Posts Tagged ‘iphone 3g’

It appears Apple could be dropping 3G iPhone’s in new countries as soon as tomorrow, according to reports from Apple Insider. After launching in 22 additional countries during phase 2 of their global iPhone push late last month, Apple appears set on bringing 29 more countries into the fold.

And the grand total? 73 countries by year’s end.

Here’s the expected launch list of countries participating in the impending phase 3:

Botswana, Brazil, Cameroon, Central African Republic, Croatia, Dominican Republic, Egypt, Equatorial Guinea, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Ivory Coast, Jamaica, Jordan, Kenya, Latvia, Lithuania, Madagascar, Mali, Malta, Mauritius, Nicaragua, Niger, Panama, Russia, Qatar, Senegal, South Africa, Turkey, and Venezuela

Of note, populous Brazil and Russia are expected to join the fray, adding a healthy dose of potential mobile subscribers to Apple’s ever-expanding harem. China and Korea, however, appear to be dragging their heels through the approval process.

While messing about with his camcorder’s NightShot function a member of the Australian Whirlpool forums uncovered a little tidbit of hidden iPhone gadgetry: a DataMatrix 2d Barcode. The tiny barcode, hidden behind the 3G’s plastic clamshell, can host up to a 50 character sequence.

What’s it all mean? Well Engadget postulates (photos above courtesy of them) the imprint merely contains the unique IMEI and Serial Numbers of the iPhone, though we’re having some fun thinking up much more interesting (and diabolical) purposes.

A few of our loyal AppleiPhoneApps.com staffers received super-useful text messages from AT&T earlier today:

AT&T Free Msg: Apple has released new iPhone 2.1 software update as free download. Connect your iPhone to iTunes and click on Check for Updates.

Apparently they are trying to push the download, hoping to shore up 3G connectivity issues (notice in the screenie we’re still on Edge?). I personally didn’t receive the SMS, and as a 1st generation iPhone owner, I’m starting to think AT&T doesn’t care about me any more…

Just another harmless iPhone commercial, yea?

Well, not according to the folks at the Advertising Standards Authority, who have had the advertisement banned in the UK — and no, it’s not for an unreleased iPhone nano version as the resolution of the ad might have you believe.

Actually, after receiving two complaints from individuals claiming that the ad was misleading (due to the iPhone’s lack of flash & java support), the ASA had the ad pulled for giving “a misleading impression of the internet capabilities of the iPhone.”

Apple noted that Java and Flash were not open-source technologies, and that Safari, the iPhone’s web browser, was built under that premise. Additionally, none of the web features showcased in the commercial show any Java or Flash interaction, and Apple said it would be impossible to support “every third-party technology in the marketplace.”

[via the Guardian]

Apple has launched the 3G iPhone in 21 additional countries today. We’ve previously covered the full list of receptive countries, so take a gander if you’re interested.

The initial 3G launch on July 11th, which took place in 22 countries, had a combined mobile subscriber base of 370.5 million, according to Piper Jaffray. With the addition of 21 new countries, bringing the total to 43, the iPhone 3G now has a potential consumer base of over 660 million users.

Just a few weeks ago, a brand new iPhone user got a surprise when they loaded up their 3G and found three pictures already loaded in the camera roll. The blurriness and randomness of the photos made the snappings seem accidental, a one-time mistake that wouldn’t be happening again.

Well now a a few new pictures have surfaced, and while not so much a mistake as pre-meditated picture-taking, the MacRumors Forums shows pictures of a factory worker that came with the iPhone’s onboard camera roll.

I can’t imagine this is good exposure for the factory worker or her job security, but the big smile and peace sign have us convinced that she was just trying to export a little extra good-will.

What’s the new hot trend in tech analysis? iPhone projections! From Cote’s estimates earlier this week that over 3 million iPhone 3Gs had already been sold, to a new report from Lehman Brothers.

Analyst Ben Reitzes of Lehman states:

We believe our estimate of 3.8 million iPhones sold in Apple’s [September quarter] is very conservative. Furthermore, we believe that initial demand overseas is very strong and will get much stronger; we estimate at least 8.3 million iPhones could be sold in [the December quarter].

These “conservative estimates” would bring the total number of iPhones worldwide to nearly 20 million (6M 1st gens already sold) by the end of 2008.

Even higher, Piper Jaffray’s Gene Munster, who has closely been monitoring the iPhone since its introduction, believes 4.47 million iPhones will ship in this quarter alone (ending September 30th). The investment firm had to increase their estimates after recent analysis: “Our 25 hours of counting iPhone sales in Apple retail stores throughout the country lead us to believe Apple is on pace to beat our previous estimate of 4.1 million iPhones for the September quarter.”

Munster estimates that each of Apple’s 188 stores sells an average of 95 iPhone 3Gs per day, compared to moving just 21 1st generation iPhones daily last August.

Take into account that over 20 countries will begin selling the iPhone come August 22nd, and nearly 1000 Best Buy locations in the U.S. will begin carrying the 3G as well starting September 7th.