their iPhone from 27th May, 2008 onwards and who had signed a two-year plan, to upgrade to a 3G iPhone and sign a new two-year data contract overwriting the old [...]
[...] I overheard this conversation while having dinner at a local eatery one evening recently, two men talking about the new 3G iPhone. [...]
sweet phone.. too bad we need to get a ’smuggled’ version here in malaysia