After almost a year, the iPhone is my best tech purchase.
I was one of the suckers who bought an 8 GB iPhone for $599. When Apple dropped the price to $499 shortly thereafter, it stung a little; the $100 credit the company offered to early purchasers eased the pain somewhat.
The current lineup is more affordable: $399 for the 8 GB model and $499 for a 16 GB unit. That's still a lot of money, but not bad compared with other smartphones.
But you know what? Even at $599, the iPhone has been my best technology purchase of the last year. Here's why.
Ubiquitous Internet access. When you buy a house, the real-estate agent doesn't ask if you want electricity included as an add-on. You just expect it to be there when you plug in a lamp. That's what it's like to have the Internet available on the iPhone, wherever you are.
AT&T's Edge network isn't a stellar performer, but I'm rarely looking up high-bandwidth material — and when I need better access, I can switch to a Wi-Fi network. Driving directions and real-time traffic conditions are in the Maps application and Google searches on anything are always at my fingertips.
Much credit is due to both Apple and AT&T for hammering out an affordable, unmetered Internet-access plan, so I'm not always wondering if checking my e-mail is going to result in overage charges.
I've found that Internet ubiquity on the iPhone isn't just helpful when I'm out of the office or stuck in traffic. In fact, lately most of my iPhone Web browsing occurs on my couch, often in the middle of the night during my infant daughter's feedings.
I've become adept at balancing baby in the crook of my arm, bottle in my right hand, and iPhone in my left hand — to pass the time and sometimes to help me stay awake.
Much of that time is spent catching up on news and blogs at m.newsgator.com, a mobile-friendly (meaning the format has been optimized for reading on a smaller screen) aggregation of the RSS feeds to which I subscribe. On my Mac I use NewsGator's Mac software NetNewsWire (free), which synchronizes the read status of my feeds with the server.
I've also bookmarked mobile versions of sites such as The New York Times (mobile.nytimes.com) and Facebook (iphone.facebook.com).
When I'm in a more communicative mood, I use PocketTweets (www.pockettweets.com) to post messages and stay current on the Twitter streams that I follow.
The late, late show. To my surprise, as a new dad I've also watched several movies on my iPhone, usually in half-hour chunks. I haven't had much opportunity to sit down and watch a DVD, so the capability to rent movies from iTunes as digital downloads has enabled me to watch films I thought I would end up missing (including some movies, such as "The Kingdom," that I know my wife has little interest in watching with me).
I'll echo others' criticism that the 24-hour limit imposed on iTunes movie rentals once you've begun watching them is too brief. I managed to catch the first half of "300" before the movie disappeared from my phone.
What the iPhone doesn't yet let me do is rent movies directly from iTunes. I can purchase music, though, which I've done on occasion when I've decided to buy an album (often inspired by listening to songs in the KEXP Music That Matters podcast) and knew that I'd forget about it by the time I returned to my computer.
Software updates, SDK. Those are all things I can do now, but another reason the iPhone has been my best tech purchase is that it's not a device locked into its purchase date. The iPhone is a computer (running OS X, in fact) that happens to be small: I don't want to toss away a perfectly functional device when the next major software update comes along.
For the iPhone, that update will be version 2.0 of the operating system in June. And now that an iPhone SDK (software development kit) is finally available, we'll start to see third-party applications that go beyond what Apple has provided.
There are exceptions to the advantages I've listed so far, of course.
It's annoying to switch between accounts in Mail, as is scrolling through the contacts list; the capability to copy and paste text would be helpful; and I desperately want color-coded calendar categories that synchronize with iCal, rather than having all of my calendars grouped together on the iPhone.
But those are all items that can be applied in future software updates or third-party applications.
Personally, I hope someone creates an application that lets me remotely control iTunes on the computer that plays music through the living-room stereo, for those times when a sleeping baby won't let me get up from the couch.
The cost of Apple's iPhone handset is being cut to attract new customers.
The mobile phone operator O2 and retailer Carphone Warehouse are cutting the price of the standard handset by £100 to £169, in what O2 says will make the phone an "unbeatable proposition".
The offer for the 8GB model lasts until 1 June only, while the price of the more advanced 16GB handset remains unchanged at £329.
O2, which is the exclusive network contract holder, says the iPhone, launched last November, is its fastest-selling handset. However, some experts believe the price cut reflects a slowdown in sales.
An O2 spokesman said: "The iPhone has been very successful, but we want to expand it even further and price is a very good way to do that."
The price cut follows a similar move in Germany, where T-Mobile reduced the retail price of the 8GB version to as little as €99 (£78).
All handset makers are working on their iPhone competitors feverishly to halt its growth, but after 10 months in the market, no one has succeeded in bringing a high quality iPhone competitor. That’s not to say they won’t market them now. They will. But the question is - is there a point to launching an "iPhone Killer?" Isn’t it too late already? If iPod success story is anything to look into, it depicts how slow response could give Apple a permanent win.
With iPhone 2.0 on its way and Apple’s aggressive strategy to open the platform for independent development, soon-to-be-announced touchscreen phones appear to have an uncertain, if not a disappointing, future. You wouldn’t hear handset makers admitting defeat, and iPhone-like phones will meet internal sales targets (because the targets will never be quite as high), but Apple will continue to bounce higher with an updated iPhone every year or so.
Why Apple Should Not Open It's Mobile Platform
Unfortunately, handset makers either didn’t learn from music player makers and responded quickly to the iPhone, or they were blindsided. Either way, they are in a losing position now and will be constantly reminded of this at every iPhone launch in the future. That will destroy morale internally, and that’s never a good sign for innovation.
There’s obviously no point in fighting a losing battle, but maybe, just maybe, one of them can out top Apple at its own game. I say that, but in a highly competitive industry, it would be foolish to expect others to just give up. They are going to try, they are going to fight and they are going to innovate, but it’s that magic that none of the others will add to their mix of ingredients.
Thus far, it appears as though the iPhone will be another iPod, and Apple will continue its winning streak in the foreseeable future. But for our sakes and their, let’s get ready, step up to the plate and hit a homerun with a real iPhone Killer. Maybe.
Welcome to the next round of rumors and leaks about the “next” iPhone: The latest iPhone firmware hints provide some information on Apple’s iPhone global expansion plans, with Russia and Asia-Pacific being the prime targets. A MacNN reader claims to have found evidence for a GPS module in the next-generation iPhone and Gizmodo revealed a new feature to save web images in the iPhone photo library.
There is much more information in the latest iPhone Beta SDK as previously thought and developers and hackers are coming up with new information about new features almost on a daily basis. The most recent SDK seed apparently reveals support for additional language support, leading Computerworld to believe that this may reflect new markets for device. The magazine discovered support for Swedish, Danish, Finnish, Norwegian, Polish, Korean and Portuguese languages. These languages add to already existing support for English, French, German, Italian and Russian. As the handset was subsequently released in the UK, France, Germany and Italy - but not Russia - we believe that Russia and countries in Asia-Pacific will be the next targets of Apple.
A MacNN reader, who was diving through iPhone developer documentation, reportedly found "nearly conclusive evidence" of a GPS module in the next-gen iPhone. The documentation hinted towards altitude measurements, which is not possible with the iPhone’s WPS (and quite frankly not really accurate to within 100 ft in GPS as well). However, the developer note stated that this feature is supported in iPhone OS 2.0 and later.
Gizmodo also made this round of iPhone news by discovering an updated Safari version within the iPhone 2.0 software update, which will allow users to save web images to iPhone photo albums. According to Gizmodo, this feature works by holding your finger against an image for a longer time than usual, prompting a pop-up dialog to appear. Users can save a web image to iPhone photo albums for use as a background images, email or use as a custom contact icon. The new web image saving feature adds to the already discovered contact search and iCal meeting invitation features reported previously.
As far as the language support is concerned, it is of particular interest that the newly revealed Korean language files hint at Apple's preparation to debut the iPhone in the Far East with a Korean release, since talks in China have hit a wall. Apple was engaged in talks with China Mobile to release the iPhone in China, but China Mobile declined to play along Apple’s revenue sharing model. China Mobile has more than 380 million subscribers, covering almost 30% of the Chinese population. In total, China has about 565 million mobile phone users.
China Mobile chairman Wang Jianzhou confirmed that his company will not agree to a revenue sharing model Apple has in place in the U.S. and in Europe and said that his company will work with Apple once the two parties have worked out a better business model. Jianzhou told press members that the "door will remain open as long as there is customer demand." And it seems that customer demand for an iPhone in China is overwhelming. A recent Pearl Research survey indicated that 68% of the Chinese population has heard of the iPhone. 88% of those have an “interest” in the handset, despite a steep $500 price tag suggested by the survey.
Apple allegedly gets a monthly cut for each new AT&T subscriber that buys an iPhone. Media reports claimed that Apple got away with as much as 30% per user contract in deals signed with some operators in Europe. However, Apple executives recently hinted that the company may consider other business models beside revenue sharing: The Australian web site MacTalk claims that Australians will get unlocked iPhones soon. As the website reports, iPhone users in Australia won't be locked into a contract, will be free to choose from more than one mobile operator. It seems Apple will have to adjust its business model for markets that take the iPhone into new cultures and economies to translate the American and European success into a global success.
Bernstein Research said its iPhone supply checks showed that the multifunction device appeared to be out of stock at Apple's US stores and its online store, which could lead to lost sales of up to 40 000 units a week in the event of a prolonged shortage.
Sacconaghi said the impact so far was limited, estimating the average Apple store was out of stock for only a few days during the March quarter, and that supplies appeared to be fine at stores of wireless carrier partner AT&T.
"In our view, the most likely explanation for this unusual situation is a production shortfall, possibly due to a component shortage," analyst Toni Sacconaghi wrote in a note.
pple declined to confirm if there was an iPhone shortage, but spokesperson Steve Dowling said: "We are working to replenish iPhone supplies as quickly as we can and our stores continue to receive shipments almost every day."
Recent reports of iPhone shortages have fuelled speculation that Apple is readying a new version of the device that will run on faster 3G wireless networks.
Apple could introduce a new iPhone in June or July, about three months earlier than previously expected, said American Technology Research analyst Shaw Wu, citing checks with unidentified supply chain sources.
"What gives us higher conviction in the accelerated timetable is that iPhone inventory levels appear fairly lean, which is consistent with Apple's tendency to wind down inventory ahead of an update," Wu wrote in a note.
Wu forecast Apple would sell 11 million phones by the end of 2008, 10 percent more than the company's stated goal, thanks to a new model, wider adoption among businesses, and price cuts.
With the release of iPhone 2.0 software in June, iPhone users will likely have a glut of Apple-approved programs to choose from. However, plenty of third-party iPhone software is out there now, provided you've opened your device to it, a process known as "jailbreaking." For those up to the task, here's how to load and manage programs on a jailbroken iPhone.
Until iPhone 2.0 software is released in June, if you want to add third-party software to your iPhone, you first need to jailbreak it (as I discuss in a blog entry). Jailbreaking, however, is only the first step. The next step is to actually install your choice of software. For this task, hackers have standardized on an iPhone application called, appropriately enough, "Installer." This program downloads software directly to your iPhone (assuming you have a WiFi or EDGE connection), much as Apple's (Nasdaq: AAPL) Latest News about Apple App Store promises to do.
If you decide to jailbreak your iPhone (which I encourage you to do), you'll need to get comfortable with this Installer. It comes with no instructions, however. In searching the Web, I found that there is very little tutorial information on how to use it. Admittedly, Installer is not a complex program, and you can figure out much of it yourself. Still, there are several nuances to the program that are not immediately obvious. So ... for the benefit of those who may find it useful ... here is my brief guide to using Installer. Button 1: Featured
After you launch Installer (and you wait briefly while it refreshes its sources), you'll find five buttons along the bottom of the screen: Featured, Install, Update, Uninstall and Sources. Tap each to go to the designated screen.
Featured is the default screen; you're already there. From here, you can find out what's hot and what's new in the world of Installer. The remaining 4 buttons are where the bulk of Installer's work is done. Button 2: Install
To start installing software, tap the Install button. This brings up a list of Category folders. The top folder is "All Packages." Tap this item to see an alphabetical list of all the software currently available to install.
Alternatively, scroll down the Categories list and pick a category of interest, such as Utilities. Tap this to see the subset of software that falls into that category.
The first thing I recommend that you install is Community Sources. Doing this greatly expands the list of software available for installing. Here's what to do:
1. Tap the Sources category
2. From the Packages list that appears, tap Community Sources
3. From the Package screen that next appears, tap the Install button in the upper right corner
4. From the buttons that pop-up from the bottom of the screen, tap Install
Wait briefly while Install does its work. When it's done, you are ready for the next installation. Repeat the same procedure for any other software you select.
I leave it up to you to explore the programs available and decide what you want on your iPhone. However, if you share my interest in "under the hood" utilities, here are a few programs I highly recommend you check out: MobileFinder, AFPd, SysInfo and Services.
Here are several Install tips you should know:
* A program's Package screen may include a More Info item. Tap it to get more detail about what the program does.
* To go back to a previous screen at any point, tap the button in the upper left (typically it will say "Packages" or "Categories").
* As stated above, when you tap the Install button in the upper right of the screen, a menu of buttons pops up. One button here is Add to Queue. If you tap this icon, the selected software is not immediately installed. Instead, you are returned to the previous screen, from which you can add further software. You can keep doing this. For the last selected item, tap Install instead of Add to Queue and all the items in the queue will be installed at the same time.
If there are items in the queue, the pop-up menu additionally includes a Clear Queue button.
Unfortunately, there is no way you can actually view the contents of the queue.
* The Install pop-up menu may warn you that a selected item is "untrusted." This will typically appear for software from sources you have added yourself (as described below). Assuming you had confidence that the added source was not fraudulent, you can ignore these "untrusted" warnings and install the software.
* If an installation fails and an error message pops up, the most common cause is that the server where the software originates is having problems. Try again later.
* After installing new software, it's a good idea to press the Home button. What will likely happen is that the iPhone's sundial "cursor" will briefly appear, followed by a jump to the iPhone's Lock screen. When you return to the Home screen, you'll see the icons for your newly added software.
* If you ever need to restore your iPhone, all of your Installer-added software is erased. As far as I know, there is no way to back up this software so that it can be automatically reinstalled after a restore. You'll just have to start over again from scratch. As such, it's probably a good idea to maintain a list of everything you've installed.
Button 3: Update
Installer automatically checks for updated versions of any software you have installed. If it finds any, a number will appear over the Update button at the bottom of the screen. The number indicates how many updates are waiting to be installed.
Tap the Update button to access the Update page. If there is more than one item listed, you can install just the programs you select or you can choose to install all listed programs at once. Button 4: Uninstall
If you tap the Uninstall button, you are taken to a list of all currently installed software. Tap any item to go to its package page. An Uninstall button should be in the upper right. Tap it to uninstall the software. If the button says "Reinstall" instead of "Uninstall," you've selected a "base" program that cannot be uninstalled. All you can do is reinstall it, which may be needed if you believe there is currently some problem with the software.
This page also serves as a convenient record of everything that you have elected to install on your iPhone. Button 5: Sources
The final button in the row of buttons along the bottom of the Installer screen is Sources; tap this to see a list of all the source servers that are contributing to the list of programs available from the Installer. This Sources list includes all the default sources put there when Installer was first installed plus any you added via items in the Sources category of the Install list.
Although it is unlikely that you will want to do so, you can uninstall any item in Sources. To do so, tap the Edit button in the upper right of the screen. Next, for each source you want to uninstall, tap the minus icon that appears next to its name followed by a tap of the Delete button. Finally, tap Done (which has replaced Edit in the upper right).
More often useful is the ability to add further sources. This is how you can gain access to software that is not included in any of Installer's sources. To do this:
1. From the Sources screen, tap the Edit button in the upper right
2. Tap the Add button in the upper left corner
3. From the Add Source window that appears, enter the URL (universal resource locator) of the desired source
4. Tap OK; then Tap Done in the upper right corner
5. Tap the Refresh button in the upper left corner
How do you find out the needed URL to enter here? From iPhone Web sites. Here are two examples of sources to add, which also happen to show off two of the cooler things you can do with a jailbroken iPhone:
* Apple Screenshot Enabler. Want to take a screenshot of an iPhone display? You'll be happy to know that Apple has built a screen capture function into the iPhone software. Unfortunately, they aren't telling anyone about it and, in fact, have the feature turned off by default.
To turn it on, you have to modify a .plist file on the iPhone. Yup, this is the same technique used to add "secret" features to your Mac (as I describe here). For iPhone screenshots, the required file is com.apple.springboard.plist, located in /var/mobile/Library/Preferences. What you have to do is add a SBMobileScreenshotr property to this file, with a Boolean class and a value of Yes. Exactly how to do this "by hand" goes beyond what I want to cover in this article. Happily, there is a simpler alternative: 1. Using the Installer utility, go to Sources and add http://repository.ripdev.com as a source
2. Go to Install and, from the RiP Dev category, install Apple Screenshot Enabler
3. Press the Home button to complete the installation
That's it. Now, to actually take a screenshot, press and hold the Home button while toggling the Mute button. When the screen flashes white, you have your shot. You'll find it stored in Photo's Camera Roll folder.
* ShowTime. Want to take a movie using the iPhone's camera? Just install ShowTime. To get it to appear in Installer's listings, you first have to add http://www.polarbearfarms.com/repo/ as a Source. You'll now find it in the Multimedia category. Recorded videos are stored in the iPhone's /var/mobile/Media/PBFVideo folder. You can transfer recordings to your Mac by using the AFPd utility to mount your iPhone as a hard drive and navigate to this folder.
Palm and RIM's BlackBerry are set to lose market share to Apple's iPhone, an analyst has claimed.
Needham & Co. analyst Charles Wolf has commenced coverage of Palm and RIM, and notes that both companies face challenges as iPhone wins hearts and minds in the consumer and enterprise markets.
Palm faced the deepest challenge. Wolf warned that the company had "lost its way." The lack of a new OS release in five years meant the company was increasingly reliant on in-development products to regain its lost market lead.
"Neither is likely to be introduced until late in the year. Even then, it's an open question whether they'll be successful. We're initiating coverage with an underperform rating," Needham said.
Wolf also believed that Apple's iPhone may take market share from both competing firms once it introduces new enterprise-friendly features in June. RIM will see some impact in its core enterprise markets, while the expected diversity of third-party iPhone applications would hammer Palm's place in the consumer market.
"We believe BlackBerry's supercharged growth in this [consumer] market could slow materially when far more versatile applications developed for the iPhone begin to appear in the second half of the year," Wolf warned.
The analyst does note that this triptych of smartphone developers still hold a great lead on most competitors, because other firms (such as Motorola or Samsung) were tied to Microsoft's Windows Mobile system, which Needham calls "a non-starter in the consumer world."
The introduction of Google's Android platform for mobile phones may change the game once again, the analyst said, as it will offer a more extendible base OS than Windows Mobile to competing firms.
Despite it all, Wolf notes that Apple changed the smartphone industry when it chose to launch iPhone, describing the market as "totally disrupted" by the product's introduction.
"The iPhone is a game changer, weaving together a wide array of computer-like functions," he explained. "Given the choice between a BlackBerry and iPhone, we believe a material percentage of consumers will opt for the iPhone once exciting applications for the phone begin to proliferate in the second half of the year. BlackBerry sales should continue to grow but at a materially slower rate than they would have in the absence of the iPhone."
RIM's market leadership was based entirely on the incompetence of the competition, the analyst also said: "RIM's competitors until quite recently were simply inept. Their failure stemmed less from their ability to design sleek phones than in their choice of an operating system on which to run them," he explained.
The analyst rates Palm shares as under-perform, while RIM takes a hold rating pending the effects of June's release of iPhone Software 2.0.
AppleInsider reports that the ZiPhone creators have discovered a few lines of code that refer to a 3G chipset in the latest iPhone firmware. Tucked within firmware beta 5A240d are references to Infineon chipset SGOLD3H, an unsurprising choice as the current iPhone uses the older Infineon SGOLD2.
The new chipset will serve a variety of functions such as application acceleration and A/V processor. It will also enable support of GSM 3G access, meaning HSDPA will be on the next iPhones. It supports up to 7.2Mbps over HSDPA, but unfortunately does not support the newer HSUPA standard.
The iPhone already has a reputation in China -- about 68 percent of respondents in a recent survey had heard of the device, although it's not officially sold or marketed there. The price -- $500 was the number the survey used -- was the most common factor cited by those who said they wouldn't buy one.
Some 68 percent of respondents in a Chinese survey have heard of the iPhone, though the high price -- US$500 was used in the survey -- could be a hurdle for Apple (Nasdaq: AAPL) Latest News about Apple in the country of 565 million mobile phone users.
The survey was conducted by Pearl Research though Apple has not announced plans for the iPhone in China, where many of gray market iPhones are already available.
The firm said that a $500 price tag was the most often mentioned reason for survey respondents to not be interested in the phone, though information released by the company to the media did not include the exact percentage of those surveyed who said they would not buy the device. Evidence of Marketing Genius?
If the sample is accurate, 68 percent of respondents having heard of the iPhone is extraordinary in a market where Apple's market share is tiny in computers and only marginally larger in the digital media device market.
It speaks volumes about Apple's ability to garner attention for its every move throughout the world.
That said, the survey also found that 88 percent of existing iPod owners were interested in the iPhone, demonstrating the power that getting Apple products in the hands of customers can have. Net Not So Important
Other key points in the survey include the fact that surfing the Internet is not a key selling point in China, in part because of the high costs of data plans in the country.
The survey also found consumer interest in the many iPhone knockoffs already being offered in China.
Pearl Research said the survey was conducted on 450 online survey respondents and 24 in-depth one-on-one interviews across both first-tier and second-tier Chinese cities.
MOSCOW — Apple Inc. has gained unlikely allies in its bid to boost iPhone sales: Russian smugglers.
The device isn’t sold by Cupertino, California-based Apple in Russia and it can’t be used legally on local networks. Still, about 250,000 people own one, more than any other country except the U.S. and China, according to Eldar Murtazin, chief analyst at Moscow-based Mobile Research Group.
That popularity has turned into a bonanza for traders who sell the phones in kiosks and on the Internet for $1,000 each, more than twice the U.S. price. Hackers say they charge as much as 2,500 rubles ($105) to “unlock” them so they work locally.
“It’s an icon for Russians,” said Timofei Kulikov, a lawyer and buyer of electronic products for X5 Retail Group NV, Russia’s largest supermarket chain. “If you see two businessmen at lunch in Moscow, they’ll both have iPhones on the table.”
The evolution from web-surfing, touch-screen gadget to status symbol has been a boon for Peter Aloisson. The jeweler sold a diamond-studded iPhone encased in white gold to a Russian businessman in March for 120,000 euros and is working on a 500,000-euro ($783,000) version that may go to another Russian client.
“There is no doubt that Russia, when it comes to luxury items, is by far the best marketplace,” Aloission, 47, said last week from his studio in Vienna. “More and more Russian customers visit us here in Austria,” said Aloissen, who started customizing handsets 10 years ago.
Notable users include President-elect Dmitry Medvedev, billionaire Alexander Mamut and Boris Yeltsin Jr., grandson of the former president, according to the newspaper Kommersant. Medvedev’s spokeswoman declined to comment.
Murtazin says about 20,000 iPhones arrive in Russia each month.
“They arrive in suitcases,” Murtazin said. “Practically every flight from the U.S. brings new iPhones.”
Apple, the world’s biggest buyer of flash memory chips, hasn’t said how many of the 4 million iPhones sold through Jan. 15 were unlocked to work on unauthorized networks. Analysts including Gene Munster of Piper Jaffray & Co. put the figure at 1 million. About 400,000 of those are in China, CNET News reported in February, citing market research firm In-Stat.
Apple, which sells the 8-gigabyte version for $399, gets an undisclosed cut of monthly wireless fees for the device, released in June, and has deals with carriers in the U.S., U.K., Germany, France, Ireland and Austria. Users have hacked the handset to modify its software so it works on other carriers’ networks, depriving Apple of fees.
Chief Operating Officer Timothy Cook said in March that the number of unlocked iPhones used in countries where Apple hasn’t started selling them is a sign of “great demand.” Spokeswoman Natalie Kerris declined to comment on the use of the product in the former Soviet Union.
The iPhone’s popularity in Russia, home to 101 billionaires by Finans Magazine’s count, is an irritation for retailers including Yevroset, the country’s largest mobile-phone chain, whose sales are suffering because it can’t stock the product.
“The phones aren’t certified on the territory of the Russian Federation,” Yevroset co-owner and Chariman Yevgeny Chichvarkin, said in a telephone interview. “Import duties and value-added taxes aren’t paid.” Those taxes equal 24 percent of a phone’s retail price on average, said Murtazin of Mobile Research Group, which advises VimpelCom and MegaFon, two of Russia’s three national mobile operators.
Russia’s economy has expanded about 7 percent annually since President Vladimir Putin was elected in 2000, boosting average wages sixfold and spurring demand for mobile phones and other imported goods. Handset sales rose 10 percent last year to a record 32.5 million units, according to closely held Yevroset, which reported revenue of $5.6 billion in the period.
“In Russia, people want to stand out, even a person with a small income will find the money to buy expensive accessories,” said Sergei Savin, senior analyst at technology research firm J’son & Partners in Moscow.
The prevalence of the iPhone underscores Russia’s attitude toward licensed goods, which the U.S. has made a sticking point in approving the country’s 14-year quest to join the World Trade Organization. Hackers and sellers of contraband products openly advertise on the Internet.
“You can basically do whatever you like,” said Ivan, 21, after he unlocked an iPhone in a basement office he shares with two friends in one of the capital’s most expensive neighborhoods. “We’re not liable for anything because officially it’s not here,” said Ivan, who declined to give his last name.
That doesn’t worry Maxim Mokeyev, executive director at Evans Property Services, a real estate broker in Moscow.
“It’s radically different from anything else out there,” said Mokeyev, who taught himself how to unlock the phone with special software. “The one I bought in New York took me two hours,” Mokeyev said, pointing to his handset. “The second one I did, for a friend, took about 20 minutes.”
Meanwhile, the online technology journal CNews reported Monday that Apple intends to expand its presence in Russia in the near future. The report said that the online shop iTunes Store would be available to Russian users from April 21st. Yevgeny Chichvarkin, Yevroset’s owner, was quoted as saying that “the given step proves Apple’s interest in legal iPhone sales in Russia.”
According to CNews, billboard teasers designed in the iPhone colors appeared in Moscow on Friday. The billboards display the inscription ‘iSkoro 21.04.2008’ (iSoon 21.04.2008) against a black background, similar to the iPhone packaging.
The heavily anticipated 3G-capable iPhone will be available within the next 60 days, Wall Street Journal columnist Walt Mossberg revealed at a Beet.
TV executive conference in Washington, DC. The veteran writer made the comment while discussing the limits of cellular broadband in the US, noting that third-generation access in the country is still slow compared to other areas of the world. Mossberg doesn't offer supporting evidence in the speech but is known to regularly have exclusive access to advance details, having received a review iPhone weeks ahead of its June 2007 debut.
The comments fuel growing speculation over the launch of an iPhone that supports HSPA Internet access, which is considered by many to be essential for adding more Internet-dependent features to the handset as well as offering access to Japan and other countries where 3G is the only option for phone service. A special T-Mobile Germany promotion and analyst reports have all pointed to a likely iPhone upgrade to the faster wireless technology in June.
The Journal writer also noted that he appreciated the Apple TV but that current bandwidth limits on American broadband affect potential enjoyment of the experience. HD and very long videos often require long download times before they can reliably play on most users' devices.
Despite sitting out the CTIA 2008 conference, Apple's iPhone business had an eventful week.
Today, on "This Week in iPhone," we'll address two significant developments. Apple stores around the country are starting to recover from an iPhone shortage, while T-Mobile has cut the price of the iPhone in Germany by 300 euros.
First up, the supply concerns. Apple acknowledged the shortage and told The New York Times that it was working to get iPhones into its retail stores as fast as possible. The cause of the shortage still hasn't emerged, but speculation that a 3G iPhone would be arriving sooner than expected has cooled.
One reason, advanced by Sanford Bernstein's Toni Sacconaghi, is that all the newly arriving iPhones are the regular models, not 3G versions. If Apple really was gearing up to launch a 3G model in the near future, it probably wouldn't build inventories of the older models. Sacconaghi thinks that Apple ran into a production issue, and made the decision to allocate the iPhones it had on hand to AT&T's stores, because it can count iPhones shipped to channel partners as sales. Remember, the first quarter just ended last week.
But, Sacconaghi doesn't think the shortage really cost Apple all that much business. "We believe the impact to Apple's overall iPhone sales has been minimal so far, and is likely to be modest unless the shortage persists or worsens," he wrote in a report.
Meanwhile, T-Mobile is running a special on iPhones until the end of June. You can now get an 8GB iPhone in Germany for 99 euros ($154.78), if you choose a hefty service plan. Several analysts think this means the 3G iPhone launch is therefore timed for the end of June, which would make some sense given the identical target date for the iPhone 2.0 software.
Bans on Apple's popular iPhone may be lifted after a license with ActiveSync means e-mail can safely be pushed to the devices. The European Commission is likely to approve Google's move to acquire DoubleClick with an April 2 deadline looming, and Microsoft's Bill Gates is no longer the world's richest man.
