Where to buy an iPhone in India

There are plenty of websites and people willing to sell the iPhone in India unlocked, so I thought I'd compile a list to make it easier for people to find places near them to get an iPhone. (No shortage of people wanting to buy an iPhone in India, see an unofficial poll here)

Most of the places selling iPhones are either in Mumbai or Delhi. Hopefully there will be sellers in other cities also, who come forward to sell the iPhone. Or you could always get it delivered to your home.

These are some of the sites, people, places where an iPhone may be available in India...
(Warning - I cant verify the authenticity of any of these sites, Buy at your own risk. It might be a good idea to ask for more information)
(If you would like your site or name to be added to this list, please post in the comments section, along with a brief description of the price, location, etc and I'll make sure your Site/Address/Phone number is added to the list in a day or two.)

1> http://www.iphonenirvana.net/

2> Rediff Shopping (Really Expensive !)

3> iphoneimporter@gmail.com (from here)

(iPhone is available with me in Delhi, India, limited stock.

These are Unlocked to work with all GSM Operators (Airtel, Hutch, Idea, MTNL, BSNL etc.)

1) Iphone 4GB version shall cost Rs.19,990
2) Iphone 8GB shall cost Rs.29,650.

Add Rs.450 for Blue Dart shipping anywhere within India. Phone will ship from Delhi.

Payment can be remitted in our ICICI account or you can send a DD.

If someone picks up from Delhi shipping charges will be waived.

You can email me at: iphoneimporter@gmail.com

Cheers!)

4> roshan said...
if anyone intersted 8gb iphone brand new than let me know 09879899955 me in mumbai can send anywhere...

5>Wavetel Mobiles

6> GadgetsGuru

7> Gadgets.in

Mundu IM Brings Instant Messaging to the iPhone

LONDON, November 8 /PRNewswire/ --

- Free Service to Fill Instant Messaging Void for iPhone

Geodesic Information Systems today announced a brand new member of their
Mundu(TM) product line, Mundu IM - iPhone Edition, specifically designed and
optimized to work with the Apple Safari web browser on the iPhone. Mundu IM,
winner of multiple industry awards and a leader in Mobile Instant Messaging,
has been completely customized for the iPhone and is the only IM application
that provides users the unique look and feel that they have come to expect
from native iPhone applications.

With Mundu IM - iPhone Edition, iPhone users will have access to seamless
chat across leading IM services MSN(R), Yahoo(R), Google Talk(R) and AIM(R).
Apart from simultaneous login to multiple IM services and managing online
presence with custom status messages, Mundu IM has innovative features like
search and remove buddies, send smilies and quick texts as well as the
ability to remember username and passwords.

Equipped with the most advanced web browsing capability ever on mobile
phones, the iPhone ushers in a completely new generation of mobile devices.
Geodesic is geared to leverage the iPhone platform to enable its users to
experience the power and convenience of instant messaging while on the move.

Research conducted by Capgemini predicts instant messaging will soon
overtake text messaging as a form of communication, forecasting 32% of UK
mobile customers using an IM service by 2012, sending as many as 15-18
messages per day. With users able to access IM services and keep in touch
with friends via Mundu IM on the iPhone, this forecast may not be far away.

"We optimized Mundu IM for the iPhone and other next generation mobile
devices," said Arvinder Gujral, Director Product Marketing of Geodesic. "We
are excited to provide this invaluable service to O2 iPhone customers so that
they won't miss a single beat when communicating with friends and colleagues
on the iPhone, whether it's talking or instant messaging. Apple has a firm
user-friendly ethos and the simplicity of Mundu IM makes it an ideal
application for iPhone users."

Mundu IM - iPhone Edition adds to the mobile suite of products including
the recent announcement of Mundu(TM) IM version 4.0, compatible with Palm(R),
Windows(R) Mobile Smartphone and Pocket PC and Sony-Ericsson devices.

Users can access Mundu IM on their iPhone browsers at
http://iphone.mundu.com

Source

Wanna Unlock your IPhone in India ?

Raza Noorani (20) and Nigel Jairaj (21); main occupation: B.Com students; side occupation: unlocking Apple iPhones (till recently, it was cracking PSPs)...

Apple Computer may delude itself that the India launch of its iconic iPhone is slated for not before next year, but iPhones are proliferating ever since the gizmo's US launch about a month and a half back. Both Noorani and Jairaj are ready to swear by this!

Today, you can get an iPhone for around Rs 31,000 from 'Alpha Electronics'; for about Rs 27,000 from 'Heera Panna'; for somewhere between Rs 27,000 and Rs 30,000 from any custom-notified shop. A month and a half back, the prices per iPhone were in the region of Rs 45,000 to Rs 50,000.

The gray market has its own sources for sourcing these iPhones; the usual suspects being contacts in customs, or carriers who come to India loaded with iPhones, or simply people who travel to- and fro- between India and the US.

"You've paid for the iPhone. The tie-up is between Apple and AT&T. It's their problem entirely. So there's no big deal about using iPhones in India, way before their official launch," quip Noorani and Jairaj.

The duo use a Windows-based software for unlocking iPhones. Originally into cracking PSPs, their iPhone foray began with a night well spent fiddling with a friend's iPhone. The morning saw the iPhone unlocked, much to their delight. That's how they got hooked onto the idea.

Subsequently, they bought an iPhone SIM free unlocking software online for nearly GBP 70, and have been cracking iPhones since -- for a price!

Customers based out of Mumbai are charged Rs 2,000, while those based outside of Mumbai (even outside of India) are charged Rs 2,500 per unlocking. In case of the latter, CDs containing software are sent to these customers, after which Noorani and Jairaj instruct them over the phone as to unlocking of their iPhones.

Otherwise, the process takes place pretty much from the comfort of Noorani- and Jairaj's homes. All they need is the iPhone that is to be unlocked, the accompanying USB cable, and a computer with Windows XP Service Pack 2. No need for an Internet connection.

Within a span of 15 to 20 minutes, a single iPhone gets unlocked. However, each iPhone is different by virtue of the fact that it's been manufactured under a different batch. To that extent, the unlocking process differs from phone to phone.

All said, Noorani and Jairaj are not alone in this venture. Some of the shops in Heera Panna, and a handful of individuals in this city claim to be able to unlock iPhones.

However, doing a good job is an entirely different story. Every now and then, the youngsters get customers coming to them, who've bought 'unlocked' phones from somewhere for a hefty price, and whose phones are now no longer working properly. It's up to the twosome to fix these iPhones. They say they charge about Rs 500 for fixing such iPhones, simply because they don't want to fleece customers who've already been fleeced more or less.

Besides, they've undergone a similar experience. They recall a gruelling week spent working for a shop in Heera Panna, within which time, they would've unlocked at least 30 iPhones a day. But, were paid just Rs 1,000 per unlocking, while the shop charged its customers up to Rs 4,000 only in unlocking charges per iPhone.

Going-it-alone, are they making much moolah? They won't tell but looks like it's enough to keep them going!

Source

The French and their iPhone....

Apple iPhone fans could get French bargain

By Claudine Beaumont

Gadget fans eagerly awaiting this evening's UK launch of the Apple iPhone could save their money and buy an unlocked handset in France instead, thanks to a loophole in French telecommunications law.

The iPhone, which costs £269, goes on sale in Britain at 6.02pm tonight, and iPhone owners will have to sign up to an 18-month contract with O2, Apple's exclusive iPhone carrier in the UK. Apple has signed exclusive network deals with mobile phone operators in several countries, including AT&T in the US, T-Mobile in Germany, and Orange in France.

But under French law, all mobile phones have to be offered unlocked, so that customers can use them on any network they wish. It means that in theory, British consumers could travel to France, buy an unlocked iPhone and then use it with their regular network in the UK, without having to sign up to an O2 tariff, which start from £35 per month.

However, it's highly unlikely that Apple will make it that easy for customers to get hold of unlocked iPhones and it is thought that Apple and Orange are working closely together to find a solution before the iPhone goes on sale in French stores on November 29.



Ben Woods, an analyst with CSS Insight, expects Apple to make it as difficult as possible for "iPhone tourists" to pick up an unlocked handset. "There are three things Apple could do to resolve this problem. The first is to make the price of an unlocked French device very high, at least two or three times the price of an Orange-locked handset, although that may not be allowed under French law because it could be seen as undermining the idea of customer choice and the reason phones have to be sold unlocked. But you can guarantee that if they make it very expensive, people will think twice.

"The second is to ensure the devices only support the French language, so unless you are bilingual, you will find it impossible to use. "The third option depends on the nature of the legislation. It is not clear whether French law demands that phones are unlocked to work on any network in the world or just networks in France. If it's just French networks, then Apple could ensure that unlocked iPhones will only work in France."

A number of customers couldn't wait until the iPhone's UK release and instead imported the handset from the US. It meant that in order to use the phone, they had to register with AT&T and pay expensive roaming rates when using the handset in the UK.

To get around this problem, many users hacked their phones to unlock them and allow them to run on any network, but Apple has warned customers that such action invalidates the warranty, and that future iPhone software updates may conflict with hacks, leaving the device unusable. Apple and O2 are expecting bumper sales of the iPhone this Christmas.

The device combines and iPod music player with a web browser and a phone, and was recently named Invention of the Year by Time.

Source

iPhone reaches Europe

By Nicola Leske and Kate Holton

FRANKFURT/LONDON, Nov 9 (Reuters) - Apple fans queued through the night in Germany and Britain to be among the first in Europe to buy an iPhone, the must-have gadget that is set to shake up the mobile industry.

Over 10,000 iPhones were sold by Friday afternoon in Germany, a T-Mobile spokeswoman said, after it went on sale at midnight in a Deutsche Telekom (DTEGn.DE: Quote, Profile, Research) shop in Cologne.

"It was love at first sight," said one 50-year-old man.

T-Mobile representatives handed out blankets and umbrellas as well as hot tea, coffee and pretzels for those waiting outside, before sales staff cheered loudly as the first customers entered the store.

In Britain, fans had to wait until 1800 GMT before the music-playing, Web-browsing phone went on sale at stores from Apple, mobile phone retailer Carphone Warehouse and mobile operator O2.

The queue outside central London's main Apple store stretched around the corner and long lines also formed in the city's financial area.

First in the queue, clutching a mug of steaming tea, was student Graham Gilbert, who arrived at 0830 GMT on Thursday and endured a wet and cold night on the street.

Deutsche Telekom, Telefonica's O2 and Carphone have pinned high hopes on the iPhone after more than a million sold in the United States in a few months.

"It's probably the most important phone this year in terms of the impact it will have on the mobile phone market but it's going to be a long way from being a best seller," CCS analyst Ben Wood told Reuters.

"But one of the things that Apple do very well is they spend a lot of time thinking about the consumer experience and we're going to see their competitors taking more of that approach."

Most analysts expect the device to be popular with a niche audience, in part due to its price tag, and those queuing on Friday in Germany and Britain were mostly young men.

Most European handsets are subsidised in return for long-term contracts but the iPhone costs 399 euros ($585) in Germany and customers must agree a two-year contract with T-Mobile for monthly fees between 49 and 89 euros.

In Britain the iPhone costs 269 pounds ($568) on top of an 18-month contract costing a minimum of 35 pounds per month.

"It's a magnificent product and it's very well marketed by Apple," said Greenwich Consulting's Fred Huet. "The real question will be how many they sell once the novelty wears off."

The phone will go on sale in France at the end of the month.

(Reporting by Kate Holton, Peter Griffiths, Alastair Sharp in London and Nicola Leske and Georgina Prodhan in Germany, Editing by David Cowell)

Source

Ipod Touch available in India on ebay and sify

Loads of people in India offering the iPod Touch on ebay and Sify.

Link to page on EBay

Link to iPod Touch page on Sify

The 8GB touch is going for around Rs. 15,000 and the 16GB for around Rs. 18,500.

Previous post on the iPod Touch - India

Ipod Touch - India

I had a chat with an Apple store employee (Apple Store at Gold Adlabs, Pune), the Ipod touch will be available in India on 15th October.
The 8Gb 'Touch' will cost ~Rs: 17,000(Should cost cheaper in the Grey market).The 'Touch' is the closest we can expect to get to the iPhone.
Oh well, if we cant have an iPhone, at least , we'll have a lookalike.

Reuters: Deutsche Telekom wins iPhone deal

Reuters has announced that Deutsche Telekom has won the contract to sell the iPhone in Germany. Deutche Telekom owns T-mobile and will share voice and data revenues generated by the Phone.

According to Reuters:

Apple is expected to hand a UK sale deal to Spanish Telefonica's O2 UK unit, and a French deal to France Telecom's Orange, analysts say, though the companies have maintained strict silence about any deal.

Apple needs to get it's European Partners right, just before Christmas hits.

Apple Stock takes a Beating after Price cut

Apple lost Billions from it's market cap after a price cut on the Apple iPhone.

Apple stock received a thrashing from Wall Street over the last three days, as investors showed their displeasure with the company's missteps in iPhone pricing by shaving billions of dollars off the company's market cap.

The sell off started Wednesday when Apple chief executive Steve Jobs surprised customers and shareholders with a $200 price cut on the iPhone, which had only been available for two months. Apple typically doesn't reduce prices on products until they're trumped by upgrades.

Unhappy with the impact the cut would have on Apple's bottom line, investors on Wednesday dumped the company's stock, driving its price down 6.1% to $136.76 per share. On Thursday, the sell off started anew when Jobs said the company would offer iPhone buyers who paid the original $599 for the gadget a $100 credit on any Apple product bought through its Web site or retail stores. The credit, triggered by angry protests from early iPhone buyers, led to Apple stock finishing the day down 55 cents to $135.01.

While there were no new announcements on Friday, the stock continued to fall, dropping another 2.4%, or $3.24, to end the day at $131.77 per share. Since Wednesday, when the stock opened at $144.97, the price has fallen $13.20, shaving $11 billion off Apple's market cap, according to analysts with investment firm Barron's.

The iPhone price cut was seen by some experts as an indication that the gadget was priced too high for the market, and Apple had no choice but to lower the cost to broaden the customer base.

Jobs on Thursday acknowledged that the company hoped to make the gadget more affordable. "It benefits both Apple and every iPhone user to get as many new customers as possible in the iPhone tent," Jobs said in an open letter to iPhone customers posted on the company's Web site.

Some experts have also said that Apple wants to be sure to hit Job's goal of shipping 10 million iPhones by June 2008, which will mark the device's one-year anniversary.

Source

Buying an iPhone ? You might want to check the MotoRazr 2 first.

The new Razr2 is a pimped up version of the original Razr, with a full HTML browser, Google mobile search, a music player, and a videoconferencing feature. It will work on the HSDPA, EVDO and GSM networks, with a new 'CrystalTalk ' technology that ensures the ideal audio environment for a user to talk in.



The Razr2 at $ 630 (in Korea is certainly not cheap, but has several improvements over it's predecessor. It has an external touchscreen with tactile feedback, a 2.2 inch internal QVGA display and an impressive 470 minutes of talk time.



SUMMARY OF FEATURES

• An ultra-slim design makes this the thinnest RAZR yet at 11.9mm.
• The reflective vacuumized metal and hardened glass front catches light and creates visual intrigue.
• The 2" external color display is our largest ever and features interactive soft keys for music with a vibrational response.
• Windows Media™ Player 11 lets you access over 200 online music stores worldwide including favorites such as MTV Urge, Yahoo and Napster.²
• A 2MP camera with 8X digital zoom takes high quality pictures and provides up to 2 hours of video capture and playback.
• High-speed web access¹ with content that's intelligently sized to fit your screen, there's no need for horizontal scrolling.
• Music player includes stereo micro-USB headset and a compatible Bluetooth® enabled headset.³
• 512MB of on-board shared memory with a storage capacity of up to 200 songs.⁴
• Opera 8.5 Browser provides a full HTML browsing experience.¹
• High Speed USB 2.0 gives you fast data transfers.
• Large, external 2" QVGA display 320x240 resolution provides vibrant viewing.
• MotoSync™ makes it easy to organize your corporate phonebook, calendar and emails.
• Integrated Bluetooth® wireless technology facilitates imaging, printing and peer-to-peer gaming.³
• CrystalTalk™ helps deliver crystal clear voice quality in noisy environments.

Razr2 Website

Picture - iPhone Accessories

Picture of iPhone Accessories included with the iPhone

Edit: The bluetooth headset will have to bought separately ($129)

11 things all reviews say about the iPhone

Too tired to read all the iPhone reviews ? Well, here's 10 things all them say.

1. The Hype surrounding the iPhone is Justified, but so are it's limitations.
2. The glass does get smudgy, but it's easy to clean and doesn't scratch easily.
   
3. The software and the web browser is amazing and simple and fun to operate.
4. Call Quality is average.
5. The camera sucks.
6. Real life battery - 5 hours of video, 23 hours of audio.
7. Unlimited internet plans are only $20 a month.
8. Typing is hard, but you get used to it eventually with smart software figuring out what you intended to type.
9. AT&T's EDGE network sucks, but WiFi makes everything better.
   
10. No 'cut and paste' option.
11. Signing up for the iPhone is through iTunes, after you've reached home.
    

Some Detailed Reviews:
David Pogue at the New York Times
Steven Levy at MSNBC

iPhone rival - HTC enters India through Airtel

Airtel is providing the HTC Touch to it's Indian customers for Rs. 20,000 ( US $ 500) . The Touch entered the Indian barely a week after it entered the International market.

The HTC Touch has a new navigation technology called TouchFLO which navigates through the phone based on user gestures and touch. The early introduction of the iPhone may help it to capture the Indian market before the iPhone can arrive.

The HTC Touch will be available to Airtel users in 10 India cities: Delhi, Mumbai, Chennai, Bangalore, Kolkata, Pune, Chandigarh, Ahmedabad, Hyderabad and Jaipur.

Why wait in line for an iPhone when you can buy one at Froogle for $999,999.00

Froogle (or 'Google Products' as it is known nowadays) has listed the iPhone for sale at a massive $999,999. Detek.biz , the company that listed the iPhone on Froogle, doesn't officially mention the price at their website, but they do provide an inquiry form where any questions on the iPhone can be forwarded to them.

An iPhone at $999,999 maybe a little out of reach of the average buyer, but there is one more seller on Froogle offering the iPhone for a more sane price. Alestech.com is offering the iPhone for a mere $748.75 and claims that the product is ready to ship.

No one actually knows if the above two sellers actually possess the product ready to ship, but if I can get one for $748.75 without having to wait in a long line like these two guys, I definitely would buy the iPhone from Froogle.

Apple iPhone Pros and Cons

Matt Casamassina at IGN talks about some of the pros and cons of the iPhone. Some of the cons could eventually be solved by Apple, like no IM for the iPhone (Although, there is a Web version of it at: publictivity. (Requires Safari))

Pros:

• It's Smaller Than You Realize and it's Got Style to Spare
• Multi-touch Tech and Sleek, Simple Interface
• Music-player, Movie-player, Internet Browser and Phone in One
• It Plays YouTube Movies

Cons:

• It Doesn't Ship with an Instant Messenger Program
• The Keyboard is Unproven
• Its Storage Capacity Rivals iPod Nano, not iPod

Analyst firm Gartner tells IT executives to avoid the iPhone

Why you should stay away from the iPhone if you're an IT professional.

The analyst firm Gartner will tell IT executives to keep Apple’s iPhone away from their networks, in a research report to be released within a week.

“We’re telling IT executives to not support it because Apple has no intentions of supporting (iPhone use in) the enterprise,” Gartner analyst Ken Dulaney says. “This is basically a cellular iPod with some other capabilities and it’s important that it be recognized as such.”

The iPhone, scheduled to ship in the United States on June 29, appears to be a great consumer device but has no redeeming qualities from the perspective of a business user, Dulaney says. Besides lacking security features like a firewall, the product does not support Microsoft Exchange or Lotus Notes, so corporate users would have to forward e-mail to an Internet service provider, he says. Gartner’s research note warning against business usage of the iPhone will likely be issued Monday, according to Dulaney.

“You’ll have e-mail in a place that’s unsecured. There are no firewalls on the device. There’s no ability to wipe (data from) the device if it’s lost,” Dulaney says.

Businesses have little, if any interest in the iPhone and Apple isn’t marketing it to the business sector anyway, says Randy Giusto, who leads IDC’s analysis of mobile devices, computing and computer markets.

“The iPhone is not positioned at all for the IT world,” he say. “It’s a very personal device. Most corporations are probably not going to support the iPhone on their networks.”

Apple may not be making a direct appeal to enterprises, but AT&T is betting that business users will want the iPhone, the IDG News Service reported in April. AT&T plans to market the iPhone to business users and is making sure its backend enterprise billing and support systems will accommodate the device, the report stated.

Apple’s spokeswoman for the iPhone could not be reached for comment.

Businesses tempted by the iPhone should resist for a number of reasons, Dulaney argues. The high price tag – up to $599 – is exorbitant for most enterprises, he says. Even if the iPhone met the security requirements of an IT executive, there’s no real reason for employees to have one. To make it worthwhile, an enterprise would expect firewalls to prevent unauthorized access, long-term maintenance and support commitments, support for an e-mail client like Microsoft Outlook, and PBX integration.

“Enterprises are not going to buy this so employees can buy music and watch movies,” Dulaney says. “Business has a very narrow purview of what they want to get done. … From the consumer perspective, Gartner is really positive about this device and it really changes the game.”

A 451 Group analyst agrees the iPhone has no place in a business, and thinks the new product won’t even live up to its hype as a consumer device. Tony Rizzo, director of mobile technology research at the analyst firm, doubts Apple’s assurance that the iPhone’s battery will provide up to eight hours of talk time, six hours of Internet use, seven hours of video, and 24 hours of music playback.

“If a user were to click on the Wi-Fi radio inside an iPhone, the battery life would probably significantly drain. Using a large touch screen to do anything is going to eat up a lot of battery life,” Rizzo says.

The touch screen will disappoint both business users and consumers, such as young people who do lots of instant messaging and text messaging, he says.

“It doesn’t have any features that would make it successful as a business tool.

The other question, is it even going to be successful as a consumer device?” Rizzo says. “I’m not giving up my BlackBerry. I like the keyboard, I like the trackball and I like the service.”

Source

Apple revises specs for the iPhone - Battery life to be longer

Apple revised it's battery estimates for the iPhone on Monday. The new battery estimates are significantly better than the previous battery life. Apple also states the conditions under which the battery life were tested.

The old iPhone battery life at Apple was:

• Up to 5 hours Talk / Video / Browsing
• Up to 16 hours Audio playback

New Battery Estimates:

Up to 8 hours Talk Time Up to 250 hours Standby Up to 6 hours Internet Use Up to 7 hours Video Playback Up to 24 hours Audio playback

Talk Time:
Testing conducted by Apple in May and June 2007 using preproduction iPhones and software. All talk time testing was done connected to a 1900MHz network. All settings were default except: Call Forwarding was turned on; the WiFi feature Ask to Join Networks was turned off. Battery life depends on the cellular network, location, signal strength, feature configuration, usage, and many other factors. Battery tests are conducted using specific iPhone units; actual results may vary.

Standby:
Testing conducted by Apple in May and June 2007 using preproduction iPhones and software. All settings were default except: Call Forwarding was turned on; the WiFi feature Ask to Join Networks was turned off. Battery life depends on the cellular network, location, signal strength, feature configuration, usage, and many other factors. Battery tests are conducted using specific iPhone units; actual results may vary.

Internet over WiFi:
Testing conducted by Apple in May and June 2007 using preproduction iPhones and software. Internet over WiFi testing conducted using a closed network and dedicated web and mail server, simulating browsing to 20 popular URLs and checking mail once an hour. All settings were default except: Call Forwarding was turned on; the WiFi feature Ask to Join Networks and Auto-Brightness were turned off; WPA2 encryption was enabled. Battery life depends on the cellular network, location, signal strength, WiFi connectivity, feature configuration, usage, and many other factors. Battery tests are conducted using specific iPhone units; actual results may vary. Internet over EDGE: Testing conducted by Apple in May and June 2007 using preproduction iPhones and software. Internet over EDGE testing conducted over a 1900 MHz EDGE, using a dedicated web and mail server, simulating browsing to 20 popular URLs and checking mail once an hour. All settings were default except: Call Forwarding was turned on; the WiFi feature Ask to Join Networks and Auto-Brightness were turned off. Battery life depends on the cellular network, location, signal strength, EDGE connectivity, feature configuration, usage, and many other factors. Battery tests are conducted using specific iPhone units; actual results may vary.

Video Playback:
Testing conducted by Apple in May and June 2007 using preproduction iPhones and software. Video content was a repeated 2 hour 23 minute movie purchased from the iTunes Store. All settings were default except: Call Forwarding was turned on; the WiFi feature Ask to Join Networks and Auto-Brightness were turned off. Battery life depends on the cellular network, location, signal strength, feature configuration, usage, and many other factors. Battery tests are conducted using specific iPhone units; actual results may vary.

Audio Playback:
Testing conducted by Apple in May and June 2007 using preproduction iPhones and software. The playlist consisted of 358 unique audio tracks, a combination of content imported from CDs using iTunes (128-Kbps AAC encoding) and content purchased from the iTunes Store (128-Kbps AAC encoding). All settings were default except: Call Forwarding was turned on; the WiFi feature Ask to Join Networks was turned off. Battery life depends on the cellular network, location, signal strength, feature configuration, usage, and many other factors. Battery tests are conducted using specific iPhone units; actual results may vary.

So the rumors about the battery life being better than expected turned out to be true.

Kevin Rose of Digg talking about the iPhone in Dec '06

Kevin was at first reluctant to talk about the iPhone in December '06, because he was worried about putting his source at risk, but eventually he talked about some of the features of the iPhone, most of which turned out to be not true. Remember though, this happened in December '06, one month before the iPhone was released.

Here are some of the stuff he claimed back then.

1. First he says the iPhone will work on most mobile networks - Wrong
2. Two Batteries for the iPhone - one for the Phone, the other for the music player - Wrong
3. Two memory capacities - 4 and 8 Gigs - Right
4. Price - $249 and $449 - Kinda close for the $449 so Right
5. Slide out keyboard - Wrong
   
6. Touch Screen - Right

So he was right about the memory capacity and the Touch Screen. A score of 2 and a half out of 6 isn't bad.

Survey says 30 % of Britishers want an iPhone

30% of people living in the UK want an iPhone. That's 7 million iPhones !

According to research by M:Metrics, 56% of British and 64% of Americans were aware of the iPhone. 30% of UK mobile owners wanted one and reported a strong interest in buying a piece. 14% of Americans said they would consider buying one too.

Mark Donovan, a senior analyst at M:Metrics said: "While other devices - some of them already on the market - have features equal or better than the iPhone, such as 3G, superior cameras, and the like, the iPhone has been the first mobile device to create widespread consumer excitement around a mobile phone. This has the potential to increase consumer demand for more expensive, full-featured phones across the board as OEMs and other operators respond to AT&T/Apple’s marketing juggernaut."

The iPhone will be released on June 29 at Apple and select AT&T stores in the US.

Mobile Developers disappointed with the iPhone

No one ever said Apple marketers weren't clever. So if they wanted to start a firestorm of ISVs developing applications for the iPhone, how better to do that than to make development as simple as possible with the least barriers?

Nevertheless, until we hear more details from Apple about the way in which applications are handled on the iPhone, we won't know how clever Apple really is.

At WWDC07, Jobs promised that there will be a "new way to create applications for the iPhone" due mainly to the fact that it uses the full Safari browser engine.

But a lot of developers are disappointed with what Apple is offering.

"Web-based apps are cool for a lot of things. But what people were looking forward to was to to let them develop native applications," said Anthony Meadow , president of Bear River Associates , an ISV for mobile applications

Without native access to facilities, you don't have storage or sharing of information between applications, or reading and writing from address book and iCal. "There is not any easy way to do that with a Web-based application," said Meadow.

Overall, Meadow was not impressed. Although he admitted it is really not very clear what Apple intends. But, he added, "If they don't intend to have access, they should just tell us."

Ken Dulaney, the senior mobile analyst with Gartner says Apple's Web 2.0 solution is likely to be similar to what RIM does now.

"It avoids having to put code down on the device," Says Dulaney, which in turn protects it from crashing due to outside influences.

On RIM devices, the application is rendered on the server side, and the cache in the browser reformats it and pushes it down to the device.

"The code is only resident briefly on the device," Dulaney said.

Similar technology is also used by device manufacturers using mobile Linux from MontaVista.

Now resident on tens of millions of cell phones, the MontaVista design uses a "computing peer" design, Linux on the server and on the phone, giving developers the flexibility of partitioning an application on the client side and server side. An ISV can put a heavy load on the phone or a light one, says Jim Ready, CTO and founder of MontaVista.

"Linux on the phone is every bit as capable as Linux on the server," said Ready.

Certainly this supports similar statements from Jobs about Safari on the desktop and Safari on the iPhone.

However, like Meadow at Bear River, Ready has some reservations about the future capabilities or the richness of applications running on the iPhone.

When applications are developed solely using an "abstracted" development environment that doesn't talk to the lower layers of the device, such as the hardware and middleware, there is a dividing line in terms of the capabilities of the application.

"Take video frame rates. The reason you back out of an abstracted environment is because you pay for the abstraction in performance. It is a tradeoff," said Ready.

And not only for performance -- developers also need to write native applications that get down closer to access the hardware and the middleware for size and control reasons, as well, although Meadow doesn't see access to hardware as a major problem. "There is a handful of people that care about writing to the chips. It is possibly useful for really high performance graphic drivers and low level networking code," he says.

So where does that leave gamers and business users whose need for rich network applications might be problematic on the iPhone?

Unfortunately, until the full story is known, it is hard to tell what the software limitations of the iPhone will be. Certainly, if Apple wants the device to be a great mobile gaming system for use by millions of road warriors during those long waits at the airport, it will have to address the issue of how to get developers to write applications native to both the hardware and middleware.

In business as well, cell phones are currently being used with customized software, such as bar code and RFID readers.

"You can't do that with a browser interface," says Jerry Panagrossi, vice present of U.S. Operations for Symbian. "You need something more in-depth that can talk to IBM or Oracle middleware using native APIs for a richer experience."

Jim Ready at MontaVista sums it up when he says keeping the development environment as simple as possible will facilitate the largest amount of applications. As far as the capabilities of those applications Ready says, "There are limits, but sometimes it's okay that there are limits."

Source

iPhone may go it alone in Europe

EUROPE - Apple might choose a retail-only strategy when it launches its iPhone in Europe, as operators are complaining about the firm's arrogant demands.

"Operators consistently told us – not for attribution, of course – that they had spoken to Apple and found the company 'unbelievably arrogant,' making demands that 'simply can not be justified, no matter how hot the product is,' Avi Greengart, a principal analyst covering mobile devices for Current Analysis wrote in an advisory report on Monday.

"Several [operators] were adamant that they will never offer the iPhone."

The operators didn't disclose to Greengart what demands Apple imposed on European operators, he said in a phone interview.

Apple is preparing a US iPhone launch on 29 June. The company has previously promised an European release in the fourth quarter of this year.

In the US the device will be available only through mobile provider AT& T, previously known as Cingular. Apple has previously said that it is looking for a www.vnunet.com for the entire European market.

Greengart suggested that Orange would be well suited to offer the iPhone, because it is the only operator that has significant Edge coverage in Europe. The first version of the iPhone will feature an Edge radio, but lacks 3G capability. Edge is commonly referred to as 2.8G because it offers slightly slower data transaction rates that 3G.

Instead of partnering with an operator, Apple could opt to sell the iPhone through its existing dealer networks or partner with specialized mobile phone retailers such as the Carphone Warehouse which has subsidiaries throughout Western Europe.

If Apple decided to sell the iPhone directly to consumers, it would have to sell the devices without simlock, allowing the buyer to insert their own SIM card.

This isn't an option for the US market because several providers don't use SIM cards, and because operators use different network standards that prevent the iPhone from working on some networks.

Going operator-free however would pose a new challenge for Apple because the phone relies on the provider to power features such as the visual voice mail. This allows the user to view the sender of a message and select it, instead of having to listen to the entire queue of left messages.

This would force Apple to host voicemail or seek an outside partnership to bypass the voicemail services that are offered by operators.

Source

First Third Party App for the iPhone

The first third party app for the iPhone that runs on the Safari Web Browser has been created. It's a simple shopping list that's made using Javascript. You need Safari to run the App.

The iPhone will be released on June 29 in the U.S.

The iPhone VS the HTC Touch

The HTC touch is the newest smart phone out there that's touted to be able to compete with iPhone, but in terms of raw specs, how exactly does it compare with the iPhone ?

Well, first, the 'Touch' uses a new navigating interface called the TouchFLO where you can sweep your fingers on the screen to operate the phone. Moving your fingers along the screen lets you navigate. The screen size at 2.8 inches, is smaller than the iPhone and the screen resolution is also lower at 240x320.

The HTC Touch has a 128MB ROM and 68MB RAM and is providing a 1GB MicroSD free (at least in the U.K.), the iPhone on the other hand has a 4 or 8 GB storage capacity built in.

Comparing the iPhone and HTC Touch specifications....

	Apple iPhone	HTC Touch
Screen size	3.5 inches	2.8 inches
Screen resolution	320 by 480 at 160 ppi	240x320
Input method	Multi-touch	TouchFLO 5-way navigation control
Operating system	OS X	Windows Mobile 6 - Professional Edition
Storage	4GB or 8GB of internal storage	128MB ROM, 68MB RAM, 1GB MicroSD Free
GSM	Quad-band (MHz: 850, 900, 1800, 1900)	Tri-band GSM with GPRS/EDGE
Wireless data	Wi-Fi (802.11b/g) + EDGE + Bluetooth 2.0	Bluetooth / WiFi
Camera	2.0 MegaPixels	2.0 megapixels
Battery	Up to 5 hours Talk / Video / Browsing Up to 16 hours Audio playback	Talk Time : upto 5 hours Standby Time : 200 hours
Dimensions	4.5 x 2.4 x 0.46 inches / 115 x 61 x 11.6mm	99.9x58x13.9 mm
Weight	4.8 ounces / 135 grams	112 grams
Price	$499 for 4GB, $599 for 8GB	$594
Official Website	Apple iPhone	HTC Touch

The HTC's audio capabilities....
- Built-in microphone and 3-in-1 speaker
- Windows Media® Player supported formats: AAC, AAC+, eAAC+, MP3, WMA, WAV, QCELP, MPEG4, AMR-NB, AMR-WB, MIDI

Overall, the HTC Touch doesn't seem to be a bad phone, and I wouldn't mind one.
The HTC Touch will be available in the US in the second half of this year.


The Apple iPhone....

Do you fit the iPhone buyer profile ?

'Solutions Research Group' has released a survey showing the likely profile of an iPhone buyer.

According to SRG, 72% of those interested in the $499 version will be male.

The average age will be 31 years


58% would have completed college


Around 43% of the buyers would be from New York or California. This could increase your chance of getting an iPhone outside of those states.



Around 15 % from T-mobile, 7% from Sprint and 4 % from Verizon want the iPhone for their own carrier.


The iPhone would be more popular among the younger crowd


And their average household would be 26% higher than the national average.


48% of likely buyers do not currently posses an iPod

If you're all of the above, you have a God given right to posses an iPhone.

Apple iPhone for sale on eBay, Froogle

The iPhone is selling on eBay, for some absurd prices and some of the sellers have no previous selling histories. There are around 12 pieces for as of right now, and most of them are priced above the official Apple recommended price. Some of the sellers could be fake, so watch out.
Apple iPhone's on eBay

Froogle (or is it Google Product Search now ?) is also selling the iPhone , some for an insane $999,999, although some are 'reasonably' priced at around $900. Some sellers (Negri Electronics) also promise an unlocked iPhone. I wouldn't put too much trust on their reliability though.

The Apple iPhone will be a locked device when it comes out on June 29 with a compulsory 2 year contract with Cingular.

Guy working at Restaurant gets to check out the iPhone

A server working at Balthazar in NYC got to check out a customer's iPhone for around 5 minutes.

I work at Balthazar in NYC, a place that fancy people tend to hang out in quite a bit. One of my customers was testing out the iPhone. Apparently only 20 people in the world have a working iPhone at the moment! It's that secret. That phone is amazing!

The design of the unit has little to do with its ingenuity. It's the execution of its different functions that floored me. Movement throughout the UI was an intuitive experience. Navigating through menus flowed seamlessly from one element to another, with all the little Apple trimmings, genie effects, swishes. Steve did not lie. My customer turned the phone, instantly it switched to portrait mode. When he clicked on Safari, it opened the browser right away without slowdowns. The thing seemed more responsive than my powerbook! The version I saw did not appear to have any bugs or kinks in its use. Keep in my mind, I did not get a chance to test it out for longer than a few minutes, although what I did see assured me that this is a phone of a totally different caliber than anything I've seen out there.

How can i put it? That phone is running OSX. It feels like an Apple product. Consider it another mac. That made me pretty eager to get it.

If you have questions, I'll try to answer them.

On smudgy screens and covers.....

Throughout use the phone screen never got messy or smudged. The outside seemed to absorb fingerprints. My customer definitely touched it every which way too. We both had clean fingers.

It had a very clear, non glossy screen. The light in Balthazar is always indirect though so that might not apply in sunlight.

On the iPhone typing speed....

ahh, that was something I did not get to do personally. The guest did type a few things on the screen which he seemed to do without a problem. He said only good things about typing on the phone. That might be because he has had a production unit for months.

On the iPhone covercase....

Forgot to mention something. He had the packaging out also.

It's a softer black than the Ipod cases, with almost a more organic look. Once the top is pulled off, you only see the iPhone in the center, cocooned by a protective foamlike material. I didn't touch it. It looked so good that I wanted to ask if I could take it right there! The dimensions are of a cube, I think. Everything was really elegant.

Source

iPhone Ads

All 3 recently released Ads for the iPhone. Watch how Google maps loads amazingly quick, even though you might have to do that on an EDGE network which isn't known for it's high speeds. Also note the minimum 2 year activation plan requirement.
Apple better clear up what they mean by the "new 2 year activation plan" soon or there's going to be a lot of confusion on D-Day.



A previous Ad was also released during the Oscars

Another iPhone lookalike - HTC Touch

June 05, 2007 (IDG News Service) -- High Tech Computer Corp. announced the HTC Touch, a device based on the Microsoft Windows Mobile 6 Professional operating system that's designed with one-touch screen features giving users instant access to e-mails, contacts and appointments. Taiwan's HTC is the largest maker of mobile devices based on Microsoft Windows operating systems, and its use of a 2.8-in. touch screen in the HTC Touch is similar to the emphasis Apple Inc. has put on touch-screen features in its iPhone, which is due on June 29.

Users just sweep their fingers across the HTC Touch's screen to bring up an animated interface with three views: Contacts, Media and Applications. The views also allow finger control for scrolling on documents and browsing Web pages.

Apple has also touted the touch-screen features in its iPhone. Among other things, the iPhone will allow users to scroll through songs and movies on the 3.5-in. display. The main difference appears to be that the iPhone focuses on entertainment, while the Touch focuses on e-mail and other business-oriented uses.

The Touch does not come with large internal flash memory capacity for music and movie storage, which the iPhone will have. HTC instead offers a microSD drive, and a 1GB microSD card is included with the handset.

The HTC Touch includes multiple wireless technologies, including triband GSM for voice and EDGE (Enhanced Data for GSM Evolution) and Wi-Fi for uploading and downloading data to and from the Internet. Device-to-device data transmission is offered via Bluetooth.

The Touch weighs 112 grams with its battery. The handset also includes a 2-megapixel camera and other features.

It is now available in the U.K., and users throughout Europe and Asia will be able to buy one by the end of this month. North and South America will have to wait until later in the second half of the year. The company did not offer pricing information.

SMS: HTC launched the HTC Touch, a Microsoft Windows Mobile 6-based device designed with one-touch screen features reminiscent of the iPhone.

Source

It's official, iPhone to be released on June 29th

It's official, the iPhone will be available at Apple and AT&T/Cingular stores on June 29 2007.
Apple has displayed the date in it's Ads.

• Never Been an iPod
• How To
• Calamari

No comment on how many iPhones will be on available for sale on June 29. Steve Jobs has already warned about the shortage of iPhones at Apple Stores on June 29. So your best bet to get one is at an AT&T/Cingular store.
Happy Hunting.

P.S. Apple states 'Use requires minimum new 2 year activation plan'.

iPhone release date speculation - 2

More speculation on the iPhone release date.....

The only thing holding back the tidal waves of excitement about the release of the iPhone is that Apple has not announced an official date; it is very hard to take off work, pack your tent and thermos and prepare for a campout when you have no time frame to work with. Well, AppleInsider is reporting that a credible source claims June 29th could be the official day of release, as discussed in privileged circles at Apple retail stores.

Many people initially hoped Jobs would release the phone to the public sometime during WWDC week, relatively early in June. Those hopes seem a bit overzealous at the moment, some still hold that the iPhone could hit shelves around June 20th; much more plausible.

However, speculation really only goes as far as there are hard facts to replace them; though official dates are yet to be released, a credible source who has reported succesfully in the past might be the most trustworthy deliverer of speculation.

That also coincides with Jobs’ statement recently about the iPhone hitting stores before the last day in June; after all, there are only 30 days in the month…if Apple wants to squeeze as much time for delivery as possible, the 29th sounds accurate.

Don’t start packing your overnight bags just yet, as that means you have nearly a month to go. However, you might start planning your excuses and “business trips” that will inexplicably land you and your friends outside an Apple store prior to launch. Stealing out of the bed in the middle of the night is much more difficult to justify to significant others, so I would start out a bit earlier to avoid the most messy of confrontations. Happy camping!

Source

Google is the iPhone's secret ingredient - Time

Apple and Google just can't stand to be apart. Apple CEO Steve Jobs announced this week that Apple TV will soon play YouTube videos. Google recently unveiled a desktop search program especially for Mac users. And Google tools increasingly appear to be a key part of the secret sauce behind Apple's signature new gadget, the iPhone, set for release in June.

Both brands are beloved by legions of fans, and with Google CEO Eric Schmidt embedded on Apple's board of directors, the companies have gotten wise to the benefits of synergistic coupling. Call it the power of Gapple.

The partnership is more a friendship of convenience than a permanent pact. Apple benefits by bolstering its phone with popular Web tools, while Google gives its users a slick new way to access its services. One concern for Apple might be that the growing popularity of Google's mobile e-mail and calendar programs could reduce interest in Apple's own such offerings. But Apple already gives that software away for free, so the competition isn't likely to pose a lasting problem.

The iPhone's Web widgets and browsing software will enable access to a wide range of Google applications, with built-in tools for Google Maps and searches. A number of the portal's other mobile applications, such as Google News, will also work on the iPhone, benefiting from its touch-friendly browser. And Google's newest mobile tool, an on-the-go version of its calendar program, will take advantage of the iPhone's bright colors, though Apple will offer an alternative in the form of a built-in version of its own iCal software.

Sumit Agarwal, product manager for Google Mobile, says Google has been working with Apple and is moving in the direction of universal access to its suite of search and software applications on mobile devices. "Generally speaking, everything that you see on Macs, pending the technical ability of the device itself, will migrate into mobile applications," Agarwal says. That's likely to include a universal sign-on, so that you don't have to sign into each of Google's services separately.

Programs that require significant data input or are compromised by screen size aren't likely to be ported over in the near term, though. Agarwal says he doesn't expect consumers will demand a mobile Notebook product anytime soon, for instance, referring to Google's popular Web-clipping tool. And he doesn't see consumers clamoring to do heavy word processing on their mobile phones. They may want to comment on and communicate about such documents, though, to facilitate collaboration.

Rather than dumping huge applications onto small devices, Google's mobile applications are streamlined and stripped down to focus on the primary ways consumers use them on the go. "With Blogger, for example, it isn't as important that I be able to leave lots of comments, as that I can capture the essence of what I'm doing at that moment and share it in real time," Agarwal says. "I may want to snap a photo of a monument and store a voice annotation."

Google may have surprises yet to come for the iPhone. The portal partnered with LG in March to offer a blogging tool, and a related widget for the iPhone would be a logical next step. Google already offers a GMail widget for Macs, and a similar program on the iPhone would complement the pre-installed Apple mail software.

What else might Google offer? Possibly a Google Reader widget. The portal recently announced that its blog-reading tool can now be accessed offline. And though the iPhone could access Reader through its browser, a widget would be particularly useful when speedy mobile Web access isn't available. And why not a YouTube iPhone widget, now that YouTube is on Apple TV?

Though Google is key, it is far from the only iPhone partner. Yahoo will offer a mail widget and others, such as Sling Media, may offer software add-ons later to enable access to Web content and TV. Jobs has said that he is open to third-party applications that work within Apple's software framework.

AT&T, the iPhone's wireless carrier, has followed Apple's secrecy lead in keeping mum about the iPhone's features. But AT&T's Glenn Lurie recently alluded to Google applications on the iPhone as particularly appealing features that would make the device worth its $500 sticker.

Lurie and Jobs are both betting that supplementing Apple's sleek mobile browser with Google goodies will encourage consumers to capitalize on the mobile Web in a way that so far they haven't. Although about 90% of phones have some sort of built-in browser, Forrester Research has found that only about 45% of consumers say they are aware of their phone's Web capabilities. And given that 55% of those surveyed by the Equs Group, a market research firm, said they would buy a Google or Yahoo-branded phone, Apple looks smart partnering up.

Source

iPhone release date, Availability and Third Party Applications

Steve Jobs had a Q&A with the Wall Street Journal's "D : All Things Digital" where he answered some quick questions on the iPhone.
He Confirmed that the iPhone would be available by late June.
When Mossberg (WSJ's technology columnist) asked him if it might be the last day of June, Steve replied "Uh, yeah ..."

When asked if there would be enough iPhones to make it available to more people on the release date, he quipped "I don't know, I hope not "

On allowing third party application developers, Steve said "This is an important trade-off between security and openness. We want both. We're working through a way, we'll find a way to let third parties write apps and still preserve security on the iPhone. But until we find that way, we can't compromise the security of the phone."

"I've used third-party apps. The more you add, the more your phone crashes. No one's perfect, and we'd sure like our phone not to crash once a day. If you can just be a little more patient with us, I think everyone can get what they want."

So now we know the iPhone will be released in late June, with it being possibly open to Third Party applications. Hopefully availability wont be an issue on release day, but we all know that wont be true.

New Apple Patent to keep iPhone signals clean and interference proof

Apple has developed a way to keep the iPhone and any other future wireless handhelds free of interference, according to a newly granted US patent. The filing, originally made just weeks before the iPhone's announcement at Macworld San Francisco, is meant to address the potentially dangerous problem of interference from peripherals brought near or attached to the device. A detector chip placed inside the hardware could be trained to recognize certain classes of add-ons or individual models and warn the user if a device (familiar or otherwise) could disrupt the main signal; this could occur through either an audio or a visual cue, Apple writes. Synchronizing the main device could provide an updated list of accessories to prevent false alarms.

Although potentially usable to block unsafe equipment, the technology could also be used simply to keep the main unit's wireless signal as clean as possible with some add-ons, the description notes. Software onboard the primary handheld could automatically readjust the antenna or its frequency to preserve a clear signal when paired with an accessory that makes only slight incursions into the device's frequency range.

While the patent makes no direct reference to the iPhone and may not have been incorporated into the product shipping in late June, the patent is specifically meant to address concerns regarding cellphones with media abilities as well as more generic wireless mobile devices, ensuring that Apple can use the patent both for the iPhone as well as other hardware types in the near future.

Source

Quanta shares rise on iPhone speculation....

Shares of Quanta Computer Inc. rose yesterday in the wake of news reports that it is manufacturing iPhones for Apple, with shipments starting in September.

The world's biggest contract maker of notebook computers, Quanta counts Dell Inc and Hewlett-Packard Co among its major clients.

Its share price inched up 0.4 percent to close at NT$50.8 on the Taiwan Stock Exchange yesterday.

Two local business dailies, the Commercial Times and the Economic Daily News, yesterday reported that Quanta will make its first delivery in September, sharing the order with the first appointed iPhone assembler, Hon Hai Precision Industry Co (鴻海精密) -- the nation's largest maker of electronics parts.

The reports added that Quanta's shipments of iPhones would soar to 5 million next year.

However, Vincent Chen (陳豊丰), a research analyst with the investment banking house CLSA Ltd., dismissed the reports.

"We have checked with our industry contact and confirmed that Hon Hai is still doing the iPhone order," Chen wrote in a research note yesterday.

What Quanta is working on is the next iPod model with wireless local area network (WLAN), not the iPhone, he said.

"An order of 5 million units is too big to be true [considering] the challenge Hon Hai is currently facing in raising production yields [for the iPhone]," he wrote.

In a filing to the stock exchange, Quanta refused to comment, citing client confidentiality, but said it was aggressively pursuing new orders to boost the company's sales growth.

Some industry watchers are skeptical about the hype surrounding the iPhone, which is scheduled to debut in the US late next month.

"Apple is targeting to sell 10 million iPhones next year. The figure is only 1 percent of the world's total handset sales," Shiv Bakhshi, an International Data Corp analyst, said at a forum yesterday.

The iPhone may revolutionize the user interface, look and feel of the tele phone, but it might not live up to expectations of being a "market killer," he added.

Quanta has been expanding its production capacity to boost mobile phone and video-music player manufacturing on a contract basis.

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